Tony's Take: Seizing the Day
08/25/2008 9:30 AM by Tony Limarzi
Prior to D.C. United’s victory over the Colorado Rapids I honestly predicted the final score to be, D.C. United 3 – Colorado 0. Now, it’s true that I always predict that D.C. United will win 3-0, but for the first time since August 5th of last season I was correct. I owe it all to Quavas Kirk. It’s rare to enter a match as a substitute and score a goal with your first touch, but that was the case for Kirk on Saturday. Here’s a player who wasn’t complaining about so many of United’s regulars being unavailable due to injury or suspension, he was happy to get a chance on the field with the first team. Kirk was one of several players making the most of the opportunity to be on the field.
There were three goal scorers for D.C. against the Rapids- Joe Vide, Santino Quaranta, and Quavas Kirk. If Tommy Soehn ever gets all of his players healthy this season (Gallardo, Olsen, Fred, Peralta, Mediate, Doe), it’s unclear if any of those players would start, and it’s almost impossible that those three would all be on the field at the same time. The reality is that Tommy doesn’t have all of his players available, and in a long season loaded with extra tournaments, the contributions from players lower on the depth chart can make the difference between making or missing the playoffs, or between a home second leg or a road second leg in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, or between winning the Supporters’ Shield or coming in second or third.
The injuries have been accumulating slowly but consistently over the past months, and Kirk and Vide are the most recent players answering the call. In July, Craig Thompson helped set up the Francis Doe’s equalizer in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal, as those two newly acquired players kept D.C. alive in that tournament; Ivan Guerrero collected a game-winning assist in his first appearance with United against Kansas City; and Ryan Cordeiro got an assist in the win against San Jose. These players are not regular starters for D.C., but their contributions have been and will continue to be critical.
Some teams might lose players to injury and take the approach to not worry about results in their absence; basically try to cut their losses until the stars return. Not so for United. Even with the absences, the team is trying to gain ground in the race for the Supporters’ Shield. If they fall short of that goal, they want to make sure that they are playing their best at the start of the MLS Cup Playoffs. There are a lot of personnel questions that need to be addressed for Coach Soehn, but whether Vide and Kirk are in the lineup during the post season or not, they both made important plays to help United be in a better position when the playoffs do arrive.
Tony Limarzi, the Radio Voice of D.C. United, provides live match commentary for all D.C. United games on WFED 1050 AM. He recently published his first book, Forza Italia, which is the story of the summer of 2006 – both Italy’s World Cup win in Germany and United’s MLS season.
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