SAN JOSE, Calif. – Getting used to the MLS style of play was arguably a distant second in terms of adjustments San Jose Earthquakes forward Danny Hoesen needed to make in 2017.
That’s because Hoesen welcomed his first child into the world in June. Son Damian, now nine months old, was born in the midst of Hoesen’s debut season with the Quakes, and provided a new perspective for the 27-year-old, who struggled for weeks to find his place after arriving on loan from Dutch club FC Groningen.
“It’s changed a lot,” Hoesen told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “Sometimes, you come home after a bad game or a bad practice, you come home and see his smile and all is good again.”
Hoesen hasn’t needed that kind of cheering up often so far in 2018. After an impressive preseason, the Netherlands native produced his first multi-goal performance in MLS with a brace in San Jose’s 3-2 victory against Minnesota United FC during the season’s opening week. It earned him the first Alcatel MLS Player of the Week award of the year, as voted on by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR).
