By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
Soccer America Magazine
BEGIN THE BEGINES: Perhaps CD Chivas USA coach Thomas Rongen has found a winning formula for his MLS team: Use more players who joined the team from abroad.
In last weekend's 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake, only four starters — Ezra Hendrickson, Ryan Suarez, Orlando Perez, and keeper Brad Guzan — did not arrive via parent club CD Guadalajara or other foreign sources. Left back Armando Begines, who had been out since preseason with an injury, got the start after playing well in a reserve game last week, and midfielder Francisco Mendoza started for the first time.
Begines and Mendoza helped spark the attack, and several times CD Chivas USA strung passes together to bring pressure on the Salt Lake goal. Begines also delivered one of the game's best shots, a downward header that keeper D.J. Countess smothered right on the goal line.
Rongen has been moving players and tweaking formations to get a good mix of flair and resilience. Grinding out 1-0 wins won't draw many discerning customers — the announced attendance of 10,893 seemed a tad generous — but it may inject some confidence.
ALL PRAISE … THE WORM? Brad Guzan, criticized in this column and elsewhere for his spotty play in the first four games of the season, has rebounded with a pair of stellar displays.
He conceded only an unstoppable 88th-minute header to Clint Dempsey in a 1-0 loss to the Revs, and in a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake last weekend he stymied Jason Kreis and Dipsy Selolwane from point-blank range.
He also commanded the box well and one of his subtler contributions was a sprint and dive to prevent a ball from rolling over the byline for a Real corner kick in the 11th minute.
Commentators and fans have taken to calling him "El Guzano," the closest Spanish approximation of which would be gusano ("worm"). Surely he deserves better than that, especially with crosstown rival Kevin Hartman already dubbed "El Gato."