Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Rapids Bringing More Sexy Football to DSG Park

The Colorado Rapids have signed Brazilian midfielder, Bruno Guarda, through the league's lottery system. Guarda will take the roster position of the unfortunate Justin Hughes who has been placed on the season-ending injury list. Get better soon Justin! The Rapids have not had the best of luck with Brazilians. They lost out in their chase for striker Reinaldo who went off to South Korea instead. Midfielder, Rafael Gomes, did show signs of real skill in the few opportunities he had but his lack of English let him down in the end and he was offloaded. Guarda comes with the advantage of having been in the American collegiate system, playing for SMU. He will no doubt have enough English to discuss some stories with SMU alumni, Ugo Ihemelu and Colin Clark. Guarda spent three years with the Mustangs, scoring 15 goals and registering 17 assists in 63 games. "Bruno is a skillful, creative midfielder who comes to us with a very impressive resume," said coach, Fernando Clavijo. "As a team, we were fortunate to win this lottery for such a talented, technical player." The Brazilian was also a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy in both 2006 and 2007 and a two-time Conference USA Player of the Year. Can't quite see how he will work his way into a crowded midfield just yet but maybe next season?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A good stroke of luck for the Rapids, this gives the team some options. In my opinion the midfield is pretty crowded already, I'd be open to listening for trade offers to expand depth and options at the forward position. I saw some rumors that Dallas was trading Toja, so maybe Dallas could use this guy, especially considering Guarda went to SMU, and SMU's old coach is now at Dallas.

Nick Thomas said...

Joey, I think you are spot on. Apparently, there has been a lot of interest from other clubs for this guy. Toja is apparently going to Romania pdq.