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Photo credit to Amy Thole- Picture taken at US Bank stadium, Miki Villen is accepting his award for making the All-Tournament Team. "If he choose, he certainly does. I am not sure what his soccer future would hold for him in Spain, but I think he is one of, if not the, top offensive player in the state of Minnesota at the moment," Coach Smothers says.

Senior foreign exchange student Miki Villen leads the boys varsity soccer team to a State Championship win. Coming over from Spain was a big change for Miki, but he is having a blast and gets to go back home with a Minnesota state championship under his belt.

Villen has been playing soccer his whole life, starting out at the age of four and never stopping. Playing pro soccer has always been a dream of his and he is hoping one day it will come true.

Villen’s attitude on and off the field is tremendous. He never gives up and was a great aspect to the Stillwater team.

“Miki is a tremendous overall player and loves the game. His presence gave the team a lot of confidence they were going to win but also brought more enjoyment to the season. As Miki would say ‘It’s just soccer,'” Coach Jake Smothers said.

Playing left wing, Villen has many chances to score and assist on goals. With 26 goals and 11 assists this season, Villen won all-state.

“Miki was our biggest scoring threat and was one of our main targets whenever we wanted to go forward,” sophomore Spencer Scott said. “We will need to find ways to make up for his goals,” Scott added about the following year.

“Miki is one of the most gifted technical players we saw this year. He was able to break down team’s defenses and score some goals that helped our team relax,” Smothers said.

Coming to America has been an amazing experience for Villen and he is upset he won’t be a part of the team next year.

“Playing in the Vikings Stadium, that was awesome,” Villen said. “I should have scored in the final, but I couldn’t. It’s okay because we won and I’m pretty happy,” Villen added.

Villen started playing soccer at a young age and will have a bright future ahead of him.

“I started playing soccer when I was four years old. In Spain, my parents brought me to a club and I started playing soccer there, and then I didn’t stop,” Villen said.

Going back to Spain, Villen wishes to continue playing soccer and hopefully one day, going big.

“My dream is playing pro. I would love to play for my favorite team Real Madrid, a team from my city,” Villen said.

Chemistry on and off the field is very important to a successful team and this group of young men had it. They were friends off the field and teammates on the field which played a big role in leading them to a State title.

“Everyone are friends with everyone. We had such a nice group and they’re like my family now,” Villen said.

Joining a new team can be hard, but the boys welcomed Villen with open arms.

“They were impressed by him right away, but what was really enjoyable was how quickly they accepted him into the team. Miki’s overall enthusiasm was the reason. The boys loved having him around,” Smothers said.

“It is an honor to come to U.S.A and for the team to accept me and let me play with them. I am really happy to win state also,” Villen said.

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