Revolution v. Sporting Kansas City, 4.23.11

Benny Feilhaber made his debut for the Revolution against Kansas City and had a good game, making a number of impressive one-time passes in the quick, thoughtful-yet-instinctive manner of the natural athlete. Watching Feilhaber, it was hard for me, having grown up watching American football, not to think of Dan Marino and his famous (or if you prefer clichéd) “quick release,” in which there is almost no time between the passer seeing an open receiver and the passer’s body delivering the ball.

Feilhaber’s most memorable play came in the 12^th minute when he set up Marko Perovic with a backwards pass near the top of the box. Perovic’s blistering left-footed strike gave the Revs’ the first goal of the game. That goal came off a series of passes between Perovic, Feilhaber and Rajko Lekic. Those three players and Didier Domi—three of them newcomers this season—give the Revs an impressive quartet of skilled players. They all contributed to this 3-2 come-from-behind win, which may be cause for optimism for the Revolution. The players themselves certainly looked genuinely happy after the win. I was almost jealous of their display of camaraderie as they left the field. You don’t experience that kind of backslapping exhilaration after sitting behind a desk all day, even if you get your “deliverable” in on time.

My man Domi, I’m afraid, didn’t have a great game. KC’s first goal, a low strike to the near post, looked to me like the result of lackadaisical play by the Revs’ left back. And later in the game Domi carelessly gave away a ball near midfield that nearly led to another KC goal. More proof that foot skills don’t mean much unless they’re matched with hustle and concentration.

One Revs’ player who will probably never be accused of dogging it is Domi’s defensive mate A.J. Soares. Soares is remarkably composed and solid in the center, pairing with either the big Argentine Franco Coria or the equally solid MLS veteran Ryan Cochrane. I don’t recall Soares making a single costly error this season, and he has laudable fire. I wonder if Tim Ream, the up-and-coming Red Bulls and national team central defender, is looking over his shoulder at Soares?

But I mentioned Ryan Cochrane, another hardnosed Revolution defender. When I first saw him play this year I thought to myself, “Who is this guy that looks exactly like every saloon keeper I’ve ever seen portrayed on screen in a Western movie?” Cochrane’s saloon-keeper look has a little to do with his close-cropped hair and laconic on-field demeanor, and a hell of a lot more to do with his large and dense mustache, which looks like something a fur trapper might sling over his shoulder and take down to the local trading post. I felt smugly pleased with my powers of observation until the announcers began making frequent references to the numinous 'stache, even indicating that it has a number of fans and its own Twitter account. That brought me down to earth.