The Columbus Crew traded for Ante Razov during the winter because of his highly cultured -- and powerful -- left foot. Ironically, at the weekend he scored his first goal for his new squad with less heralded, but still accurate, right foot -- a goal that put the finishing touches on a dominant 3-0 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"I am very happy we won," said Razov. "As a forward, it is always nice to score."
Razov's left foot also made quite an impression to the home fans at Columbus Crew Stadium as he hit the post off a free kick in the opening minutes of the match and later assisted on the second of Edson Buddle's two goals off another free kick.
The Crew are excited to pair the MLS career leader of multiple-goal games (16) with Buddle. The duo jumped to a dream start over the weekend.
"Edson and I were heavily involved in the scoring. That is important for chemistry," said Razov.
Although Columbus doesn't have the winning history of Razov's former club, the Chicago Fire, the 30-year-old believes the Crew have potential for such a tradition.
"There was always talent here, but I don't know if the right personalities were. Everyone is serious about winning," said Razov. "I am pretty happy with what we have. We just need to keep working."
Razov and Buddle did well teaming up the midfield considering that the attackers had played so little with Simon Elliot and Kyle Martino -- or each other -- in the preseason.
"Once the game starts, you just play the game," said Razov. "We worked [chemistry] out on the field. It wasn't perfect and it won't be for quite a while."
Still, Razov is happy with the beginning to the season.
"The thing of the season is get points, especially at home. We have a long way to go, to be honest," said Razov. "I don't think we played that well. I would say that we were average as team, but we capitalized on our scoring chances and got the points. It is just the beginning."
Although it is just the beginning, the Crew faithful hope the first game of the Razov era is a sign of good things to come.
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
