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Inside Hokie Sports
D
ream vacations
often start with
warm tempera
tures and beautiful
beaches, but some places
offer more—much more,
actually.
Costa Rica, for example, features
rain forests, volcanoes, a popular
national forest and coastlines on two
major oceans. Tourists venture to
this idyllic spot in Central America
to hike, bungee jump from bridges,
watch birds, go rafting, try snorkeling
and attempt surfing, among other things.
Marcelo Acuna loves his native country, and he
likes going to the beach with his buddies. He absorbs
the rays of the sun and watches while his friends surf.
The truth, though, is that, in this relative utopia, Acuna
prefers another of Costa Rica’s passions—one that doesn’t
involve tourists or scenery. He loves soccer, and in his world
and that of many of his native countrymen, it comes first at the
expense of everything else in this beautiful place.
“I’m the only one of my friends who doesn’t surf, but that’s
because I prefer soccer,” Acuna said. “I didn’t have time to go to the
beach on weekends. I had games and practices.
“Everything is soccer in Costa Rica. There is no other sport. It’s just
soccer. That’s all you do. It’s, like, the only option you have.”
Acuna, who hails from San Jose (the nation’s capital), brought his passion
to the United States, and ultimately, Blacksburg, where he currently serves as a
high-scoring forward on the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team. Largely as a result
of his ability to put balls in the back of the net, the Hokies earned a bid to the NCAA
Championships in 2016 and advanced to the Elite Eight—their first berth and best run
since the 2007 team went to the College Cup.
That Acuna wound up in Blacksburg came as a surprise—both to him and Tech’s
coaches. Tech men’s head coach Mike Brizendine and his assistants do not actively recruit
in Costa Rica. Yes, like a lot of Tech’s Olympic sports coaches, they recruit a few international
kids, but for the most part, they fill the roster with those from within a six-hour radius of the
university’s campus.
Acuna himself never expected to play in the United States. He expected to play in college in Costa
Rica and then pursue a spot on a professional team or on Costa Rica’s national team.
“I graduated from high school at a very young age, and I got into college over there back in Costa Rica,”
he said. “The problem there is that it’s impossible to study and play soccer at the same time, so I had to
take a position, and I started looking for options. I discovered that, by coming to the U.S., I could do both at
the same time.”
Acuna’s journey, though, wasn’t as simple as a direct flight to Blacksburg. It involved a layover—at Houston
Baptist, a small Division I school in Houston with approximately 3,300 students.
The Houston Baptist coaching staff was in Costa Rica looking for players and came across Acuna, who played for
an academy. Houston Baptist’s coaches offered Acuna an opportunity to play in the United States—and he took it.
Unlike a lot of international students, Acuna easily adapted to American culture. He learned English while in high
school in Costa Rica, and Houston Baptist’s roster featured several Hispanic players. Plus, his mother was actually born in
Los Angeles, so he made several trips to the United States as a child.
“My mother was born here, and my grandmother is from the U.S., too,” he said. “She married my grandfather, who is from
Costa Rica. They went back to Costa Rica, but I used to come back two or three times a year.
“I also came with the national team a couple of times, and then I came with my high school three or four times to play in
Minnesota [in a tournament]. Of course, you get nervous of living here because it’s different, but not because I was coming to the U.S.”
A sophomore according to the NCAA because of the time spent at Universidad Escuela Libre Derecho in Costa Rica, Acuna showed
his ability to score goals right away at Houston Baptist, registering 10 goals in 19 games. On two occasions, he recorded the rare hat trick
(three goals in a game).
But he had bigger aspirations. He wanted to play at a higher level—which meant leaving Houston Baptist. He sent emails to the coaching
staffs at several schools, including one to the coaches at Tech. Looking for some scoring punch, Brizendine and his staff followed up with Acuna,
and that led to him winding up in Blacksburg. He visited in the spring of 2016, and he made his decision a few days later.
“I wanted to play in a more competitive conference and on a better team,” Acuna said. “So I asked for my release and started looking at my
options. I thought this one was the best fit for me. I think it was.”
