youth through pro -- up front.
The then-Burn had traded for midfielder Oscar Pareja from the New England Revolution to take over the playmaking responsibilities.
"(Dir) just kind of had the notion to put me up front," Kreis said. "He thought we were a team that was playing good soccer and creating a lot of good chances and not scoring goals."
The 5-foot-10, 155-pound Kreis did not necessarily embrace his new role at first.
"I was a little bit skeptical about it," he said. "I didn't really know if it would work, but I was eager to try it. I always considered myself to be a team guy and willing to do whatever the coach thinks the team needs."
As it turns out, his acclimation to the new position was swift.
"I think the success rate was pretty good because ... I was scoring goals almost immediately when the change came. The 1999 season was pretty much a breakout year for me," Kreis said. "But it was difficult. It still was a learning process. To be completely honest, I'm still learning it.
"As a forward, I've really learned over the past few years some different types of runs to make. It's not always trying to get in behind your defender or trying to get to the goal first. I've learned there's a lot of different runs to make to clear up space for yourself and to clear up space for teammates."
In 1999, Kreis became the first player in MLS history to break the 15-15 barrier, finishing with 18 goals and 15 assists as a forward.
"I always thought I had a pretty good feeling of what's going on and where the players are and able make those passes," he said. "That's something I still pride myself on, although in the last couple of years I really haven't had the numbers to support that."
Legend has it that Kreis scored a bunch of goals in his very first game. That's right -- legend. He first played youth soccer as a five-year-old with the Omaha Cougars in Omaha, Neb.
"I obviously played a lot of soccer in my backyard with my older brother," he said. "We had a group of neighborhood kids that I played with before I was five, so I was chomping at the bit actually to play organized soccer. In my first game, as my parents tell it, I scored three goals. I'm not 100 percent sure that's completely factual."
If Kreis's parents are correct about his first youth game, he has a history of scoring in his first game at the next level.
In college, it was as a freshman for Duke University in 1992.
"We were playing American University and it was at Duke in the Met Life Classic," he said. "It was my first college game. I and two other freshmen scored the three goals and won 3-2."
A four-year starter and three-time All-American at Duke, Kreis racked up 39 goals and 38 assists.
In MLS, it was a 3-1 victory against the Wizards on April 18, 1996.
"I definitely remember that," he said. "It was a special moment for me and still resides in my heart pretty true because it was the first goal in the franchise history and it came from a dear friend of mine, John Kerr. Ted Eck and John Kerr are both real good friends of mine. They did all the hard work and laid it on the doorstep for me."
As related to in last week's column about goal-scoring celebrations, Kreis celebrated the score with a back flip, which he has repeated many times.
"To be honest, it was the first time I had done that back flip," he said. "I had never done it in my career, in college or anywhere else. I don't know why I did it. It just came to me and since I've been doing it somewhat regularly. I'm not really sure where that came from, to be honest. That's something that I never really practiced or anything else. For some reason it happened. Since then obviously people liked it and I enjoyed it. So I kept doing it."
He kept on adding to his total, 13 that first season, dropping to eight and nine in the next two years before rebounding to 18 in 1999. Kreis collected 11 goals in 2000, seven in 2001, 13 in 2002, seven in 2003 and five in 2004.
Kreis eventually passed Roy Lassiter as the league's all-time scorer in the 37th minute of 1-1 home draw with D.C. United -- one of Lassiter's former clubs -- on June 26, 2004.
"It was something that had been bubbling up for a while because the year before I thought I would pass him then I tore my ACL," he said. "I had a real long and emotional comeback from that rehab. Obviously when the next season started, playing meant a lot to me.
"And finally (it happened) in a three-or four-game stretch that I was scoring goals. It was nice that the timing worked out perfectly. It was a home game, first of all. And second of all, my entire family got to come down for the game. That it all happened when it did was just magical. Obviously, it wasn't the greatest goal of my career. But the reception I received from my teammates and the entire organization in Dallas was fantastic."
As an MLS original, Kreis has seen it all.
"The biggest change that I have noticed is the depth of the teams, the consistency of the teams," he said. "The talent level from one to 11 has gotten marginally better every year. But the talent level from player 12 to 20 has gotten significantly better every year."
So, how long does he want to keep playing?
"Good question," he replied. "I don't have an answer for you. I want to keep playing for as long as I keep enjoying it and as long as I am contributing to my team."
Kreis certainly he has. He has a team-high six goals for Real this season, with his sights set on No. 100 in the not-too-distant future.
Michael Lewis writes about soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has covered MLS since its inception. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
