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He resides in a hazy place, a seemingly clock-less locale somewhere between Darryl Dawkins’ Planet Lovetron and Dennis Rodman’s party central oceanfront crib in Newport Beach.
He speaks in the third person -- in Spanish -- like some Latino Rickey Henderson, has drawn comparisons to the ultimate Spaceman, Bill Lee, and has no problem biting the hand that feeds him, even if he’s not on time for the meal.
Diego Serna, the would-be absent-minded striker, despises such comparisons, even as he’s 20 minutes late -- traffic, apparently -- to a luncheon that the Galaxy has thrown to formally introduce him after obtaining him in an Aug. 8 trade with New England.
“This bothers me a little bit,” he said of the perception that he is flaky. “It’s a little bit of a prejudicial point. I’d like to think that the people who have seen me play, pay attention to my work on the field.
“First of all, they thought of Diego Serna because he’s a goal scorer. My job is not only to score goals but also to set up goals. I came here to [generate] goals; that is my job, but I always hope that the team wins.”
That’s why Galaxy officials were willing to gamble on Serna. Not just because of his past successes on Major League Soccer pitches, but also because they think his mere presence will free leading scorer Carlos Ruiz, who had been languishing in a bit of a sophomore slump.
Because from 1998 to 2001, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Serna used his physical play to become one of the most feared forwards in the league, scoring 52 goals and adding 36 assists for the now-defunct Miami Fusion. His five hat tricks is a league record shared with Stern John.
But while in South Florida, Serna infuriated Fusion officials and teammates with tardiness and unannounced trips home ... to Colombia.
Still, he claims to have never missed a game or a practice session.
“Diego’s got a good heart,” said Galaxy Vice President and General Manager Doug Hamiliton, who was Miami’s general manager from 2000 to ’02. “With all the criticism that Diego’s had on him ... I’ve never seen a coach bench him. Ever. So we won’t make Diego do anything. He’s 29 years old. He’s his own man, and he understands that he gets paid to do this and has obligations.”
After the Fusion folded in January 2002, Serna was picked up by New York/New Jersey, where his on-time trials and tribulations continued. He lasted eight games with the MetroStars before he was traded to New England, where he suffered a season-ending left knee injury on June 29, 2002.
And while his former coach, Ray Hudson, recently told the Washington Post that Serna would be “late to his own funeral,” Serna took his rehab seriously enough that he returned to Colombia for it.
Serna’s contract with MLS expired at the end of last season, but his dream of playing in Spain was thwarted by the knee injury.
He was playing for Deportivo Independiente Medellin of the Colombian First Division when Hamilton, pressed by the Galaxy’s goal-scoring difficulties and remembering Serna’s proficiency around the net, got the ball rolling.
For the Galaxy to gain Serna’s services, the Revolution, which still held his MLS rights, had to agree to a sign-and-trade deal and got two conditional draft picks in return.
“MLS called and said they were interested in bringing Diego Serna back to play,” Serna said. “I was happy because the people did not forget about me or my previous performances.”
Serna also was thrilled because it was such a lucrative deal. He would not elaborate but did say that both he and the league hold an option for next season.
He’s already paying dividends.
He entered the Galaxy’s eventual 3-1 victory over Columbus on Aug. 9 in the 60th minute and scored 29 minutes later. His 13th-minute goal against the MetroStars on Saturday in his first Galaxy start was all the club would get in a 1-1 draw.
Ruiz, who scored twice in Serna’s first game, said there is no danger of a power struggle, that the two have become fast friends with Serna moving into a locker next to Ruiz.
“He’s known so much success in this league,” Ruiz said. “He’s a fast player, a strong player. I knew who he was last year, but we weren’t companeros like we are now.”
Serna, no fan of the league’s single entity structure in which MLS, rather than individual teams, handles all player contracts, may need all the friends he can get. Especially with his biting criticism.
“I have a question for the league -- why doesn’t the league make the players happy?” he said. “I wish that the league would tell players what it wants them to do with their contracts.”
His other wish is that each team had a different owner, as opposed to the current system that has three conglomerates -- Anschutz Entertainment Group (six), Hunt Sports Group (three) and Kraft Soccer (one) -- running the 10-team league.
“It’s a group that loves soccer,” said Serna, who still harbors hopes of playing in Europe, “but does not put all of its financial resources into it.”
Some in the league office might wish he invest in a clock.
“When I lived in Miami, I was a long ways from the training [complex] and that may have contributed to my being late,” Serna said. “I had started getting my on-time record to a better standing, and then they sent me to New York. It was impossible to live in New York.
“It’s all in the past for me. I want it to stay in the past.”
Dealing with the Southland’s time-consuming freeway system, however, is in his present.
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Times staff writer Grahame L. Jones contributed to this report.
