MetroStars midfielder Youri Djorkaeff was selected as the Honda MLS Player of the Week for Week 19 which ended on Sunday, August 7. The former French international scored both goals in the MetroStars come from behind 2-2 tie against FC Dallas in the first-ever game at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, August 6. Carlos Ruiz, who scored the two first-half goals for FC Dallas, was a close second in the voting.
FC Dallas took a 2-0 lead into the half, but the Metros made some changes at the break which had immediate effect. Sergio Galvan Rey, who replaced Mark Lisi to start the second half, created space for himself near the goal and fired a shot that Dallas goalkeeper Jeff Cassar saved in the 47th minute. The ball bounced out and Djorkaeff raced in to poke it under Cassar just ahead of the sliding attempt of defender Bobby Rhine.
Six minutes later, FC Dallas forward Eddie Johnson saw a shot cleared off the goal line, and then shortly after the MetroStars pulled level with Djorkaeff's second. The World Cup champion showed his talent with a beautiful chip from outside the area that caught the 'keeper cheating, only to see the ball float over his head into the right side of the net for the game-tying goal. It was Djorkaeff's fifth goal of the season.
"It's the kind of goal I like, because nobody expects you to chip it over the goalkeeper's head," Djorkaeff told MLSnet.com afterwards. "We wanted to show we can lose a goal and if we are fighting, it is no problem."
The Honda Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected every week throughout the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).
2005 PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Week 1: Edson Buddle (Columbus Crew)
Week 2: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 3: Jon Busch (Columbus Crew)
Week 4: Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution)
Week 5: Amado Guevara (MetroStars)
Week 6: Freddy Adu (D.C. United)
Week 7: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 8: Ronnie O'Brien (FC Dallas)
Week 9: Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas)
Week 10: Nate Jaqua (Chicago Fire)
Week 11: Zach Wells (MetroStars)
Week 12: Jeff Cunningham (Colorado Rapids)
Week 13: Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
Week 14: Joe Cannon (Colorado Rapids)
Week 15: Matt Taylor (Chivas USA)
Week 16: Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
Week 17: Mark Chung (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 18: no winner (All-Star break)
Week 19: Youri Djorkaeff (MetroStars)
