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Pontius signs new deal with D.C. United

Pontius (ISI)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

A year ago at this time, Chris Pontius' future was in jeopardy after a broken leg prematurely ended what had been a breakout season. Now, in the midst of the best season of his budding career, his future is bright and secure.

Pontius signed a long-term contract with D.C. United Friday, the terms of which were not disclosed. Pontius leads D.C. with a career-high 10 goals and has emerged as one of the top attacking threats in MLS in his fourth season in the league.

"D.C. has been very good to me – the organization, the fans, and the community – and I’m committed to bringing this team back to where it needs to be," Pontius said in a statement.

Pontius, who has played both on the left wing and up top for D.C. this year, was the MLS All-Star Game MVP with his goal and assist against Chelsea. More importantly, he has stayed healthy and suffered no setbacks after recovering from his broken leg. He has played in 24 of the club's 27 games this season and figures to assume a bigger role in the attack going forward now that Dwayne De Rosario has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.

"Chris has become one of the most dangerous attacking players in Major League Soccer," D.C. general manager Dave Kasper said. "His best soccer is still to come and this is exciting for the club, our fans, and our community. We look forward to his contributions, on and off the field, for years to come."

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What do you think of this development? Happy to see Pontius staying put? Do you think Pontius should be part of the national team picture next month?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The route to the National Team doesn’t flow thru MLS for the most part. But everyone isn’t suited to living in Europe and it is difficult to catch on with a good team. It much safer to not push for the top level and just be cozy in MLS. Europe, Mexico, etc doesn’t assure anything but it does open more doors than MLS. I hope he spoke with JK about this…hopefully he didn’t have to introduce himself.

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  2. How did a Camroone, who didn’t practice with stoke, except one practice, he clearly Dev. into a good player.Donovan went on loan to the EPL, before the 2010 world cup and took A.cole to school. I think saying a player doesn’t dev. is stupid.

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  3. Maybe — but this could also be a good sign of the constant poitn that all our talent will just leave for Europe, and the MLS is just a league for washed up stars and young kids waiting to get poached.

    Pontius is a relatively young player with huge potential, who decided to stay in the MLS because he has a comfortable life here and is making enough money.

    Then again I think most important is Santana’s #1 point above. If you are an oft-injured player, you are going to take a big contract when it’s in your face.

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  4. He should have left he’s not going to develop any further in MLS. There is just one starter on the national teamin MLS and that’s Donovan who was born good and IMO never reached his full potential.

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  5. Is it possible for MLS players to have an automatic release clause in their contracts. A lot of players in Europe do that, such as Moussa Dembele, who was able to leave Fulham because Tottenham triggered the 15-million release clause and nothing Martin Jol could do to stop it. In any case, if this is possible in MLS, which I don’t know why it would not be, MLS players should start doing it.

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  6. Agreed. Risky. He would make more than 300k with one of the top 2. Bundeslia teams, probably at least three times that with any Bundesliga team and four times that with a lower level Premier League team. But Santana makes a very good point below.

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  7. 1. Pontius has had enough injuries in his short career to know that taking the bird-in-hand is important.

    2. At 25 and a forward, the next 3 years are his prime. He could always get lost in the shuffle playing abroad. This way, he guarantees a stage on which he can make a case for Brazil ’14.

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  8. Risky for him because MLS is the most difficult league to leave from(other than N.Korean). I’m assuming its a big upgrade probably over 300k.

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  9. My favorite DC player, glad to see him rewarded for his work. Now he will have to step up even more now that DeRo is down and out for the rest of the season.

    Vamanos United!

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