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Reggie Cannon, Colorado RapidsImagn

'Finally feel valued' - Colorado Rapids star Reggie Cannon on his European nightmare, his MLS return, his USMNT ambitions and the great metaphor of Elden Ring

There are plenty of things in Reggie Cannon's life that he's just dying to talk about. Chief among them right now? Elden Ring. He finally beat it recently. To say he's proud is an understatement.

"It's the hardest videogame I've ever played, oh my gosh," Cannon says with a laugh. "It was so difficult. It was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had."

Cannon can talk all day about videogames, like Elden Ring. He can talk about the wild boss fights, and the amount of tries it took to finally get past them. He's eager to dive into anime as well, One Piece in particular. He's ready to talk about soccer, too: his big move to Colorado to join the Rapids, the upcoming MLS playoff push and his adjustment to life in Denver.

Talking about his road to Colorado, though? That's a little bit more complicated. It's not even necessarily that Cannon doesn't want to talk about it... it's just that, after a summer from hell in Europe, there are certain things he just can't get into.

Cannon arrived in Colorado in September after leaving Queens Park Rangers at the end of August. His departure from the English club came amid an ongoing dispute with former club Boavista. After leaving the Portuguese side in 2023, alleging unpaid wages, FIFA ruled in August that Cannon would need to pay Boavista nearly $1.4 million after a regulatory body ruled that he unlawfully left the club.

The fullback can't really get into all of that. It is an ongoing legal saga, after all. What he can do, though, is acknowledge how tough it's been and, more importantly, how eager he is to put it all behind him.

"Once I kind of realized the situation, and I realized what I had to do to continue to play my best, it was at that point that I just had that moment of growth," Cannon told GOAL. "Like, look, it's a really bad situation, it's not ideal, but at the end, I have to do what I have to do to try to enjoy my football and try to enjoy my game as much as possible. Obviously, it's about continuing to be the person I am. It's those moments that definitely helped me grow. Looking back, I definitely say that 21-22-year-old Reggie definitely is much different now than the 26-year-old Reggie. I definitely worked on it as a time of growth."

GOAL sat down with the Colorado Rapids star to discuss that growth, the hardest parts of his journey playing in Europe, coming home and his U.S. men's national team ambitions.

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