FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Charlie Davies will always have a special place in his heart for the nation’s capital.
It was there that he resurrected his career with D.C. United, following a car crash that seriously injured the star forward in 2009. On Sunday he returns to RFK Stadium (5 pm ET, ESPN2), and though it will be his second trip back, he returns this time feeling better than he has in his career.
“I feel like I’m light years ahead of what I was,” said Davies. “At this point I feel like I’m firing on all cylinders, as compared to [playing in D.C. when] I still had a lot of coming back to do. I was not as fast as I am, strong as I am and I was playing on mostly confidence then. Now, I’ve got my body back and I’m mentally where I need to be.”
While Davies never lacks confidence, he surely must have had something in the tank while playing for D.C. United based on the 11 goals he scored in 26 matches. Last April, in a sign of what he meant to the fans during his short time with United, he was welcomed back warmly by the D.C. supporters after subbing on for the Revs.
This time around, he enters the fray as one of the hottest strikers in MLS, having scored six goals in his last 10 matches, which may give those friendly D.C. supporters reason to not be so welcoming. That won’t affect Davies’ attitude toward them.
“I feel like there will always be a special place in my heart for the supporters there,” Davies told MLSsoccer.com. “They were unbelievable to me. I actually keep in contact with a couple of them via Facebook. For me, I’ll always have the appreciation. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a little more harsh or not because I know that they still appreciate what I did for that club.”
Of course, that is a tune that has completely changed as Davies now looks to take from D.C. instead of giving, and Sunday’s match provides his club with a big opportunity in a matchup of the two top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“Just excited to go down there and play in such a big match for us,” said Davies. “This is probably the most important match of the season for us. First place vs. second place. I had a great time when I was there, but it’s much different now.”
