Former Aztec Balboa Top Pick by Sockers
Just how strong the new bond between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the Major Soccer League actually is may be determined by what happens to the first pick in Thursday’s MSL draft.
The Sockers, with the No. 1 pick for the first time, used it to take Marcelo Balboa, a former San Diego State player currently under contract with the U.S. national team through the USSF.
Eric Wynalda, another former Aztec under USSF contract, was drafted in the second round by Dallas with the 15th overall pick. Rob Patterson, a Mira Mesa High graduate who played two years at UC San Diego before going to Evansville, was drafted in the fourth round by Wichita.
Other Socker selections were: Eddie Henderson (first round, fourth overall), a forward out of the University of Washington now playing with the Seattle Storm of the Western Soccer League; David Banks (second round, 12th overall), a midfielder who last year led Philadelphia Textile in goals (10) and assists (nine) but projected by the Sockers as a defender, and Eric Yamamoto (third round, 20th pick), a goalkeeper who led Santa Clara University to the 1989 NCAA championship with a goals-against average of 0.63.
Balboa may prove difficult to sign. A defender, he played for the United States in last month’s World Cup. If he hopes to do the same in 1994, he will need to gain outdoor experience.
But he may be able to play both. The USSF and MSL began a dialogue this week, with a primary aim sharing players. Balboa, whose contract with the USSF expires at the end of December, could sign with the Sockers and be available to the U.S. team for exhibitions.
Socker Coach Ron Newman said he has spoken to Balboa, a 22-year-old from Cerritos, and that Balboa has expressed a willingness to play indoors.
But Balboa, reached in Milwaukee--where the national team will play an exhibition against East Germany Sunday--said he has other options.
“I’ve never really thought about (the MSL),” he said. “Now, I guess I’ll have to. But playing in Mexico is a possibility, and so is staying with the national team.”
Bob Gansler, the U.S. team coach, said he sees nothing wrong with national team players going to the MSL.
“My immediate thought,” he said, “is that wherever they are provided the best competitive situation is where they should go.”
There is another problem the Sockers will have to work out if they hope to sign Balboa. The new salary cap of $630,000 per team will will leave very little money for unproven rookies.
“We really don’t have a lot of leeway to give these rookies a large amount of money,” Newman said.
Newman said Balboa and Henderson were the two players he most coveted in the draft and that he was shocked when Henderson was still available after three picks (Cleveland took North Carolina defender Chris Szanto with the second pick, and St. Louis selected Eastern Illinois defender Greg Muhr with the third).
“I am ecstatic about what we got in the draft,” Newman said. “I really didn’t expect to get both of them.”
Henderson was originally drafted by the Tacoma Stars out of high school in the third round in 1985 but chose to attend Washington. He has played with the WSL Storm for three years now and last year was voted by league coaches and players as the hardest player to cover.
Henderson said he is aware that few MSL draft picks stick with the league but said he thinks he will be one of the exceptions.
“I think I know the game well enough that I can make it in the league,” he said.
Newman said Banks is a “Ralph Black-type player.” That’s good news for the Sockers considering reports they may lose Black to Tacoma and defender George Fernandez, the team’s most valuable defender last year, to Cleveland.
The potential departures of both were made possible by the new salary cap, agreed to by players only if they all became free agents. But the Sockers can keep any of their players who receive offers elsewhere by matching them.
Yamamoto may also prove to be an important pick, because the Sockers have two high-priced goalies, Zoltan Toth ($68,000 last year) and Victor Nogueira ($40,000).
But Yamamoto represents something of a project. The goalkeeper position, Newman said, is the most difficult in which to make the transition from outdoor to indoor, mainly because of caroms off the dasher boards.
