Edu is top pick; Galaxy, Chivas load up
Maurice Edu, a midfielder from the University of Maryland and a former Etiwanda High standout, was the first overall selection in the MLS SuperDraft on Friday in Indianapolis.
Edu, an All-American last season as a junior, was picked by expansion club Toronto FC.
A day after announcing a deal with David Beckham, the Galaxy selected five players but traded their two first-round picks, fifth and 10th overall, for partial player allocations probably intended to help acquire a forward.
The team’s first pick was Robbie Findley, a forward from Oregon State, with the 16th overall selection. The Galaxy also picked Indiana midfielder Josh Tudela, Washington defender Ty Harden, San Diego State goalkeeper Tally Hall and Loyola Marymount forward Bobby Burling.
Chivas USA added an Englishman of its own, selecting forward John Cunliffe with the No. 7 pick overall.
Cunliffe, the NCAA Division II player of the year at Colorado’s Fort Lewis College, is a native of Edgeworth, England, and scored 29 goals in 24 games last season.
Trying to make up for the losses of Francisco “Paco” Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia, both of whom returned to Mexico recently, Chivas also selected defender Cameron Dunn of UC Irvine and traded for forward David Arvizu, a Santa Ana native who played for the New York Red Bulls last season. Chivas USA General Manager Whit Haskell said the team has chosen a coach to replace Bob Bradley but postponed an announcement until next week in light of the Beckham news.
Other players of local interest selected Friday included: goalkeeper Chris Seitz, a San Luis Obispo native, taken by Real Salt Lake; forward Brad Evans (UC Irvine) by the Columbus Crew; midfielder Brian Byrne (UC Santa Barbara) by the New England Revolution; forward Aaron Chandler, a Riverside native, by the Crew; and midfielder Eric Ebert, an Irvine native, by the Houston Dynamo.
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The 2007 InterLiga tournament concludes today with a doubleheader at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
The tournament advances its top two finishers to the Copa Libertadores in South America. It began with eight teams from the Mexican league, four of which are still in contention.
In the opening game at 5 p.m., unbeaten and untied Necaxa (3-0, nine points) will play Jaguares de Chiapas (1-1-1, four points).
At 7:15, defending CONCACAF champion Club America (2-0-1, seven points) will play Tigres UANL (1-1-1, four points). America reached the Copa Libertadores semifinals in 2000 and 2002, and Tigres made it to the quarterfinals in 2005.
-- Grahame L. Jones
