I saw that UE won the Apertura Chilena. Does anybody know how Caleb Norkus is playing? Last I saw he was coming off of the bench. Just thought I'd check to see if anybody on these boards knew if he was holding his own down there.
I saw him play against Catolica in the semifinals... he looked a bit anxious, but managed to keep the defense busy (he came in halfway through the second half, I believe). However, it seemed like Norkus was Diaz's 4th choice as a forward, and didn't get a lot time on the field throughout the tournament. Hopefully, if he stays on the team, he'll be able to play a bit more since I saw potential in him to become a good player, given the chance. U. Española is building up a good team for this tournament so he'll have to work harder to become a starter. Where does he come from? It seems the Chilean league gets its fair share of American players. The last one I remember was goalkeeper Johnny Walker, who I believe was kicked out of Catolica after a disappointing playoff game a few years ago.
Thanks for the response. I'm actually not sure where he comes from. I know he was playing for some team in USL and one of the coaches had connections with some teams in Chile. I think him and Johnny Walker have been the only Americans to ever play in the Chilean league. I remember seeing Johnny play a few games for Colo Colo when I was in Chile back in 2001. I don't know much about what happened to him at Catolica. Hopefully Norkus can crack the starting lineup and have more of an impact this season. I respect his decision to go to South America and improve his game there instead of staying in the USL.
Norkus played briefly for DC United in the late 90s, then disappeared into the USL. Walker and Norkus are the only Americans I can recall playing in Chile, too. Walker did well when he played for Cato, and was a little bit more up and down for Colo Colo. He's one of my favorite players for the teams I support to play against. I saw him allow four to Wanderers in Valpo two years ago, then saw him let in six against DC last summer.
Do you think Norkus is getting paid more playing in Chile than in USL? I'm not sure what the minimum salary is in the Chilean league, or if one even exists.
Thank you for your interest in my son Caleb. He left UE last week to play for the Puerto Rico Islanders in the USL Div 1 (former A-League). Although his overall experience in Santiago was a very positive one - e.g., Santiago a great city and the Chilenos a wonderful people - he feels he'll have a better chance of achieving the goals he has for his soccer career by playing closer to home. He arrived back in NC last Thursday, played for the Islanders in Charleston vs. the Battery on Friday night and then in Atlanta on Sunday vs. the Silverbacks. He then returned to Puerto Rico with the team and says the beaches are beautiful and his teammates very receptive to his contributions. By the way, the pay and the teams' financial stability in Chile First Division is comparable to Div 1 and MLS; some players making the equivalent of $800/month, some making 6 figures; like the quality of soccer venues across both of our leagues, the money and stability varies from team to team. It has been really interesting to follow Chileno futbol, and I will miss it, but our hopes are with Caleb and Puerto Rico now, so we shall see...
wow, when starting this thread i never thought i'd actually get a response from Caleb's parents! Thank you for all the information. I'm sure he learned a great deal playing in the Chilean league and will display that with his new team. Hopefully he can work his way back to the MLS. Wish I could have got to see him play at least one game in Chile but I don't remember TVN (the only chilean channel i receive via directv) showing any UE games. Maybe I'll get a chance to see him play with Puerto Rico through FSC. I wasn't aware that the pay scale in Chile is similiar to that of the U.S. I figured the pay would be, on average, a little better than what MLS players receive. Thanks again for the info!
The Chilean league is still recovering from the worst economic crisis in its history. Few teams can afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for foreign players. Only last year TVN signed a contract with Canal del Futbol (cable only channel in Chile) to broadcast 2 games per week outside the country, to the whole world, through TVN's international signal. They only bradcast the most "important" games, and seeing as UE isn't that big of a team, the only games UE games they broadcasted was when they were already in semifinals and then, of course, the two fianl games. I'm also pretty shocked to know we got a first hand source for Caleb's future! I'm sure you are proud of him. In the final game against Coquimbo, he was actually interviewed before the game started and he sent greetings to his parents in English, and I thought that was pretty cool. The best of lucks to him in Puerto Rico.
That's true about the financial situation in Chilean football. The stadiums in the league aren't exactly filled to capacity like they used to be. Only clasicos like colo-colo and La U garner much attention these days. That and Libertadores games.
