SAN JOSE — “Wondo Way” sounds just right.

The Earthquakes have filed a permit request with the city of San Jose to change the name of the side street near their stadium in a tribute to the team’s greatest player, Chris Wondolowski.

The striker who fans and teammates affectionately call “Wondo” said he is playing in his final season, which opens next Saturday at home against Toronto FC.

According to the permit filed Tuesday by Chris Gennuso, The Earthquakes’ vice president, the street would change from Champion Drive to Wondo Way. The dirt street divides the Quakes’ practice field with a parking lot for Coleman Highline mixed-use complex, where streaming giant Roku is headquartered. Plans call for the street to eventually be paved and extend to Brokaw Road.

Wondolowski’s father, John Wondolowski, said that he was overwhelmed by the gesture.

“When he was drafted it was a surprising and amazing day with nothing but the unknown” and concern “that it would end in some kind of heartache,” John Wondolowski said. “It wasn’t going to last. He could not have found a better place to spend the last 15 years.”

Chris Wondolowski and team officials could not be reached for comment.

Wondolowski, 37, is Major League Soccer’s all-time leading scorer with 155 goals. He broke Landon Donovan’s record in May with a four-goal game against the Chicago Fire.

Wondolowski, a De La Salle High alumnus, grew up rooting for the Quakes and has served as the team’s captain for much of the past decade. College soccer coaches didn’t show much interest in him during high school. The Danville native attended Division II Chico State, where he had a Hall of Fame career.

Wondo again was overlooked after college in 2005 by professional scouts. San Jose took Wondolowski 41st in the MLS supplemental draft after evaluating him at a tryout in the East Bay.

He then followed the team to Houston where the Quakes relocated in 2006. But Wondolowski returned to San Jose’s expansion team in June 2009 in a trade for target forward Cam Weaver.

Wondolowski had a breakout year in 2010, winning the Golden Boot award with 18 goals in 26 games. He has not stopped scoring since then. He set a league record by recording at least 10 goals every season for the past decade. Wondolowski led the Earthquakes with 15 goals last year after starting the season on the bench.

He has also scored 11 goals in 35 appearances with the U.S. national team. Wondolowski played in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Copa America Centenario in the United States.

[related_articles location=”left” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”curated” curated_ids=”5895184,6824494,5923561″ Wondolowski’s coach at Chico State, Mike O’Malley, was thrilled to hear his former player was being honored.

“Is that where they are going to put the statute, too?” he said in an interview from Mexico, suggesting Earthquakes Stadium “could be called the House That Wondo Built.”

The permit lists the project status as “under review.” It took the team months to rename a nearby side street “Earthquake Way” when the stadium opened in 2015.