Yesterday was a pretty big day for the Philadelphia Union and the sport of soccer in the Philly area. They not only selected 18-year old Danny Mwanga with the number one overall selection in the draft but they also added bright young stars with the sixth and seventh picks in the first round -- Amobi Okugo and Jack McInerney are 18 and 17-years old respectively.
ESPN lauded Peter Novak for his wheeling and dealing putting Philly's haul among the best of the day. One other note of interest is that half of the six players the Union selected played for the UCLA Bruins.
The Philly soccer faithful were out in full force at the Convention
Center yesterday to show their support for a team that has yet to play a
single game yet. Seeing that kind of support for a draft should make their games quite a spectacle.
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Danny Mwanga appreciated the support, "I can honestly say that today was probably the best day of my life. I cannot leave this stage without thanking you, the
Philadelphia Union fans." He also mentioned he had a cheesesteak, so we've got that out one of the way already. [videos below]
One thing I found a bit funny was a quote in the Daily News from Mwanga, saying he couldn't currently handle playing overseas but he should do just dandy in the MLS. Ouch.
"I pretty much had my mind made up to stay here," Mwanga said. "I'm not
confident that I could succeed at that level [in Europe], but I know
playing in the MLS, I am confident that I will get to where I need to be."
For those of you learning the basics of the MLS for the first time like myself, you may have found the Generation Adidas phrasing a bit strange. Here's a nice article that helps explain all of that.
News
And the fans:
One guy who also made an appearance was Sixers center Sam Dalembert who loves to kick the ball around. Yeah, the ESPN guy totally Dalem-bert's him.
Above video from the MLS Insider Blog.