All the way from Brazil, Emilio shines for D.C. United

WASHINGTON -- D.C. United forward Luciano Emilio scores goals, and lately he scores more often than not. After starting the season in a slump (just one goal in his first nine games), Emilio found the net nine times in the last six.

Two of the goals came in a 4-1 win against David Beckham and the first-place Los Angeles Galaxy (6-5-3) Sunday at RFK Stadium.

United (7-7-1) has a six match unbeaten streak and moved to third place in the eastern conference.

"We play well and we have confidence when we go forward with three or four players," Emilio said. "It's very nice when we win. The fans (just under 36,000 on Sunday), they are happy. We can enjoy this game when we win and it is motivation now because they are first place and we want the No. 1 in this conference."

Emilio took Major League Soccer by surprise in 2007, scoring a league-high 20 goals and earning the Golden Boot award, an honor reserved for the league's leading scorer. He was the first MLS player to reach the 20-goal mark since 2002.

But he hardly accomplished it alone. He said the support of teammates like Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen helped him accommodate to Washington. But none was more crucial than the support of Brazilian teammate, Fred. The two attackers are 2-of-8 Brazilians playing in the MLS.

"We've been playing together since last year and we speak the same language," Fred said with the help of a translator. "It's good communication, so we're able to help and support each other and obviously makes it easier to play with everyone else as well."

With his 10 goals, Emilio is tied for the league lead with the Galaxy's Landon Donovan.

United President Kevin Payne loved Emilio's goal scoring abilities from the start.

"Like a lot of goal scorers, when things are going well, he scores in bunches," Payne said. "He's exactly what we expected. We've been following him for a long time before we got him and he has become a better player since we got him."

But things didn't come easy for Emilio earlier this season. United skidded to a 2-7 start and the Brazilian forward was mostly shut down.

"That time, we didn't enjoy the soccer," Emilio said. "We work hard but when we don't have these kind of results, then it's very difficult."

Emilio continued to build chemistry with new players like Argentinean Marcelo Gallardo. United coach, Tom Soehn said he hoped it would happen sooner or later.

"They've stuck together and it was a matter of time when the chemistry is going to start setting in, and it has," Soehn said. "Guys are starting to understand each other a little bit more and we are starting to look more and more like a team."

After floating around the German Bundesliga for four years, Emilio moved back to Brazil for one season with Union Barbarrense. Emilio broke out in Honduras, where he won three scoring titles for Real Espana and CD Olimpia. D.C. United then signed him in 2007.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)