Ismael Tajouri-Shradi is ready to make up for lost time as the start of the 2021 Major League Soccer season approaches.
The 26-year-old has been a major contributor for New York City FC since joining the team from Austria Wien in 2018. Unfortunately, the forward had a difficult 2020 due to injury, but was still able to produce three goals and one assist in 670 minutes of regular season action.
Now fully healthy and reenergized, Tajouri-Shradi told the club’s official website he is ready to make a big impact in 2021.
“I’m feeling very good right now, actually I’m really fit thanks God,” he said. “I’m doing my best everyday to stay fit, to stay in shape. I’m sure this season is going to be way better than last season. Last season was not the best for me because of injuries, because of COVID, it’s not just about me, it’s the whole world. Thanks God we got through. Now I’m just focusing for the new season and I can’t wait to get started.”
The Libyan international has been in fine form during preseason in Florida, and notched a goal and an assist during NYCFC’s 3-0 win against Columbus Crew SC on Wednesday evening.
“We look really strong this preseason,” he said. “We’ve been training very hard. We’ve trained every day, and we give our best in every session. The mentality is right there in every training, everyone does their job in every session. You can see it in the game. That’s a friendly game, every game is going to be different, but we do all of this hard work for the first game against D.C. [United] and go from there.”
Tajouri-Shradi was speaking ahead of the club’s next preseason assignment vs. Nashville SC on Saturday, March 27. The game is a behind closed doors fixture, but we will bring you some updates and a brief recap across our channels.
