Emilio is back in the habit

D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper smiled as he watched practice Tuesday afternoon. A breeze had mitigated the mid-day sun, his team was riding a four-game streak without a loss and Luciano Emilio was bouncing around the field with the energy of a schoolboy - charging through sprints, smacking headers with force and smiling his infectious smile.

The star striker was back to being himself. This was the player Kasper was referring to when he told coach Tom Soehn, “We have a real gem on our hands here,” after the affable Brazilian signed with the team in January 2007.

This was the player on the Times Square-sized billboard outside RFK Stadium, beaming out at travelers on Interstate 295 like a lighthouse beacon.

This was the joke-cracking, grin-a-minute, goal-scoring machine that United missed earlier in the season, when last season’s MLS MVP was in a seven-game scoreless slump and the team dropped four straight matches.

United has benefited from the 29-year-old’s recent rejuvenation - he has scored six goals in four games, including a hat trick last Saturday - on the pitch, winning its last four matches and climbing past New York in the Eastern Conference standings. But the re-emergence of Emilio’s leadership - if that is what sliding across the locker room floor or impersonating Soehn in mangled English can be called - has been just as valuable as his scoring.

“He’s in better spirits, and now the whole team is in better spirits,” injured midfielder Ben Olsen said. “Luc is a big part of the personality on this team.”

Emilio’s passion was the thing that grabbed Kasper’s attention when the GM first watched film of the Sao Paulo native “tearing it up” for Honduras’ Real Espana in 2004. Kasper coveted the ebullient striker for United, but with salary cap space at a premium, he was forced to choose between Emilio or Argentine star Christian Gomez. Given the circumstances, both sides agreed the timing wasn’t right. Gomez came to United, while Emilio remained in Honduras, signing with powerhouse club CD Olimpia.

Three years passed, but Kasper followed Emilio from afar as he captured a scoring title and helped Olimpia to three domestic titles. In 2007, Kasper called Emilio’s agent, Alexander Solis, again. Soon thereafter, Emilio was stateside, signing a four-year deal to play in the District.

“I thought that the MLS was growing and that it was a league that would have been a step up from where I was at,” Emilio said through an interpreter. “It would give me an opportunity to further my career.”

That it did. In a year highlighted by the arrival of big-time foreign players - England’s David Beckham, Mexico’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Colombia’s Juan Pablo Angel signed with Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, respectively - the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Emilio shined the brightest, netting a league-high 20 goals and winning the MLS Golden Boot award. On the field and in the locker room, he earned the respect of teammates with his playful manner and childlike enthusiasm.

“He was always singing and mocking everyone good-naturedly,” said former United defender Bobby Boswell, who was traded to Houston in the offseason. “I’ve never played with anyone who loved scoring goals as much as him. He even celebrated scoring in practice.”

Boswell found his new teammate so entertaining that he filmed Emilio for his Web site. Now, the site features a video of Emilio struggling to twist his tongue around Boswell’s alliterative moniker, another of Emilio working on his golf game and one in which he attempts to sing English pop star James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” despite knowing only the words “you’re” and “beautiful.”

“I like to joke around with my teammates. I like to see that my teammates have fun,” Emilio said. “I am the type of person who likes to feel lively and happy, and I want people around me to be happy.”

This was the side of Emilio that was missing early in the season, when he was scoring, and United wasn’t winning. After scoring only once in April, the club upped Emilio’s contract, thinking perhaps a little added motivation might remedy his woes. When he continued to struggle, he began the Chivas USA match on May 17 on the bench. Soehn publicly questioned his player’s effort when Emillio again failed to score the next week against Toronto FC. Rumors swirled about his future with United.

Worried, Kasper and Olsen decided it was time to have a talk with Emilio. Both had a one-on-one meeting with him.

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