Sergio Camargo of the Cavalry Football Club led the team by reaching 100 matches

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In a perfect world, Sergio Camargo, who scored a century in games with Cavalieria FC, will be in front of his hometown fans.

And of course against Forge FC.

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So neither is bad when the 29-year-old dynamic midfielder and Calgary pro soccer original starts the Cavaliers for his sixth season against their rivals in Hamilton (2:00 p.m., OneSoccer, OneSoccer.ca). .

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“A hundred games … makes me old,” laughed Camargo, who signed a two-year extension with the club. “No…it's a great feeling to reach this milestone. It is only fitting that we face the Forge. I want it to be at ATCO Field, in front of the fans.

“But I'll take it either way.”

That's because despite the ability he brought to the field and the star power for both the team and the Canadian Premier League, it wasn't always a done deal.

Injuries kept Camargo from being a full-time member of the Cavaliers in 2020 and 2022 and at times in two other campaigns last preseason.

“Hopefully, I'm over the worst part of my career in terms of injuries,” said Camargo, who is feeling good and ready to take off in 2024. A hundred games with my story in the last two years.

“But I had a good season last year and I'm just trying to stay on that wave and keep riding it. I think I'm coming into the season feeling like everything is going right. So I'm happy to continue.”

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The Cavaliers, who rewarded the Colombia native with a lucrative new deal announced earlier Friday, will also extend it into 2023 after 28 games in which he scored six goals.

The half-dozen hits tied his previous season's highest with the inaugural year of the CPL in 2019.

In all, Camargo scored a franchise-leading 21 goals over 99 games for the Cavaliers.

“Sergio is big,” Cavalry GM/head coach Tommy Wheeldon said of his 5-foot-8 fireball. “When he plays well, he lifts the team.

“He's probably underrated for what he does sometimes,” the gaffer continued. “So, being one of the captains, leading scorer and having a season like last year, he kind of went under the radar.

“He was always ready to choose. He's put the injuries behind him, focused on being a better player and a better teammate, and he's a great leader. So maybe it's time for him to get the love he deserves again because he's an interesting player.”

That's what Wheeldon expected from Camargo when he made him one of the club's first signings along with soccer veteran Nick Ledgerwood during a rousing press conference at the East Meadows permanent block at Spruce Meadows all those years ago.

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“Honestly, it's amazing when I look back on that day,” Camargo said. It's hard to say, 'Oh yeah, five years from now I'll still be here and I'll be the captain of this club.'

“Really, I only got one year at a time. I came to Calgary to catch Tommy's eye (with Calgary Foothills FC in 2018) and try to win a summer contract. Then that summer turned into a year, and that year turned into another extension, and another extension…

“I think the best way to look at it is once a year. Yes, it's great to remember my early days here, it's just “Wow”. This is surprising. indeed.”

Camargo became the third member of the Cavaliers to reach 100 games, after superstar goalkeeper Marco Carducci and midfielder Jose Escalante accomplished the feat last season.

Over the course of that march, Camargo has become a much more polished, mature player — and it looks good on him.

“I learned from the experience, for sure,” Camargo said. “When you've got 99 games in your hand, it gives you things to compare and reference, like if a game isn't going in the same direction, 'OK, I've seen this problem before, so what happened?' The decision we saw in Game 43? So I'm trying to pass on all my information – all my knowledge – to my young teammates, so that when they reach a hundred games, they can be ahead of me.”

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His biggest fan takes it more seriously that he taught Camargo 100 games.

“I think she's become more professional in how she feels about her body,” Wheeldon said. “He has a unique physique. He is a very explosive, strong player. Therefore, he had to pay a lot of attention to his diet and mobility, ability and strength. And he gets to work. I think he probably got the most out of this trip because of what we saw as a result of the professionalism he showed in the game.

All in all, not bad for a guy looking for a home after a forgettable year in his hometown Toronto FC system.

In 18 games for Toronto FC II in 2017, he scored just one goal – a far cry from the dynamism he brings to the Cavs and CPL these days.

“I grew up in Toronto, but I didn't have a home because my parents left Toronto when I went to school,” said Camargo, who played three years in the NCAA for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and another year in 2016. Syracuse Orange. “So when I came back to Toronto and signed in as a ‘native,’ it was my first time living downtown and I was alone.

“Even when I came to Calgary, I didn't have a home. But over the years I've been here, I've built my own home and my own community.

“I had a wonderful life in Calgary because of what the Cavalry gave me. So I don't regret not going to MLS or going to the Europa League. I'm very happy to build here — not only in football, but also in life outside of football.

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