SAN JOSE, Calif. – It wasn’t that San Jose Earthquakes rookie midfielder Fatai Alashe was feeling overawed at being matched up in his first MLS start against US international Clint Dempsey.
But with his very first clash against the Seattle Sounders star, the 21-year-old knew just how far he’d come from his days at Michigan State.
Dempsey took advantage of the matchup a mere 12 seconds into274101797" tabindex="0"> Saturday's game, outwrestling Alashe – and, in the opinion of Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear, fouling him – to collect a loose ball in San Jose’s defensive third. That possession eventually led to Dempsey heading in the rebound of a Tyrone Mears blast for the quickest goal in Seattle’s history.
It could have been, as Kinnear noted, a crushing blow. Instead, Alashe rebounded to help provide the steel in San Jose’s midfield as the Quakes survived more than 30 minutes of man-down defending to win 3-2 at CenturyLink Field.
“Obviously, before the game, in the tunnel, stuff like that, you look over on the other side and see guys that you were watching last year,” Alashe told reporters this week. “They’re guys you maybe looked up to in the past, but honestly, when the whistle blows, all that leaves your head, and you’re just focusing on getting the job done and winning the game for the team. You don’t pay attention to who’s on the other side because at that point everyone’s the enemy.”
It didn’t take long for Alashe to exact a measure of revenge from Dempsey. His toe-poke on the USMNT captain in the middle of park set up San Jose’s tying goal from Chris Wondolowski in the 13th minute.
“That’s typically just the way that I play,” Alashe said of the steal. “I wasn’t thinking too much about what happened with that first goal. That kind of left my mind right after. But I think that’s one of those things that we work really hard on, defensive shape, trying to win balls. And that was specifically my job, to disrupt their play a little bit through the middle and not let them pick up the ball off our back line. That’s one of those things that I take pride in, and I’m glad that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity we got there.”
Alashe knows about taking advantage of opportunities, if 274101798" tabindex="0">Saturday is any indication. The rookie, who missed much of preseason with his own groin injury, stepped into the Quakes’ lineup after Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi suffered a quad strain last week in training. Kinnear chose to make a straight swap of the untested Alashe for Pierazzi, rather than making some tactical changes to cover for the Frenchman, and the move paid off even as San Jose had to hang on after Victor Bernardez’s 52nd-minute red card.
“He made a couple of really good passes in the first half; I’m sure that gave him some confidence,” Kinnear said. “He dispossessed some really good players, which I’m sure gave him some confidence. He won quite a few battles, and I think he did the job we were asking of him in there. He’s very competent, which was good.”
It’s also testament to how quickly Alashe, the fourth-overall pick in this year’s SuperDraft, is picking things up at the professional level.
“Now you know you can play at that level for 90 minutes,” Alashe said of his debut. “There’s really nothing to be fearful of or nervous about, going into games from now on, because that’s one of the toughest places to play in the league, against one of the top teams in the league. I think going forward, knowing you’re good enough to get the job done if the coach calls on you, and you’ve just got to play your role and do whatever is asked of you.”
