FRISCO, Texas – The hashtag is #VoteForTesho, and FC Dallas rookie Tesho Akindele put an emphatic exclamation mark on the Twitter campaign for the Rookie of the Year award with a stellar performance in a 2-1 victory Wednesday in the Western Conference Knockout Round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T.
Akindele not only scored the opening goal in the 40th minute, but he also turned in a complete performance that drew rave reviews from his coach and teammates. The forward from the Colorado School of Mines came into the season as the highest-drafted Division II player in league history, and his production across the entire season has rewarded head coach Oscar Pareja’s choice to take him in the first round of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.
“The club should be very proud of this kid who set the tone in the middle of the season,” Pareja said. ”When everybody thinks that the rookies hit the wall, and they won’t score any longer, especially at the end of the year or in the playoff games, the kid came tonight and was big. Not just the goal, but his performance was excellent.”
Akindele had in fact seen less playing time since August, in part due to the emergence of international players Andrés Escobar and David Texiera, in part due to a 10-game scoring drought following his Aug. 16 hat trick against San Jose. But along with Mauro Díaz, who on Wednesday made his first start since early August, Akindele was another big bet from Pareja that paid off handsomely as Dallas took their first playoff victory since 2010.
“Tonight we brought Tesho knowing he could bring us the option to score, first. Second, bring the energy, the legs,” Pareja said. “We wanted to have work in that zone, and he could do both. He could come and work defensively, but at the same time he could put things together and score. So all those things just made us bring him in as a starter, and he responded really well.”
After the game, the Canadian admitted he was a little surprised by the speed and passion of the match.
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“It was definitely more intense than I was expecting, but having everybody else being intense, we’re all just feeding off of each other; I think we did alright,” Akindele said. “We knew it was a must-win game. We need to give it all we got, otherwise we’re not coming in tomorrow.”
Pareja was not the only person singing the praises of the Rookie of the Year candidate.
“He did all the little things,” said goalkeeper Chris Seitz. “He was winning all the first balls, and setting us up the field, holding the ball up for us and letting us release some pressure through him. He scored a great goal, but he did a lot on the field that was really crucial for us.”
