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After 9 ankle ops, United’s Olsen comes back again
OXON HILL, Md. (AP)—After the ninth ankle surgery of his career, Ben Olsen could not run. He was certain his soccer days were over. The former U.S. national team midfielder would limp into retirement at age 31.
Yet there he was, wearing his familiar jersey No. 14 in the starting lineup for D.C. United’s season opener Sunday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy. To the surprise of many—including Olsen himself—his dodgy joints held up just fine as he played 72 minutes in the 2-2 draw.
“I think we were all kind of waiting to see what I had to offer,” Olsen said Tuesday. “And personally I’m very happy with how it went. I thought I held up better than probably most people expected and maybe exceeded my expectations, but adrenaline and Extra Strength Tylenol and other things gets you through things sometimes.”
Olsen’s perseverance is both a personal triumph and immeasurable psychological boost for United. It’s a little bit more than coincidence that in 2008, when Olsen played only 15 minutes in the entire season, his team failed to make the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2002.
“Benny’s the heart and soul of the team,” defender Greg Janicki said. “He’s a smart player, and he kinds of holds it all together. It’s good to have him in the middle telling you what to do. He’s been around longer than most of us. It’s like a second coach.”
It’s hard to believe that 11 years have passed since the passionate 5-foot-8 University of Virginia standout was MLS’ rookie of the year, but maybe that’s because so much of Olsen’s career has been spent on the sideline nursing one ankle or the other—and sometimes both at the same time.
In his second season, Olsen was the MVP of United’s 1999 MLS Cup victory over the Galaxy and was becoming a regular on the U.S. national team, but he sprained his left ankle in a collision with Chicago Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton the following June and was out for seven weeks.
Less than a year later, while on loan to English club Nottingham Forest, Olsen broke his right ankle. The injury required four surgeries and 16 months of rehabilitation—dousing his chances for a big career in Europe.
Olsen eventually returned to form, helped United win the MLS Cup again in 2004 and had perhaps his best season in 2007, when he was selected to the league’s Best XI year-end All-Star team for the first time in his career.
But his ankle problems persisted, so he had procedures on both of them after the 2007 season, supposedly to address “wear and tear” from years of pounding. This rehab—like the last one—did not go according to plan. There were three more operations in 2008, including one in which two screws were inserted in the left ankle to treat a stress reaction. After months of frustration, the ankle began finally began to show some improvement as the team reported for training camp last month.
“In the last month and a half, it’s pretty new to this thing being able to play,” Olsen said. “I couldn’t run. In the offseason, there were times I wasn’t even thinking about trying preseason because I couldn’t run.”
As he made the rounds Tuesday at the team’s annual kickoff luncheon ahead of the first home game Saturday against the Fire, Olsen said his ankle felt sore but that he would be on the field had there been a practice scheduled. It helped that in the opener he was no longer used on the flank—as he was early in his career—so his sprints during the game were 10-15 yards, not 40-50 yards.
“I’ve got to use the brain a lot more and really work on my positioning,” Olsen said. “And all that stuff is still coming back. I’m still physically and mentally rusty.”
Asked if the ankle will eventually heal completely, Olsen said: “By all accounts, no. But I’m still holding out that the ankle will get used to the pounding and the workload and develop into something where after the game it’s sore, but I’m back at it during the week.
“From where I am now from what I’d thought I be at this point—I didn’t think I’d ever play again,” he added. “I’m not trying to be dramatic about it — it’s just how it goes, so I’m pretty happy.”
