Kevin Johnston

IndyStar correspondent

Edmonton FC at Indy Eleven, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, WISH-TV

Indy Eleven central midfielder Gerardo Torrado has heard the misconceptions about American soccer leagues before. They’re “retirement leagues” for elite players, or at least that’s what some notable soccer minds like Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger have suggested.

But if the skillful 37-year-old’s North American Soccer League debut was any indication, Torrado’s time in Indianapolis is far from just a farewell tour and a check to cash.

Despite falling 2-0 at Minnesota United FC a week ago — Indy’s first loss of the season — Torrado turned in a strong performance in his 45-minute second-half shift. In fact, besides the result, it was statistically one of the club’s best outings of 2016.

Indy controlled the ball for nearly two-thirds of the match, out-possessing Minnesota 63.5 percent to 36.5. The Eleven also served in 23 crosses compared to Minnesota’s 13, and outshot the home side 19 to 11.

“El Borrego” — “The Sheep” — as Torrado is affectionately known for his once-shaggy hairdo, played an integral part in the dominance.

While teams tend to bunker down and concede space to preserve multiple-goal leads, the Mexican national team legend was entrenched in the final third.

“We put (Torrado) into a fairly unfamiliar spot which was more of an attacking central midfielder, whereas normally he’s a defensive central midfielder,” said Eleven coach Tim Hankinson. “He may not be called a playmaker, but when you can find the open man that quickly and consistently, that’s what playmaking is.”

Off the pitch, Torrado views himself as an ambassador for the sport in a city where the game is growing rapidly.

“All my teammates are in the same ship. We have to be ambassadors of soccer,” Torrado said. “I know there’s a lot of Spanish-speaking people moving to Indiana and they can really get closer if they see a player they know from Mexico.”

How big of a name is Torrado? Well, he has 605,000 Twitter followers. To put that in perspective, the Indy Eleven’s official account has 30,000.

“Star power grows fanfare, it grows media attention,” Hankinson said. “He will continue to help soccer develop (here).”

As for the “retirement leagues” nonsense, Hankinson wasn’t having it.

“It’s not the case,” he said. “If you look at some of the players in Major League Soccer like Robbie Keane doing outstanding work, David Villa at New York City FC, Kaka. These are players who are coming from some of the top clubs in the world. In the case of Gerardo, last year he played for Cruz Azul. Having three World Cups under his belt only makes it appear that he’s an older guy that’s here for retirement. But in fact, he’s one of our most fit players. He’s taken tremendous care of himself.”

The Eleven, the spring season champions, host FC Edmonton at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium.