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/ SPORTS / TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
MLS
Zakuani emerges as star in Seattle after early trials
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
TUKWILA, Wash. — The deep scars on Steve Zakuani's right knee and calf are a daily reminder. Of when he was deemed damaged goods. Of when he thought his soccer career was over. Of when his dreams were seemingly shattered. All at the age of 15.
Zakuani, a 22-year-old midfielder in his second season with Sounders FC, remembers the day seven years ago in London. Zakuani was mixing with the wrong crowd, and after a friend stole a Moped, Zakuani took turns riding it around the neighborhood next to their school.
When the fun was almost over. Zakuani wanted one more go-round.
"That last one is always the one that gets you," he says now.
Zakuani lost control of the bike and slammed into a parked car. He tried to walk away from the crash, but felt his knee buckle. Later at the hospital, Zakuani's father, Mao, asked the doctor when his son would be able to play soccer again.
"We're just trying to get him to walk again," the doctor told him.
Now, after overcoming years of rehab, self doubt, failed tryouts across Europe and a 4,000-mile journey to America, Zakuani is finally realizing his dreams as a professional. And whenever he
pulls up his soccer socks before a game or practice, the scars remind him how he got here.
FROM AFRICA TO LONDON
Zakuani's story began in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), but his soccer story begins in England. Mao Zakuani moved his family from its African home for reasons political and professional. Mao doesn't like to elaborate on the politics; the professional part was a job offer as a translator in London.
Steve Zakuani, just 4 years old, didn't know any of the neighborhood children or the language. His
family spoke French and a couple Congolese vernaculars.
Foreign as he was, Zakuani's love of soccer quickly won him friends.
"When they noticed that he could play football very well, they respected him," said Mao Zakuni.
As Steve grew older, his skills caught the attention of professional scouts. As early as 9 years old, he earned interest from West Ham United. Later he tried out for the youth team of Queens Park Rangers.
In 1997, Zakuani signed with the prestigious Arsenal Academy, which at the time had arguably the best senior team in the world.
It was a proud time for the family.
Cocky and brash, Zakuani didn't have to try out for his secondary school soccer team or even care to do homework.
"I was like, 'Henry doesn't do his homework, so why should I do mine?' " Zakuuri said.
Convinced he was destined to become a first-team player for Arsenal, the 14-year-old Zakuani was released by the team in 2002.
After being dropped by his dream team, Zakuani's passion for the game had gone.
ROCK BOTTOM
"I was just going through the motions," he said.
Outside of soccer and school, Zakuani got involved with the wrong crowd. Then came the Moped crash that injured his knee and foot so bad hed wouldn't play again for 18 months.
He eventually caught on with a lower-division club in England. Leyton Orient, but his heart wasn't in it.
Two surgeries on his knee weren't the worst of it. The crash had severed the nerves in his foot so badly he could only drag it, due to what doctors called "dead foot."
While riding the subway to rehab one day, Zakuani told his mother, Cecile, that he wanted to give up.
"I remember telling her, 'I'm going to just do school and get a 9-to-5.' Zakuani said, "I just said, I'd had enough. I don't want to do this anymore. It's not worth it."
"I didn't even complete my rehab. I was like, 'I'm done!'"
Thinking his soccer career was over, Zakuani took school more seriously. But his previous poor grades had already put him in danger of failing. He joined an afterschool program for academically at-risk students, with teacher and mentor Paul Goodison.
When Goodison took Zakuani to watch motivational speaker and evangelist Myles Munroe, the light finally clicked on.
That night Zakuani vowed to turn his life around and get rid of the bad influences. Before he
to bed alone in his bedroom, he recommitted himself to making it as a professional soccer player.
The injury went from being an excuse to a blessing.
OFF TO AMERICA
"I had to take the gift that God gave me away to realize I was human, and this thing is very fragile," Zakuani said. "Life is fragile."
No luck.
With his spirit renewed, Zakaui traveled across Europe to find a new team. He tried out with the senior teams of Queens Park Rangers and Wigan in England, then to AZ Alkamaar in Holland and Real Valadold in Spain.
Some teams thought held never recover.
The University of Akron entered the picture by chance, when the Ohio program was scouting a friend and teammate at the small Independent Football Academy where Zakuani joined to train.
It didn't take long for Zakuani to catch the eye of Zips assistant coach Ryan Higgibotham, who thought he could be the best player in the country.
Skeptical of America and the NCAA, Zakuani didn't take the interest from Akron seriously at first. But unable to find a team in Europe, he eventually accepted the scholarship.
Zakani became the first draft pick of the expansion franchise Sounders FC, which selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the MLS Super Draft in January 2009.
Two seasons later, the 6-foot midfielder is one of the team's most dangerous offensive weapons.
"If he hadn't had that injury he probably would've gone on a different path." Porter said.
TIME TO GIVE BACK
Sounders FC teammates praise Zakuani's vibrant, fun-loving personality off the field, but also his potential on it.
Benefits you can take to the bank.
This year he founded Kingdom Hope, a nonprofit that offers summer camps and a scholarship program to boys aged 16-18.
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