Want to hear from some of the notable names around the league? MLSsoccer.com contributing editor Alicia Rodriguez talks to some of the big names in North American soccer.
Ethan Finlay is a midfielder for Columbus Crew SC. In his fourth season with Columbus, he's among the league leaders in assists, and was selected to his first MLS All-Star team this season. Ahead of Crew SC's game on Sunday against FC Dallas (7 pm ET, FOX Sports 1) get to know more about Finlay, on and off the field.
1. Finlay was named an MLS All-Star for the first time this season: "It was an incredible experience. Everything happened so quickly with being called, and before I knew it, I was on the plane in Denver...Obviously, the honor to be able to play in that game and play with those great players and against a top team in England was incredible and definitely something I'll always remember. It's given me the excitement and the fight to want to be there every year."
2. He's established arguably the best one-two punch in MLS this season with Kei Kamara: "I think early on we identified each other's strengths...He prefers the ball at the back post in the air, and through a lot of video, a lot of study, I started seeing, 'Ok, here's where he's going to be. All I've got to do is make sure I put the ball in the area, and he'll do the rest.' So I've tried to make sure I put the right ball in the right spot for him and given him the best opportunity to finish it off."
3. How did Finlay become a soccer player originally? It's all about climate. He says his dad, who played college hockey at North Dakota, continued to play in a men's league when the family was living in North Carolina, but the distance was too far for 5-year-old Ethan to get involved ("Ice was about an hour, an hour and a half away"), so his dad got him into the other sport he knew growing up in Canada: soccer.
4. Outside of soccer, he's a huge sports fan, following the Wisconsin pro teams ("I'm not a fairweather fan when it comes to sports"), especially the Green Bay Packers. "I'm a diehard Green Bay Packers fan. I have since I was young, even more when I moved to Wisconsin when I was 12, I really got into it...I enjoy going to Lambeau Field. I'm all about the Packers. If there's one team in North America I cheer for outside of the Crew, it'd be the Packers."
5. He's an avid NFL Fantasy player, and isn't afraid to take the big risk in building his team: "To be honest, I'm pretty excited. I drafted Tom Brady in the 10th round, the steal of the draft, with the recent news [his suspension was overturned in court]."
6. But unlike some players, he doesn't play MLS Fantasy: "The thing about MLS Fantasy, one, it's weird playing because you're in the game and you're playing other guys in the game. How can I play against myself in a way?...I would like to see MLS do a draft [system], you can't all have the same team. I think that would be interesting."
7. On days off, what does Finlay do? Play golf, or hang out with his teammates: "We have a pretty close-knit team. We find ourselves doing a lot of lunches together, even on off days. A lot of off days, guys want to stay away from their teammates. For us, I think we actually like to get together, do something outside the training facility."
- Check out Columbus news at ColumbusCrewSC.com
8. He's also really into playing the board game Settlers of Catan, and says with the digital version available, he can stay in contact with former Crew SC players who have moved on, but "I love the traditional way, with the board and the feel of the cards and all that."
9. Finlay says he's never scored an own goal: "I've never been that close [to my team's goal]."
10. He's still looking to make the US national team, but isn't worried about the timeline: "I would never set a timeline [on making the national team]; [Kyle] Beckerman is a great example. I'm sure he set a timeline, he thought his time had passed, rewind 18 months or two years, a lot of things had changed for him...It's obviously a goal of mine, but it's not my driving force. What I know is if I take care of my club form, have success at this level individually and as a team, you can't be ignored forever."
