“Cyle Larin Making Waves in La Liga: Canadian Striker Proving to Be Popular Addition at Real Valladolid”
Canada’s Cyle Larin has made a splash landing in La Liga.
The 27-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, scored the winner from Belgium’s Club Brugge in his first two appearances for Real Valladolid CF since joining Spain’s top flight side.
Larin has two goals in just 47 minutes of work.
According to Opta, Larin is the first player to score in each of his first two La Liga games for Valladolid this century. His two goals so far in Spain are double his nine appearances for Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League this season.
Larin opened his Valladolid account in the 90th minute of a 1-0 win over Valencia CF on January 29, by acrobatically smashing in a Venezuelan Darwin Machis cross to avoid goalkeeper Giorgi in front of 19,657 fans at Valladolid’s Estadio Municipal Jose Zorrilla Defeating Mamardashvili at the far post.
On Sunday he passed a defender and headed in Luis Perez’s cross in the 73rd minute to win 1-0 at Real Sociedad.
The victories have lifted Valladolid (7-11-2) from the relegation zone to 13th in the 20-team Spanish elite. Valladolid had lost their previous five games 10-0 before Larin took the field.
The goals – and rise in the table – have made the Canadian a fan favourite. Valladolid’s English-language Twitter account shared a picture of the Hulk with Larin’s face on his huge green body with the caption, “Cyle in Valladolid is a BEAST.”
Other club tweets are simply “Hero” and “We love you, Larin.”
Valladolid host ninth-placed Osasuna on Sunday (8-7-5).
Larin, Canada’s leading international men’s scorer, joined Spain on January 24 on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Larin joined fellow Canadian side Tajon Buchanan at Club Brugge from Turkish club Besiktas in July but failed to make the line-up. He scored one goal in 13 games for the Belgian team.
Larin, who scored 25 goals in 48 appearances for Canada, featured in all three World Cup games in Qatar. With 13 goals in 16 games, he played a key role in Canada’s successful World Cup qualification.
The six-foot-tall forward set Canada’s men’s all-time record in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over USA in Hamilton in January, overtaking Dwayne De Rosario, who had 22 goals in 81 games.
Larin joined Canada captain Atiba Hutchinson at Besiktas in January 2018 after being eliminated from Major League Soccer at Orlando City. Larin scored 23 goals in 45 games to help Besiktas to the Turkish league and cup double in 2020/21.
After two years at the University of Connecticut, Larin was selected as the first overall pick by Orlando in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.
He was named MLS Rookie of the Year in 2015 after setting a rookie record with 17 goals and adding another 14 goals in 2016 and 12 in 2017.
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 7, 2023.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
Don’t miss interesting posts on Famousbio
