Byron Alvarez, former Metrostar, who has scored 9 goals in the last 8 games - 4 of which were either stoppage time or OT game winners. He has been named to the A-League team of the week 5 times. There is a great interview with him up on Timberlog: http://www.users.qwest.net/~dallen3/BAInterview073103.html Just thought you guys might be interested.
Some interesting quotes from Mr. Alvarez: What was the experience playing with the Metrostars like? "It was a good experience. I really liked it, it wasn’t like I had that much playing time because in front of me was Clint Mathis from the national team, there was Mamadou Diallo from Senegal so there was really a lot of competition. I was a young kid coming up from the Mexico second division so it was hard to come and win a starting position. I really worked hard and everything and I earned maybe 20 min each game so I really enjoyed it. The people were not really as nice as in Portland you know, there’s no way you can compare Portland to NY. It was a big city, nice to visit...I got to know the city, but I didn’t really like to live there you know." Also... "I’ve played in NY, I’ve played in Mexico, and I’ve played in Italy with the Metrostars pre-season so I have 3 places to compare the fans. The ones in Mexico they pack the stadium, 30,000, everything you hear is negative to your players, in NY you see 20,000-19,000, but it doesn’t feel like there is 100. " I don't know. I thought it sounded pretty loud when he got booed for turning the ball over every time he touched it.