sarah lerner

Canada Soccer has selected D.C. United defender Dejan Jakovic as Canada’s Men’s Soccer Player of the Month for January after a pair of solid 90-minute performances in friendlies against Denmark and the U.S. The 27-year-old was named Man of the Match in Canada’s 0-0 tie with the U.S. on January 29. Black-and-Red teammate Dwayne De Rosario also featured in both matches, logging 70 minutes against Denmark and 81 minutes against the U.S.

In total, Jakovic has appeared in 14 games for Canada since 2008.

Today, Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com rated the top 10 U.S. Soccer players under 21 and placed D.C. United midfielder Perry Kitchen at #3 on the list.

Said Carlisle:

Every year in MLS, first-year players hit the dreaded rookie wall, when legs and the mind get heavy thanks to the increased workload of games and travel. According to D.C. United coach Ben Olsen, there has been one exception. “The guy who really didn't go through it was Perry Kitchen,” Olsen said during last year's playoffs. "He went through it for like an hour one day." When Olsen made that statement, Kitchen was well into his second season with the Black-and-Red, but the comment is telling. While the midfielder's skill on the ball, heading ability, and tackling are all excellent, Kitchen's consistency, presence, and leadership are what coaches around MLS talk about most often. It's what allowed him to make the holding midfield spot his own last season, one that looks to remain in his hands for the foreseeable future. Not bad for a guy who is still only 20. “For me, he's been fantastic," Philadelphia Union coach John Hackworth. "As a young player, establishing himself, he's so mature for his age. He's always been that way.”

Kitchen, a 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year runner-up, eluded the rookie wall and experienced no sophomore slump during his first two seasons in the League. In his inaugural MLS campaign, Kitchen became the only first-year player in United history to lead the team in minutes played (2, 726). And in 2012, the University of Akron product came up one minute shy of tying the club’s previous single-season record for minutes (2,805), held by Jeff Agoos in 1996. 

Dwayne De Rosario and Dejan Jakovic were both in the starting XI for Canada in a 4-0 loss against Denmark today in Tucson, Arizona. Jakovic went the full 90 minutes in the backline while De Rosario - entering his first international match since suffering an MCL injury on Sept. 11, 2012 against Panama - was subbed out in the 60th minute. This was De Rosario's 72nd international cap and Jakovic's 13th.

Canada next faces the U.S. Men's National Team on Jan. 29 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, TX. United teammate Bill Hamid is currently with the U.S. squad, and the friendly against Canada is the only game preceding the opening match in the Hexagonal round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying on Feb. 6.

Former D.C. United defender Jeff Agoos – who helped lead the club to three MLS Cups in the first four MLS seasons – sat down with USsoccer.com to discuss the beginning of his National Team career. The U.S. Soccer Federation has been in operation since 1913, and is celebrating its Centennial this year.

On January 10, 1988, still at UVA under Head Coach Bruce Arena, Agoos received his first cap with the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT). The squad played in a friendly against Guatemala and, in the second of the two-game series, Agoos recorded his first international goal. Describing it as a simple tap-in, Agoos would go on to score three more times in 132 additional USMNT appearances, and would be on the roster for two FIFA World Cups.