Alejandro Bedoya Makes a Bold Statement After Scoring a Goal for Philadelphia

Over the past week, the United States had been rocked by two major instances of a mass shooting. Firstly, there was an attack in El Paso in Texas and another in Dayton, Ohio. In the wake of all the grief surrounding the two tragic events, there was also outrage bubbling over. One perfect example is Alejandro Bedoya, captain of the MLS team, Philadelphia Union.

He called on the US Congress to “end gun violence” and did so publicly, by shouting into a microphone after scoring against DC United. Bedoya’s heart-felt plea comes in the wake of 29 people being killed in the two mass shootings over the weekend.

“Congress, do something now. End gun violence,” declared the 32-year old Alejandro Bedoya. The winger scored the opening in the third minutes as Philadelphia thrashed DC United 5-1.

The supermarket shooting in El Paso, Texas, is slated to be the eighth deadliest in US history. Unsurprisingly, the incident has fuelled the debate about gun laws and the rights of gun owners in the US.

According to The Gun Violence Archive there have been 251 mass shootings so far in 2019.

US President Donald Trump declared that “hate has no place” in America, and “perhaps more has to be done” to prevent shootings.

“To see that happen again, it’s absurd, I am not going to sit idly and watch this stuff and not say something,” said Bedoya after the match.

“Before I’m an athlete and a soccer player, I am a human being, first. I have got kids – I can’t be the only one feeling the same way.

“Something has got to be done, it has got to the point where we have become numb to it, that is a big problem.”

Alejandro Bedoya is familiar with the scourge that is mass shooting, having grown up in Florida near Parkland. That area is significant as 17 students were killed in 2018 in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, he wore a ‘MSD Strong’ shirt under his kit during the first match after the tragedy.

Coming to the actual match itself, Marco Fabian scored his first MLS brace in his career. In the process, Philadelphia Union returned to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Alejandro Bedoya opened the scoring, followed by Kacper Przybylko, Fabian and Fafa Picault. This drubbing of DC United extended Philadelphia’s winning streak to five matches against D.C.

Przybylko was fouled when the match was still 1-0, leading to Junior Moreno’s dismissal.

DC tried to pull one back when Frederic Brillant scored on a set piece, but he was the sole scorer. DC United have lost just twice in just 15 matches last season after opening the new venue in July of 2018.