After a breakout season last year, Tai Baribo hopes to deliver an encore for the Union

If someone comes along from afar and looks at Tai Baribo’s stats with the Union, they’ll see he has scored 16 goals in 32 games for the club so far. But that doesn’t come close to telling the story.

All 16 of those goals came in a four-month span, after 10 months of barely seeing the field. It was a remarkable emergence for the striker, and a long-awaited confirmation of the talent he showed before coming here.

But the Union’s failure to make the playoffs meant his momentum stopped almost as quickly as it started. Now a new season has arrived, starting with Saturday’s opener at Orlando City (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). So it’s time for Baribo to get back at it, and he’s ready.

“Every striker wants to score goals, and I hope they will come together, goals and wins,” Baribo told The Inquirer this week.

His success last year and the Union’s roster turnover this winter earned him a promotion beyond just being an expected starter. He now wears the No. 9 jersey, the most famous one for his position, after wearing No. 28 previously.

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“It feels amazing,” he said, but he doesn’t make too much of it.

“It doesn’t matter, the number. When I was 28, I felt good,” he said, “I’m a religious guy. I believe everything is from God, so the number is just a number. I believe what you need to get, you will get. It doesn’t matter which number you wear.”

The club’s history with the number has been mixed. Julián Carranza, Fafà Picault, and Sébastien Le Toux thrived in it, but Sam Adeniran, Fernando Aristeguieta, Charlie Davies, Andrew Wenger, and Jack McInerney didn’t.

None of that needs to concern Baribo. Indeed, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s never heard of guys from a decade ago. What matters is that he keeps scoring and maintains the chemistry he showed last year with Mikael Uhre and Dániel Gazdag. The same will go for Bruno Damiani once his visa paperwork is processed and he’s eligible to play.

“When you know the players that are playing with you, you know how they like to get the ball, which position they like, where they’re supposed to be [when] most of the time they are running,” Baribo said. “When you play together with them, it’s more easy. But of course, we have new players and we have to adapt to them as well.”

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With how much the Union turn over their roster, Baribo practically counts as a veteran. This is his third season with the club, and he’s a 27-year-old on a roster with nine teenagers. Two of them are forwards, Eddy Davis and Sal Olivas, who can look up to Baribo for lessons on how to be a pro.

“First of all, I’m old here — I’m just 27,” Baribo said with a laugh. “But, yeah, of course there are really good young kids here. They’re good young players. They have a lot of talent.”

He wants to see them push this year to reach the first team, and he believes they will.

“It’s not about age all the time because you can see Lamine Yamal in Barcelona is 17, and he plays like he’s 30,” Baribo said, referring to the phenom who debuted for the Spanish giants at 15 in 2023, then won the European Championship with Spain’s national team last summer.

“I never say it’s about age, it’s about passion,” Baribo said. “So when you have this passion, it doesn’t matter how old are you, everything will be good.”

Life is going well off the field, too. Baribo and his wife have settled in the region and have made plenty of friends.

“I feel like it’s my home,” he said. “We feel very good outside of the field, and now we are looking forward to feeling good on the field.”

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Baribo noticed when some fans brought Israeli flags to games last year. He said he has gotten “a lot of messages” from Israeli American fans who are happy he’s in the league.

“I’m just thankful for them, and I hope they will come this season as well,” he said.

He also noticed when fans brought what he called “other flags that I don’t like.” It’s never easy to keep sports and politics separate, and that’s as true at Subaru Park as it is everywhere else. It’s been a delicate subject for the Union and MLS as a whole.

Baribo often is asked if he’s affected by the ongoing war in the Middle East. He doesn’t go into depth on it in public much, but his answer is yes: He has many friends back home who live through it on a daily basis, and he plays for Israel’s national team.

“When you speak about Israel and the war, when it comes to soccer, it’s nothing because life is really more important than soccer,” he said.

He was even clearer that he fully welcomes anyone who supports his team.

“We accept everybody,” he said. “I try not to get inside the politics and stuff like this.”

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Next month, Israel will begin its quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The country has not played on soccer’s biggest stage since 1970, and its qualifying group this time is tough. It includes Norway, led by Premier League stars Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard and the loser of an upcoming Germany-Italy playoff. Moldova and Estonia round out the field.

The group winner will qualify for next year’s 48-team field, and the runner-up will go to a playoff. Israel won’t be favored to reach the top two, and its home games vs. Estonia and Norway next month will be played on neutral turf in Hungary. But the team has a little momentum after a tie with France and a win over Belgium last November.

“After we beat Belgium, we’re coming in with a new spirit, and we’re really waiting for the next games,” Baribo said.

He might be joined for them by three other Israeli players in MLS right now: Charlotte FC forwards Liel Abada (a squad veteran) and Idan Toklomati, and New England Revolution defender Ilay Feingold. It’s always news when a European national team notices MLS, even if that national team is noticed more for non-soccer reasons.

“I know from the national team that most of the players really want to come to MLS, because of the facilities, because of the quality of the players, and everything,” Baribo said. “When one guy succeeds in the league, it opens the doors to other guys.”

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