BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – As first goals go for a new club, Jason Johnson couldn’t have timed his any better.
His dramatic header earned the Chicago Fire a late 2-2 draw last Friday at Columbus Crew SC. Now Johnson, who has not seen much playing time since his April 13 trade from the Houston Dynamo for Alex, is hoping it leads to bigger and better things with the Fire.
“It’s a goal, but I’ve put it behind right now,” the 24-year-old Jamaican told MLSsoccer.com after training Tuesday. “I’m focused on Saturday’s game, so that’s the main thing for me: Try to get a victory at home Saturday. We are back home, so it would be good for the fans and the players and the coaching staff to get a win, so that’s the only focus right now.”
That humble, even stoic, approach is something Johnson displayed even after the game-tying strike. Footage shows Johnson remaining remarkably calm while his teammates clamored to celebrate with him.
“There’s a lot [going through my mind], there’s a lot,” he said when asked about his reaction. “I’ve had a tough time for the last couple of years, for other personal reasons, and that’s why soccer is such a beautiful sport: It uplifts you as a person, even though to some people it might be just a game. But to us players and to a lot of fans, it’s more than that, and there was a lot going through my mind then.”
One man who did revel in Johnson’s timely intervention at the death against Crew SC was goalkeeper Jon Busch, himself celebrating his 300th MLS appearance.
“It was great,” Busch said of Johnson’s goal. “The energy that he brought when he came off the bench, to get that and pull us even and get us a point was great. All three subs, when they came in, changed the game, especially J.J.”
Johnson is the first of the club’s five central strikers (Quincy Amarikwa, Kennedy Igboananike, Guly do Prado and Mike Magee) to score a goal this season, which adds further weight to his goal against the Crew.
“He’s a great kid; he just wants to come in and do his part for the team,” head coach Frank Yallop told MLSsoccer.com. “Any time we’ve put him on, or talked to him in training, he’s very coachable, he’s got a great demeanor with the group, and it showed on the weekend.
“Everyone was very happy when he scored, and he was very pleased and, like you say, he was humbled that he got a goal for the team … which is very refreshing.”
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With MLS veteran Magee back in full training, Johnson admitted he is enjoying learning from the likes of Magee, Shaun Maloney and others.
“I’ve been watching Mike Magee over the years in the league, and he’s a fantastic goalscorer. Shaun Maloney, I’ve seen a couple of games with him over in Europe, and he’s a really good player,” Johnson said. “It’s an honor to be playing with these guys and to learn each day in training.”
Yallop has been impressed with the ease at which Johnson has made the transition from Houston to Chicago and expects more to come, given his age and ambition.
“J.J.’s got a good pedigree at college, Generation adidas, going to Houston, didn’t get a chance to really play him, and as we know, sometimes a little bit of a change is very good for you,” he said. “I think he’s fit in quite well. I think he’s made the transition pretty easy for him and us.
“He’s made a difference. We had enough players in Alex’s position that we could afford to move Alex on, and if you look at it, he’s now got a point for us already, and it’s still really early in his career with us.”
