I’m hearing that Fernando Clavijo, the former U.S. national teamer and Major League Soccer coach, will soon be named technical director at FC Dallas.
Funny thing, too, because I ran into Clavijo in Arizona a couple of weeks ago. Seattle and Vancouver were about to start kicking shins and chins out at the Casa Grande field, but I had a second to walk over to say howdy. We shook hands and started to chat when his phone rang. He excused himself politely for a second, but then the game was about to start and I was eager to see if Steve Zakuani was going to play, etc., etc., and … long story short … I never got to ask Fernando what he was up to.
Now, I guess we know.
I first got to know Fernando when I was a little cubby reporter and he was a right back on Bora Milutinovic’s 1994 United States World Cup team. Later, of course, Clavijo had short stints with the MetroStars and New England before settling in for three years with the Colorado Rapids.
His time with Colorado was up and down, to say the least, with a 43-55-26 mark overall. But he was always a pleasant fellow to deal with, all the way to the end of his days in Denver. That’s why it’s nice to see that he’s back in Major League Soccer. Not officially. Not yet. FC Dallas has a media availability later today, so an announcement could be made as early as today.
Oh, just for fun: here’s Fernando in that monstrosity of a kit, the star-splashed U.S. denim-flavored jersey from 1994. The shot, by the way, is from a first-gen version the Offside Rules, the defining soccer / culture crossover blog from Shawn Francis. That blog is here now.
