Local striker makes his case to remain with the Sarasota Paradise

Sarasota Paradise striker Andres Freire has been a part of the USL League Two team's run to a South Florida Division championship.

If he continues to excel, he could become one of the few players to be retained next season when the team moves up to USL League One at the professional level.

Staying with Sarasota would be especially meaningful to Freire, who was born and raised in Sarasota.

His soccer identity is rooted in the local community. 

Freire has come full circle from his youth soccer days, the highlight of which he said was scoring on bicycle kicks on back-to-back days at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch — the new home of the Paradise. 

This year is a pivotal point in his soccer career. 

He is set to play his final season of collegiate soccer this fall at Stetson University in DeLand, and plans to graduate with a degree in business administration this December. 

However, Freire admitted that attending college has been more about prolonging his soccer career than earning a degree.

With graduation creeping closer by the day, Freire is still unsure where he will play soccer at the professional level.

Photo by Vinnie Portell

Freire has bounced around for much of his soccer career. 

After playing for Riverview High for one season as a freshman in 2018, he then moved on to the Clearwater Chargers Developmental Academy. 

Freire began his collegiate career at USF from 2021-22 before transferring to Stetson, where he still plays today. 

Regardless of where he has played — from Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch to Clearwater, Tampa and DeLand — his pre-match routine has remained the same. 

Freire’s pre-game superstitions begin by walking the field while listening to the Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. 

He then makes sure to touch each goal post to “put the posts on his side and not theirs.”

“When I was 8 or 9, my dad (Alejandro Freire) had one CD in his car, and (Summer of '69) was my favorite song,” Freire said. “It was the second song on the track. Ever since then, I didn’t stop. Before every game, it was Summer of '69. If you ask any of the guys who played with me over the years, they’re always like, ‘Why are you playing this song? What is it with this song?’ I don’t know, I love it.”

When his walk concludes, Freire then takes a pre-match shower to wash away any negativity. 

That routine hasn’t wavered even when the results on the field didn’t back it up. 

Freire broke his ankle at Stetson in the 2023 season and missed the entire 2024 season.

When he returned to the pitch this summer for the Paradise, he had to earn his trust with the coaching staff.

After starting the first game of this season, he was relegated to the bench for the following two matches. 

Photo by Vinnie Portell

“Very early on he struggled, and he struggled because of his approach to training,” Paradise Coach Mirko Dakovic said. “I had to pull him aside and ask him to use the training sessions to better himself so that he could help the team and bring out the best in himself. Since he’s been back in the lineup, he’s been on fire.”

Freire has led the Paradise with 10 goals and six assists this season, including a match in which he recorded five goals and five assists in a 16-0 win over Miami AC on July 5. 

What’s made that run of scoring so meaningful is that he’s been able to do it with friends and family in attendance.

Freire coaches soccer at The Fitballer when he’s not playing. 

“A lot of the kids (at Paradise games) go (to The Fitballer), and they see me and scream, ‘Coach, coach coach,’” Freire said. “It means a lot to be able to be someone these kids look up to. I’ve never been famous. These kids are in awe of everything we do. Being a figure that they look up to means a lot.”

There is still time for Freire to make an even better impression. 

The Paradise will play in the USL League Two Southern Conference Playoffs beginning with a quarterfinal match against Sporting Club Jacksonville July 18 at 7:30 p.m. 

It will be the first time the Paradise has hosted a playoff match in the club’s three-year history, and it also will be the final match for many of the team’s current players. 

Paradise founder Marcus Walfridson said the club will only keep a few players next season due to the higher level of competition in US League One. 

“I would love to play here next year, but it’s not up to me,” Freire said. “I’m trying to make a case for myself, but at the end of the day, we’ll see where life goes.”