He's from Scarborough, Ontario, he plays in Houston but Dwayne De Rosario feels like he's back home as he and his Dynamo teammates arrived in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night.
Wait, what?
You see, DeRo played for the Richmond Kickers (about 90 miles south of Washington, D.C.) after returning to North America following a disappointing stint with FSV Zwickau of Germany's 2. Bundesliga.
"I'm stomping on my old ground so to speak," he said.
Yes, before he won an MLS Cup, before he scored the MLS Goal of the Year, before he was named to the league's Best XI, the flashy midfielder honed his skills for the Kickers in 1999 and 2000, scoring 17 goals in 35 appearances.
"It was the step to get me here and that's how I took it," De Rosario said. "I had the opportunity to play over here ... and they created the avenue."
Nearly 40,000 tickets have already been sold for Sunday's MLS Cup Final at RFK Stadium, which isn't a surprise to De Rosario. If there is anyone on the Houston roster who can attest to the soccer-crazed crowds in the nation's capital, it's the Canadian national team player.
"D.C. for me is like a Toronto, it's a soccer-rich community, a lot of kids play here," De Rosario said. "D.C. has great fans and I've always admired their passion and the support for D.C. United and hopefully they continue to support MLS on the whole."
Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear is also not surprised about the large expected turnout.
"They've always supported soccer in this area," he said. "It's supporting their team and when international teams come to town. It's a pretty astute group of fans and we'll see where their loyalty goes."
And Kinnear is seeing that kind of support in Houston, as well, where some 30,000 orange-clad fans came out for the Western Conference final last week.
"The fans are incredible, they're knowledgeable, they're loud," he said. "We've had a good following since we've been here and it's obviously picked up steam. When you look up in the stands, it's all orange. The first time I saw our uniforms, I wasn't too fond of them, but when you see them in the stands and everyone wearing them, it's a pretty impressive sight."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
