Wynalda Back in His Own Galaxy
The long and winding road that has been Eric Wynalda’s Major League Soccer career finally returned to his front door Thursday afternoon when the veteran striker from Fullerton was acquired by the Galaxy.
The move not only brings Wynalda home, it also reunites him with Cobi Jones, his former Westlake High and U.S. national teammate. The 32-year-old forward was picked up on waivers after being released by the Chicago Fire.
The Galaxy, which opens its seventh season March 23, will be Wynalda’s fifth MLS team. He scored the first goal in league history in 1996 while playing for the San Jose Clash, and later played for the Miami Fusion, the New England Revolution and the Fire.
“He had expressed an interest in playing in L.A.,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said Thursday afternoon while the team was training at Cal State Fullerton. “I don’t know the terms of the contract, but certainly the dollars here were more workable for him because this is where his home is.
“I think we have good, young forwards in [Brian] Mullen and [Carlos] Ruiz and [Chris] Albright, but a player like Eric, with his experience, can help them.
“I think Eric is at a stage where he wants to still contribute to a team, he wants to win a title and he also wants to share his knowledge.”
Wynalda scored an all-time record 34 goals for the U.S. during a 106-game national team career that lasted from 1990 to 2000. In the MLS, he has played 98 games and scored 34 goals.
Another former U.S. teammate, Galaxy defender Alexi Lalas, believes Wynalda has more than just experience to offer on the field.
“Eric is someone I’ve known as a player and a friend for years,” Lalas said Thursday. “At this point in assessing players, I only look at what’s going to make the Galaxy better.
“I know that Eric is a player who, whether it’s for the full 90 [minutes] or coming off the bench or whatever, is someone who needs to be marked and needs to be worried about. That’s something that we definitely need. We need to put an element of fear into [opposing] teams that they have to be aware of these players.”
Wynalda is expected to join the team before its departure Saturday for a 13-day, four-game tour of Chile.
In order to make room for Wynalda on the 23-man roster, the Galaxy waived forward Brian Ching, who played in eight games for Los Angeles as a rookie last season.
In other MLS news, defender Ivan McKinley was acquired on waivers by D.C. United. He will rejoin Coach Ray Hudson, his former coach at the now defunct Fusion.
