Ex-Bruins Bite the Bullet as Galaxy Reduces Roster
Less than 48 hours after attracting 69,255 to its inaugural Major League Soccer game at the Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday cut its roster to the league-mandated 18-player limit.
Waived were two former UCLA players, midfielder John O’Brien and forward Ante Razov. Razov is training with the U.S. Olympic squad and had not yet joined the team.
Moved to the Galaxy’s developmental squad were another former Bruin, midfielder Gregg Vanney, and former University of San Diego forward Guillermo Jara, who plays for Sacramento of the third-division U.S. Indoor Soccer League. Both will continue to train with the Galaxy when available and can be called up if injuries deplete the roster.
No decision was made on midfielder-actor Andrew Shue, pending the arrival of three other players, defender Curt Onalfo, currently involved in the Mexican League playoffs with Tampico, and forwards Joey Kirk of the Chicago Power and John Garvey of the Baltimore Spirit, both in the National Professional Soccer League’s indoor playoffs.
Galaxy Coach Lothar Osiander said Shue’s status would be discussed later in the day with MLS officials.
Shue played as a substitute for 25 minutes in the Galaxy’s 2-1 victory over the New York/New Jersey MetroStars on Saturday.
Osiander said he was under no pressure to keep the “Melrose Place” actor, who played for Dartmouth and professionally for one season in Zimbabwe.
He also said the team will be without forward Eduardo Hurtado on Saturday when it plays D.C. United at Washington. Hurtado will return to Ecuador later this week to play in its World Cup ’98 qualifying game against Peru on April 24.
Washington Coach Bruce Arena faces the same sort of problem, having lost two of his forwards, Marco Etcheverry and Juan Suarez, who must return to Bolivia to play in its World Cup qualifier against Argentina in Buenos Aires on the same date.
