If there really were a formula for scoring goals, the man to discover it would be a millionaire ten times over. Some players might rely on superstition in hopes of snapping a goal-less drought, but D.C. United forward Hamdi Salihi is rediscovering his scoring touch thanks - in part - to a fully furnished apartment.
"If you need something from IKEA you have to drive two hours there and back," Salihi said with a laugh while discussing his, at times difficult, transition to life in the U.S. "It takes a lot of energy and then you have to come to training and play [well]. Now I am a little bit more relaxed and concentrated more in training."
The concentration has paid off. In just forty minutes of playing time over his last two appearances, Salihi has netted a tandem of well-taken goals. Each strike was a highly difficult finish in its own right and the two Albanian missiles came less than 20 minutes after Salihi had come on as a second-half sub. It's a role the striker hasn't been much accustomed to over his highly productive career, but one he's adjusted to well. For now.
"Everybody wants to be a starter and play ninety minutes [and] I am not different," Salihi acknowledged. "But this is a team with twenty players or more [that] can play like a starter. If you are a professional, you must accept this."
Salihi is nothing if not professional. To watch him during United's practices is to see a player totally engrossed in perfectly executing the most minute details of even a mundane warm-up drill. His work ethic extends beyond the training field as well, where the 28-year-old is taking a crash course in MLS 101.
"[Salihi] is starting to figure out players within our league and how to play against them," noted United assistant Chad Ashton. "That work is not only out here on the field, but looking at film. Doing some homework is paying off for him."
The extra effort is also paying off for D.C.
"Over the course of his career he scores every other game or every third game," Ashton added. "That's a big-time luxury to have coming off the bench. It’s a credit to having some depth, and as we go through the season all these guys are going to play a starting role at some point in time.”
