2-0. Seattle Sounders had just pummeled the nascent Philadelphia Union franchise. The only thing of note on the visitors’ stat sheet was a first half red card to rookie Toni Stahl. A skinny Frenchman, moving with a the mechanical, caffeinated running motion of a robot in beta testing with extra batteries installed, created Philly’s best chance of the match: Spinning to create space in the box before losing his footing and tumbling, a living metaphor for the Union’s performance, to the artificial turf.
Ninety minutes into their existence and Philadelphia’s new Major League Soccer franchise had exactly zero names on its list of all-time leading goalscorers.