Opportunity can knock at a moment's notice. For FC Dallas midfielder Mark Wilson, it tapped him on the shoulder before Saturday night's game against Real Salt Lake. That was when he learned that he would be starting in place of Ronnie O'Brien, who was left out of the Hoops starting lineup for personal reasons.
Wilson responded to the opportunity in a big way. In his first start of 2006, he was in the right place at the right time in the 56th minute when Carlos Ruiz fired a ball into the center of the goal area that RSL defender Carey Talley attempted to clear, but Wilson was waiting and drove it home for his first career MLS score. It turned out to be the deciding goal in the 2-1 Hoops victory, which made them a perfect 2-0 this season.
"It's important to play well when you get an opportunity and to score a goal," Wilson said. "As easy as it (the goal) was, it was nice. It's nice to have a good performance under my belt. I tend to thrive on getting into the box a lot and trying to pick things up. Sometimes, you need one of those to go in like that to get you off and running. Hopefully there's more to come."
Hoops head coach Colin Clarke offered a similar assessment.
"Mark played very, very well," Clarke said. "He came in and got his goal. I was very pleased for him. He was here last year and played towards the end of the year. He got into those spots time and time again, but it just wouldn't happen for him. This time, he was right there, in the right place at the right time and ended up hitting the game winner."
Clarke also noticed other good things from his midfielder in the come-from-behind victory.
"Apart from that, I thought he worked very hard throughout the game," he said. "Particularly in the second half, he seemed to get stronger as everybody was dying. When we needed people to go in close, he was the one doing it. I was very happy for him."
While many were surprised by the absence of O'Brien from the FCD lineup, which wasn't announced until just prior to kickoff, it wasn't news to Wilson.
"I knew beforehand that I would be playing," he said. "In my eyes, I expect to be playing every week. It's a challenge to come out here and prove that every day. I definitely see myself as a starter and hope to do that for the rest of the season."
His record as a starter is a good one. Last season, his first in MLS, he started seven of eight games for the Hoops, logging a total of 615 minutes for his new squad. Included in those two starts were both of FCD's playoff games against Colorado.
Prior to making his MLS debut last September against San Jose, Wilson had played in both England and Scotland. The highlight of his English career was a stint with Manchester United, the same team that he grew up rooting for. In fact, Mark names making his Man U home debut at Old Trafford against Croatia Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League as his favorite soccer memory.
The seeds for his great performance against Salt Lake were sown in the first week of this season, when he logged 26 minutes as a second-half substitute in the Hoops' 3-2 win against Chicago.
"My goal is always to play every game," Wilson said. "After the first week, I knew that I wanted to start every single game until the end of the season which is a big thing for me. I aim to continue that throughout the season."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
