Midfielder is back in shape coming off ACL tear There’s one argument that, like most sports injuries, it was an untimely accident.
There’s another that it wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t on the field — and he shouldn’t have been playing that night in the first place.
And there’s yet a third stance: that it was his fault that he was.
The reality is that all parties share the blame for the unfortunate tackle that ended Branko Boskovic’s 2011 season with D.C. United. But instead of pointing fingers, both the club and the player have rededicated themselves to one another in the nine months since he went down with a torn left ACL in April.
Now, a year and a half after joining United as its highest-paid player, Boskovic is fit and poised to make a dramatic impact and the team at last is giving the Montenegrin midfielder his best opportunity to succeed in D.C.
“I think before this injury, I was in a good way to prove myself,” Boskovic said. “Now I have a second chance. I think with a little bit lucky, I can help this team and the people can see I can help D.C. United. It’s my priority in this time.”
While it always has been Boskovic’s priority, he just hasn’t often been on the same page with D.C. United. Headed for the worst season in franchise history when it signed Boskovic in June 2010, United needed him to thrive immediately. But Boskovic, having completed his fifth year with Rapid Vienna, wasn’t in shape after a month layoff following the end of the Austrian Bundesliga season.
The refrain was the same when 2011 started, and Boskovic found himself on the bench for five of United’s first six league matches. By the time he came on after halftime in that sixth match against New York, United was down two goals en route to a 4-0 loss. Boskovic’s presence was unmistakable in the second 45 minutes for a team devoid of offensive firepower as he hit the woodwork twice and posted a clear claim to rejoin the first team.
But instead of working toward D.C. United’s next league match the following weekend, three days later Boskovic and his $525,366 salary were tasked with a far less meaningful U.S. Open qualifier against New England. With United down 3-0, Boskovic scored twice late to set up a furious finish, only to limp off the field during extra time after a challenge by Revolution rookie Alan Koger.
Boskovic initially thought the injury was innocuous — until a MRI revealed the worst.
“Look, he didn’t come in the way we wanted him to come in last year, and if you don’t do that, there’s reasons why you’re not in the squad,” United coach Ben Olsen said. “He wasn’t on the full team, and guess what? You play in those games. Injuries can happen in practice, walking down the street. I’m not regretful at all for playing him in that game. I feel bad, for sure, though.”
Boskovic missed the remainder of the MLS season.
“It’s unlucky, and I look in that way because before that, it’s two beautiful goals for me, and in the last minutes I get the injury,” Boskovic said. “… I didn’t start, wasn’t a starter, and it doesn’t matter how you train, how good you are in practice. In a game it’s something else, and this is the best way to put yourself in the first 11.”
To get back to that level meant months of work alone and with United trainers and staff. He returned to limited training in October. Instead of taking a program with him overseas for the offseason, Boskovic stayed in Washington while most of the players cleared out.
“I was preparing myself for that because six, seven months no practice, I was actually like on holiday,” Boskovic said. “When Ben told me he want me to be here, to work, I 100 percent agree with him, and I say, ‘No problem,’ because I want to do that also.”
When training camp opened last month, Olsen, who has steadfastly complimented Boskovic’s professionalism, could finally do the same for his form.
“He’s fitter than he’s ever been for this club, and he’s stronger than he’s ever been,” Olsen said. “He’s hit the weights, which wasn’t something he did before. … I joke we’re trying to Americanize him physically because he’s an unbelievable player. You see it, the quality of our group as a whole when he’s on the field.”
Olsen made good on repeated assertions that Boskovic, 31, was a huge part of his plans in 2012 by naming him captain for United’s first preseason scrimmage. Boskovic’s contract expires this summer — though the team has an option to extend him — but in a sign of his potential, United made his former Rapid Vienna teammate Hamdi Salihi its latest designated player acquisition last week.
Now it’s Boskovic’s turn to put questions of his commitment to D.C. United permanently to rest.
“Everybody knows the situation,” Boskovic said. “Everybody know I’m the D.P. Everybody know how I come, and I feel also that I’m not player like to say that somebody else is guilty. I always want to take responsibility, and I know for what I am guilty and guilty for somebody else. Really, I want to give back to D.C. United what they give for me.”
