The Playmaker
It was supposed to be a routine corner kick.
Surely, Mauricio Cienfuegos would boot the ball into the crowd and hope for a header by a Galaxy teammate. But as the smallest guy on the field--all 5 feet 6 inches and 143 pounds of him--lined up on the left side of the Rose Bowl grass for the attempt, you could sense something was up.
Cienfuegos put a wicked spin on the ball, sending it curving up into the net past a stunned Matt Jordan, the Dallas Burn goalkeeper, to break a scoreless tie and jump-start the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory Sunday in the opening game of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference finals.
“He’s definitely our playmaker,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “He helps us in so many different ways, and on free kicks like that, he has the freedom and the ability to go ahead and take a shot at the goal if he sees it.”
It’s a role that Cienfuegos has thrived on since arriving in Pasadena from his native San Salvador, El Salvador, as the third player assigned by MLS to the Galaxy before the league’s inaugural 1996 season.
Cienfuegos relishes his responsibilities as both sparkplug and kick starter of the Galaxy offense from his midfielder position.
“I’ve been here in Los Angeles for four years and it’s been a really good experience,” Cienfuegos said in Spanish. “It reminds me of my country, in that there are a lot of Latinos here. And the fans are great. I count on them for an added push, not only for myself but for the team as well.”
One of the more popular Galaxy players, Cienfuegos has also been, arguably, the steadiest.
He has 56 assists, the third-highest total in the four-year history of MLS. Only Washington D.C. United’s Marco Etcheverry and the Tampa Bay Mutiny’s Carlos Valderrama have more, 66 and 63, respectively.
Cienfuegos’ total of 21 game-winning assists ranks first.
He is 10th on the league’s scoring list with 110 points--27 goals and 56 assists--and 16th in goals scored.
But if Cienfuegos has enjoyed his time in the United States, he does see differences in the style of soccer played here compared to what he grew up with.
“The players here don’t start playing when they’re small or young, and they only play in organized leagues with teams,” Cienfuegos said. “In my country, they play in the streets when they’re 5 years old, so they grow up with it. Maybe the children here don’t start playing until later because the only football you really see on television here is American football.”
Cienfuegos is the most recognizable and most popular soccer player in El Salvador, despite his recent run-in with the country’s soccer federation.
In early October, Cienfuegos came out of “retirement” to join the Salvadoran national team in the Football Confederation’s Gold Cup qualifier at the Coliseum. He then walked out of camp, blasted the Salvadoran soccer federation for alleged greed, deceit and incompetence, and rejoined the team as its captain before getting red-carded from a game and watching his national team get bounced from the tournament.
His patriotism was questioned back home and it hurt Cienfuegos.
“The relationship right now is not very good,” he said. “There are a lot of problems, but it’s something I have to face, because soccer is more important than my problems.”
Galaxy General Manager Sergio del Prado, who helped broker an uneasy truce between Cienfuegos and El Salvador’s soccer officials, believes that Cienfuegos’ fans are still firmly behind him.
“I think they realize that his problems are with the federation and that it would have been easy for him to shut up and take his money if he didn’t care, and phone it in, or even just retire,” del Prado said. “But he cares about it and he feels there’s no reason why they shouldn’t do better in international competition.”
Del Prado also said that Cienfuegos is a major attraction on the road in MLS.
“Wherever he goes, you see pockets of the El Salvadoran community supporting him,” del Prado said. “It was great when we were in D.C. and we beat them on his last-second free kick. There was probably 1,000 El Salvadorans that were cheering . . . for him. It happens in every city we go to, so I think he’s important to the league as well.”
Cienfuegos is listed in the Galaxy media guide as being 31 years old, though some wink at that. Still, even if he is closer to, say, 35, he has no intention of retiring. He has two years remaining on his MLS contract.
There has been talk that Cienfuegos would be welcomed in the Galaxy family as an assistant coach.
“I know there’s three, four years of high-quality soccer left in him, so we’re not thinking of him stepping aside for a while,” del Prado said. “But he understands the game, he’s a quarterback on the field. Sometimes great players don’t make great coaches and, again, it depends upon what he wants to do when he’s done. But I think for him to stay a part of the Galaxy organization is important.
“We need to start creating that kind of history or tradition,” del Prado added. “We’ve had this conversation with Sigi and he agrees. He thinks it’s important to have a sense of a history and tradition and have players stay part of the organization when they’re done playing.”
Cienfuegos agreed, to a point.
“I have to get ready to be a coach,” he said. “I have the aptitude and the experience to do it but it’s a lot different being a player than being a coach. I think I should teach the children first and then work my way up.
“There is an opportunity here [in the United States and with the Galaxy], but I think of the boys and girls in my country first.”
Until that time comes, however, it’s a moot point. After all, the Galaxy is only two wins away from its first MLS Cup championship.
For the Galaxy to reach the title game at Foxboro, Mass., on Nov. 21, Cienfuegos will have to remain as steady as he was during the 1999 regular season.
This year, even though he missed two games, Cienfuegos was the Galaxy’s second-leading scorer, behind Cobi Jones, with 23 points on three goals and 17 assists, which tied for second in the league with United’s Etcheverry, one behind assists leader Steve Ralston of the Mutiny.
In the playoffs, Cienfuegos has assisted on both of the Galaxy’s game-winning goals in their two-game sweep of the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference semifinals.
“It’s been very nice so far but we still have to win some games,” Cienfuegos said. “It’s not over yet.”
Western Conference final
Galaxy leads series, 1-0
GAME 2
Sunday at Dallas
Noon PST, ESPN
GAME 3
Thursday at Rose Bowl
(if necessary)
