Loyalists: RSL Supporters Club

In his opening press conference, SLC John Coach Ellinger along with GM Steve Pastorino made reference to a Hispanic-American that was interested in coming to Salt Lake City MLS from an international team. This player was also referenced as being from Utah.

My research has lead me to Sergio Flores of Chacarita Juniors in Argentina. He plays in the U-20 USA National Team and knows Coach Ellinger very well.

Dustin Branan of A-League's Minnesota Thunder - 23 years old, 6' 3" central defender for the Thunder for the past 2 seasons, and before that All Ivy League player for Brown University, who played along side Cory Gibbs.

During the Thunder's 2004 run in the Open Cup, Dustin was a major reason for their victory over the Galaxy and tie with the Earthquakes.

Dustin was one of 3 defenders selected by USL for it's All League Team in 2004, having been selected to the Team of the Week 4 times during the season, more than any other defender in the league. In addition to leading the Thunder to the 2nd lowest GA in the league (23), he scored 3 goals (one against the San Jose Earthquakes to tie the game), had 2 assists, and led the team in playing time. He was picked as the Thunder's Defender of the Year and selected Player of the Year by the fans.

After the Thunder's game vs SJ Earthquakes during the Open Cup, both the coach and Landon Donovan made comments about Dustin's potential for MLS.

There is a 19-year old kid from Smithfield, Utah named Sergio Flores who is with Chacaraita Juniors in Argentina. Flores has been part of the US U18 and U20 pools and would seem to be a logical fit if he can be convinced to leave Argentina.

There is a rising senior at Cal Poly Pomona (where Paul Caligiuri is the coach) named Robert Cardenas who was part of the U20 pool when Sigi was the coach and who he was interested in having join the Galaxy out of HS. Instead he opted for a Mormon mission and then going to nearby Cal Poly. Given his religion, he would seem like a logical fit for a team in Utah, at least to be drafted.

http://www.thepolypost.com/story.php?story=1088

And Richmond Kickers midfielder Joey Worthen, who was also in the U20 pool under Sigi and who played at South Carolina, is from Salt Lake. Here’s his Kickers’ bio.

http://richmondkickers.com/players/worthen.htm

PumaJohnny13 Jul 2004, 11:02 PM
There's a Mormon kid from Raleigh who plays for University of Virginia - the east coast powerhouse that's well-represented in MLS. He was a member of the U.S. Under-18 National Team. He lived in Munich during high school and played for Munich 1860 on the A Youth Team (1999-2002) - the level right before the professional ranks. He was offered a professional soccer contract but passed on it to play college soccer at UVa.

Here's his offical UVA bio (where I lifed this info):
http://virginiasports.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/vide_joe00.html

Also, Brigham Young University (located ~30 miles south of SLC) fields a PDL squad. It will be interesting to see if any of those players get looks. Matt Affleck has put up some strong numbers this season: 8 goals and 5 assists in 14 games.

Here's a link for him:
http://www.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?m2:gp::72011+Elements/Display+E+47116+Player/+22298+1076107+78072

Elninho
Naea Bennett is apparently Tahiti's best attacking player, plays forward or right wing. Scored 19 goals in a 14-game regular season in the (semipro) Tahitian league.

davide
The former Cruz Azul youth player Ryan Daley might be another good fit for the Utah team. Daley was at Bradenton with the Beasley and Convey, but didn't make the final roster for the U-17 team that went to New Zealand. He played college ball at South Carolina for a year or two, then left for Cruz Azul. Daley played briefly for the California Gold last season(?) before leaving on his LDS mission in Argentina. That should be completed soon.
The USSF lists are still wrong (Abe Thompson), but I think I made a mistake in regard to Daley. I confused Ryan Daley with Justin Detter.

Daley and Esky were among a handful of players that had trials with the U-17s in the summer of '99.

Daley got capped one time at the U-17 level against England.

He was also named as an alternate for the U-17 World Cup team. Although he wasn't officially part of the residency program, he lived at IMG during that time and probably trained with the team.

http://www.imgacademies.com/soccer/default.jsp?info=6

http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=52031

His freshman season at South Carolina was statisically impressive. I really think this kid could at least make the team as a DP. He left S. Carolina to play in Mexico, so he's got some desire to be a professional player.

JimmieLivealot15 Jul 2004, 10:27 PM
Wade Barrett and Alex Yi are two guys who would make decent home coming candidates. Barrett is a border-line national teamer at LB and fills an area where the league is thin and Yi is young, and probably cheap.
Look for Alex Yi. He's a center back who was with Donovan and Beasley in the original Bradenton class, went to UCLA for a couple of years, before moving overseas. He's currently with Belgium bottom-dweller Royal Antwerp, struggling to get minutes. He's not going to be a star, but he would very likely make an MLS team - probably in the Nelson Akwari mold.

panicfc15 Jul 2004, 11:06 PM
Barrett would be a very good pickup, but I think he may have burned some bridges with MLS New York.

Also Brian West is tearing up Norway now.

01-Jan-2005