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As we do every year, through the month of December we'll be doing ratings and reviews of every player who played even a slightly significant amount of minutes for the Colorado Rapids in 2013. We'll start from the goalkeepers and move our way up to the forwards. Today, we'll cover Diego Calderon.
Name: Diego Calderon
Number: 5
Appearances: 4 (304 minutes)
Stats: N/A
Going back to the 2012 off-season, Diego Calderon was expected to be one of the star signings. Colorado was coming off of a horrendous year in the back, and a steady central defensive presence was just what the team needed. Hell, I was so excited that the Rapids signed him, I made him one of my keys to the season back in March.
In fact, Calderon's first few games were pretty darn good. Though the Rapids had troubles winning matches, the goals that they were letting in were mostly from goalkeeper errors, and Calderon in particular took to the starting CB role next to Drew Moor quite well. Unfortunately, he smashed his leg into a goalpost while trying to clear a ball off the line against the LA Galaxy. The injury was bad enough to require surgery, and Shane O'Neill performed so well in the spot that it just wasn't there when Calderon came back.
He's now returned to Liga de Quito, his original club team. It's a shame that we'll never see him grow into a role with the Rapids. With his solid four matches and the fact that his awful injury came on a play that saved the team a goal, I'm going to be nice with the player rating and sigh while thinking of what could have been.
PLAYER RATING: 6
.GIF TO SUM UP HIS SEASON:
If he could have played like that it coulda been different!