April 30, 2009 MLS Toronto FC story on Danny Dichio (from TorontoFC.ca)
Dichio in confident mood
Striker set to make third start of season
TorontoFC.ca
Toronto FC striker Danny Dichio is in confident mood heading into the clash with Columbus Crew at BMO Field on Saturday. The veteran striker scored his first goal of the season in the win over Kansas City Wizards on Sunday after making his first start of the campaign earlier in the week against Chivas USA.
The 34 year old has played in every game this season, but saw limited game time off the bench in the opening five matches of 2009. Despite playing two full games in a five day period, Dichio has recovered well and is ready to face the Crew. "I felt a lot worse after the first game than the second," he said. "I missed some of training on Thursday after I landed awkwardly on my ankle but it should be fine. Despite their position in the league Columbus are a good team. They won the Championship last year and it would be nice to put one over them in front of our home fans. We know it will be a difficult game because they have some good players."
With seven games in the next month, including the start of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, Dichio is unsure if he will be keeping his starting role throughout May. "It's up to the staff but I will talk to them about it," he said. "The coaches and medical staff probably have ideas about what they want to do with so many games coming up and maybe they will look to freshen things up at times but we will just have to wait and see what happens."
Saturday's match is Toronto's first since the announcement of Chris Cummins as interim head coach. Cummins took charge of last week's win over Kansas City following John Carver's resignation, and Dichio is pleased with the appointment. "I thought it was vitally important and credit to Mo Johnston for seeing that. It is the right appointment and the boys wanted it to happen. We now have to keep moving forward. We can't get too ahead of ourselves because we are only a few games into the season. A couple of wins or defeats can change your league position very quickly. We need to be consistent in winning our home games and also picking up points on the road. We didn't start so well at home this year but hopefully now we have put that right," explained Dichio.
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