Toronto Star, Canada
May 20 2007
Drought finally ends for Eskandarian
‘It felt good to get the goal,’ says TFC star of ending skid
May 20, 2007 04:30 AM
MORGAN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER
The father said he was still waiting for a goal.
The son made sure he didn’t wait long.
Not only was Alecko Eskandarian’s goal in the 44th minute yesterday
the energetic striker’s first goal for his new team, but it came
against the his old club, DC United. DC United traded Eskandarian to
Toronto for cash this winter, and the 24-year old was glad to pay
them back with a goal.
The goal also appeased his father, former New York Cosmo Andranik
Eskandarian, who had kidded Alecko earlier this week about remaining
scoreless for so long.
Eskandarian broke a goalless streak that stretched back to last
season.
"It’s a bit of a monkey off my back," says Eskandarian, who played
four seasons with DC. "I would rather get the three points and the
win but I tried to do my part today. It felt good to get the goal but
it’s bittersweet."
Scoring droughts are foreign territory to Eskandarian, who scored so
often in high school the league adopted a rule to stop him from
shooting.
As a freshman at the University of Virginia he set records for goals
(16) and points (38), then scored 20 goals in 80 games with DC.
After going scoreless through the season’s first four games, he
injured his right calf in practice and had to sit out last Saturday’s
match against Chicago. He played 60 minutes yesterday before Edson
Buddle replaced him, but says his calf is back to normal and he could
have played the whole game.
He says his father never pressured him about scoring, but as a former
pro himself, his dad had plenty of advice.
The grandson of Armenians who fled genocide by the Turks, Andranik
was a rugged defender who played 29 games with Iran’s national team.
After the 1978 World Cup, Andranik signed with the New York Cosmos of
the NASL.
"He’s always very positive with me," says Eskandarian, who as a kid
would kick the ball around with some of his dad’s teammates,
including Pele. "He tells me to keep plugging away."
Andranik thinks his son plays too conservatively these days, and
needs to return to the game-breaking style that won him the Hermann
Trophy – soccer’s version of the Heisman – as a junior at the
University of Virginia.
"I agree with him but the style that we play calls for me to do a lot
of defensive work," he says. "You just kind of have to swallow your
pride and do what you’re told."