With a thrilling 2-1 victory over Orlando City, Wayne Rooney got Major League Soccer (MLS) team DC United off to a winning start under his leadership. Junior Urso gave Orlando the lead in the first half, but Chris Durkin and Taxiarchis Fountas scored goals in extra time to tie the game.
Rooney was hired as manager last month, but he couldn’t take over until he had his work visa. For the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, it was their first victory in five contests.
For his first goal since his return from Belgian first division club St Truiden, Durkin scored a minute into extra time. Four minutes later, Fountas scored his 11th goal of the year by volleying Kimarni Smith’s cross into the back of the net.
Notable Quotes:
The 36-year-old Rooney said:
“I believed we would win the game but the one thing we had to do was up the tempo.”
He continued:
“I asked the team at half-time to be more positive, to put the work in. I thought the second half was excellent.”
“The players needed that. This season has to start now. They’ve had some bad results in the first half of the season.”
When his team plays Charlotte FC on Wednesday, Rooney, who played for DC United for 18 months before joining Derby as a player coach in January 2020, says it’s critical to build on this victory.
In his words:
“We can’t rest and think ‘we’ve won a game, we have to be consistent and we have to go on a run.”
