He deserved better than this – and we deserved more of him.
Steve Zakuani's decision to hang up his cleats today at the tender age of 26 has inspired fans and observers around MLS to express some variation of these sentiments, adding the Portland Timbers winger's name to a select group of comet-like talents who burned brightly, but far too quickly, across the North American soccer landscape.
Clint Mathis, John O'Brien, Stuart Holden, Charlie Davies – they lead a unique cadre of our best and brightest players who leave us wanting more, leave us wondering what might have been. And Zakuani undoubtedly belongs in their company, even if it stings to think about it that way.
His frustrating bouts with injury and fitness rendered Zakuani less than a household name over the past year or two. But if you never got to watch the Congolese international at full bore, let me assure you that he was one of the true must-see players of our time, streaking up and down the wings and wreaking havoc in the attacking third – first with the star-studded Akron teams that put Caleb Porter on the map, and later as one of the Seattle Sounders' first MLS stars.
Pace, range, trickery, finishing, charisma – Zakuani had it all, and the sight of him in full flight could put a lump in the throat of any defender. His Akron highlight reels show him slicing and dicing defenders at elite NCAA programs with a graceful ease that had pro scouts licking their chops long before he entered the 2009 SuperDraft as the consensus No. 1 pick – and wondering how the crack talent evaluators at Arsenal let him slip out of their system.
The short answer to that one: A brash teenage cockiness that led to some poor decisions, most notably a few spins around the block on a stolen moped as a 15-year-old on the streets of London. Zakuani crashed into a parked car on his final ride, mangling his right leg and nearly destroying his soccer career before it had really even begun.
But the incident prompted a change of attitude. He made a dogged physical recovery and recommitted to his pro dreams, hunting Europe for a second chance and eventually finding it – but in northeastern Ohio, of all places, after one of Porter's assistants spotted him training in London and offered him a scholarship at Akron.
“Steve Zakuanis don't come around very often,” Porter would later note, famously.
Zakuani seized that opportunity, growing into one of the most dynamic players NCAA soccer has ever seen. His first two seasons in Seattle, where he netted 14 goals and 10 assists, left little doubt that his excellence would translate at the next level.
The Congo's national team came calling with an international invitation that he accepted, prompting more than a few US fans to rue the long road to citizenship that kept him from donning the colors of his adopted country.
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But his story turned again on April 22, 2011, a fateful evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in suburban Denver.
Angry about a referee's non-call seconds before, Colorado Rapids veteran Brian Mullan changed the course of both his and Zakuani's lives with a rash, violent tackle that snapped the Sounders star's right leg (watch it here if you must, though viewer discretion is advised).
Mullan's moment of madness horrified everyone who saw it, sent Zakuani to the emergency room (where it took multiple surgeries to ease the compartment syndrome that nearly led to amputation) – and set off a wider bout of soul-searching about the league's physicality and its effect on skillful players.
While Zakuani began months of painful rehabilitation, Mullan was vilified, racked by guilt that he never really seemed to put behind him, while MLS's leadership took steps to strengthen the disciplinary process in the hopes of preventing such episodes from happening again.
It's deeply unfortunate that Mullan's challenge will remain the most prominent memory of Zakuani for many – and a credit to him that he overcame the myriad affects of his injury, appearing for the Sounders nearly 15 months later in a substitute appearance vs. Colorado that drew deafening roars from the home faithful at CenturyLink Field. Zakuani even forgave Mullan unconditionally, swapping jerseys with him after the final whistle.
But his scars would haunt him still, preventing those legs from consistently producing the wicked sprints, swerves and slashes that made him so dangerous both on and off the ball. Groin, sports hernia and hamstring issues flared up. The postgame soreness that afflicts every player held extra agony in store for him.
“I woke up on the morning after some games and I felt like a truck had hit me in my sleep,” Zakuani wrote in his retirement announcement. “My body was crying out in pain. Feeling pain in my groins as I walked up a flight of stairs, or bent down to tie my laces, made it very clear to me that I had to stop fighting my body.
“I’ve given it all I can, and the time to stop fighting is now.”
Still, Porter – by now in charge of the Timbers – saw enough left in those legs to snatch him away from Seattle in last year's Re-Entry Draft. Zakuani chipped in three assists and one goal – Portland's first-ever in CONCACAF Champions League play – in all competitions this season, but he's reached the end of the line, and he's brave enough to recognize it.
It hurts a bit more to say goodbye to the comets, but they deserve every bit as much of our admiration as the stars. And we owe it to them – and ourselves – to remember what they gave us in their brief trip across the horizon.
