(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
O'Brian White had waited a long time for this. He thought about it while spending endless hours lifting weights and riding the bike in the gym. He dreamed about it at night and while he was running; getting back into game shape.
The whole time he was rehabbing the knee he injured at the University of Connecticut, he asked himself one question: When would he finally get to score his first MLS goal?
It came in his very first game.
Amada Guevara took a corner kick for Toronto FC in the 66th minute. The ball came to Nana Attakora. Attakora made a good pass to O'Brian White who put a nice move on the DC United defender, sidestepping him and pulling the ball with him. White then blasted a brilliant shot over United goalkeeper Josh Wicks. The goal made it 2-0 Toronto. With the win, Toronto leapfrogs DC United and moves into third place in the Eastern Conference.
Jamaican-born, but raised in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, O'Brian White had about 30 family members and friends who were supporting him in the stands. They cheered loudly for his first goal as his teammates mobbed him on the field.
They knew what a long, hard road White had been down. At one point after White's knee injury in his senior year, there was a question as to whether he would even be drafted.
In 2007, White received the MAC Hermann Trophy as the most valuable player in US collegiate soccer, but with his season cut short in 2008 who would take a chance on him?
It was Trader Mo Johnson, Toronto FC's General Manager, who took a chance on O'Brian. He drafted him in the first round, despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to return from his injury until mid-season.
Mid-Season is here and White looks good. TFC will need all his talents as they continue to push for the playoffs.
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