While the weekend was marked by high-profile debuts all around Major League Soccer, a player who has seemingly sailed under the radar in the league this year certainly made his presence felt in Columbus. Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored two goals, the only two the Crew needed in a 2-0 victory against Toronto FC on Sunday afternoon.
Schelotto has been exhibiting exceptional touch all season and is hovering near the league lead in assists, despite not even playing in the first two months of the season. His two goals on Sunday give him four on the year.
"Guillermo has been very instrumental since he's been with us, and I think when you look at all the foreign signings in the
league this year he is definitely, in my mind, in the top two," said coach Sigi Schmid after the Argentinean's performance
Sunday.
Not to be overlooked, the Crew defense has been keeping a tidy house in the back, and gave goalkeeper Will Hesmer a
relatively easy afternoon in the net against TFC. Hesmer has now recorded four shutouts in his eight starts since taking over
the reins as starting 'keeper.
"Great job, collectively, by the team defending again. I had a couple of saves to make but for the most part they were easy
or predictable," said Hesmer. "Obviously the team is riding high right now, and the chemistry is really there."
Mathematically, coach Schmid likes what he is seeing from his team right now.
"We're 5-1-2 in our last eight games. That's a total of 17 points," said the Crew coach. "If you can average two points a
game, that's a good run. As long as we can, I want to average two points a game."
Danny Szetela returned from action with the U.S. national team in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and fell right into place in the
Crew midfield, playing what coach Schmid called "his best game this year for us."
"When I was gone we were watching every game, me, Timmy [Ward] and Robbie [Rogers], cheering our team on," said Szetela.
"It's nice playing with [the U-20 national team], but it's nice to get back to your family. It was great to get the start
today, and it was a great atmosphere out there."
While the Crew are riding high at the moment, they still have a good deal of work to do to live up to their coach's high
expectations for the team.
"I told the team before the game that I want 2007 to be remembered for two stories in MLS," said Schmid. "One story is David
Beckham coming to America and the second story I want to be the resurgence of the Columbus Crew."
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or
its clubs.
