Christian Ramirez takes a shot during his second game with the Houston Dynamo.

Christian Ramirez takes a shot during his second game with the Houston Dynamo. (Courtesy of Houston Dynamo)

HOUSTON – In 77 Major League Soccer matches, new Dynamo forward Christian Ramirez has scored 29 goals. Now as a member of the Houston Dynamo, Ramirez hopes to continue his goal-scoring ways.

And Dynamo fans didn’t need to wait long to see Ramirez score a goal.

In his first match in orange, a road game against the Philadelphia Union, the 6’2 forward received a pass from DaMarcus Beasley, then settled the ball down before striking it to the back of the net.

The Garden Grove, California native’s goal-scoring prowess has even earned him a call up to the U.S. Men’s National Team.

And as has been his MO, Ramirez scored in only his second match representing the United States.

A goalscoring touch

Ramirez has had quite a journey to get to this point. After high school, he played collegiate soccer first at UC Santa Barbara, then at Concordia University in Irving, California.

After graduating, he started his professional career with the Charlotte Eagles of the United Soccer Leauge, where he scored 12 goals in 26 appearances.

He followed that up by joining Minnesota United FC, then of the North American Soccer League, where he played in 90 matches and notched 51 goals.

When MNUFC joined MLS in 2017, Ramirez’s goal-scoring touch followed. In two years as a Loon in MLS, the forward netted 21 goals in 50 matches. And while his time with LAFC was short-lived, he managed to score 7 goals in 25 appearances.

All in all, before Ramirez joined the Dynamo, he had scored 91 goals in 191 appearances across the USL, NASL, and MLS.

And for those nay-sayers that doubted Ramirez could keep his scoring touch as he moved up the levels of professional soccer, he came up with a goal celebration aimed at them.

When the Colombian-American scores a goal, more often than not, he shakes his right hand next to his right ear.

“It started a few years back when people were doubting that I could continue scoring goals at every level,” Ramirez said. “And it just stuck with me.”

But after scoring his first goal for the Orange, he endeared himself to Dynamo fans by throwing up his hands in the form of an H for Houston.

Helping the team win

Does Ramirez see his time with the Dynamo as a second opportunity after not seeing the field as much with LAFC compared to his time with Minnesota United FC?

“No. It’s just another opportunity. I took a lot of pride playing in LA. And whenever I was in the field I wanted to make sure that we didn’t lose. And I think we lost two games whenever I started,” Ramirez said.

“I took great pride in that and doing other things to help the team. And now I’ll do the same here. Whatever needs to be done to win. That’s always been my priority.”

In reality, LAFC only lost once when Ramirez started, which further proves his point.

That work ethic was one of the reasons the Dynamo acquired Ramirez from LAFC for $100,000 in 2019 General Allocation Money, $75,000 in 2020 General Allocation Money, and $75,000 in 2020 Targeted Allocation Money for a total of $250,000.

A steal considering LAFC forked over $800,000 to acquire him from Minnesota United FC before the midseason transfer deadline in 2018.

When it was made known to Dynamo coaching staff that there was a possibility for the team to acquire Ramirez, interim head coach Davy Arnaud said every single coach was positive about the move.

“I think him coming in immediately makes us a better team. We value what he does. Obviously, in front of the goal, he scores goals but I think you saw in the last game [vs. Philadelphia Union] the way that he worked for the team,” Arnaud said during last week’s training.

“The way that he bought into what we’re trying to do, what’s best for the group, was fantastic. And we expect nothing less because we knew that’s what we were going to get.”

Ramirez knows no other way to play but all out. He got his love and passion for the game from his father, who played as a goalkeeper in Colombia and left the country to give his family a better opportunity.

Aside from getting a passion for the beautiful game, what did Ramirez learn from his dad?

“Just to enjoy myself. To work hard and the rewards will come. Not to worry about anything that becomes an individual stat or an individual award,” Ramirez said.

“Doing my part to ensure that we win and he helped me fall in love with the game. And that’s something that I’m really thankful for.”

And Houston will be more than thankful if Ramirez can continue his goal-scoring ways now that’s he a part of the Orange.