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“Esmir, I’m so happy for [him],” Porter said after the game. “He’s a young kid, very talented, lot of potential. It’s very important in that role to be goal-dangerous; as a winger, you have to produce goals. And he’s been getting in really good spots. We worked a lot on the ground and in the film room, just showing him little things to do … The goal that he scored, he just took initiative, he made the decision, and I love that in him.”
Bajraktarević’s own joy was evident on his face after the goal, as he and his teammates ran over to the corner flag to celebrate. Midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye even gave the young winger a symbolic shoe polish in front of the stunned Nashville crowd to mark the occasion.
Gil was typically excellent all night, scoring his fifth goal of the season in the first half and covering just about every blade of grass by the time the final whistle blew. Earlier in the week, he had said that his mentality was one of treating every game like a final, and after this victory in Nashville he said that wouldn’t be changing any time soon.
“If we want to be in the playoffs, we need to win games like today,” Gil said. “Now we start [the home stand], we’re strong at home with our fans. We have two consecutive games and we want to continue. Now in my mind it’s just, ‘Next game.'”
Porter shared just how helpful it was to have a locker room leader in Gil who was willing not only to accept the hard truths off the field, but also to do something about them on it.
“Carles has high standards,” he said. “I have high standards. He talks about the reality of where we’re at, right? It’s important that you know the reality of where you’re at and you don’t accept it, but you realize it and then you do something to change it. I think what he did today to change it was be the best player on the field, today. He’s running, too, defensively at the end of the game. But he was special today. He showed his quality and it was great to see his smile in the locker room after the game, to see him celebrating with the guys.”
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