Magnus Rasmussen returned to Louisville City FC’s starting lineup four games ago, and the club has won them all since.
Even coach James O’Connor, often hesitant to single out an individual, considers LouCity’s longest winning streak of the season more than coincidence.
“He’s played a role for sure,” O’Connor said of Rasmussen, the club’s leading returning scorer from 2015 who’s on fire again.
Consider Rasmussen the player to watch entering Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Charlotte Independence. The attacking midfielder has netted three shots in two games, looking recovered — and well-conditioned — after recovering from offseason surgery to recover a hip labral tear.
The rehab, Rasmussen says, wasn’t easy. And watching his LouCity teammates excel from the stands wasn’t pleasant.
“Obviously it’s very fun for me right now,” he said. “It’s been a tough season watching the guys play, and they were playing really well. It’s been hard to come back into the team, and now that I’m back, I’m just enjoying it.”
Rasmussen first hit from distance Sept. 10, in LouCity’s last game at Slugger Field. His shot grazed off the hands of the Kickers’ goalkeeper and into the net, going down as a USL Goal of the Week candidate. The Dane added two more in the second half of last week’s 5-1, blowout win over Saint Louis FC.
“He’s just enjoying his football,” O’Connor said. “I think when you play with that sense of enjoyment, it allows you to play free. Equally, his confidence has risen because he’s scored some goals. He’s looking a lot fitter, which is great.
“We’re really pleased with where he is at the moment.”
The 23-year-old is playing much like the guy who plunged straight into the record books, scoring the first goal in LouCity history on March 28, 2015. In all, he tallied 8 goals in the club’s inaugural season, second only to USL MVP and purple-clad teammate Matt Fondy’s league record 22.
That, Rasmussen accomplished while learning English and acclimating to American culture. He spent 2012-2015 with Danish second division side BK Søllerød-Vedbæk before catching O’Connor’s attention.
Those hurdles haven’t impeded the No. 10’s obvious talent.
“I think, first, he’s got a great soccer brain,” said LouCity winger Andrew Lubahn. “As an attacking player especially, he knows where you’re going to run. He knows how to play the ball through to you. Just playing with him is a joy.
“I think he deserves a lot of credit. A lot of people don’t see the amount of work he did to come back from his injury. That’s not an easy thing to do. We’re happy he’s getting all the rewards after his hard work.”
With kickoff against the Independence set for 7:30 p.m., Rasmussen said it’s not only about winning for LouCity. He’ll worry about how the club goes about it with an Oct. 2 USL playoff opener looming.
“We played good before they got the man sent off,” Rasmussen said, alluding to Saint Louis FC’s first half red card, “but we just kind of want to build to play as good as we did against 10 men against 11.”
