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Soccer

Watch Alan Velasco, the Most Confident Man in Dallas, Win FC Dallas’ Playoff Game

There's self-assurance and then there's this.
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This is what a lot of belief can get you. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

How do you feel about yourself when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror?

Confident, I hope. Great, even? Awesome. Good for you. You deserve it.

But there are levels to this game, and chances are you haven’t reached that of FC Dallas winger Alan Velasco. Which is OK! I myself have nowhere near the self-assurance to do what the 20-year-old did last night. With FC Dallas and Minnesota United’s MLS playoff affair deep into penalty kicks, the Argentinian stepped up to the spot. A conversion would move Dallas on to the quarterfinals.

Which is a truckload of pressure, even for a player who was the club’s record signing in February. I would be intimidated by this situation. Perhaps you might, too.

Alan Veslaco, on the other hand, went about this task in the most swag-tastic way possible:

I do not know how it feels to believe you can chase down Usain Bolt or wrestle a panther or stroll shirtless amongst male models. But I’d like to believe Velasco might, because that’s the level of self-assurance it takes to chip the biggest kick of his life past the keeper. Something to aspire to.  

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Mike Piellucci

Mike Piellucci

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Mike Piellucci is D Magazine's sports editor. He is a former staffer at The Athletic and VICE, and his freelance…

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