For those of you that do not know, Ibeagha is a Houston Dynamo Academy product that went to the school I am zoned to and live 2 minutes away from. The Dynamo hold his contract rights within MLS. Ibeagha is a center back who plays for the US U-20 National Team and was the captain of the Duke soccer team for the last two years. The Dynamo offered him a professional contract in his freshman, sophomore, and junior year, in which two out of three were times where the Dynamo badly needed defensive cover. He rejected all three offers. I understood the first time since he was still in school and you know, education. But after his senior year, instead of signing with the Dynamo he traveled to Europe for about 3 weeks and went on trials all around the continent. Instead of signing with the Dynamo and competing for a starting spot in a year where longtime stalwart Bobby Boswell had his option declined, he chose AC Horsens, a 2nd division Danish team where nobody knows he exists and he is not on the radar of anyone important. Just because it's in Europe does not mean it is better than MLS.
“I guess I knew I was going to try Europe after I turned down that offer my junior year,” Ibeagha explains, “because I feel like if I was going to MLS, that would have been the best year to do it, both contract-wise and soccer-wise. I was still young enough where I would get Generation Adidas and still be able to go to school.”
Indeed, Ibeagha says he didn’t have any direct communication with Houston or MLS again after December 2012.
“I think they kind of knew what my route was, especially after my junior year,” he continues. “After I decided to stay then, I think they knew I was going to try Europe first.”
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