In Los Angeles. Seems that Portuguese Abel Xavier, an English Premier League player, will be joining Major League Soccer's new millionaire's club, the LA Galaxy. Xavier, a defender, was most recently with the EPL's Middlesbrough. Well...sort of with them.
Seems that he has failed to reach a contract with his former team. They're his former team because he just sat out a one year ban for "having performance-enhancing drugs in his system." He was, by the way, the first player to do this, which is an accomplishment in its own right.
He will, of course, be joining David "Posh" Beckham in LA. He of the ~$250 million contract to leave Real Madrid and to move to Hollywood to jump start soccer in America. Or at least get rich trying. These two European players will get to play against another former EPL'er, Captain America himself, Claudio Reyna, when they play against New York.
While it's great to see these world-class players moving over here, I do have to wonder if this was the right decision to "lure" Xavier away from the EPL. He was found guilty of doping, and he was the first player to be banned for a year for drugs. Couldn't the coaches do better?
My favorite quote, the one that makes me just scratch my head in confusion, is this one by the LA Galaxy coach about Xavier joining the team and MLS:
"This is a terrific signing for us and he will bring so much experience, leadership and ability to the team," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said.
"People of his quality are not often available for us to sign, so we are really happy that he is going to join us."
He's right; there are only so many banned players from the EPL. Then again, as has been noted by others, the Galaxy will field the best hair in the league with Xavier and Beckham.
No comments:
Post a Comment