Hermosillo Signs With the Galaxy
The Galaxy added to its considerable offensive arsenal Wednesday with the surprise acquisition of Carlos Hermosillo, the all-time leading scorer for the Mexico national team.
Hermosillo gives the Major League Soccer team yet another threat to combine with Brazilian forward Welton and Cobi Jones, who is on loan to the U.S. World Cup team.
Just as important, he brings a marquee Mexican name to a city with an immense Mexican-American population.
“Every time we have played in Los Angeles, both with the national team and my club team, we have had a great reception,” Hermosillo said through an interpreter. “I expect that the reception for my first game [with the Galaxy] will be the same.
“I hope to return the love they have shown me with a lot of goals.”
The signing came on a day when MLS announced the addition of another Mexican first-division player, Francisco Uribe, who will join the San Jose Clash.
Together, Hermosillo and Uribe represent the league’s biggest acquisitions since a number of international stars came aboard for the inaugural season in 1996.
“This is a bombshell,” Galaxy General Manager Danny Villanueva said. “We’re delighted.”
MLS--which signs players and distributes them among its teams--has long courted Hermosillo. The 33-year-old forward was set to join San Jose last winter but changed his mind. This time, circumstances made MLS more attractive.
Hermosillo’s club team, Cruz Azul of Mexico City, wanted to unload his hefty contract. At the same time, the veteran player was left off Mexico’s World Cup team.
Still, MLS could not afford to pay Hermosillo what he made with Cruz Azul, so a three-way deal was forged. The league paid about $1.2 million to Cruz Azul, then signed Hermosillo to a two-year contract that allows him to play for--and earn more money from--another Mexican team, Necaxa, during the off-season.
His assignment to Los Angeles, with its league-leading 10-1 record, might irk other MLS teams.
But Hermosillo would not play anywhere else.
“I am married and have three children,” he said. “My wife asked me that, if I do leave Mexico to play in the United States, that I play in Los Angeles simply because we have relatives there.”
Hermosillo could arrive as early as June 7 for a home game against the New England Revolution.
If so, they will see a talented striker who could flourish with Welton and Jones.
“We have to put him in the lineup and arrange all the players that I think can communicate, can play with him,” Coach Octavio Zambrano said. “I have no doubt that a player of his caliber will be able to adapt.”
MLS Notes
Goalkeeper Mike Ammann had two saves in the shootout as the Kansas City Wizards beat the Columbus Crew, 2-1, Wednesday night before 5,027 at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
