By this week, though, Dabo realized the dream had ended, a series of injuries limiting him to three MLS matches for the Revolution since March. Dabo’s composure on the ball and ability to link the defense and forwards were impressive in his small amount of playing time, which concluded with a second-half appearance against Manchester United last week.
“It is so frustrating, because I was so happy to come here and discover a new football, a new country,’’ Dabo said. “I was not even at 60 percent. It was so frustrating. I wanted to help the guys, even at training, to show my experience with the young players. Not so many regrets, because I tried, but my body does not let me.’’
Dabo’s early professional years were marked by major transfer sums. Serie A was flush with money and clubs were willing to splash out. Players coming through the French development system were high valued as Les Bleus won the ’98 World Cup. Dabo became a valued central midfielder, making more than 300 first-division appearances for eight clubs.
Dabo earned respect nearly everywhere he went, judging by the assessments of former teammates such as Youri Djorkaeff and Aaron Winter. Dabo’s fight with Joey Barton during a Manchester City training session seems to be an isolated incident. Dabo appears strong enough to take care of himself and he can be an imposing presence on the field - announcers used to confuse him with Nicolas Anelka when the two played together, Dabo said. But he definitely got the worst of it in the Barton clash, though maybe not as bad as the Barton teammate who had a cigar stubbed out in his eye. Barton was charged with assault, but Dabo’s time with Manchester City was effectively ended.
During his short time with the Revolution, Dabo was a class act. The only time he seemed about to lose his cool was after a quadriceps injury caused him to leave the field 20 minutes into a game against New York last month, perhaps knowing things were coming to a close.
By retiring, Dabo relinquished the remainder of his $200,000 annual salary.
