RIAN MARQUES: MASL ALL STAR

First impressions can be deceiving.

Many a foe might have looked at 6-4, 215-lb. Rian Marques and think he would be a lumbering player.

Then the 29-year-old Brazilian will give them a lesson on how to handle the ball, pass it and score, as well.

Marques has put on a show with three skills for the Kansas City Comets this season, as he finds himself among the Major Arena Soccer League leaders in goals, assists and points.

"It's interesting, because a lot of people just correlate the fact that someone is tall and heavy to the fact that they can't run, they can't move, or if they do move, they're not as good on the ball," he said.

Oh, Marques is good on the ball, damn good.

Just ask the Harrisburg Heat, which wound up on the short end of a 7-3 result on Sunday as Marques recorded a hat-trick and assisted on two other goals for a career-high five points. Not surprisingly, he was named the No. 1 star of the game.

Marques honed his skills, playing a ton of futsal while growing up in soccer-crazy Brazil.

"I think it helped me be better with my decision making and being able to also be technical on the ball when I do not have a lot of space available," he said. "I feel like playing futsal at an early age really helped me be more technical, even though I'm considered a very tall player."

Soccer is a religion in Brazil.

"In Brazil, soccer is not just a sport, It's a way of living. It's a lifestyle," Marques said. "I don't really remember what age I started, but I have pictures with the ball since I'm three or four. Since I can remember, I've looked to play and go on the streets and play with my friends and my family."

He played futsal in state and national tournaments.

"That's why I think it helps me a lot with the indoor game, because you have shorter dimensions, you have less people," Marques said. "It's fast paced. You have to make decisions on a blink. That's why I think I have a little advantage of over players that have played mostly 11 v 11 soccer outdoors, where you have more time on the ball and more space."

Marques has scored four goals in a match, and he just came off that five-point game against Harrisburg Heat.

Yet, the forward would prefer to talk about a game in which he did not find the net.

"To be honest, my most memorable game was against against Chihuahua," he said of the Comets' 5-2 home win over the defending champion Savage on Jan. 25. "I didn't score on that game. But the fact that we're able to beat them after they beat us in the playoffs the year before, that game is a very special one to me."

That might tell you a lot about Marques. Winning is more important than stats.

But it is difficult to ignore Marques’ numbers, which have been outstanding.

Through 11 matches, he leads the league in assists (14), is second in points (30) and is tied for fourth in goals (16). He already equaled his career high in assists (last year) and points (2022-23) and is five goals away from his career-best 21 (2021-22).

Those numbers were good enough for Marques to be selected for the MASL All-Star Game in Utica, N.Y. on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Marques discovered the good news from his wife, Korina.

"I was just watching TV with my wife, and she actually saw it first on a post on Instagram," he said. "And she's like, 'Oooh, I guess you made it.' I'm like, "What are you talking about?' 'Oh, you made it to the all-star team.' We just had a nice little moment there. It was funny, and nice at the same time to find out from her.

"I think it's going to be a nice experience. I hope the league does that every year. It's nice for the league to put all those great players together for a game for the fans to see. I think it's a great way to expose our league a little bit more."

Marques was interviewed before Team Kelvin (Utica City FC's Kelvin Oliveira) and Team Perera (Tacoma Stars' Nick Perera) were selected earlier this week. He wound up on Team Perera, while teammate and goalkeeper Nicolau Neto was picked by Team Kelvin.

"It'd be nice to play against Neto," he said. "That would be fun to score some goals on him, other than in practice."

And for some bragging rights, as well.

Marques felt that the key to his success this year has been staying away from injuries.

"I'm healthy," he said. "It's the main reason why I have produced at the clip that I have. Throughout the years, I've always worked to improve a different aspect of my game. This year, I've been trying to do a better job reading my teammates' run, so I can find better passes and put them in a better position. This is the first year that I haven't had any kind of injury that affects my playing style. Last year I had a hamstring problem. The year before, I had problems with my ligaments in my ankles."

Born in Itabuna-Bahia, Brazil on Aug. 25, 1995, Marques was the leading goal-scorer on his high school team. In 2016, he journeyed to the U.S. to attend college.

"I didn't really know how the system worked," he said. "I didn't know the different leagues. I didn't know the NAIA and NCAA. I just came to what was more affordable for me and my family."

He spent two years at Iowa Lakes Community College in Spencer, Iowa. He tallied 21 goals and four assists over two seasons. He then transferred to Tusculum University in Tennessee, scoring twice in six appearances.

"I wasn't eligible to play DI so I ended up going to a D2 school,” Marques said.

He finished his senior year at Central Methodist University, an NAIA school in Fayette, Mo. In his senior season, Marques scored four goals and set up six others. Moreover, CMYU captured the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics title.

"It was huge," said Marques, who earned a degree in Business Administration. "I'm always a win first guy, and I'm very competitive, and those first three years now, able to not being able to win a conference title, or the regular season championship, was always tough. I really didn't care about the individual [statistics]. But seeing the quality within the team that year, we won 25 games and only lost one game. We're able to win everything. We won regular season, the conference championship, the national championship."

In 2020, Marques had an opportunity to join the Comets after playing against defender John Sosa, then with the team, in a summer league game.

"I played really well," he said. "I believe I scored a hat-trick in that game. He invited me to come around to train at Leo Gibson's facility, having a kick around."

Gibson was the Comets player-coach at the time.

"I went there a couple of times. Leo ended up liking me," Marques said.

He was able to learn from Gibson, who forged a reputation as an indoor goal-scoring machine before retiring last year.

Watching and playing with Gibson was "extremely valuable," the Brazilian said.

"We have different playing styles," he added. "Lee was a little bit shorter. He was able to hit different balls. He was able to score at a clip that, honestly, not many people were able to throughout a career. It was his leadership and his commitment to the game. Coming in as a rookie in 2020, it was very, very important to me to see what the greats do. Even though he was at towards the end of his career, he would still take his time to perfect his craft. John Sosa also played a big role in my early career with all the insights and advice he gave me."

On Sunday night, Marques will be sitting in front of his TV, watching the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.

"Oh, definitely, definitely," he said. “To be honest, I'm more of a basketball guy. I watch a lot of NBA, not as much NFL. But these past few years I've been watching because of them [the Chiefs]. They've been doing a great job. I hope they can make history and win three in a row."

While he will be rooting for the Chiefs to make some history, Marques hoped that the Comets can make some of their own by winning the MASL championship.

Entering this weekend's action, Kansas City (8-1-2, 26 points) sits in fourth place.

"I think we're starting to get a little bit more chemistry as a team," Marques said. "It's been hard this season because of injuries. We have lost Lucas Sousa. We have lost Michael Lenis for a few games, Leonardo Acosta in the last one. It's hard to get chemistry when you have so many missing pieces. But the new guys that came into the game did a great job, and we were able to build some chemistry with them. I feel like we need that stretch of games where we can have more momentum, where we can play the same squad. So, we can build on it.

"We're doing good. I don't think we're there yet at the championship level, regards to a playing style, but I think we'll be ready when the time comes. We're getting better every game."

And if the Comets capture the MASL crown?

"Oh, man, it's one of those accomplishments that can definitely define a lifetime," Marques said. "That's definitely one so my bucket list. I wish we had accomplished that last year, but I'm hoping we can definitely get the job done this year.”

Which would be a perfect finish for someone who doesn't care about his personal statistics, no matter how good they might be.

Michael Lewis can be followed at Bluesky and X (formerly Twitter) at Soccerwriter.