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Columbus forward nets top spot
Columbus Crew forward Emilio Renteria was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 9 of the 2010 MLS season. Renteria supplied two goals for the Crew in as many games played this week, one during the Crew’s 3-1 midweek victory over the New York Red Bulls and the game-winner in their 1-0 win against the Kansas City Wizards on Sunday.
Columbus began their week of play on Thursday night with a 3-1 win over New York at Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, New Jersey. Renteria entered the match in the 68th minute and just 15 minutes later, capitalized on a defensive miscue to score the Crew’s third goal of the night and his first career MLS goal.
On Sunday, the Crew traveled to Kansas City for the team’s second game in four days. Renteria entered the match again in the second half and scored the game-winner five minutes after coming on the field. His header off a corner kick from Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the 64th minute lifted the Crew to 1-0 road victory and a five-point lead in the East.
This is Renteria’s first career Player of the Week award.
Voting Here: After a couple of weeks where the picks were pretty easy (Sebastien LeToux’s hat trick, Edson Buddle’s blizzard of scores), this was a tough week to pick a top player.
Chris Wondolowski in San Jose got my vote. The guy is making the Earthquakes attack dangerous, and he is a big part of the resurgence in the Bay Area. Danny Cruz’s one goal and one assist game in his first start for Houston earned the runnerup spot on my ballot. It was a composed performance and points to the Dynamo’s future.
I can’t fault Renteria’s performance, I just think he had a better supporting cast.
Busy Week: After a weekend without a game, the Rapids will be busy this week. The team travels to New York on Tuesday to take on the Red Bulls in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match on Wednesday. Then the team’s at home on Saturday to face the Seattle Sounders at 7 p.m.
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