What a past few days it has been for Emmanuel Latte Lath. On Wednesday, he introduced himself to media at his first press conference. On Saturday, he started and scored a brace in his debut with Atlanta United. And on Monday, he was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi for Matchday 1. It's, of course, his first time receiving the honor, and it likely won't be his last.
Latte Lath was one of three forwards selected for the Team of the Matchday, landing him right next to superstar Lionel Messi. How about that for an introduction to MLS? He also now leads the league in scoring, tied with six other players who scored braces in the opening weekend of regular season play.
The Ivorian became the first player in Atlanta United history to score a brace in his first competitive match for the club. He also, according to him, scored a goal in a debut match for the first time in his career.
His two goals came just over 20 minutes of gametime apart and on either side of the halftime break. Latte Lath has talked about how much he loves running and scoring goals, of which he did plenty Saturday, but he's also well aware of his true desire with Atlanta United: to win.
And the 5-Stripes did just that. Latte Lath's two goals and Edwin Mosquera's 85th minute golazo lifted Atlanta United over CF Montréal 3-2 in front of over 65,000 supporters at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I came here with a mission, so I'm really, really happy for the team and happy we finished with three points," Latte Lath said.
More goals will be on the horizon if he maintains the energy and tenacity he showed Saturday. How many, there's no telling. Latte Lath wouldn't reveal his personal tally for how many goals he expects to score this year.
"I've never said it before, so maybe in the end you will know," he said. "If I hit it, I will tell you. No puedo decir."
