When Maximiano was about 10 years old and his father worked with soccer players facilitating interviews, he watched Ibson play and win a championship in the famous Maracana Stadium in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined the possibility that about a decade later, he'd be playing alongside that star.
"I couldn't believe that I would be here playing with him now," Maximiano said in Portuguese through a translator. "It's pretty unbelievable."
Minnesota United's new holding midfielder has been learning from longtime central midfielder Ibson both on and off the field. Ibson, 34, seems to have taken his 22-year-old countryman under his wing. Maximiano clearly appreciates that, saying it's "phenomenal" how Ibson is always helping him, and he's just "very happy" to have him as a mentor.
And while the anecdote of Maximiano's youth might make Ibson feel old, Maximiano said he's always joking with Ibson that his quality is superior to anyone else, often telling him, "You're different."
Other notes from practice Tuesday at the National Sports Center:
Forward Christian Ramirez trained separately from the group, mainly running on the sidelines. He strained his right hamstring in the game Saturday.
"Day to day, really. Obviously when you have a tweaked hamstring, invariably you're looking at a minimum couple of weeks," coach Adrian Heath said. "But he felt a lot better in the last couple of days. Whether the weekend comes a little bit early, I don't know."
The other guys missing, besides the long-term injured/loaned, were outside backs Tyrone Mears and Marc Burch, and forward Abu Danladi. Mears and Burch have been recovering from respective calf/Achilles and knee injuries while Danladi also has a hamstring injury.
Heath termed both Danladi and Mears as his favorite "day to day" line. As for Burch, he said the left back is "probably a lot farther behind Mears."
Rookie center back Wyatt Omsberg was also back practicing after a loan stint with the United Soccer League's Tulsa Roughnecks. He started and played 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Sacramento Republic on Saturday.
Heath said he heard good reports back on Omsberg, and Tulsa was so impressed that the team wants the rookie back for as long as possible. Tulsa also plays Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday this next week like United, so Heath said it depends on United's needs if Omsberg will return soon. But Heath said at least that if Omsberg doesn't start this Saturday, which would seem unlikely, he'll at least go to Tulsa for that game against Las Vegas.
