Over the past year, D.C. United midfielder Fred has faced lots of adversity off the field. In December, Fred was in New Zealand on loan to Australian league club Wellington Phoenix when he heard his father had been killed in a car accident in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In late April, his daughter, Eduarda, underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital to correct a craniofacial condition in which the brain grows faster than the skull. But Fred, whose real name is Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva, has been able to work through those trying events.
“Fred has had to deal with a lot with all the off-field issues,” United coach Tom Soehn said. “We’ve been patient with him, and now I see already signs of what he is about and why we got him. He’s in a happy place, as anyone would be when you know your child is safe from harm’s way. There is a whole new attitude about him. You can tell in the locker room and see how much happier he is.”
He is happier on the field recently, too. The 29-year-old Brazilian scored his first league goal of the year May 30 and then set up the game winner last week in United’s win over the New York Red Bulls. In United’s last two games, Fred stepped into his old central midfield role for injured Christian Gomez. “I feel good because it’s been a long time since I scored. I have more confidence to play now and to keep going,” Fred said. “I’ve been looking forward to scoring, and I’ve been playing hard.”