It’s been quite the year for Darwin Espinal. The youngster has surprised as one of the few consistent offensive threats for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and he has also swiftly earned a position in the Honduran youth national team.

Espinal was far off the radar as a junior college standout in Georgia last summer while Honduras participated in last summer’s World Cup in Brazil, but this month he played in four of five matches in Honduras’ successful Olympic Qualifying campaign. The surreal nature of the past calendar year finally hit Espinal as Honuduras was knocking off the U.S. to secure its spot in next summer’s Olympics.

“I had a lot of fun, and I learned a couple of things from the coaches and players.” says about the Olympic Qualifying run. “It was a really good feeling because, well first of all it’s a huge thing to go the Olympics and I mean beating the U.S. at home was pretty great. It’s crazy how quickly you can go from one thing to the other.”

Espinal says he had no expectations of reaching the international level less than a year ago, but if you speak with the Rowdies forward for only a few minutes it’s easy to see why he has ascended so quickly.

Apart from the obvious talent that Espinal displays when on the field, the 20-year-old exudes the kind of desire that pushes players to maximize their potential. When discussing his recent stellar outings for the Rowdies from the bench, Espinal didn’t even wait for me to finish asking if he’s happy with the role, stating emphatically, “absolutely not.”

“I don’t think any player that plays soccer wants to be a good bench player,” says Espinal. “I’m not playing well to be a bench player, that’s not my goal or purpose. I’m glad I help the team in the way that I can, but that’s not what I want. I’m glad I’m getting some playing time, but I want to start. I think every player wants that.”

Some recent youth standouts in the NASL, such as Miguel Ibarra and Fafa Picault, have used the buzz surrounding positive seasons to jump abroad to higher leagues. Espinal hopes to follow suit “as quickly as I can,” but not before he feels sure that he’s ready and can be successful in doing so.

Espinal is so focused on bettering himself and earning a spot in the starting lineup that he wasn’t even aware that his four goals and one assist in 19 appearances this season has earned him a spot on the list of NASL Young Player of the Year candidates. Espinal wants nothing to do with the hype surrounding his stellar rookie season.

“I try to stay away from that completely, to be honest with you. I’m just trying to focus on what I have to do and that’s it.”

Even the surprise firing of head coach Thomas Rongen, the man who scouted Espinal and brought him into the professional ranks last December, hasn’t fazed the attacker. He’s grateful for what Rongen did for him, however that hasn’t changed his perspective or distracted him from progressing.

“I had a great relationship with Thomas and he was a great person and a great coach to me personally, but with Stuart Campbell it’s the same thing. I didn’t have to adjust to anything. I had a good relationship with Stuart when Thomas was still here, so nothing’s really changed for me except practices are different.”

Espinal is bringing his personal resolve back into Rowdies camp at a crucial time. The club was winless while he was away with Honduras (2D-2L) and it holds a slim one-point lead in the race for the final playoff spot. An unimpressive two goal tally for the club in the four matches that Espinal missed shows that consistent scoring is a must for the Rowdies in their final three matches.

The attacker is eager to get back out on the field in Atlanta on Saturday. Tampa Bay has failed to grab a win on the road since week one of the Spring Season and faces another match on turf, a surface that has hampered the club all year. Espinal believes the time for excuses about turf are over, though, if they want to make the postseason.

“We gotta work our asses off to win this game,” he states bluntly. “That’s pretty much it. We don’t have a choice, we either win or we’re out. Win the game, no matter what.”

IMAGE, MATT MAY/TAMPA BAY ROWDIES