In my feature last week on former Washington Diplomats star Paul Cannell, he shared his one real concern with Major League Soccer: that the league lacks playmakers with the ability to run at other players with the objective of taking them out of the game. D.C. United midfielder Nick DeLeon must have been listening.
In the 49th minute of United’s 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew at RFK Stadium on Saturday, DeLeon found himself on the end of a Dwayne De Rosario pass some 30 yards from goal. Only seconds earlier, United assistant coach Chad Ashton could be heard on the sidelines, urging the rookie to run at his defenders more often. De Leon obliged, finding a sliver of daylight between Columbus defender Josh Williams and the touch line.
After muscling his way past Williams, he put on a dizzying display of footwork to round two further Crew players, crossing the ball across the six-yard box, where Chris Pontius eventually smacked it home, scoring his 10th goal of the year.
For DeLeon, the assist marked a welcome return to form. After a blistering start to his rookie campaign, the University of Louisville graduate suffered through both an injury and a lengthy slump—things that are all too common for many first-year players in MLS, who are accustomed to playing in the thee-month NCAA season. Major League Soccer season run 10 months.
“The college season is so short,” United head coach Ben Olsen said after the match, “and to concentrate for this duration is tough. It’s a long time. You see it in the second year guys—they know how to concentrate for long periods and each year it gets a little bit better.”
Added DeLeon: “I got off to a good start, then I picked up that injury and I felt like mentally I got into a little slump. Recently I’ve just been focusing on amping my game up to the next level. You can never be satisfied with where you are at, so these past few weeks at practice I’ve been working hard, pushing it and trying to get to that next level. I guess I kind of showed it in the game that I’m trying to get back there.”
DeLeon wasn’t the only new addition to United’s lineup on Saturday. The game saw defender Emiliano Dudar start his first league match in several months, and recent addition Long Tan continued to play a larger role in the black and red’s offense. Though he lacked a finishing touch, Tan impressed his head coach.
“He was good,” Olsen said. “His work rate is unbelievable. We didn’t find him as much as we needed to in behind. I have to look at the film, but I think he made some very good runs. If we find him, he can be very dangerous. I was hoping he could have got a goal. He did a great job on the goal to get a little flick on there. He put a good night in for sure.”
The game was a rough-and-tumble affair from the get go. The Crew showed little interest in pushing forward and racked up three yellow cards in the first 36 minutes of the match. United defender Daniel Woolard left the match in the 62nd minute with a head injury after mid-air collision with Dudar. Lewis Neal took his place. Woolard will be evaluated by the team’s medical staff throughout the week; MLS has increased its focus on combating the effects of concussions this year.
Columbus pushed hard for an equalizer in the second half, and United nearly gave it to them on multiple occasions as the home side became careless with the ball in the game’s dying moments. Dudar, in particular, gave the ball away multiple times—but DCU managed to hold on for the victory. It was an up-and-down game for the Argentine defender.
“He had some errant passing that didn’t help us at times,” Olsen said. “But he also had some passing and calmness that really does help us. I thought overall he had a pretty good day.”
The victory was a crucial one for the home team, as it had dropped its previous two and found itself in fourth place coming into the match. United remains in fourth, but gained ground and is now only four points off the lead in the increasingly congested Eastern Conference. United next faces Sporting Kansas City this coming Saturday, the second of five August matches that will play an important role in determining whether the team’s MLS Cup aspirations are realistic—or just a heat-induced pipe dream.
Team Notes: Sunday’s reserve league match with the Crew was postponed following the tragic news that Columbus midfielder Kirk Urso died Saturday evening. The cause of death has yet to be determined, but he was not part of the squad that traveled to D.C. for the match, as he had been recovering from an injury. Urso is the first MLS player to die during the league’s season. … Midfielder Andy Najar will return to the squad this week after Honduras’ 3-2 loss to Brazil in an Olympic quarterfinal match in London. He will be evaluated by United’s training staff for possible participation in this weekend’s match with Kansas City … Forward Hamdi Salihi was selected for Albania’s upcoming friendly match with Moldova on August 16, and Dwayne De Rosario and Dejan Jakovic were both selected for duty with the Canadian national team on August 15. They’ll be taking on Trinidad and Tobago … In case you missed it, listen to Ben Olsen and team president and CEO Kevin Payne on WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show earlier this week. Great stuff, and more insight on the stadium situation.
