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Soccer365- The D.C. United have a young
player leading the team in goals scored. It's not Freddy, it's 22 year old
Alecko Escandarian. He spoke with Soccer365's Lars Lifrak about the season
so far, giving up minutes for Freddy, learning the game from a father who
played in the World Cup, and more...
by Lars Lifrak
365: First off, your thoughts on the season so far for D.C. United?
Alecko Eskandarian: It’s been ok. I think it’s been up and down where
we’ve shown we can be the best team in the league at certain points, we’ve
showed glimpses of being a great team, and then we’ve had some not so great
moments. Like this past weekend or two weeks ago where, whether it be
because of injuries or being on the road or whatever it may be, where we
kind of folded under those circumstances and not played so well. It’s been
up and down but I think overall it’s been very positive especially compared
to last year where we just weren’t even playing good soccer. I think we’ve
really been trying to play good soccer and when it’s worked out we’ve been
great. Then there have been some moments when we haven’t been on the same
page but going into the second half of the season we need to correct those
problems and we’ll be alright.
Image courtesy of the official D.C. United website -
http://dcunited.mlsnet.com/MLS/dcu/index.jsp
365: How about you personally? From
an outsider’s standpoint it seems like things have gone very well.
AE: Definitely, I’m definitely happy with the way things are going
this year, but at the same time I’m definitely not content with where it’s
at right now, I definitely want to get better. I know I have a lot to work
on and I’m definitely willing to work on it and keep getting better. I think
it’s been compared to last year when I was kind of miserable with not
getting playing time and just the way we were playing games, it was just the
situation I was put in was very tough for me physically and mentally, but to
come back this year and really prove myself, I’m very happy with that. Now I
just want to keep getting better and keep playing hard and becoming a better
soccer player.
365: And the All-Star game, how was that? You even scored a goal.
AE: Yeah, that was awesome. That kind of took the cake for the season
so far. Being in an atmosphere where you are considered one of the best
players in the league for the first half of the season, it’s truly a great
honor, but getting a goal, especially the game winning goal in front of the
home fans, really meant a lot to me just to show that it’s not a fluke and
that I can play.
365: What aspirations do you have in terms of playing for the U.S.
National team and in Europe in the future?
AE: I want to be the best soccer player I can be and obviously the
first step is to play for the men’s national team and I got a little taste
of that last year in getting my first cap. It really has given me something
to look forward to because that’s somewhere I want to go back to. I loved
representing my country with the Olympic team, with under 20’s with under
17’s, it was always an amazing feeling anytime you get to represent your
country and if I’m able to do that at the highest level with the full
national team, that’s definitely something that I dream about. As far as
going to Europe, my eyes are definitely open for that. If there’s a perfect
situation that comes up, or any type of situation that can make me a better
soccer player and what would be a great experience for me to take my game to
the next level, I’m all for it.
365: Have you spoken with (recent Reading transfer) Bobby Convey
since he’s gone over there?
AE: I actually haven’t been able to get in touch with him, he’s been so
busy…
365: He’s big-timing you?
AE: No, me and him get along pretty well, we’ve known each other
since we were little kids. We actually talk a couple of times a week, but
since he’s been down there, I’ve been pretty busy actually with the all-star
game and traveling here and there. I’ve actually sent him an email, but he
hasn’t been online at all. They’ve probably got him running laps or
something over there.
365: In the beginning of the year, again from an outsider’s
perspective, it must have been extremely frustrating for you, because you
were giving away a lot of your minutes to Freddy Adu, and age and potential
aside, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that you are clearly a more
effective player than he is right now. How hard was it to be giving a lot of
minutes away to him at the beginning of the year?
AE: It was definitely frustrating, and it’s not a knock on Freddy or anyone
else or anything, but any player out there wants to play the game for 90
minutes. What was frustrating for me was it kind of felt like no matter how
I was playing, whether I was playing the game of my life or whether I wasn’t
doing so well, it didn’t matter, it was pre-empted that I was coming out of
the game. My first reaction was kind of like, why me? I understood why they
wanted Freddy to play and everything like that, I just didn’t understand why
it had to me every time that had to come out of the games. So that part was
very frustrating, especially coming into the season where I really wanted to
prove myself. I score a goal in my first game and all of a sudden I’m being
taken out of games and I’m not being able to finish games out. It was
definitely frustrating but I knew that I just had to keep working hard and
keep getting through it because you can’t just pout and put your head down
and complain and let stuff like that get to you. This is professional
soccer, we’re all getting paid to play and I know I have a job to do. The
way I went about it was that I was just going to, for as long as I was out
there, I was going to bust my ass. Whether it was 20 minutes, two minutes,
90 minutes, whatever it was, I was going to work my ass off and try to do
the best that I could with the time that I was given and I just hoped that
if I did well enough it was going to translate to more minutes and that’s
how it turned out.
365: Finally, I just wanted to ask you some questions about your
father (Andranik Eskandarian). For people that don’t know, he played in the
NASL (for the New York Cosmos) and as international player (for Iran).
Growing up did you end up playing with him in the back yard a lot?
AE: Yeah, every single day. Looking back I almost feel bad for him,
he’d come home tired from work and I’d be dragging him in the back yard
everyday, wanting to play with him. I am really, really grateful for my dad
taking time out to play with me and it was fun for me. My parents tell
stories all the time about how they’d have to drag me from my back yard into
my house because I’d be out there until midnight if I could, playing soccer
out in the yard. It was definitely beneficial for me growing up with my dad
being such a good roll model for me. People think that it was forced upon
me, that I had to play, but it’s actually the opposite. My parents would
threaten to not let me play soccer as a punishment because they knew I loved
it so much. If I was ever misbehaving they would threaten to not let me
play, so it was a great experience.
365: Your dad was a great defender and you’re a forward and at first
I was thinking that is funny, but then I thought, maybe that’s just the way
you played in the back yard. You would try to score and he would defend?
AE: I guess so. Ever since I can remember, I loved scoring goals. I
have an older brother (Ara), he was always with me playing too, he played
soccer all the way through college, and he was actually more of a defender
too. I think it was more of me and my brother playing, I’d always be wanting
to score the goals or we’d get in these little one on one games, but ever
since I can remember I don’t ever remember me defending. I was always
wanting to score the goals, wanting to put the ball in the back of the net.
365: Your dad’s career playing wise, was it over by the time you were
born?
AE: I was a baby. I think he retired in 1985 or 1986 so I was about
three, three and a half years old when he stopped playing.
365: So do you remember anything?
AE: I really don’t remember anything about the games, I remember
being in the locker room, hanging around with Carlos Alberto and Hubert
Birkenmeier and all these guys. I remember just kicking around the locker
room or my mom carrying me around the stadium and stuff like that. I have
really good memories of all my dad’s former teammates and they were
definitely a huge influence on me. They were all great guys and great
professionals.
365: Thanks Alecko. Good luck with the rest of the season.
AE: Thanks a lot man. |