From what I saw of him (and I saw quite a bit) he was an OK player. I wouldn't recommend him to any teams, personally. The fact that he probably came on the cheap helped his cause but Union already released him (right after winning the title). He had spent time in Germany with SF Siegen (in the equivalent to the 3rd division--"Regionaligen"), and he played at a very competitive level in the US--d1 in college, and he also tried out with DC United. He was also on MTV on "Dismissed." lol
was he ''dismissed''? from what i can recall while living in germany was that both he and another american player whose name is escping me at the moment were both plagued with inuries while at siegen. its kinda funny, having an american wife has got me all interested in american players, ha.
And as a HARDCORE PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS FAN I am very happy to let everyone know that WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO HAVE HIM! Papi NodNorkus, if you read this, please let him know that even Islanders fans who don't live down on the Island are talking about him. We have already been discussing him on several message boards. We are hoping that he will be one of the pieces to the puzzle to lead us to the playoffs. People are already waiting for him to make his home debut at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel.
I am a Chilean studying at UNC. I realized here that Caleb Norkus was part of the school team. I remember him perfectly, when he used to play for Union. It was a shame that he only played for the final minutes of the games there. I remember he was the last choice striker. I have played soccer here with the local professionals and with some team players. I must say that here they don't live futbol the way we live it, and that's the one and only reason why the United States will never have a good futbol (what's soccer? is that girls playing futbol?). They are so stiff, they buy all my "enganches", eventhough in Chile I am considered just an average player. I realised that their main strenght is their athletisism. Still, after 2 months of hard work at the amazing facilities they have here at UNC, I managed to cope with that. In Chile I started playing soccer on the streets at the age of 3. I played every single day with my friends in the neighborhood. When you play there, you learn the give and goes, the "paredes", the "enganches", all the tricks. If someone does a trick on you, or passes the ball through your legs, that's a personal offense. That definetely turns you into a better and more passionate player. The bad thing about that is that you can become a very selfish player, only good for reduced games. So, what I like about the US is that they run a lot and that they cross and long-distance pass very well. They only need to be more passionate about it and make their hips less stiff. South American players have a lot to learn from North American soccer, and the other way too. I think that Caleb Norkus was very brave and wise to go to Chile, but it was impossible for him to leave a mark in Chile as a striker, there are tons of more talented strikers there. US strikers and creative midfielders should not try to pursue a professional career in South America. They should still go, but to learn the flairy, flamboyant and passionate game. And then add their pace and commitment to these new skills. A new, better version of Claudio Reyna or Tab Ramos would be the result. Still, if you were a goalie, defender, a holding midfielder or a winger, you could learn a lot in South America and even have a successful spell there. I remember Chase Hilgenbrick, who has been playing for something like 4 years in the Chilean second division. His first season there was desastrous, he went to play in a very poor team, in an awful city. He managed to be a regular starter there. He was a very disciplined fullback, who showed an incredible professionalism under very adverse circumstances. Last year, he was the best player in his position and managed to take his team to the First Division. I'm not sure if he's still playing now, but I'm sure that if he came back to the US he could be a great asset to any MLS team: he is not only a good physical player now but he also learnt some tricks!!! Personally, I'm covering the opposite route. I want to go back to Chile and play in Fernandez Vial, the team I love. Until then, it's just about training hard and having fun on the pitch. It's funny because the first place I went after arriving here was the (artificial grass) soccer field. And there were only a couple of girls playing soccer there. You definetely don't see that in Chile: the turf and the girls playing... Saludos!
u also gotta take into consideration that even though the wages are the same you could do a hell of a lot more with that money in Chile than the U.S
So you're a Chilean-American trying to play in Chile now? Let me know, because I did some investigative work of Americans that have played in Chile for the "Yanks Abroad" forum, so maybe I can add you to the list. Here's the link: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409900 Here's the specific post on "Americans" that have played in Chile: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10738077&postcount=30 Metro
Yours truly compiled a whole list of Americans that played in Chile. Enjoy: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10738077&postcount=30 Metro
johnnie walker fue la que le fue mejor no? osea de todos, me acuerdoq eu una vez el canal 34 de los angeles osea la fiflia de mexivision le hizo una entrevista, por ceirto han visto alguna vez a un chileno llamada FRANCISCO PINTO??? bueno trabaja o trabajaba ahi creo, pero la cosa es que le dijo tu hablas como chileno, apreces un chileno y si hablaba como chileno le diejo al entrevistador he estado en chile por un buen rato po, y he ahora me vengo a jugai a la MLS , extchraño chile pe