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FIFAworldcup.com - With only one cap to his name, steadily improving
striker Elecko Eskandarian is primed for a big future with the U.S. national
team. The 23 year-old D.C. United man may not be the biggest or the fastest,
but his understanding, eye for goal and undeniable pedigree have him in
frame for a fine run on the international stage.
After three years at the University of Virginia – a side brought to
prominence by current national team boss Bruce Arena – Eskandarian went into
Major League Soccer as the U.S.’ top collegiate player in 2003.
After coming into the league highly touted, he scored only three goals for
D.C. United in an unremarkable start to his professional career. The squat
forward looked sadly out of his depth. But willing to pay his dues, the
remarkably down-to-earth Alecko learned his lessons well and 2004 proved
another story altogether as he brought the capital club back to greatness
with a championship run.
In the run-up to the 2004 campaign, 14-year-old wunderkind and league
record-signing Freddy Adu was grabbing all the headlines. But it was his
teammate, Eskandarian, who got the job done for United once the ball got
rolling. The player capped off his fine run of form with two goals in the
MLS championship match against Kansas City.
D.C. United coach, former Poland captain and one of the finest-ever MLS
players, Peter Nowak, was amazed with the vast improvements on display in
Alecko’s sophomore season.
“Now when I ask him ‘how many goals will you score today?’ he has more
confidence and asks ‘how many do you want?’” the coach commented. Twice
Eskandarian was named player of the week and became the first D.C. United
player to score more than ten goals in a season since 2001. He finished the
year as the team’s top scorer, helping them to earn a spot in the CONCACAF
Champions Cup.
“It’s pretty sweet to go to everybody that was doubting me and just show
them the trophy (MLS Cup) and just be like, ‘Shut up. I did it,’”
Eskandarian said of his triumphant 2004.
Family ties, football ties
The Eskandarian saga is a compelling and peculiarly ‘American’ tale,
screaming of long, arduous journeys and the intermingling of cultures.
Originally of Armenian
origins, the Eskandarian clan was forced to flee Europe for Iran to escape
the horror of early 20th century genocide. Alecko’s father Andarik went on
to make his name playing football in the mid-east. The hard-nosed, no
nonsense defender lined up for Iran at the 1978 FIFA World Cup Argentina,
and his performances were so impressive he was named to a Cup all-star team.
And after playing an exhibition match at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, USA,
his ample talents were noticed by the then managers of the New York Cosmos.
Almost at once, the player relocated to the East Coast of the U.S. where he
lined up alongside such icons as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer for the
legendary Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) – the ill-fated
precursor to MLS.
Andarik’s son Alecko was born in the ethnic hotbed of Montvale, New Jersey
in July of 1982 and almost at once showed an aptitude for football. His
father – who now owns a sporting goods store – did all he could to nurture
that talent.
“I have been playing soccer ever since I can remember,” Alecko recalls
fondly. “And my first soccer memory is kicking the ball around with my
brother and my dad in our backyard and going nuts when I scored a goal.”
It did not take long for the stocky poacher to climb the ladder of the
American game, scoring goals with a predatory instinct. What he lacked in
size and speed, he more than made up for with creativity and a predatory
nose for goal.
He was only 16 when the powers that be in U.S. Soccer noticed the clever,
cocksure Alecko. In 1999 he was called in to play with the under-17 national
team, went on to play four games with the under-20s at the FIFA World Youth
Championship in Argentina in 2001, and led the U-23 (Olympic) side in
scoring in 2002 with seven goals.
It was only a matter of time before he got his chance with the big boys in
the senior squad. And it came on 26 May 2003, when he came off the bench in
a friendly against Wales.
Though he failed to score, it is surely just the beginning for the young,
stout striker. With Bruce Arena alerted to Eskandarian’s substantial
ability, he has been called into the training camp for the final six-team
‘Hexagonal’ of North, Central American and Caribbean Zone FIFA World Cup
qualifying.
The U.S. will take on Trinidad & Tobago on 9 February in their first match
of the final round. |
