Friday, July 11, 2008
The Worm is...
...Sooooooooo out of here. And loving it.
As Ives Galarcep noted, Brad "El Guzano" Guzan, who is more down with la gente del sol than any other midwestern Caucasian dude you know of, is off to the Prem to join Aston Villa, after getting the Heisman on his first try due to work permit issues a few months ago. Here's what he said in a post-game interview on Thursday's ESPN broadcast of Chivas USA vs LA Galaxy:
I remember interviewing Guzan after he was selected by Chivas USA in the 2005 SuperDraft, with the second overall pick that year, in Baltimore. Just as a reminder -- hee hee, this is funny -- Real Salt Lake went first that year, picking...Nikolas Besagno. Enough said.
Anyway, Guzan was a big, gangly, almost-dopey kid from Illinois who didn't speak a word of Spanish, but as fate would have it, he would go on to become the most recognizable face of the deeply-Mexican expansion franchise that selected him as of their originals. And man, did he pay his dues. See here for an example of the regular beatings -- mentally, physically, you name it -- that he endured as a rook.
(Just admit it -- how many of you even remembered that Thomas Rongen had anything to do with Chivas USA? My my, where have the years gone. Sigh.)
I'd like to point out that this long-desired move abroad could never have happened without Bob Bradley's knowledge and support. Witness the following from the soccernet.com article linked above:
As Ives Galarcep noted, Brad "El Guzano" Guzan, who is more down with la gente del sol than any other midwestern Caucasian dude you know of, is off to the Prem to join Aston Villa, after getting the Heisman on his first try due to work permit issues a few months ago. Here's what he said in a post-game interview on Thursday's ESPN broadcast of Chivas USA vs LA Galaxy:
"I hope for the best result for everybody involved....[My MLS career] has been absolutely unbelievable...Obviously being able to stay at a club for three and a half years, learning and growing as a player, as a person, I've been very thankful for Chivas USA and everything they've done for me....And obviously the league has made tremendous strides and hopefully it'll keep going in the right direction."Dude, he is SO over this MLS thing.
I remember interviewing Guzan after he was selected by Chivas USA in the 2005 SuperDraft, with the second overall pick that year, in Baltimore. Just as a reminder -- hee hee, this is funny -- Real Salt Lake went first that year, picking...Nikolas Besagno. Enough said.
Anyway, Guzan was a big, gangly, almost-dopey kid from Illinois who didn't speak a word of Spanish, but as fate would have it, he would go on to become the most recognizable face of the deeply-Mexican expansion franchise that selected him as of their originals. And man, did he pay his dues. See here for an example of the regular beatings -- mentally, physically, you name it -- that he endured as a rook.
(Just admit it -- how many of you even remembered that Thomas Rongen had anything to do with Chivas USA? My my, where have the years gone. Sigh.)
I'd like to point out that this long-desired move abroad could never have happened without Bob Bradley's knowledge and support. Witness the following from the soccernet.com article linked above:
Guzan had a transfer move to Villa blocked after failing to secure a British work permit in January, but it is believed that Guzan will secure his work permit now after playing in five of the U.S. national team's eight matches this year.Oh, and this is also going on this weekend. What are you up to?
Comment posted by Charles Boehm @ 11:43 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
