White keen to repay Toronto's faith

Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer

TORONTO, Canada:

The handful of boys dressed in Toronto Football Club (TFC) jerseys waited almost two hours in a drizzle for O'Brian White to emerge from the club's locker room after a recent game here.

When he did, they crowded round the Jamaica-born striker as he autographed their shirts and game programmes, leaving each with a satisfied smile.

TFC and its ultra-loyal fans have grown accustomed to being patient when it comes to the 24-year-old St Ann native.

When the club made White the fourth pick in the first round of Major League Soccer's (MLS) draft two years ago, he was still recovering from a serious knee injury - complete with torn ligaments he suffered playing for the University of Connecticut in the United States. But they liked what they had seen in college, where White thumped in nearly 50 goals and was once listed as the best United States collegiate player.

The injury limited the 6' 1", 175-pound White to just nine games (five starts) and a couple goals towards the end of last season, when TFC failed to make the MLS play-off. He has been in and out of the starting line-up since and has only four MLS goals and two assists to show - for TFC's huge investment - in what would amount to nearly a full season. But neither the club nor its followers are ready to press the panic button. For now, it seems the mantra is 'In OB we trust'.

BELIEF

"Initially, there wasn't a risk drafting him because we all heard he was a good player," explained Vladmir Vukasovic, a TFC fan since the club joined the MLS in 2007.

"When we did find out that he was injured, it was questioned a little bit. But since they've had him on board he has really matured nicely into a great player for us, and he is being more and more, it seems, this year."

"Great" may be stretching it. Despite the fans' belief and White's steady progress, the club added two forwards - Spain international Mista and Brazilian Maicon Santos - to its roster in mid-season. Clearly, TFC's fortunes will not all be pinned to the Jamaican's shoulders. Yet, it seems the club and its fans are more than willing to give White an extended grace period.

"The club knows what O'Brian brings to the table," said TFC midfielder Julian De Guzman, a former La Liga star whose mother is Jamaican. "He's definitely a talent, not just for the team, but also in the league. If you watch carefully, a lot of clubs, he does get a lot of respect from them. But I think the club is very happy to have him at TFC and he definitely has a bright future ahead of him."

EFFORT

In 2010, White's first full campaign in the MLS, he is anxious to reward TFC's patience.

"I think I owe them, definitely," he said, following a recent 4-1 defeat here to visiting New York Red Bulls, where White missed a couple scoring chances but provided the assist on TFC's only goal.

"That's why, whenever I go out there I just leave everything out there. This club has been good to me and I definitely appreciate it a lot."

No one at the club doubts his effort. White worked hard enough to overcome his physical injury in a shorter time than TFC originally expected. Although he feels occasional tightness in his knee and constantly ices it, it is the mental loosening up on the football field that his teammates, who have stood firmly behind him during his recovery, anxiously await.

"Get that (thought) out of his head that, you know, kinda shelter his knee a little bit," said TFC's star Dwayne De Rosario, who is also no stranger to Jamaica. "You can see (the hesitation) a little bit. But when he gets into his rhythm, once he gets into his game, he's definitely a great talent and still has a great future."

White admits the next big hurdle is in his own mind. He said he is about "95 per cent" of his pre-injury form. Against Red Bulls he was strong on the ball, showing deceptive speed and off-the-ball movement. But his sharpness and goalmouth awareness must improve. White was late arriving for a couple crosses against Red Bulls and hesitated when sent clear on goal in the first half, only to be robbed of the chance.

"The defender was quick," he admitted. "I didn't expect him to get there and block it."

Miscues, White indicated with a shrug, "sometimes happens". He can feel his game coming back each time he takes the field and is eager to press on.

"I'm close," White said.

TFC and its fans are waiting. So far, there is no real pressure on White to start filling up the statistics sheet. The club, he said, has not set goalscoring targets for him, nor has he set any for himself.

"They just want me to continue work hard," explained White, who has two goals and two assists in 16 MLS games this season. "It's not really like a personal thing."

Toronto are still in the hunt for a spot in the 2010 MLS play-off. But they have only scored 22 goals in 21 games while conceding 25. The players want White to establish himself as the key scoring threat. They need him down the stretch.

"I would like to see him really pushing to take over that starting position," De Rosario said. "But that has to come from within him."

"OB", as they call him, knows it too. Yet, he refuses to put his individual progress ahead of the club's.

"My goal is to help the team win," said White, who has lived and attended high school in the Toronto area, which has a large Jamaican population.

Toronto and its fans would like that more than anything else. Their patience, after all, cannot be expected to last forever.