Maicon Santos is parched.

Acquired by Toronto FC July 9 after his release by Chivas USA, Maicon is in town to fortify the club’s attack during a busy July and August.

Maicon has every quality he needed to score. In last week’s game against game against the Colorado Rapids, Maicon looked silky smooth. He has a terrific left foot and he is fearless and nimble in the air.

Last season, he had just one regular season goal for Chivas and then another in the post-season.

But the 26-year-old Brazilian is a goalscorer, simple as that.

When a goalscorer isn’t scoring, he slips into the goal scorer’s netherworld and it is not a nice place.

“I can do more,” Maicon said. “I need to get my legs back. I need to play more and then I can show what I can do.”

“He has ability, of course,” said Preki who had Maicon with Chivas. “He is one of the guys with ability. But the question is can we put that in the structure of the team. I think we can.”

Maicon should get a chance on Saturday when FC journeys to Philadelphia for a date with the Union. Toronto will have the use of Mista but the soaring temperatures will heighten the need to keep the club’s attackers, Dwayne DeRosario in particular, fresh.

After a sweltering practice at Cherry Beach, Maicon said he was surprised by the extreme heat he found in Canada. Soccer has already brought him to Tunisia and Israel. “It doesn’t matter where you are,” he said. “Hot is hot. Cold is cold.”

Which brings us back to Maicon’s fervent desire to heat up. He points to his heart and head and said he plays with “what’s going on here and what’s going on there.”

The heart and the head miss scoring. Goalscorers remember every goal, especially the last one.

“My last goal was in Chicago,” he said. “It was on a centre cross and I got nice air.” He looks wistful when he says this. When things go wrong, that memory is all a scorer has.

“You’ve got to remember your goals,” he said. “It’s so nice. It’s just an amazing feat.”

“If I don’t score, I get a little bit mad. I try to figure out what I did wrong. I work more. Next game I have to score.”
And how will it feel when the drought is broken?

“The feeling,” said Maicon, “it’s the best thing in the world. When you score, it’s hard to explain, it’s so good.”