7.30pm, Saturday, October 5th, 2024. Itâs a cool, clear night at New England Revolution's Gillette Stadium and D.C. United have rolled into town for what is, essentially, an MLS Cup playoff eliminator. The mirage of silverware is present, but their chances of being in the postseason mix are fading fastâthey need someone to give them some certainty.
Eight minutes in. A hoicked clearance from centre-half Lucas Bartlett goes up into the air, travels about 50 yards and drops onto the edge of the New England box, where a man is waiting. He watches for the bounce, pauses, and nods the ball past âkeeper AljaĆŸ IvaÄiÄ into an empty net.
Itâs Christian Bentekeâs 23rd league goal of the 2024 season, a tally thatâll secure him the MLS Golden Boot, an easy three goals ahead of Lionel Messi and Luis SuĂĄrez. And these arenât just empty goals. All season long, Bentekeâs been there, bailing out his team, carrying them through the hard times. Becoming a leader.
âMe and Messi go up top together, for sure,â Christian tells me, smiling over a Zoom call on a grey weekday afternoon. The course of a chat that has taken in home and belonging, headers and volleys, has gravitated to dream five-a-sides, the kind where formations donât matter and youâre throwing players together just for the fun of it. âMessi, SuĂĄrez, Cucho HernĂĄndez, Denis Bouanga, and me, of course. That would be my MLS team.â
Iâm all for experimenting, I tell him, but five strikers? Five?! Who's going in goal, Christian? WHO? I want to say that SuĂĄrez had proved himself capable of the role previously, but refrain from doing so. âThatâs the thingâ, Christian continues, âIf you put five top players together, you might not even need a goalkeeper. Iâll have Messi a little bit behind me, and heâll make the game work for the rest of us.â An unfair distribution of labour, but I let him have it.
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