D.C. United forward Luciano Emilio made a bold statement in his first MLS season. The exclamation point behind that statement was applied on Thursday as Emilio was presented with the 2007 MLS Honda Most Valuable Player award.
By scoring a league-high 20 goals and helping his team to a 16-7-7 record, Emilio got the voting nod ahead of finalists Juan Pablo Angel of New York and Chicago midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco. D.C. United won a second consecutive Supporters' Shield title for finishing the regular season with the most points in MLS.
"I am surprised because Blanco and Pablo Angel are very good international players," Emilio said. "I am so happy, so surprised."
D.C. United has acknowledged that they pursued Emilio for three years before he made the move in January from CD Olimpia of Honduras. Persistence pays when you're chasing a potential MVP.
Emilio, 28, made a statement early when he scored goals in his three competitive games with United in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup -- including three in two games against his former Olimpia teammates. He then followed that up with goals in his first two league games before ending the year as the first MLS player to reach the 20-goal mark in a season since 2002 when Carlos Ruiz scored 24 goals for the Los Angeles Galaxy and Taylor Twellman had 23 for New England.
"Top goal scorers have a rare talent to be in the right place at the right time," said D.C. United technical director Dave Kasper. "They are able to anticipate, be calm and capitalize at that split-second moment when things come together."
Kasper thinks Emilio has potential for even greater goal-scoring numbers.
"He has a lot of goals left in him," Kasper said. "It's about not only Luciano, but also our supporting cast. We want to make our team better. If the team is better, Luciano is going to have more opportunities to score."
As he made the media rounds at The ESPN Zone after Thursday's announcement, a humble Emilio made it clear that he considers the MVP hardware a team honor. His only disappointment is that D.C. United won't be one of the participants in Sunday's MLS Cup at RFK Stadium. But there's always next year and Emilio gave a strong indication that he expects to return for a second MLS season. He plans to speak with club officials next week about the 2008 season.
"I think I'll stay here," Emilio said.
When D.C. United first began to pursue Emilio in 2004, the Brazilian striker wasn't sold on the strength of MLS. But he is now.
"We have a good league," he said. "Physical, hard, getting better on technique. The league is a very important league."
Emilio had four game-winning goals and five multi-goal performances. He also captured the league's Golden Boot award as the leading scorer.
D.C. United now has back-to-back league MVPs. Christian Gomez won the award in 2006.
"It's big pressure now," Kasper said with a laugh. "I think it's going to be expected."
Besides Emilio's obvious contributions on the field, Kasper lauded Emilio as an overall standout representative for the organization.
"I think our fans are happy and proud to have players who represent the shirt," Kasper said. "That's what we have in all of our players and Luciano represents that."
Robert Falkoff is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
