The last leg of the Magic Triangle is moving on.  Jamie Moreno will finish up his DC United tenure at the end of the season.  Jamie will continue for another season or so after this, but with a diminishing role on United, he’d like one more crack at the Bolivian league before he hangs ‘em up.

News Links:

United press release

Steve Goff’s Soccer Insider

Mike Wise Column from July

When Etcheverry, Harkes, Diaz Arce, etc were there to help, Jamie didn’t need to be the most talented guy on the team, he just needed his instincts to get the ball into the net.  Older SE’s will swear that in those early days Jamie was actually a faster sprinter with the ball at his feet as he blew past defenders.  Jamie also had a swagger, dying his hair blond…..dying his hair blond with his #9 masked out.  Defenders had figured out a way to slow him…..they fouled him.  Repeatedly.  Jamie was almost always at the top of the list of most fouled players (when Etcheverry wasn’t).  His body’s abuse took hold and ran into some difficulty as the team was spiraling in the (now first) dark age.  Jamie was traded to the dreaded MetroStars, but injuries limited him, there, too.  He only scored one goal for them……sadly against United.  As a testament to him and to the mutual respect with the club and fans, he seemed embarrassed by it.

Then the resurgence.  Jamie came back to United in 2004 just looking to earn a roster spot, heck even his original #9 wasn’t available (some kid had it) he went with the ever so non-traditional #99.  What he earned though, was the MVP award.  He thrived with Peter Nowak as coach and with supporting players like Earnie Stewart.  Gone was his speed, in its place mastery of the game.  Holding the ball up, finding an open teammate, creating space, finding time, toying with defenders….making Metrostars goalkeepers look silly (well, when you think about it, that’s not that special of a thing).

Players have come and gone.  Every player’s time comes sooner or later.   Jamie has played for every DC United head coach.  He was there when rookie player Ben Olsen joined the team, and he’s here as rookie interim Head Coach Ben Olsen leads the team.  From Kevin Payne’s comments, the door is open for Jamie to return to United “he understands that there is a role for him with D.C. United in the future. We look forward to his being a part of the D.C. United family for years to come.” As much as we rue this day, we look forward to that.

Feel free to share any Moreno memories in the comments.