Paulo Nagamura has accomplished a lot in his MLS career. He has been a part of an MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup champion, having turned the trick in 2005 with the LA Galaxy. He played briefly for Toronto FC before joining Chivas USA early in the 2007 season.
Still, 104 games into his MLS career, the Brazilian had never scored two goals in one game.
On Saturday, he scored two goals in four minutes. Nagamura's brace gave Chivas USA all the offense they needed as the Red-and-White opened their 2009 MLS campaign with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against the Colorado Rapids at The Home Depot Center.
Nagamura's goals were festive, to the point that teammate Jesse Marsch suggested he celebrate accordingly.
"That's good for him and good for the team," Marsch said. "I don't know if he'll ever score two goals in a game again so he should probably enjoy it and maybe go out and have some champagne."
For his part, Nagamura said he enjoyed his first-ever brace. He scored the first goal in the 55th minute and leveled the match. Nagamura ripped a shot from 25 yards out that sneaked inside the left post after Matt Pickens dove and failed to reach the ball.
"Maykel [Galindo] played a ball and I don't think Jesse had control of the ball," Nagamura said. "I screamed to him to just leave it to me because I had a perfect shot so he just left it to me."
Four minutes later, Nagamura settled a failed clearance and fired a shot into the back of the net.
"(Kosuke) Kimura headed the ball towards me and I just had enough time to have one touch and finish," Nagamura said.
Overall, Nagamura was content with his output in the match.
"I'm really happy to score two goals in the same game. It's my first time scoring two goals," Nagamura said. "But I'm happier that I could help our team to get the three points tonight."
Chivas USA coach Preki said his team turned up the pressure on Colorado and became a bit stronger when Galindo entered the match. Galindo replaced Eduardo Lillingston at halftime and instantly changed the match.
"At halftime we brought Galindo into the game and every time we have Galindo into the game, we are a different team," Chivas USA coach Preki said. "That's not a secret."
Chivas USA had several chances late in the match but could not put the game away.
"We had another five or six moments that we thought we were going ... to kill the game earlier," Preki said. "When they press you hard sometimes the game is not going to be pretty."
Still, Nagamura was his usual valuable self in the match. The only difference on Saturday was that he scored.
"It's hard for people to understand what Paulo means to this team when they just watch a game," Marsch said. "He does a lot of the little things that are important. He's a great teammate and I think that's ... his best quality. When you need somebody to make sure that he's got your back and to make up some mistakes you made or whatever, Paulo is one of those guys you can count on."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
