For 23-year-old Eddie Johnson, the moment when he realized that 2007 would be a good season for him is not difficult to pinpoint.
"It was when I was home in Florida in the offseason. I [was] talking with my agent about my future, and he talked how Curt Onalfo might have a good chance at getting the Wizards job," Johnson said. "I thought that would be great because I remembered that Curt would always work with the guys and always got the best from the guys as far as what it took to be a starter, how things work. He was always guiding the players. I thought right away, for me, a good head coach was a player's coach who was all about getting the best out of the players."
The best, however, had not come out of Johnson consistently since 2004 when he scored 12 goals to lead Major League Soccer while playing with the then-Dallas Burn. A turf toe injury short-circuited his 2005 campaign, limiting him to only 15 appearances and five goals. Then Johnson's world was thrown into a blender in 2006.
"I don't really like to talk about last year, but there was just so much going on," said Johnson. "I got traded to Kansas City while I was in national team camp trying to get back into top form from my turf-toe injury."
The lingering injury not only put Johnson's chance at making the World Cup roster in jeopardy early in the selection process, it messed with his mindset.
"Whenever you are doing really well and an injury comes up like that and you have to sit out, it's something that's hard to swallow. You go from on top of the world to the bottom. You try to work your way back, and you try and do too much," he said. "So, last year, I wasn't in my top form where I was in 2004 when I won the Golden Boot, and that's a bit of adversity that I had never gone through. I didn't have the right solutions on how to get out of it."
Furthermore, Johnson put a lot of pressure on himself to make the 2006 U.S World Cup roster, and he did despite scoring only one goal in six matches in the first half of his first Wizards season. It was when Johnson returned from Germany that things went downward quickly again.
"When I got back, [the team] wasn't doing as well, and then all the pressure was on me to win games, which I get paid to do, to score goals. I didn't live up to it," said Johnson.
Eventually, Johnson was suspended from the team after appearing in 19 games.
"I then had a chance to sit down in the offseason and look myself in the mirror," said Johnson.
With a little help, Johnson was on his way back. Onalfo was hired in November 2006.
"God answered my dreams in the offseason by the Wizards hiring a guy who had a great understanding of me," said Johnson, who saw his turnaround recognized this week when he was named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year. "[Coach Onalfo] talked to me on the phone in the offseason and said he was going to hold me to high expectations this year and that he saw me as a guy who could win games and take this team to the playoffs. Whenever you have a coach that believes in you and gives you the confidence, you go and work your butt off for 90 minutes."
A team-leading 15 goals for Johnson, a playoff berth after a two-year absence for the Wizards, and the reaching of Saturday's Western Conference final are the result of a journey that began in the preseason.
"I always believed in him. Having been with the national team, I saw what his best side was, and I knew that it was going to be a lot of steps in helping him to reach his potential ...," said Onalfo. "One, we were going to have to do create a real environment and structure that was good for not only him but all the players. Two, I really wanted him to gain his confidence again and really encourage him to be aggressive and take players on. So, in the preseason, we just kept saying, 'When you have an opportunity, take guys on early.'"
The fix wasn't an automatic one though as the 6-foot, 180-pound speedster had to relearn what he was capable of.
"If you watched him during preseason, the first couple of times he'd take guys on, he'd lose it," said Onalfo. "He'd get discouraged, and I said, 'Who cares? Keep going, because if you take a guy on five times and you get it taken away five times but the sixth time you beat him, all of a sudden you've created a scoring chance.
"He responded very well to the environment, he came in very fit, and with a great attitude," Onalfo continued. "All of that combined enabled him to have, so far, a very successful season. But it's not finished yet."
Even though Johnson's goal production has tailed off as the season has gone on, his play is peaking in many other areas as he approaches what he termed "the biggest game of my career."
"He came off one of his best performances of the year at The Home Depot Center [against Chivas USA in the semifinal series]. He did so many little things that helped our team be successful -- he worked extremely hard defensively, he chased down a lot of balls, and he created a lot of havoc when we had it. Now it's just a matter of continuing with that effort and putting [shots] into the back of the net," said Onalfo.
"He's focused on trying to help our team win a championship," Onalfo continued, "and he wants to be a guy that is making the difference in these last couple of games."
Many counted Johnson out before the season. But through a relearning of what he could do, Johnson overcame. Now, in Johnson's mind, many are counting his team out in advance of Saturday's conference final. It's just one more chance to prove the critics wrong.
"We've been underdogs all year, even with our great start ... or beating Chivas in this past series. No one really gives us credit," said Johnson. "We know what we're capable of doing."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
