Photo: Earl Gardner

The Skillsinho era is over in Philadelphia. 

Wednesday morning the Philadelphia Union announced that six-year Union midfielder Ilson Pereria Dias Junior — known to everyone as Ilsinho — would be retiring from football. The move comes after a 17-year career in professional football that included six seasons with Ukrainian super club Shaktar, and a handful of years in his native Brazil before a memorable final stint in Philadelphia. 

While playing for any club as notable as Shaktar is no doubt an achievement, it’s perhaps the Brazilians time in Philadelphia that took him from skillful midfielder to cult icon. However, before reminiscing on the gorgeous technical play of the midfielder who treated defenders more like training cones than humans, it’s important to contextualize Ilsinho’s role in transforming the Union into the perennial contenders we know today. 

2015 was a dark year for the Union. The club finished their MLS campaign 9th in the Eastern Conference, and 18th overall. That would have potentially been excusable if the club had captured the U.S. Open Cup that had eluded them last year, but yet again the Union fell in the final, and all that was left to celebrate come October 25 was the fact that the season was at last over.

However, while October 25 brought the end of the season, October 26 brought the beginning of an era: the Earnie Stewart Era. 

That day, news broke that the Union would be bringing in the former USMNT midfielder Earnie Stewart as technical director for the club. In his role, Stewart would focus on bringing players into the club and, in the words of Jay Sugarman, establish a “real firm direction” and “competitive edge in MLS.” While some hoped this meant finally throwing cash around and signing big name players, the reality was that Stewart was a Moneyball style technical director who focused on developing youth talent, and finding low-cost, high-reward players who could potentially improve a struggling Union side.

Enter Ilsinho. 

Signed as a free transfer on February 24, 2016, Ilsinho was the the fourth transfer brought in by Stewart, and the first who would make an immediate impact within the senior team. While the Union would lose the 2016 season opener, which doubled as Ilsinho’s debut, the club rebounded quickly, winning the next two contests, and scoring 5 goals between the two games. It was the first time the Union had won two in a row since May of 2015, and the first time the Union had tallied more than 4 goals in two games since the 2014 season. Though Ilsinho was largely absent on the stat sheets, his presence going forward in attack proved vital to the Union’s increased offensive production.

Thanks in large part to his reputation as a skilled dribbler, Ilsinho often attracted an overabundance of attention to his right side of the field, freeing up his teammates in the center of the park. The mere threat of what Ilsinho could do forced opposition defenders to stay tight on him at all times, and the reality of his skill on the ball often negated any close marking a defender had decided to do. With Ilsinho playing on the right side of the pitch the Union offense hummed to a then record 52 goals, a full ten more than the previous year.

In his two seasons as a regular starter, Ilsinho played a pivotal role in transforming a struggling Union offense into a competent attack that, while nothing to write home about, was a marked improvement from past seasons.

Yet, despite as a starter being a foundational player in the Unions ascent from the cellar of the eastern conference, it’s Ilsinho’s role as super sub that will go down in Union legend.

In 2018, due to a mixture of old age, and an overabundance of midfielders within the first team, Ilsinho saw his role shift from regular starter, to role-playing substitute. He quickly cemented himself as a super-sub, equaling his 2017 goal total (six) in only half the minutes. His hypnotic dribbling skills, and uncanny ability to find space where there was absolutely none made him a late game threat whenever he was brought on to the pitch.

Speaking of late game threats, there can’t be a piece about Ilsinho without talking about that game. When Ilsinho was brought on in the 53rd minute against New York Red Bulls on June 8, 2019, he was put on for a first season Brendan Aaronson, who was playing in only his 13th MLS start. Aaronson had been largely ineffective in the match due to Red Bull’s 4-2-3-1 limiting the Union’s midfield diamond. But subbing Aaronson for Ilsinho allowed the Union to change formations to counter New York, and Skillsinho delivered a performance for the ages: two goals and an assist in just twelve minutes. 

Having Ilsinho on the bench in 2019 and 2020 not only gave the Union a late game cheat code, but it allowed the club to experiment squad selection and formation. With Ilsinho waiting in the wings, Jim Curtin didn’t need to overthink inserting wildcards into the midfield. If something went wrong with the midfield shape, strategy, or even a singular player, Curtin could throw Ilsinho on the pitch with total confidence that the veteran would have an almost immediate positive impact.

While so many Union faithful will remember his late-game heroics and impossibly fast footwork, Ilsinho’s greatest contribution to the club may have been his reliability and stalwart consistency as a super-sub that allowed the Union to experiment in the midfield, and play their kids.