Forward’s comeback takes some odd turns
Santino Quaranta has had more than a few memorable moments at RFK Stadium during his career. By all early indications, Saturday was destined to take its place among them. Instead, it ended up in the bizarre category.
Out since May because of a concussion suffered in training, Quaranta was a surprise inclusion in the D.C. United lineup against Toronto FC, having only rejoined training with the team last week. As the teams took their place on the RFK Stadium field for the national anthems, Quaranta stood with his daughter, Olivia, right in front him wearing her own Quaranta jersey.
Instead of easing back into action, things changed dramatically when goalkeeper Bill Hamid was red-carded in the seventh minute. Following the crazy 3-3 draw, Quaranta could barely believe what he had just been through.
| UP NEXT |
| Whitecaps at D.C. United |
| When » Saturday, 7:30 p.m. |
| Where » RFK Stadium |
| TV » CSN |
“Two and a half months out. Two practices. I’ll play 100 minutes with 10 men,” Quaranta said. “I shouldn’t expect anything else in my life. I’m five minutes in, and there’s a red card. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m going to get my fitness back because he’s not going to take me off.’?”
It wasn’t exactly similar to when he scored at RFK for the United States in his first national team appearance in more than three years back in the 2009 Gold Cup after his recovery from addiction. But in many ways, Quaranta’s return from a concussion was equally uncertain.
“Your brain, your mind, it plays tricks on you,” Quaranta said last week. “It tells you, ‘Am I ever going to be able to get back from this?’ You look at the past and what we’ve had [at D.C. United, which has seen concussions end the careers of Josh Gros, Alecko Eskandarian and for the time being Bryan Namoff]. I’m just trying to be positive. I’m over it now. I feel like it’s done.”
United coach Ben Olsen readily admitted Saturday that “we didn’t know how long he could go.”
Quaranta insisted he had been running plenty, working hard with trainers and using a heart rate monitor to track his progress. But his sharpness with the ball was surprisingly effective and will make life difficult for Olsen, who can now include the 26-year-old with Andy Najar, Chris Pontius and Austin Da Luz as the viable starting options for two spots on the right and left wings.
“I don’t ever think that [the team] passed me by because I feel like these guys are my brothers in here,” Quaranta said. “I think some of them had to look twice at the board when they saw my name. But really I felt fine. I don’t think I’ve missed too much.”
