Ruiz Fails to Get Deal in England
For the second time in about a month, Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz has been passed over by an English team.
Wolverhampton of the English Premier League announced Ruiz would not be signed to a three-month loan deal after the Guatemalan international had been on trial with the team for the last week.
“Carlos is one of a number of players we looked at during the course of a season but, unfortunately, we didn’t think he would be able to add anything extra to our squad,” Coach Dave Jones told the club’s Web site. “We wish him the best of luck in finding a club.”
Wolverhampton recently signed Romanian standout striker Ionel Ganea through the end of the season.
Ruiz now will turn his attention to Portsmouth, another team near the bottom of the standings. In December, Leicester City decided against pursuing Ruiz.
Richard Motzkin, Ruiz’s agent, said Ruiz will train with Portsmouth the rest of the week, according to the Web site rojomania.com.
D.C. Hires Nowak
Peter Nowak, who led the Chicago Fire to the 1998 MLS Cup title, has been hired to coach D.C. United, which will feature 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu next season.
Nowak, 39, of Poland, replaces Ray Hudson.
In other coaching news, the San Jose Earthquakes, as expected, promoted assistant Dominic Kinnear to take over for Frank Yallop, who left to become coach of Canada’s national team.
Vasquez Joins Galaxy
Martin Vasquez, who played in Mexico’s first division and three seasons at Cal State Los Angeles, has been hired to be an assistant with the Galaxy.
Vasquez, 40, joins the Galaxy after spending two seasons as an assistant with the San Diego Spirit of the Women’s United Soccer Assn. He replaces Ralph Perez.
Vasquez, who played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny, is the only player to appear for the U.S. and Mexican national teams. He became a U.S. citizen in 1996.
Interliga Update
Tigres of UNL stayed alive for a spot in the Copa Libertadores after a 3-2 victory over Atlante on Tuesday night at San Jose in a Group B match of the Interliga soccer qualifying tournament.
Tigres, which lost its first match, 2-0, to Atlas, got goals from Jesus DeNigris and Jose Mendoza, as well as an own goal, to defeat Atlante in front of 12,235 at Spartan Stadium.
Earlier, Club America overcame a two-goal deficit to tie Atlas, 2-2, on goals by Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the 77th minute and Reinaldo Navia in the 85th minute.
America and Atlas are tied for the group lead with four points apiece.
Quick Passes
Manchester United pushed its lead to three points over Arsenal in the English Premier League after a 2-1 victory at Bolton on goals by Paul Scholes and Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Arsenal tied Everton, 1-1. Chelsea fell six points behind after a surprising 1-0 home loss to Liverpool.... Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham is doubtful for a Spanish league match Saturday against Real Sociedad because of an infection on his injured right ankle.... Former MLS and Colombian midfielder Carlos Valderrama, 42, has turned down an offer for a comeback with his hometown team Union Magdalena.... FC Barcelona captain and midfielder Luis Enrique will sit out as many as six weeks after suffering a broken cheekbone in a collision with teammate Oscar Lopez in practice.... French star Christophe Dugarry of Birmingham City was charged with violent conduct by England’s Football Assn. after allegedly breaking the nose of Blackburn defender Craig Short with an elbow in a Premier League game last week. Dugarry faces a three-game suspension.... Former Argentina midfielder Leonardo Astrada said he has accepted an offer to become the coach of River Plate.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
