After a man-of-the-match performance in the Philadelphia Union's 3-0 win over Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, David Accam has been named MLS Player of the Week for Week 4 of the 2019 regular season.
Accam had two goals and an assist, factoring into all three goals shortly after his father passed away. The Ghanaian winger's celebration after his first goal was ripe with emotion, and a nod to a lost parent.
"Everything just came out,” Accam told reporters after the match. “I felt emotional — I just knew my dad was watching this game. Wherever he is, he was watching this game.”
"He didn’t [get to see me play]," Accam added. "That’s why I’m really sad because I was planning to bring him here this year to watch some of our games. But unfortunately it didn’t happen. So today was for him.”
Accam's breakout performance ended a cold streak after he was acquired from the Chicago Fire via a trade last year. In 2018, Accam had one goal in 23 appearances, a far cry from the 33 goals and 15 assists he recorded across his three seasons with the Fire.
Union head coach Jim Curtin praised Accam's ability to step up and deal with adversity.
"We're all rooting for David," Curtin told reporters after the match. "He's gone through a lot on the field, off the field, injuries, things he can control, things he can't control. So for him to have a performance like tonight when we really needed it as a team was big time. He really stepped up."
Philadelphia return to action this coming Saturday when traveling to face FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium (7:30 PM ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
