A prolific Brazilian striker, a national and regional scoring champion in Honduras, possessing a globetrotting resume spanning four nations on three continents -- Luciano Emilio arrived in Washington, D.C. earlier this year bearing lofty labels and high expectations. But D.C. United's high-profile offseason signing has embraced the pressure and quickly endeared himself to his new club with well-taken goals and a disarming personality.
"This guy is something else," said veteran midfielder Ben Olsen after Emilio's two-goal display against CD Olimpia last Thursday in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. "He's fun to watch, and such a nice addition to the team. He's just what we needed on the field, and he's a joy in the locker room. He's a bit of a clown - losing Freddy [Adu] and Esky [Alecko Eskandarian], we needed another clown in the locker room."
United has barely begun what promises to be a long, taxing 2007 season, but thus far Emilio has shown every indication of living up to the faith invested in him by a club that has long been in search for the missing link to its already potent attack.
Christian Gomez has established himself as the top playmaker in MLS since arriving from Argentina in 2004, while opposing defenders have become all too familiar with Jaime Moreno's skill and savvy over the past 12 years. But with too many of the chances created by the duo going unfinished in recent seasons, the club stepped up its on-again, off-again pursuit of Emilio and the move has paid immediate dividends with seven goals in two CONCACAF Champions' Cup matches.
"We expect a lot from him and he's doing really well," said Moreno of his new striker partner's adjustment to life with the Black-and-Red. "He's been working hard from day one and it's paying off, so that's great from him."
The Brazilian has turned heads with his intelligent movement off the ball, ability to hold possession, and of course, proficiency at finding the back of the net.
"I think you look at the opportunities we create and the people that are creating them," said United head coach Tom Soehn. "Luciano is a great addition to our club. He works really hard, and he gets on the end of a lot of things. And we've got guys like Christian and Jaime feeding him - I might even score a couple of goals with that kind of service."
Emilio, for his part, has found little difficulty in meshing with that well-established duo.
Asked about his quick rapport with Gomez and Moreno, he responded, "No, I'm not surprised at all. When I first came here, I knew that they were from South America and we clicked right on - and off the field as well. And I knew their style. ... It's been an easy transition to play with them."
Having spent most of his career in foreign lands, Emilio is also well-equipped to adapt to the simultaneous challenges of a new league, new team and new language. He can claim German and Spanish fluency in addition to his native Portuguese, and has made learning English a high priority - with some help from a well-known Washington broadcaster.
"He just doesn't speak very good English - at all - but he 'speaks English' all the time," Olsen said. "He speaks like, five different languages, so it's amazing how quick he picks up English. Every day he's got a new sentence, and he just says the sentence the entire day. Every time he scores, he gives it the old Dave Johnson [call], 'It's in the net!' And he just keeps saying that over and over. So he's already got that one down."
Emilio's rapid acclimatization at United is all the more remarkable given the difficulties faced by recent foreign acquisitions like Lucio Filomeno and Matias Donnet. But his comfort on the field and adaptability off it have dovetailed well, fueling hopes for an even brighter future.
"He's a character in the locker room, he's learning English very fast and he's scoring goals, obviously," said teammate Brian Carroll. "So I think he's fitting in great to our locker room and he's been a great addition so far."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
