Former United States national team captain Carlos Bocanegra, his international player certificate now in hand, is set to debut tonight for Chivas USA.
The Goats meet Toronto FC at the StubHub Center (formerly the Home Depot Center, the LA Galaxy’s stadium on the Cal State Dominguez Hills campus) in a match that is big for several reasons around Chivas USA.
Not only is Bocanegra (pictured) being reintroduced to the league that helped him establish a long, fruitful career in European soccer, highly regarded Mexican striker prospect Erick “Cubo” Torres is also set for a Chivas USA debut. Torres, 20, formerly captained the Chivas de Guadalajara’s under-17 team and made his first team debut back in November or 2010.
So, the night is mostly about these bookend Chivas USA debutantes – “bookend” in terms of age, that is, 14 years apart. Kickoff from Carson, Calif., is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. (The official MLS match preview is here.)
Bocanegra will play in his first MLS match since late in the 2003 season, after which he earned a second consecutive MLS Defender of the Year award, a resume plum that helped get the California native noticed by Fulham.
Since leaving MLS, “Boca” has played professionally in England, Scotland, Spain and France, and he was a member of United States World Cup rosters in 2006 and 2010.
(MORE: Will Bocanegra’s move to MLS get him back into U.S. team?)
There’s one more reason to be interested in this one. Chivas has looked better lately, a little more defensively disciplined, under new manager Jose Luis Real. It paid off in recent road draws at Dallas and Toronto, and nearly so again in last week’s controversial – well, actually lets go with “just plain wrong” – loss to Philadelphia. Read about that one here, if you like.
Chivas USA is winless in 14 matches, having failed to taste victory in April, May, June or as yet in July. One more loss or draw will match the club record. So, a home contest against Toronto FC, another of the league’s poorest clubs, and one that just lost its top defender, represents about the best opportunity out there to get things going in a better direction.
