United's Dyachenko Is Progressing Nicely
Rookie Midfielder May Get First Start

By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006

Early this MLS season, D.C. United Coach Peter Nowak joked with rookie midfielder Rod Dyachenko that if he was not competing for playing time by the end of the summer, he was going to send him back to Kazakhstan.

Dyachenko has never lived in Kazakhstan, never even been there, but it's easy to understand why Nowak referenced that particular country.

Born in Russia and raised in the Republic of Georgia until civil upheaval prompted a move to Ukraine, Dyachenko spent his first 12 years living in former Soviet republics before he and his family came to the United States and settled in the Pacific Northwest.

Ten years later, Dyachenko has surfaced as United's most promising rookie and, with the club diluted by injuries and suspensions, might play a crucial role in tonight's MLS match against Real Salt Lake at RFK Stadium.

"It's time to step up and show what you've got," said Dyachenko, who will either start for the first time in league play or enter in the second half while forward Alecko Eskandarian, midfielder Christian Gomez and Bobby Boswell are out because of excessive yellow cards; midfielder Josh Gros serves a red-card suspension; forward Jaime Moreno tries to play with a sore knee; and reserves Domenic Mediate and John Wilson watch from the sideline after season-ending surgery.

Despite playing only eight minutes of two regular season matches, Dyachenko has gained the confidence of the coaching staff and ascended the depth chart the last six weeks. He appeared in all three U.S. Open Cup games, with a starting role against New York on Aug. 23, and played the final few minutes of United's 1-1 exhibition tie with Real Madrid in Seattle early last month.

"He's a very smart player, good with the ball -- young, inexperienced, but very good raw qualities," Nowak said. "We don't see these qualities in our league, especially for a young player. He's getting his minutes right now and we want to push it because we can see the progress he has made."

Unusually tall (6 feet) for a potential MLS playmaker, Dyachenko displays broad field vision and a maturing touch. He still lacks the attacking sophistication necessary to become a full-time player, but has shown enough progress to be considered for a starting role when the club is short-handed.

"It's getting better," Dyachenko, who will turn 23 this month, said of his rookie campaign. "At first it was a little tough to get minutes, but now things are progressing. I'm getting more time and more confidence, so hopefully it keeps rising."

Dyachenko's path to a prominent role with United was not nearly as long as his journey to America.

He and his older brother Kosta, who went on to play at Western Baptist College in Salem, Ore., were born in Russia while it was still part of the Soviet Union. Their parents, Sergey and Luydmila, taught English and, when Rod was 3, moved the family to Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, for job opportunities.

They remained there for five years, but when the Soviet Union began to crumble and political and civil unrest broke out in the independence-hungry republics, the family decided to relocate again.

Rod remembered being with his family in a subway station in Tbilisi when a gunshot was fired.

"People were running down the escalators panicking -- it was crazy," he said. "That was enough for my dad. He said, 'We're taking you kids out of here.' "

Next stop was Poltava, Ukraine -- 200 miles southeast of Kiev -- where his parents became interpreters for an oil company. Their goal, however, was to come to the United States, and four years later, with the help of a host family, they settled in Vancouver, Wash., just across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore. (His parents now teach English as a second language to immigrant students in middle school and high school.)

After starring on the high school and club level, Rod played at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and finished with 23 goals, including eight as a senior, when he was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's player of the year.

Because UNLV won only two games in 2005, Dyachenko's exploits were barely noticed nationally. "MLS people were like, 'Rod who?' " said Patrick McCabe, Dyachenko's agent.

He wasn't invited to the MLS scouting combine, but on the eve of the draft, United watched a highlight tape and decided that, if he were available late, he was worth taking. Midway through the third round of a four-round event, United selected him.

"It took a little time to adjust because it's a higher level and it's a faster speed of play," said Dyachenko, who has a green card and is pursuing U.S. citizenship. "But I'm a lot more comfortable now and I feel like I can contribute to this team."