Ankle Injury Leaves United Without Its Heart

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Behind the Column: Catching Up With Ben Olsen

The Washington Post's Mike Wise catches up with D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen.

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"But the one thing he has that this team right now is missing is heart and soul."

A 5-foot-8, 156-pound human projectile, Olsen flew around the field more than ran, his fire and soccer IQ compensating for any lack of flair. His mother once joked his hyperactivity was caused by the power-plant accident at Three Mile Island in 1979, which was less than a mile from the Olsens' home in Middletown, Pa.

"Thank you, nuclear power," Olsen said, smiling.

We were standing in his "man room," where he sheepishly showed off his multitude of awards from the past decade, a ball from the 2006 World Cup he and his teammates signed, and apparently the hat of a chimney sweep, sent to him by grandma Betty Olsen after he scored his first career hat trick against New York last June.

"Grandma's awesome," Olsen said.

Away from his livelihood, Olsen does not want. His wife, Megan, is due with the couple's first child, a girl, sometime in September. His brother, Jeremy, is helping him with home improvements, laying brick in the back yard the other day. Starting United goaltender Zach Wells rents the basement downstairs and often rides to home games with him or, yes, takes Metro to RFK.

Family. Friends. Parenthood beckoning.

But Olsen knows he also is coming off his best season a year ago, when he scored seven goals and had seven assists and was named one of MLS's Best XI for the first time in his career. He hadn't played on the flank in nearly eight years, but suddenly his pace and stride came back as he glided down the pitch, no longer a defensive midfielder, like the old days when Harkes, Eddie Pope and half of United's team made up the U.S. national team.

To have another ankle injury suspend his career indefinitely -- the way his right ankle cut short the dream of playing in Europe, for Nottingham Forest, in 2001, and led to almost two years of rehabilitation before coming back -- takes away some of life's bliss.

"To be frank, I'm thinking I'm going to have to have another surgery," he said. "And the reality of it is, if they do go in again it will be a long road back." Olsen wished he hadn't been so revealing in Steven Goff's article in The Post last week about his health, but conceded possible retirement has "got to be part of my reality right now."

"It's an option," he said. "Not retirement, but more like, can't play anymore. I don't think it will be that official. I'm going to give it a go. I'm going to do whatever these doctors think can get me back. If that's doing one surgery, two surgeries, I'll do that."

What pains Olsen more than his left ankle is watching United play without the intensity he once brought to the field.