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Mwanga eager to build on rookie season for Union

IF DANNY MWANGA had a more gregarious personality, he might have had a better time with the attention that came with being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

"There was a little bit of pressure, I'll be honest," Danny Mwanga said of his rookie season. (Kriston J. Bethel/For the Inquirer and Daily News)
"There was a little bit of pressure, I'll be honest," Danny Mwanga said of his rookie season. (Kriston J. Bethel/For the Inquirer and Daily News)Read more

IF DANNY MWANGA had a more gregarious personality, he might have had a better time with the attention that came with being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

But Mwanga is introverted, and he freely acknowledges that being the first pick and the first franchise face of the expansion Philadelphia Union occasionally made his rookie season a little more problematic.

"There was a little bit of pressure, I'll be honest," said Mwanga, the 19-year-old striker who came to the Union from Oregon State University. "I'm usually not an outgoing person at all, so it was a little hard going from a college player to where everyone is looking at you, to see what you have as a player.

"You know that a lot of people are expecting you to do well. You know that a lot of people are coming to games to watch you. It's not an easy situation to be under."

But being with the Union was the ideal situation for the teenage native of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Peter Nowak, Mwanga had a former world-class player and one of the top technical managers in U.S. soccer. As coach of D.C. United in 2004, Nowak directed the rookie season of 14-year-old phenom Freddy Adu - the most celebrated debut in MLS history.

Nowak knew how to handle the hype.

"I was very lucky to fall under a great coaching staff that had played professional ball," said Mwanga, who lived in Congo until relocating to Portland, Ore., in 2006. "They knew exactly what to help me with.

"I also had some veteran players like [team captain] Danny Califf and Stefani Miglioranzi, who helped me and tried to take the pressure off of me."

Now, as the Union opened training yesterday for the 2011 season, Mwanga also has a year's experience, which has him better equipped to deal with being a high-profile young player.

He has not necessarily embraced the spotlight, but he is much more equipped to deal with it.

"My first year was more of just being about getting experience," Mwanga said. "I just wanted to learn as much as I can and get used to this level.

"Now, coming into my second year, I have to make sure I use what I learned during my first year. I need to do the things I did better, and the things I didn't do so well, I need to improve on.

"That's pretty much what my second year is going to be about."

Mwanga had a successful debut season, scoring seven goals with four assists. That was the highest combined mark among MLS rookies.

But Nowak doesn't just give any player - no matter how much attention surrounds him - anything.

Mwanga started the Union's inaugural game in Seattle, then came off the bench for the next eight matches. The fact that Mwanga ranked eighth, with 1,461 minutes, shows he was not granted favor because of his status.

To his credit, Mwanga simply worked hard in training and earned his playing time.

By midseason, Mwanga had formed an effective relationship up front with Union teammate Sebastien Le Toux, the team's leading goal scorer and assist maker.

"It was a very good year for Danny," said Le Toux, whose scoring prowess was likely the biggest relief valve for Mwanga. "It was a lot of pressure for him, because of his position of being the first pick in the draft, which isn't an easy position for a young guy like him.

"He handled the pressure very well last year. He knew that he had to wait a little bit to learn more about the game at this level. But when he got his chance, he took it pretty well.

"He scored some important goals and took lots of confidence from that. He just continued to work to become a better soccer player."

The pressure doesn't go away for Mwanga. In a lot of ways, there might be even more this season.

The Union is no longer an expansion team. The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps are this year's new MLS franchises. The grace period from being a novice franchise is gone, and this team will be expected to move up the ranks in MLS and make a run at the playoffs.

Mwanga is still the Union's first-ever draft pick. He is still the guy on whom a lot of hope has been staked.

"Like I said, I had a lot of help from people to get through that part," Mwanga said. "I think things went well my first year.

"Now, I still have a little bit of pressure. I think people will still expect me to show up and play the best soccer you can.

"But that's my job now. I'm just going to try to use what I learned in my first year to bring it into my second year and become a better player." *

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