SAN JOSE, Calif. – Landon Donovan. Jeff Cunningham. Jaime Moreno. Ante Razov. Jason Kreis. Dwayne De Rosario. Taylor Twellman. Edson Buddle.
San Jose Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski knows his MLS history. So he’s well aware of what it will mean when he joins those names as just the ninth player in league history to score 100 regular-season goals.
“I’ve studied this league,” Wondolowski told reporters after netting career goal No. 99 on Saturday in the Quakes’ 2-0 win against Columbus. “I’m very proud to be a part of it, and so I know who’s up there. It’s crazy to think [about]. That’s a special part of it. It’s a number, but it’s a number where some of the best that have played in this league have reached. I’m not there yet, but I’m hoping to be there and be synonymous with those names.
“It’s pretty unreal, to be honest.”
Unreal or not, it should become fact – and likely sooner than later for the 32-year-old, given that he has scored in three of San Jose’s last four matches. Wondolowski’s next chance to join that select group comes Sunday against Orlando City at Levi’s Stadium (7 pm ET; FOX Sports 1).
“Ninety-nine goals for Chris Wondolowski is an incredible achievement,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said Saturday. “To see where he’s come from – from Chico State to reserve player to a guy maybe not getting a ton of chances. … I’ve said it all along, even from our time in Houston: All the credit goes to him, for the work he puts in every day. He never misses a chance to try to improve his game.”
That relentlessness – even when lacking opportunity – is one thing from Wondolowski’s resume that jumps out at ESPN analyst Twellman, who stands at No. 7 on the all-time list with 101 career MLS goals.
“When Chris Wondolowski hits 100 goals, you’re talking about a true example of perseverance and someone that fought through some struggles to get there because he believed in himself,” Twellman told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “I just think it’s a real, real accomplishment. …
“There’s very few players that, when it’s all said and done, have no regrets. He can’t have any. He literally maximized that whole body of work. There’s nowhere further he could have gone. That’s all you ask for. It’s been a true honor and privilege to cover him.”
Wondolowski, a Bay Area native, joined the original MLS Quakes in 2005 – then coached by Kinnear – and moved with the team to Houston in 2006 as a seldom-used reserve before a now-famous trade back to San Jose for target forward Cam Weaver in June 2009. Kinnear just laughed when asked Wednesday if he recalled what kind of ceiling the Dynamo had in terms of their expectations for Wondolowski, who scored four goals in 37 regular-season appearances (mostly off the bench) for Houston, adding one in the US Open Cup and three in international play.
“Did people think [about Wondolowski] being a 100-goal scorer in MLS?” Kinnear told MLSsoccer.com. “I’d be very surprised if anybody besides Chris thought he had the potential to do that.”
Wondolowski started to change those minds with an 18-goal campaign in 2010 – even then only after injuries forced the hand of then-coach Frank Yallop. To Kinnear, 100 goals become a legitimate target after 2011, when Wondolowski followed up on his breakout season with 16 more tallies.
“He put up good numbers, and you always think, ‘OK, let’s see if he can do it again,’” Kinnear explained. “Then after he did it the second year, you’re like, ‘Great, good for him.' He’s definitely making the most of his opportunities on the field and in the penalty area.”
He still is.
Regular season goal No. 99, the opener for San Jose against a 10-man Columbus side, was classic Wondolowski. While Matías Pérez García was deftly rolling a ball down the left edge of the Crew SC area for Jordan Stewart to run onto, Wondolowski was somehow working totally free of veteran center backs Michael Parkhurst and Emanuel Pogatetz, appearing as if by mind control unmarked in the center of the opposing defense. All it took was one touch to redirect Stewart’s fizzing cross past helpless goalkeeper Steve Clark.
Are you surprised, Kinnear was asked Wednesday, at how open Wondolowski can still get, even after all those bags of goals?
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“Yes and no,” Kinnear said. “Yes, because they know what he can do. And no, because he’s always moving. It’s always the hardest target to get a hold of, someone who’s moving. I’m sure people talk and they show video – ‘Look at him here, look at him here.’ Defenders have to keep one eye on the ball and one eye on a forward at times. Chris has the uncanny feeling for when the defender’s looking at the ball, and you move somewhere else.”
The next move Wondolowski makes will presumably be a climb up the MLS charts. With 23 games remaining, Wondolowski could pass Buddle (100), Twellman (101), former teammate De Rosario (104) and even current New York City FC coach Kreis (108) this season.
From there, the air quickly gets even thinner, until you reach the ultimate scoring peak, in MLS terms: Landon Donovan’s haul of 144 regular-season goals. Wondolowski would have to maintain his level of near indestructability well into his 30s to mount a serious challenge on that mark.
“He hasn’t missed too many games,” Kinnear noted. “If he can remain relatively healthy, and he remains consistent and the team keeps providing him with chances, is [Donovan’s record] within reach? I would say, ‘Yes.’”
For Wondolowski’s part, he has his sights set on another of Donovan’s achievements.
“I look at all his [6] championships,” Wondolowski told MLSsoccer.com. “That’s what I look at.”
