A failure to convert has rendered corner kicks irrelevant in D.C. United’s arsenal. It’s going on two years since United scored a goal off a corner kick, and both participants are no longer with the club.
Marco Etcheverry’s corner to Eddie Pope in the 84th minute of a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Earthquakes on Aug.31, 2002, at RFK Stadium was the last time United scored off one. Since then, United has taken 231 corners over 38 games with nothing to show.
Last season, United led Major League Soccer with 175 corner kicks but was the only club in the 10-team league not to score on one. United’s failure to acquire a true target forward the past few seasons certainly has been a factor.
“You can say if we have Toni Kukoc he can win those headers? Be real,” coach Peter Nowak said. “If you’ve got two guys and [a target forward] is in the middle, [defenses are] going to have one screener, and you don’t even touch the ball. They’re not stupid in this league. Everyone knows what’s going on, and they can adjust to situations.”
Although the 6-foot-11 Kukoc is theoretically available now that the Milwaukee Bucks have been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, a real possibility is 6-foot Brazilian forward Thiago Martins. Martins, who tore his left ACL in December, is about three weeks away from being able to return to full practices.
Martins, who was the A-League MVP before being signed by United late last season, is the club’s best option as a target forward. United is carrying six forwards 5-10 or shorter: Earnie Stewart (5-9), Freddy Adu (5-8), Alecko Eskandarian (5-9), Ronald Cerritos (5-9), Eliseo Quintanilla (5-6) and Jaime Moreno (5-10).
Other than Martins, the only other forward on the roster with any size is 6-1 Santino Quaranta, who could be out until July after his second abdominal surgery.
United (1-2-1) already has taken 18 corner kicks this season and is looking to snap the dubious streak today at Spartan Stadium when it visits the Earthquakes (1-2-1). In its season opener, United defeated San Jose 2-1 for its only win.
Meanwhile, the 14-year-old Adu said he will be “very disappointed” if he plays only 18 minutes today as he did last Saturday against the Chicago Fire.
Nowak has said repeatedly he will start the best 11 players in training the week before a game. Adu, who has yet to start this season, pretty much conceded this probably isn’t his week to crack the starting lineup.
“I didn’t come out ready to practice today,” Adu said Wednesday. “I did some good stuff, but most of the time I lost the ball too much. I had a shocker today. Everything went wrong. I can’t blame it on anybody but myself.”
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