From the deserts of Yemen to the turf at Richards, Ahmed Dhalai has had quite a journey in soccer.
Now, the junior forward is looking to lead the Bulldogs to new heights.
“This whole offseason, I was just working and working because I wanted to come out hard and make a change for this soccer program,” Dhalai said. “It feels great to be a part of that.
“We just go out there and give it all we got. We used to lose a lot, and it stinks going home after a loss. It feels really good going home after a win.”
Dhalai has already scored 26 goals this season for the Bulldogs (11-5-1), who are looking to improve dramatically on recent history.
Richards won seven games last season, had not reached double-digit victories since 2017, and is searching for the program’s first regional championship.
Dhalai’s teammates are confident he can lead them to making history, according to senior defender Wiktor Kuzmiuk.
“It’s great to just sit in the back, get Ahmed the ball and just let him run,” Kuzmiuk said. “Most of the time, he scores. We just trot back to our positions.
“He’s so agile. The change of pace is crazy. One second he’s jogging, and the next, he’s sprinting by you to get to goal.”
Dhalai, who was born in Yemen, moved to the United States in fifth grade.
“Growing up, I used to play soccer in the sand,” he said. “We don’t have grass or turf playing in the desert. I used to love the game.
“In sixth grade, though, I broke my foot and then I stopped playing soccer. I started playing basketball.”
Dhalai’s friend Mohamed Ahmed — who played soccer at Richards before transferring to Argo and earning all-state honors last season — talked him into giving soccer another shot.
“He’d tell me, ‘Once you get into high school, you’re going to love soccer,'” Dhalai said. “I didn’t take it that serious at first, but once I got to freshman year and I was on varsity and I was the top scorer, I thought, ‘I’m not taking it serious and I’m doing all this. If I do take it serious, what can happen?'”
Dhalai scored 27 goals last season. He still feels underestimated at times but loves proving people wrong.
“I might look small, but I go out there and show them what I can do,” Dhalai said. “Once I get the ball, I can do some damage. When I get on the field, I hear a lot of trash-talking from people saying, ‘Oh, you’re small.’
“Once I get the ball, I know they’re not going to look at me the same. I don’t do the talking. I just let my game do the talking.”
‘Statement’ win: Bloom likely earned the biggest regular season win in program history Friday night, stunning Lyons 3-2. It spoiled homecoming for the Lions, who were ranked by some as the top team in the state.
Johnathan Magana scored twice and Omar Ortiz added a goal in the victory for the Blazing Trojans.
“It was an incredible moment for everyone involved on our side,” Bloom coach Zack Radtke said.
The Blazing Trojans (10-4-2) struggled a bit earlier in September with a loss to Lincoln-Way West and frustrating ties with Lincoln-Way East and Homewood-Flossmoor.
Not anymore. They see their potential quite clearly.
“It gives us an absolutely incredible amount of belief,” Radtke said of the Lyons win. “They knew going into this game exactly what kind of statement this would make if they won.
“If anything, this opens a lot of people’s eyes to something we believed since the beginning.”
Home cooking: If St. Laurence can make a run to state in Class 2A, the Vikings will have the luxury of never playing a game away from home before the Final Four.
They are set for a rare triple this postseason by hosting a regional, sectional and supersectional.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
