Jaime Moreno‘s first spectacular moves in Washington actually came against a D.C. United defender.
But he will be remembered for the memories he created with D.C. United over the following decade and a half, the last of which will come in one final Major League Soccer game. Saturday is the season finale for United and the last game for Moreno with the club whose legacy — including three MLS Cup titles in the league’s first four seasons — he was instrumental in creating.
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“I remember seeing Jaime blow by [former United defender] Jeff Agoos when Bolivia came into town at RFK,” said United assistant coach Mark Simpson, who played goalkeeper for D.C. in 1996. “The next thing you know, not even a month later, he was here and making his mark on this team and history and MLS.”
Moreno said of his arrival from Middlesbrough in England: “Always in my mind, it was just stay a couple years, get better and go back to Europe. Every other year, it was signing, and signing longer contracts until I realized it was 15 years later, and I’m still here. That’s how life goes.”
During D.C.’s tailspin the last three years, an aging Moreno, now 36, has spent his decreasing minutes simply trying to maintain his hold on the MLS all-time scoring lead (132 goals), which was tied this month by Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham. But the four MLS Cups and multiple other championship trophies that Moreno helped D.C. capture won’t soon be equaled.
“We can talk about his goals and him being one of the best players,” United interim head coach Ben Olsen said. “But to me, we’ve only won championships with Jaime. That says a lot.”
