The Revolution took steps toward bolstering their back line yesterday, acquiring former United States national team member Chris Albright from the Los Angeles Galaxy for an undisclosed amount of allocation money, and selecting Rob Valentino of the University of San Francisco in the first round of the MLS draft.
Albright (hamstring tear) and Valentino (knee) are recovering from surgery but are expected to join the Revolution for training Jan. 29 in Foxborough.
Albright, 29, has been among the MLS's most productive right backs, effective defending and contributing to the offense, since being converted from forward in 2004. Albright was a member of the US team but did not play in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was injured in the fifth game of the 2007 MLS season.
"I'm 100 percent recovered," Albright said. "I couldn't be happier going to New England. I have a tremendous amount of respect for [coach] Steve [Nicol] and I am good buddies with a lot of guys on the team."
Valentino, a central defender, missed last season after undergoing left knee surgery (anterior cruciate ligament). He performed for the US Under-23 team in Japan last year.
"The [Revolution] have a great history, they've been in the MLS Cup the last couple of years, and hopefully I can contribute to getting them over the hump," said Valentino. "They already have a great team."
The 22-year-old Valentino is 6 feet 3 inches, 190 pounds, and could play an outside position. The Revolution could switch to a four-man back line to accommodate returning starters Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, and Avery John, plus Joe Franchino, who is returning from leg surgery.
The Revolution continued a trend of selecting former Atlantic Coast Conference players in the draft, taking three Duke midfielders - Michael Videira and Joe Germanese in the second round and Spencer Wadsworth in the fourth round. Videira, 22, from Milford, played for the Greater Boston Bolts and at Noble & Greenough. The Revolution also selected Canadian defender Matthew Britner, who played at Brown, in the third round.
The Kansas City Wizards selected defender Chance Myers with the No. 1 pick. Myers, 20, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., played at UCLA. Five of the first six selections were from Southern California colleges: Myers; UCLA defender-midfielder Anthony Beltran (Real Salt Lake); Cal-Northridge midfielder Sean Franklin (Los Angeles); Cal-Santa Barbara midfielder Ciaran O'Brien (Colorado); and Cal-Santa Barbara defender Andy Iro (Columbus). FC Dallas took defender-midfielder Brek Shea, 17, second overall.
Toronto FC's first-round picks were University of Connecticut defender Julius James and Wake Forest defender-midfielder Pat Phelan, who played for Oakwood Soccer Club in Connecticut and Wilbraham & Monson.
Other picks included former Cape Cod Crusaders strikers Ricardo Pierre-Louis (FC Dallas, second round) and Dwight Barnett (Chicago, third round); and University of Connecticut midfielder Ryan Cordeiro (D.C. United, third round).
