It’s not every day a former Manchester United footballer favorably compares one of his players to the man most responsible for twice booting his beloved Red Devils from the Champions League Final.
But when UF assistant coach Alan Kirkup discusses how junior midfielder Erika Tymrak has been playing of late — five goals and an assist in the No. 9 Gators’ last five games — the similarities between her and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi become clear.
Whether it’s goals, assists or skills with the ball, both players can seemingly do it all for their teams.
“She’s a player who can unlock defenses by dribbling, by beating people. That’s a skill that’s tough to coach. Some of it’s innate,” said Kirkup, a Manchester United player from 1972-76. “Lionel Messi from Barcelona has the same quality to beat players but also score goals and set other people up.”
Before Florida’s leading scorer could begin her recent hot streak, the midfielder found herself trying to grow out of a familiar role from last season.
As UF’s top returning assist specialist, Tymrak came away from the team’s season-opening matches against Miami and FIU with a pair of assists and four shots on goal that failed to find the back of the net.
“I was getting more assists and the coaches kind of talked to me and said, ‘You need to start doing both scoring and assisting,’ so I tried to step it up a little,” Tymrak said. “But I owe it to my team because they’ve been playing me amazing balls, and I’ve just been finishing them.”
As a player who can dismantle defenses with her dribbling, Tymrak’s new-found aggressiveness also provided her the freedom from coaches to create chances with more risky plays.
The junior leads Florida with 12 shots on goal and has the highest shot percentage among UF players with double-digit attempts.
“We don’t try to close down any part of her game,” UF head coach Becky Burleigh said. “Our game is not necessarily about beating people one-v-one, but when you have the ability to do that, let’s do it.”
With a year left in college and budding opportunities to play for the U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team, the 20-year-old said she takes her coaches’ compliments to heart, as Messi is one of her favorite players and Barcelona is a team Florida tries to emulate.
“We watch a lot of film, and Barcelona is a team that we try and play like because they possess it,” Tymrak said. “They’re the best team in the world. With Messi, everyone knows he’s amazing, but just the fact that he’s so humble and that he can dribble (through) basically the whole team, but at the same time, can make a simple pass. That blows my mind.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
Gators midfielder Erika Tymrak has scored five goals in the team’s last five games, and coaches are raving about the junior’s game-changing ability.
