WASHINGTON -- It's been said that success has a thousand fathers, while failure is a motherless child. Luciano Emilio might be able to relate.
After his award-laden debut campaign in Major League Soccer a year ago, the D.C. United striker stumbled out of the gate this season, short of fitness and looking well off the pace in D.C.'s early matches.
Unsurprisingly, United's results suffered correspondingly and soon an eight-game goalless drought had made Emilio the poster child for his team's 2008 struggles, drawing derision from some fans and even prompting rumors of a midseason transfer.
But suddenly the Brazilian is back in scorching form, scoring six goals in D.C.'s last four matches to pace the Black-and-Red to a four-game unbeaten streak, and he's become a hot commodity again.
Mexican side Monarcas Morelia, who met United in the group stages of last year's SuperLiga, have apparently renewed their interest in the striker. Having originally inquired about a potential transfer move over the winter, two Morelia officials, including head coach Luis Fernando Tena, attended United's 4-1 win against New York last week.
"I wasn't really surprised, since they showed interest in me since last December," said Emilio, who notched his first MLS hat trick that night. "I saw them during the game and then afterwards the coach wanted to meet me."
The intriguing turn of events bears out the United brain trust's decision to bump up Emilio's salary considerably a few weeks ago -- perhaps a surprising move, given that it came in the depths of his slump -- and after Thursday's training session general manager Dave Kasper was full of praise for his team's most prolific hitman.
"Even through his goalscoring slump, he was playing well," said Kasper. "[Now] both parts are working together: he's playing well and the team is playing well, so he's benefiting from quality service now. But he was fighting through it, and credit to him. He stuck it out and we knew once he got his first one, they were going to come in buckets."
Kasper has rejected Morelia's approaches so far, and plans to take the necessary steps to keep Emilio in a Black-and-Red uniform for years to come. So while Tena is clearly interested in luring Emilio south to join his Liga Mexicana outfit, and did get to meet him on Saturday night, it looks as though it will require substantial financial inducements to player and club alike.
"I talked to him and I told him that I have a contract here and if anything, they would have to talk to management here," said Emilio, "and I think they did."
Calling Morelia's interest "part of the business," D.C. head coach Tom Soehn was dismissive of the matter on Thursday.
"It's all rumors," he said. "You know what? That's not the only team that comes here. A lot of teams come to watch D.C. United -- as we go watch other teams. That's part of the business."
United captain Jaime Moreno noted that Emilio "did well to just concentrate on the game and score goals" and said that the rest of the team has not been affected by the situation, while Fred offered a positive take of his own.
"In my opinion, it's a kind of motivation to play better, to have coaches looking at you and scouting you," said D.C.'s Brazilian playmaker.
Emilio admitted that he enjoyed his brief stint in Mexico two years ago, when he chipped in 10 goals to help Queretaro FC win the second-division Clausura title before rejoining Honduran heavyweights CD Olimpia. But even though he expressed curiosity about Morelia's potential offer, he's more than content to stay in Washington, where his continued goal-scoring could put him in line for an even more lucrative contract in the months to come.
"I have some good memories [of Mexico], because I won a championship with Queretaro," he said, "and I always dreamed about playing with a first-division team. But I have a lot more happy memories here with this team."
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