San Diego hired former U.S. and Mexican national team player Martin Vasquez as an assistant coach. This is the first professional coaching job for Vasquez, who also played in Mexico’s First Division and for Tampa Bay and San Jose in MLS. “Martin Vasquez brings 18 years of professional soccer experience to the Spirit,” San Diego head coach Carlos Juarez said. “He was a superb professional in every sense of the word with his work ethic, training habits and perseverance. As a coach, he commands instant respect from the players because of his wealth of experience playing for excellent coaches and with great players. He will be a good role model for the players and without a doubt a great asset to our organization.” Vasquez, who has a USSF B coaching license, was the assistant coach under Juarez with the Cal Poly Pomona men’s and women’s programs the past two years. In addition to Cal Poly Pomona, he has also coached the Damien High School boy’s team, located in La Verne, Calif., for two seasons, winning league titles both years. Vasquez, 37, began his professional outdoor career playing two seasons with the Hollywood Kickers and California Kickers of the WSL. He moved to Mexico, where his first three years (1987-89) were spent with Universidad de Guadalajara. In 1990-91, he played with Puebla before moving to Veracruz for one season. Vasquez’s last four seasons in the Mexican First Division were spent with Atlas. In all, he played eight seasons in Mexico, playing over 300 league games for four clubs. His play in the Mexican First Division led to 10 appearances with the Mexican national team at the end of 1993 and beginning of 1994. Vasquez also played for the United States in 1996-97, realizing his dream on Dec. 21, 1996, when he started at sweeper for the United States in a 2-2 tie with Guatemala in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier in San Salvador, El Salvador. In two years, he played and started in seven matches for the U.S. national team. During his MLS career (’96-98), he played for the Mutiny and Clash. He was one of the top defensive midfielders in the league while with Tampa Bay, leading the Mutiny to the playoffs in ’96 and ’97. His performance during the ’96 season earned him a spot in the ’96 MLS All-Star Game. Prior to going to Mexico, Vasquez played two seasons indoors with the Los Angeles Lazers of the MISL in 1984-85 and with the Memphis Storm of the AISA in ’85-86. Vasquez played three years at Cal State-Los Angeles, leading the NCAA Division II in scoring as a freshman with 29 goals in 23 matches. He was named a Division II All-Americana that year. As a sophomore, he led the league in scoring with 20 goals and 17 assists.