{"id":28348,"date":"2014-10-06T23:59:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-07T03:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=28348"},"modified":"2014-10-07T07:46:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-07T11:46:32","slug":"revs-success-top-priority-for-nguyen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=28348","title":{"rendered":"Revs’ Success Top Priority For Nguyen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Kari Heistad\/capturedimages.biz<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 Lee Nguyen may not have been called into coach Jurgen Klinsmann\u2019s camp for\u00a0the United States’\u00a0friendly against Ecuador on Friday at Rentscheler Field, but that doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t get his elusive fourth cap before the end of the month.<\/p>\n

With Klinsmann expected to make several changes to his roster for the subsequent friendly vs. Honduras on Oct. 14, Nguyen\u2019s MVP-caliber season could make him a favorite to see the pitch at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be great,\u201d said Nguyen, who earned his last cap in 2007. \u201cIt would mean that I made a good decision to come back (to MLS) and prove myself, and all you can ask for is a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that Nguyen has made the best of that chance in his third year in the league. After spending his first two seasons primarily on the wing, the shift to a central spot has allowed him to bust open the doors this season.<\/p>\n

Although Nguyen was one of the team\u2019s most\u00a0reliable players\u00a0during his first two seasons, it\u2019s clear that he\u2019s a player reborn as a central attacking midfielder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have more freedom to find the game, and I think my fitness level is a lot higher than it was last year,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cSo all that helps as well, and just putting away chances this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting away chances is what\u2019s turned Nguyen from a consistent\u00a0contributor into one of the league\u2019s best. With a team-high 14 goals, and five assists in 29 games, Nguyen\u2019s enjoyed a season in which many are hailing him as a potential MVP candidate. And with good reason.<\/p>\n

His scoring haul is not only highest in MLS for a pure midfielder, but it\u2019s the most by a Revolution player since Taylor Twellman collected 16 in 2007. More importantly, seven of his 14 goals have been game-winners, with his most recent coming in a 2-1 win over Montreal on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

And yet, every time the talk shifts to his sensational season, Nguyen, without fail, steers the conversation back to his teammates, and the collective cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s flattering, obviously,\u201d Nguyen said of the MVP talk. \u201cBut we still got a few more games left, and everybody\u2019s doing well. I think it\u2019s just a testament to how well this team is doing, and all the players are stepping up at the right time, which is great, and I\u2019m just happy to help this team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many respects, Nguyen seems content to let his performances do the talking. Performances that, in his view, wouldn\u2019t be possible without those around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps when you\u2019ve got guys just playing proper football, and playing unselfishly, and finding me in the right pockets,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cWhen you get a good ball in a good spot, they expect you finish it, and it\u2019s something where I don\u2019t want to let my guys down at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Nguyen won\u2019t don the U.S. kit on Friday, he\u2019ll surely embrace the opportunity to help the Revolution clinch a playoff berth on Saturday in Montreal.<\/p>\n

And if they do? Well, don\u2019t be surprised if their leading scorer finds himself in Boca Raton before the club\u2019s Oct. 16 match in Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about that when we cross that bridge,\u201d Nguyen said, with a laugh, when asked about the possible logistics. \u201cWhatever happens, happens. Nothing\u2019s said yet, and we\u2019ve still got more games to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee Nguyen wasn’t called up for Friday’s U.S.-Ecuador friendly, but don’t expect him to sulk about it with the Revs on the verge of a playoff spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Lee-1.png?fit=483%2C259&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28348"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28354,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28348\/revisions\/28354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}