<table> </table> It&#8217;s only natural that Wizards midfielder Claudio Lopez would be jonesing for something from his home country of Argentina.</p><p>Sure enough, when asked, Lopez said, <em>Carne asade a la parrilla</em>.</p><p>&#8220;Grilled meat,&#8221; interpreter Arcelio Zepeda said. &#8220;Barbecue, Argentina style.&#8221;</p><p>Wait a minute, he misses barbecue &#8230; in Kansas City?</p><p>Truth is, Lopez hasn&#8217;t tried any barbecue in the town with the best in the world. How&#8217;s that possible?</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been busy with soccer,&#8221; Zepeda joked. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know he ate.&#8221;</p><p>Lopez may be missing out by not partaking in our culinary delights, but the Wizards certainly don&#8217;t feel like they&#8217;ve lost out with their designated player. Lopez, who has played all but 14 minutes in the Wizards&#8217; 15 games, is tied for the team lead with three assists and is second with three goals. He also leads in shots (36) and shots on goal (14).</p><p>More than the numbers, Lopez has a motor that won&#8217;t quit.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s an extremely hard worker,&#8221; Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said. &#8220;He&#8217;s an excellent leader, and he wants to do everything within his power to help us succeed. From that standpoint, it&#8217;s been really good.&#8221;</p><p>Lopez, who turns 34 on Thursday, has a resum&#233; that rivals anyone&#8217;s in MLS, even Galaxy star David Beckham. From 1996 to 2007, Lopez played at Valencia in Spain, Lazio in Italy and Club America in Mexico.</p><p>During that span, he also represented Argentina at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.</p><p>The Euro snobs may think Lopez is slumming it in Major League Soccer, but he has been pleased.</p><p>&#8220;I am really enjoying myself,&#8221; Lopez said through Zepeda. &#8220;I really like it. I like the fact that it&#8217;s a league that is progressing and putting forth the effort to really move forward and create something that&#8217;s good for everybody. I really enjoy it. It&#8217;s fun.&#8221;</p><p>In fact, MLS has exceeded his expectations. Of course, he wasn&#8217;t really sure what was awaiting him.</p><p>&#8220;I hadn&#8217;t followed it all that much,&#8221; Lopez said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t really familiar with it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was received with open arms and with such great treatment that it made it easy to come and play soccer in MLS. It&#8217;s been great.&#8221;</p><p>The results on the field have not been as great. The Wizards are tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with just 14 goals in 15 games.</p><p>But Lopez expected it would take time to get used to his teammates.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s normal that every time you go to a new club or new place of employment,&#8221; Lopez said, &#8220;there&#8217;s a period of adjustment, where you adjust to culture, you adjust to people, in this case, to your teammates and you learn how to play together. It&#8217;s been a little bit of time now. We&#8217;re hoping from now on that we&#8217;ve passed that period and we can jell as a group and move forward.&#8221;</p><p>Lopez&#8217;s transition to this country has been eased by the presence of longtime girlfriend Ximena and their son, Joaquin. The family has really taken to its new home.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a beautiful city. We&#8217;re really comfortable here. We love it,&#8221; Lopez said. &#8220;The most important part is my family is really comfortable and happy. That&#8217;s what really matters.&#8221;</p><p>But don&#8217;t get the idea he&#8217;s in the States simply for the paycheck, a la Lothar Matthaus.</p><p>&#8220;He cares,&#8221; Onalfo said. &#8220;He&#8217;s definitely not here for a holiday.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s good news for Wizards fans, but shouldn&#8217;t he still have time to sample the barbecue?</p><p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t had it yet,&#8221; Lopez said. &#8220;No one has invited me.&#8221;</p><p>A smile formed on Zepeda&#8217;s face.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s why he&#8217;s looking at me,&#8221; Zepeda said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll get to it. We&#8217;ll have to go to a typical Kansas City joint.&#8221;</p><p>Then Lopez can really call Kansas City home.