Update: El Farolito won 2-0 against the Michigan Rangers. On Saturday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m., the team will face Hickory FC for the NPSL National Championship. The game will take place at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
El Farolito’s soccer team is back on the road — this time, 2,300 miles from home.
On Saturday night, the Burrito Boys will step onto the synthetic turf at Davenport University outside Grand Rapids to face Michigan Rangers FC in the NPSL national semifinal. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. local (4 p.m. PST), with a trip to the championship final at stake. [Stream HERE.]
The stakes are high, but there’s not much hand-wringing. “The team is motivated. Everyone’s focused,” head coach Santiago López said from Michigan on Friday. “Emotionally, we’re in a good place.”
El Farolito comes in riding the momentum of a 4-1 win over Cruizers FC from Modesto last weekend at Kezar Stadium, where the team came from behind to dominate the second half. The crowd wore blankets and windbreakers that night. In Grand Rapids, the conditions have flipped: Think thick humidity, 92-degree practices, and scattered rain over turf.
The challenge ahead is real.
Michigan Rangers are known for their vertical attack, often sending six players forward. “They’re very offensive — two up top, two wide, two through the middle,” López said. “We’ll need to win the second balls, manage their direct play, and control the flanks. Especially if it rains, because the ball moves faster on synthetic turf.”
“You can feel it,” said team captain Jonathan Mosquera. “We’re resting now, getting ready for tomorrow. There’s a lot of joy in the group. A lot of expectation.”
The Colombian defender is nursing an ankle injury and will be a game-time decision. Still, his voice carries weight in a locker room that balances Spanish, English, and French — and the kind of understanding that needs no translation.
From West Africa to the West Coast
For Edgard Kreye, every match is a window. A chance to be seen, to be remembered, maybe even to catch a break.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder from Ivory Coast is among El Farolito’s top scorers this season. He arrived early last year under false promises, flown in by an agent who disappeared soon after. Within months, Kreye was stuck here with no way home.
“I didn’t even know where to get help,” he said.
Still, he stayed. He learned. He found a lifeline in El Farolito, a club that gave him a place to live during the season and a reason to keep going. He shared housing with teammates, trained every week, and tried not to let homesickness win.
“Without the club, it would’ve been a disaster,” he said in French. “They gave us something to hold onto.”
He shares that journey with two other Ivorian teammates, 23-year-old Kipre Sacré and 25-year-old Daouda Sidibe. Last weekend, a representative from the Ivorian consulate surprised them with a small tribute before the match, a rare gesture of recognition for three players who remain largely invisible off the field.
“We can’t go home. We live off prize money in the off-season. We’re surviving,” Kreye says. “But when I play, I feel something close to free.”
Inside the locker room, the cultural distance has diminished. “They’ve all been important to what we’ve built these last two seasons,” said Mosquera of his Ivorian teammates. “What Farolito values first is the person — from there, we build the family on the field.”
Respect goes both ways. Sacré and Sidibe, both Muslim, pray before games, sometimes right in the locker room, between warmups and salsa music. “We turn down the music, give them their space,” Mosquera said. “We try to learn from them, too — even if they’ve had to learn more from us.”
Coach López gives his talks in Spanish, with key points translated into English for the Ivorian trio.
“Edgard has grown a lot since last year,” the coach said. “Sacré has held onto his starting role despite tough competition. Sidibe hasn’t gotten the minutes he wanted, but he keeps pushing.”
A Mission, far from home
For López, this week hasn’t just been about training plans or injury reports. Playing a semifinal deep in the Midwest — with its humid turf fields, unfamiliar crowds, and slower rhythms — has felt like crossing a border. “It’s like facing another country,” he said. “Another culture. Other people.”
And that makes it all the more meaningful.
“It’s an honor to represent San Francisco, California, the West Coast,” he added. “Fútbol is giving us the opportunity to carry our community with us.”
On Saturday night, El Farolito won’t just be playing for a chance to defend their 2024 NPSL title. They’ll be doing what they always do: adapt, trust each other, and try to win — together.