Mexican connection pays for Revolution
When players were being recruited for Major League Soccer's inaugural season, Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos was near the top of the list. Sunil Gulati, then the league's deputy commissioner, was seeking players with personality and style, and also seeking to appeal to the Latino market.
Campos did not make a major impact in the league, partly because few coaches were comfortable with his adventurous style. But Gulati remained in close contact with Campos, who became an assistant coach for the Mexican national team.
Now, Gulati's connection with Campos is paying off for the Revolution in the form of Jose Manuel Abundis, whose goal in his MLS debut contributed to a playoff-clinching 3-1 win over Colorado Saturday.
``The first person to contact me about [Abundis] was Jorge Campos, and I told him, of course we had interest," said Gulati, who now directs Kraft Soccer Properties. ``When Jorge first called, we were potentially working out an early agreement with one of our players that didn't get resolved, a renegotiation that we are now going to wait until after the season to do. Jorge has a pretty good understanding of what the league is about and what kind of [salary] would make sense."
Among those hoping to renegotiate with the Revolution is striker Pat Noonan, the only player on the team whose contract ends this year. Noonan has been injured most of the season and the Revolution have been seeking a replacement.
Abundis failed to come to terms with Deportivo Toluca, the club that discovered him as a teenager in Guadalajara and helped develop him into one of Mexico's top strikers. Abundis started looking outside the country and nearly signed with Racing de Avellaneda in Argentina. Then Campos and Gulati made contact; Abundis came for a tryout in August, then received a work permit on the eve of the Revolution's Sept. 20 visit to New York.
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But the groundwork for Abundis's arrival actually began several years ago. Gulati said MLS tried to bring Abundis to the San Jose team in 1998. He was in the prime of his career and was a member of the Mexican national team. Though Abundis did not play in a World Cup, he played a part in the qualifying campaigns of '98 and 2002, scoring 10 goals in 47 games for the Tricolor.
MLS brought Campos and strikers Carlos ``Señor Gol" Hermosillo and Luis ``El Matador" Hernandez to the Los Angeles Galaxy. San Jose never seemed to embrace its Mexican community, and after a failed attempt to bring in coach Javier Aguirre (now with Atletico Madrid), it ended up with lower-profile, but highly competent, players such as Missael Espinoza, Daniel Guzman, and Juan Pablo Rodriguez. Abundis might have made the Mexican connection function in San Jose, but he remained with Toluca.
``I don't remember if he didn't want to come or if it was too much money," Gulati said. ``But it's probably accurate that he always had an interest in coming here. It's worked out very well. Sometimes, you get the guy you are looking for."
Abundis, though, was feeling frustrated after Revolution coach Steve Nicol left him on the bench against New York (a 2-0 win) and Kansas City (a 1-1 tie).
``That's part of it," Gulati said. ``I explained to him that it's up to Steve. But he got the opportunity and he made the most of it. Every player wants to play. But a guy coming into a game on artificial surface in New York when we are winning, 2-nothing -- under normal circumstances he might have gotten in, but he didn't need to. I'm sure he was disappointed after the Kansas City game."
Some observers suspect Nicol might have further motivated Abundis by declining to use him against Kansas City. In any case, Abundis displayed some excellent touches, plus the instinct and strength to produce a headed goal off a free kick, and the endurance to play 71 minutes in his first start since May.
Abundis likely will be in the starting lineup at D.C. United Saturday. As for next season, Gulati said no decision has been made.
``We figured he would be available to us for 5-10 games, depending on what we do in the playoffs," Gulati said. ``We will make that decision after the season."
