WASHINGTON – Don’t look now, but the 100-goal club in MLS is about to get a new member.
Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario, who has traveled far since his days with FSV Zwickau in Germany and the Richmond Kickers in the old A-League, is just two goals short of becoming the seventh MLS player with 100 career goals in the regular season.
“It’s been creeping up, but I’m just playing,” De Rosario told MLSsoccer.com this week. “To be amongst some great players in this league who have accomplished that is a great feeling. Hopefully I can do that this Saturday, but if not, hopefully we still get the win.”
WATCH: Stunning Goal of the Year volley
With two more goals, De Rosario would be the first player to reach the plateau since Landon Donovan hit the century mark back in 2010. With Donovan, De Rosario would join the likes of Jeff Cunningham, Jaime Moreno, Ante Razov, Jason Kreis and Taylor Twellman as the only MLS players to notch 100 goals during regular-season play.
After failing to catch on with FSV Zwickau in the 2.Bundesliga during the 1997-98 season, De Rosario came to the United States and latched on with the Richmond Kickers. In 2000, he exploded onto the scene, netting 15 goals that season. He was then quickly picked up by the San Jose Earthquakes, and the rest became MLS history.
With the major milestone quickly approaching, De Rosario gave MLSsoccer.com his top three goals that he scored during his time in the league.
WATCH: DeRo scores after just 11 seconds
“[The free kick against the Galaxy] would be one of them, because of ... the San Jose and LA rivalry,” the 34-year-old said.
“Obviously, my volley against D.C., and probably my 11-second goal,” he said, referring to his strike in 2003 while with San Jose that put the Earthquakes in front of the then-Dallas Burn. “That was a big goal for me because I just came back from my torn ACL, and to get a hat trick in that game and get the quickest goal in MLS was good.”
In addition to the goals, the consistent midfielder has been racking up team and individual honors like they’ve been at a yard sale for years. Despite picking up his first Golden Boot and MVP honors in 2011, De Rosario has been selected to the MLS Best XI six times, all of which have been in the past seven years.
Individual honors aside, De Rosario has also picked up the hardware that all MLS players are after – the MLS Cup – an impressive four times. With the San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo, De Rosario's four titles make him one of the most winningest players in MLS history. Only Brian Mullan and Jeff Agoos have more (five).
De Rosario hopes that his fairy tale story isn’t over with, though. United have a chance to take over first place in the Eastern Conference with a win over the New England Revolution this Saturday (7:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online), and a DeRo tally might help give United three points. As for those other golazos in his career, De Rosario played them down to luck.
"I was in the right place at the right time,” he added. “I closed my eyes every time I hit it.”
All 98 times.
