Ching making some noise with Earthquakes

SAN FRANCISCO — Brian Ching looks like one of the most indestructible players in Major League Soccer.

At 6 feet and a rugged 195 pounds, he’s a “target” forward who definitely is a target in front of the net for Landon Donovan and his other San Jose Earthquakes teammates, a big guy with an increasingly big game.

But Ching, the first footballer from Hawaii to make it in MLS, really is lucky to be playing at all.

He’s had to survive two career-threatening injuries, one of which left him with four plates and 12 screws in his face, the other with a right calf that is still considerably smaller than his left.

Ching has had a rather amazing odyssey for someone who’s just 26 years old.

Back home in Haleiwa, on Oahu, his first coach, when he was a 7-year-old, was his mother.

“She just wanted me to play sports,” he said. “Everything she knew about soccer she was picking up from books.”

A little later, an uncle “who didn’t know much about soccer, either” took over as his coach.

Somehow, Ching flourished, and when he was in high school, his club team made a trip to the mainland, where he was spotted by the coach at Gonzaga University, who offered him a scholarship — the only college that did.

Ching began to blossom, becoming a two-time West Coast Conference first-team selection. But, in 1998, he had surgery on a torn meniscus in his knee that forced him to miss a season, a depressing prelude to what would occur a couple years later, when he was playing for the Spokane Shadow of the Premier Development League.

In a collision with the Seattle goalkeeper, he caught a knee in the face. His cheekbone was shattered and one of the muscles that attaches to the eye, he said, “was fractured off the bone and they were kind of worried about attaching it back.”

But they did, and with the plates and screws now a part of him, Ching made it to MLS with the Los Angeles Galaxy, playing briefly — and well under the radar — in 2001.

The next year, with the A-League Seattle Sounders, he scored 16 goals, and, more importantly, was spotted by Earthquakes coaches Frank Yallop and Dominic Kinnear when he played against the Quakes in the U.S Open Cup.

They were so impressed that they made him the No. 1 selection in the 2003 MLS Supplemental Draft. After joining the Quakes last season, Ching was almost an immediate factor, scoring six goals in 15 games.

Then, another injury.

Ching ruptured his right Achilles tendon, ending his season, and, many thought, his playing career.

But he’s back, and then some, with a growing string of notable accomplishments in 2004.

Ching has nine goals this season, just one behind MLS leader Carlos Ruiz of the Galaxy, and he’s third in points with 20.

He just was named player of the week after scoring two goals against Colorado. One of those scores was chosen as MLS Goal of the Week.

He’ll start for the Western Conference July 31 in the MLS All-Star Game, and he recently made his second appearance in what may be many for the U.S. national team.

All on a leg that atrophied after surgery and still is recovering.

“I definitely am surprised by how fast I’ve gotten back,” Ching said. “I didn’t expect to be able to come back and play to the level where I was at last season. But, by the same token, I’ve worked really hard to do that.”

Ching has become particularly effective in positioning himself in the box for passes from players like Donovan.

“Our partnership has grown,” Ching said. “Landon and I have a good understanding of each other.”

Ching is working on a better understanding of himself — and his game — too.

“I just want to work on consistency,” he said, “day in and day out, getting to where I want to be and staying there.”

Staying healthy also wouldn’t hurt.