Curt Onalfo and his Tampico Madero teammates hadn't been paid by their Mexican Second Division club in three months. It was 1995. Following the peso's devaluation in 1994, a severe austerity program and sky-rocketing inflation, Onalfo and his teammates, who included fellow American Lawrence Lozzano, sympathized with the club's owner.
''There was nothing he could do,'' says Onalfo. ''He'd lost his life savings.''
The players negotiated a deal. They'd get the gate income from two home games. Players manned the ticket booths.
''The other players trusted me and gave me the money,'' Onalfo says. ''For 24 hours, I had about $25,000 in my house before we divided it up.''
Still, Onalfo enjoyed his Mexican stint. He met his wife, Sandra, in Mexico, then played three seasons in MLS.
The period between the 1994 World Cup and MLS's 1996 birth was notable for the many U.S. products who played in Mexico.
Mike Sorber (UNAM), Tab Ramos (Tigres) and Marcelo Balboa (Leon) started for First Division teams. Dominic Kinnear celebrated the 1994-95 title with Necaxa.
Cle Kooiman's play in Mexico landed him a spot on the 1994 World Cup squad. He began a seven-year stay in 1989 with two seasons on Second Division Juarez before moving to Cruz Azul, which he captained in 1992-93. He finished with Morelia before joining MLS. UCLA products Mike Getchell (1988-89) and Jorge Salcedo (1995) also played at Morelia.
Even in the Mexican First Division, the highest-paying league in the Western Hemi-sphere, paydays aren't a sure thing. Balboa and Eric Wynalda (Leon, 1999) needed U.S. Soccer's intervention to collect back pay.
A lack of demand and economic instability make Latin America an unlikely destination for U.S. products.
Besides Jonny Walker in Chile, few other Americans have made a mark in Latin America. Ventures to Brazil by Cobi Jones and Desmond Armstrong were quickly aborted. Alexi Lalas and Joe-Max Moore had fleeting loan stints in Ecuador.
In Costa Rica, Roy Lassiter's goalscoring at Carmelita led him to power Alajuela, with which he became the league's second-leading scorer (17 goals) in 1994-95. That year, David Quesada scored 15 for San Ramon. New York goalkeeper Kurt Kelley played in Costa Rica for a decade.
Quesada is one of many Americans who moved to the Latin American nation of his heritage.
Martin Vasquez, who was 10 when he immigrated to Los Angeles, played nine years in the Mexican First Division (1988-96). Christian Cubillas, the son of Peruvian great Teofilo Cubillas, was raised in Florida and later played for Sport Boys, Alianza and Juan Aurich in Peru.
Waldir Guerra, a McGuire Cup champion with Balboa on Fram-Culver in 1986, starred in El Salvador in the 1990s. Hugo Perez finished his career in his native El Salvador, winning titles with FAS in 1995 and 1996.
San Francisco-born Carlos Menjivar, 21, whose parents emigrated from El Salvador, signed with FAS last March and was capped for El Salvador last month against the U.S.
by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla