Justin Meram wanted to see if he could handle the pressure of Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Orlando.
Now a midfielder for Atlanta United, Meram played for Orlando for part of last season. It didn’t go well. He scored just one goal. He was booed. He said he was threatened. He was traded back to Columbus in a move that seemed best for both parties. He was traded again by Columbus, this time to Atlanta United, this season.
Well, it turns out Meram can handle the pressure in Orlando.
Despite being booed during warmups and every time he touched the ball, Meram torched the right side of Orlando’s defense time after time during Atlanta United’s 2-0 win on Tuesday.
Q: Did you know you were getting booed?
A: No, I couldn’t hear them.
Q: How did it feel to play in this environment?
A: You know, obviously, I knew maybe what was coming my way, but I knew what was the task at hand, and we came out with a win. I felt like we dominated. I think they had one chance with Dwyer early on, but we had a lot of chances tonight. And I think we out-ran them, we out-played them, and I’m just happy to be on this side with this group. They helped me, picked me up when I knew it was going to be difficult being booed every time I got the ball in warm-ups, but I showed tonight that I can block that out and play my game.
Q: You dominated the left wing despite the boos.
A: This was a pressure I wanted to see if I could handle. This was a moment for me -- they don’t know the whole truth. There’ll be moments where they realize from my side what I’ve been going through or what I went through when I was here, and I’ve kept quiet. Tonight was about my teammates and how I could help, and I ran, ran and ran, and I kept getting by him and making plays. It could have been two, three up at halftime. So I’m just proud of the guys.
Q: Feeling of going to the final
A: First time for me going to the Open Cup finals. I’ve been to one MLS Cup final, so obviously you get traded to a team like this midseason and you can help them get to this point, it’s exciting. I can’t wait, in front of our fans.
Q: Talk about competing against former teammates like Sacha Kljestan.
A: Obviously you saw the headlock. It’s all good love. Everyone’s competing, and nothing more to it.
Q: Closing the book on his relationship with Orlando
A: It’s been turned, because I’m loving life in Atlanta and I’m seeing myself back to the level that I should have been playing at, and I’m happy about it. I get confidence from the group. It was a rough year for me. Every player, every athlete has moments in their career, and this move kind of helped me get back to the way I used to be playing over the years. That for me is gratifying, but it wouldn’t be possible without the guys in the locker room who lift me up and really helped me make this transition so easy.
Q: Any post-game tweets?
A: I guess we’ll find out.
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