Earthquakes grab best of draft’s foreign legion
The mystery surrounding the “youth internationals” finally ended three days before the draft when nine in-ternational players suited up for the MLS Youth Select team at the Umbro Classic. Four members of the Trinidad & Tobago club Joe Public, two players from Bolivia’s Tahuichi Academy, two Mexicans and one Venezuelan joined the nine Project-40 signees to form the weekend’s least cohesive squad. With new Project-40 coach Alfonso Mondelo trying to give every player equal playing time, MLS coaches essentially had about 135 minutes to evaluate these players. “It would have been nice to see them a little more, or maybe know who they were sooner to perhaps get a chance to see them in their environment,” Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said. “But I thought it went pretty well.” San Jose coach Lothar Osiander had more than enough time to see Trinidadian midfielder Travis Mulraine, whom he selected eighth overall. “I needed a defensive midfielder in a hurry,” Osiander said. “And this guy was my No. 1 pick right from the first day. I got happier and happier as our pick came closer.” Mulraine, captain of T&T’s Olympic team, has 21 caps with the full national team and played with Joe Public against D.C. United and Chicago in the InterAmerican Cup the past two years. “Ever since the inception of the league I had my eye on coming here because I saw it was a good avenue for Caribbean and Central American players,” Mulraine said. “I had nothing left to accomplish in my country. I played for the best club in the Caribbean and for the national team.” As far as the Earthquakes, however, “all I know is that they were formerly known as the Clash,” Mulraine said. Defender Keyeno Thomas and attacker Adrian Narine, Mulraine’s Olympic teammates, went in the second round along with Tahuichi’s Roland Vargas. Jose Retiz, Thomas Serna and Angel Rivillo went in later rounds, but Bolivian Carlos Alberto Duran and Joe Public’s Alvin Beharry went home undrafted. Thomas, playing alongside Dan Califf, Nick Garcia and Carlos Bocanegra, formed a nearly impenetrable backline that helped offset their team’s lack of chemistry. Colorado picked Thomas 16th overall. “I came here praying that some team will see that I can play,” Thomas said. “I know myself that I am a very good player, but I had to hope they would have time to see that.” Media packets handed out on the first and second days showed discrepancies that illustrated why the list of players had not been publicized earlier. Just days before the games, two Ecuadoran prospects were replaced by the two Mexican immigrants from the Los Angeles area and one of the Tahuichi players had changed. Schmid ended up picking Retiz and Serna, the two Mexican-Americans he had recommended to the league who played at Orange County’s Saddleback High School and Santa Ana College, a junior college. “Both the kids we picked moved to the United States when they were 9 or 10 but haven’t gone through the process of changing their citizenship,” Schmid said. “They present an opportunity for the league to benefit financially down the road, and it gives those ethnic, inner-city kids a chance to play.” Lost in the shuffle over new classifications (see box) are players like Virginia Commonwealth’s Kevin Jeffrey, who is from Trinidad, is 25 and therefore would count as a senior international. At least two MLS scouts rated Jeffrey the top forward at the Umbro games, but he had to settle for being picked first in the A-League draft by San Francisco. “It is frustrating to a certain degree to see a guy who has gained from being in this country, both athletically and academically, be held back by an age requirement,” VCU coach Tim O’Sullivan said. “But I can understand why the league has to go about it this way.”
by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns
