Perhaps one reason why Danny Cepero wasn't rattled by his emergency start for the Red Bulls against the Columbus Crew last month is because he literally had been there and done that some five years prior -- with much less prior notice.
As a freshman goalkeeper at the University of Pennsylvania, on Nov. 1, 2003, the starting goalkeeper for the Quakers went down to an injury only moments before the team's Ivy League match at Brown University in Providence, R.I.
Penn coach Rudy Fuller turned to his freshman 'keeper and said: "Get your gloves on. You're starting."
"No problem," Cepero said.
"He wound up standing on his head," Fuller said.
One thing that Penn failed to accomplish that day was to win, as Cepero did in his MLS debut. And the only thing Cepero failed to do was to score a goal in his college debut -- as he did against the Columbus Crew on Oct. 18.
Today, the 23-year-old Cepero finds himself in a much higher orbit with much more at stake -- the league championship in MLS Cup 2008 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. this Sunday.
That Cepero has proven time and again that he can handle pressure and is mature past his years (23) did not surprise Fuller one iota.
"Even at Penn he was a mature kid," he said. "He had a great head on his shoulders."
In fact, for his parents, former coaches and current coaches, the theme of Cepero's soccer career -- amateur, college and pro -- and his life, for that matter, has been calm, cool, collected, committed and confident.
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"He is the most fun and most intense kid I have ever trained," said Dani Braga, the goalkeeper on St. John's 1996 national championship team who is a goalkeeping coach and trainer and owner of LIFT (Long Island Fitness and Training) on Long Island. "There nothing greater to train a kid who's humble and works hard instead of these All-America prima donnas."
Danny was born to Robert and Ana Cepero on April 22, 1985. Robert, a Cuban native who came to this country in the late '50s, and Ana, an Mexican, are avid soccer fans. Cepero grew up in Baldwin, L.I., excelling in several sports, including baseball, basketball and soccer.
His parents are now divorced, but they still share a common thread on how proud they are of their children -- Veronica, who is a producer at Nickelodeon, and Danny, who has been thrust into the spotlight.
"What makes me more proud is that Danny has such character," Ana said. "You can find a good soccer player, but character can carry you away."
"He's such a meticulous worker," Robert said.
The 6-2, 180-lb. Cepero began playing soccer when he was about 4 or 5 years old in the Baldwin Police Athletic League. He was a forward for this first several years before his team's goalkeeper failed to show up for a match. The coach took volunteers and Cepero, then about 10, played in the first half.
"His father was kind of crushed because he wanted him to score goals," Ana said. Little did everyone know that Cepero would someday score one of the most famous goals in U.S. soccer history.
He liked it and remained there, moving up to the Baldwin Eagles S.C. and eventually to Oceanside United.
Ana remembered when she took Danny to a game that pit the MetroStars against the Long Island Rough Riders. She remembered he was excited getting Giovanni Savarese's autograph and meeting Tab Ramos.
When it came time for college, there was a full ride from Seton Hall -- some $27,000 -- in the offing. Cepero, a high school honor student, wanted to go attend Penn instead. And that cost $43,000.
"It wasn't that it was an Ivy League school," said his father Robert, who will retire as a Long Island Railroad conductor next month. "He liked the college and always wanted to go to a school like this."
He is still close to his parents, talking to them regularly.
Prior to each game, Ana e-mails Danny an inspirational message to her son.
Before the Houston upset two weeks ago, Ana, inspired by President-elect Barrack Obama's speech, and reminded Danny, "Yes, we can."
And yes, Cepero and the Red Bulls did it, as he made several key saves in what is considered by some the biggest upset in MLS playoff history. He followed that with an encore performance at Real Salt Lake Saturday.
At Penn, Fuller made Cepero his starter in his sophomore season and the native Long Islander never looked back.
"Almost every game Danny would be called on to make a save," Fuller said. "Time and again he would come up with that save."
When Cepero entered Penn the school's career shutout record was 15. When he left, he owned it at 23.
"He just shattered a record that had been around for over 100 years," Fuller said. "On paper, statistics-wise, we were a very good defensive team. The guys in front of him were confident. They knew he would make a big save in back of them."
Beyond his goalkeeping abilities, Fuller was impressed with the fact that Cepero kept his mouth shut and never complained about sitting for most of his freshman year. "It never affected him," he said.
Cepero still wanted to turn pro, but he was neglected in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. Fuller made many phone calls to coaches and general managers, one to then-Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena and his assistant, Richie Williams. Obviously, he got his message across because the Red Bulls selected Cepero as the 46th overall pick (fourth round) in the supplemental draft about two months later.
Not many players chosen in the supplemental draft survive to see the season, let alone become a starter in his second season. Before that, Cepero was loaned to the Harrisburg City Islanders in the USL Second Division.
"He came back as a better goalkeeper with better experience and when the chance came he grabbed it with two hands and have gotten the most out of it," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said during a conference call Monday.
Indeed he did. As it turned out Harrisburg was looking for a goalkeeper after Matt Nelson, who backstopped the City Islanders to the league title last season, left the team. Coach Bill Belcher and his assistant coach spoke to Osorio and Williams and a deal was worked out to have Cepero play with the team from April through August.
"From Day One he made a statement he was going to be a very good goalkeeper for us and not miss a lot in goal," Belcher said.
The veteran defenders told Belcher on that first day: "OK, coach, it's all right."
"The other unknown coming in was, now that he's being told he's going to play in the USL Second Division on loan, you don't know how he's going to react to that ... riding the buses. From Day One, he showed he was going to do what he needed to improve himself. He worked hard after practice.. From Day One, he was one of the guys and fit in perfectly."
It seems that most of Cepero's best games came under duress. When the City Islanders played in Richmond earlier this season, a player was red-carded in the 10th minute.
"We got out of there at 0-0," Belcher said. "He made some spectacular saves that day."
Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid certainly won't forget Cepero.
"I can't remember, did he score against us in that game?" he playfully asked.
"He's obviously stepped up and he's responded. He's been very refreshing for them in goal. He's had a really positive attitude. That's been very noticeable. And right now, because of the success they've had in the playoff games, there's a confidence that's built between him and the team that has helped them."
While in Harrisburg, Cepero commuted to and from Penn in Philadelphia once a week to take a course so he could graduate. He is a history major with a concentration in diplomatic history. He is taking last one now -- The End of European Empires.
Cepero wants to be either a history professor in college or a diplomat, his mother said, although those goals might have to be put off for a couple of years.
"That's his passion," Ana Cepero said. "I'm the same way. I believe we have to look at history to learn what we should not do again."
In a little more than a month, Cepero's story has become a legend and some unique history in itself. A backup goalkeeper who was loaned out to a lower league. He returns to the team as a bench sitter, but is called into action on the eve of the playoffs and not only wins, but becomes the very first goalkeeper to score a goal in the league's 13-year history. During the playoffs, he has surrendered only one goal in three matches, which includes a pair of back-to-back shutouts.
Whether the legend will continue in Carson on Sunday, it remains to be seen.
But here's an intriguing parallel to the very first MLS Cup. At the time, D.C. United rookie defender Eddie Pope commuted to and from the nation's capital to Chapel Hill, N.C. to finish his degree at the University of North Carolina. Pope's reward? Scoring the game-winning goal in extra time to cap a miraculous two-goal comeback by United in the rain.
Will history repeat this time around with the college graduate-to-be emerging as a hero?
Hmmm. Making history instead of reading about it. Now, would that be some ending for a history major.
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