Lais Araujo, the junior midfielder from Salvador, Brazil, is no stranger to the hype.
While attending ASA College in Brooklyn, Araujo set school records in both goals (20) and assists (16) in just 21 career matches with the Avengers. She earned National Junior College Athletic Association Second-Team All-American honors her freshman year.
She was still learning English at the time. Portuguese and soccer are her native tongues.
Last year, Araujo started all four games and was named captain for the Brazilian national team in the U-20 Women’s World Cup held in Papua, New Guinea. Brazil would eventually succumb to third-place Japan in the quarterfinals, but Araujo had already made a name for herself by then.
Araujo has even garnered the attention of Brazilian soccer legend Pele. After hearing about her call up to the U-20 national squad, Pele could not contain his hype.
“I’m very proud of her,” Pele said, beaming, in an interview with ESPN.
As he should be. Araujo is reason enough to follow the Gators soccer team this year. In UF's latest match, a 1-0 win against previously unbeaten Ole Miss, Araujo had the crowd on the edge of its collective seat with her flashy one-on-one dekes and passes. ‘Ooh’s and ‘ah’s rained down from spectators as she repetitively took on the Rebels defense, in some cases making defenders look silly in the process.
“I’ve always played like that,” Araujo said. “I like to create a lot. I have some nice skills, so I try to put that into my game and make it my identity playing soccer.”
If you don’t believe her, Araujo has a nearly six-minute highlight reel of her moves on YouTube.
Some soccer “purists” who follow this Gators squad may not approve of the nature of Araujo’s play. They may think of her as a more style-over-substance type of player.
Don’t listen to the noise.
Believe the hype.
Araujo has already contributed in big ways for the Gators this season. She scored the game-winning goal against then No. 1 Stanford in beautiful fashion. After receiving a pass in the 18-yard box, Araujo dribbled hard to her left with a Stanford defender tight on her and cocked her leg in preparation for her shot.
When the defender bit hard to her left, however, Araujo slammed on the brakes, swung the ball onto her dominant right foot and curled it into the far corner of the Cardinal net.
After sprinting for her teammates on the sideline, Araujo turned to the crowd and gave the traditional Gator salute. Chomp chomp.
Araujo said her coaches “absolutely” support the crowd-pleasing fake-outs. But the first ever junior college transfer to play for the Gators soccer program knows the importance of balancing the theatrics with solid fundamentals.
“We do very well with passing and moving all the time,” Araujo said.
During Florida’s road trip to Seattle to play Portland, Araujo displayed her passing prowess with an assist to redshirt senior Gabby Seiler. Araujo launched a volley from about 40 yards out that bounced neatly into the streaking captain’s path down the left side of Portland’s box, allowing Seiler to one-time it into the net for the only goal of the match.
When you watch Araujo, it can be frustrating at times. You may scream that there is an open teammate in a better position when she’s working a defender. You may hate the showy moves or the flair with which she plays. Her style sometimes fails to impress defenders as well.
But the law of averages says that anything that can happen will. And one of these matches, Araujo’s going to end up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 because of it.
Believe the hype. It’s more entertaining that way.
You can follow Morgan McMullen on Twitter @MorganMcMuffin, and contact him at mmcmullen@alligator.org.
UF midfielder Lais Araujo dribbles the ball during Florida's 2-1 win against Syracuse on Aug. 27 at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
