Washington, D.C. (October 1, 2007) - Major League Soccer announced today United's Fred has been named MLS Player of the Week after scoring a goal and adding an assist in United's 4-1 win over Toronto FC Saturday night.
With his team down 1-0 in the second half to visiting Toronto FC, Fred stepped up and helped rally United to a victory. In the 52nd minute, he tallied his seventh assist of the season, laying off a pass to Marc Burch who fired a long-range blast into the top left corner of the goal to even the score. Fred put D.C. United up for good in the 57th minute with a well-placed shot from 20-yards out that curled over the outstretched arms of Toronto FC goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos and into the top right corner of the goal. The goal was Fred's seventh of the season and helped lead United to its 16th victory of the year, one more than last year's Supporters' Shield-winning total. This is the first Player of the Week award for the former Australian League MVP and it marks the seventh time this season that D.C. United has captured Player of the Week honors.
Fred was signed as a Senior International player on March 1, 2007, from Australian side Melbourne Victory FC. He scored four goals and dealt out nine assists as Melbourne put together a 14-3-4 record - tops in the Hyundai A-League. He followed with an outstanding game in the A-League Grand final, making four assists in delivering the Victory their first championship. Fred previously spent ten seasons at leading Brazilian side América-MG where he scored 20 goals in 80 appearances.
