Bornstein joins the U.S. team
Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein was picked Tuesday by U.S. national team Coach Bob Bradley to play in a friendly against Sweden in Gothenburg on Aug. 22. Bornstein, 22, was one off three MLS players named to the 19-man roster.
Chivas plays the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center in Carson on Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. and even though Bornstein is scheduled to return by kickoff, Chivas Coach Preki has ruled out his starting left back for that game.
Bornstein will travel with Chivas to Canada for its match against Toronto FC this Saturday and he will fly to Sweden on Sunday. “Obviously he’s going to miss the game against the Galaxy,” Preki said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The game against the Galaxy is the only one Bornstein was expected to miss for now, Preki said. The U.S. team plays Brazil in Chicago on Sept. 9 -- and Chivas plays the New York Red Bulls the same day in Carson -- but Bornstein has not been told if he will be named to the U.S. roster for the Brazil game.
Separately, the team released midfielder Carlos Borja, a native of Orange, on Monday. The team has two spots open -- one developmental contract and one senior roster slot. Chivas has three players trying out with the team: Colombian Oscar Echeverry and Cubans Osvaldo Alonso and Lester More.
Preki said he would like to sign Alonso to a contract, but neither Alonso nor More have been cleared yet by the INS to work in this country after defecting from Cuba in June.
Also, last week it appeared Chivas was going to acquire Swiss national midfielder Raphael Wicky from Germany’s Hamburg SV. Wicky, 30, started in all four games Switzerland played in last year’s World Cup.
But negotiations between Chivas and Hamburg are dragging, said Chivas General Manager Javier Leon. The transfer window for MLS clubs closes today at 2 p.m.
