At Sunday's final there were banners hung about - you had to see the one on the Longfellow Bridge - with the name of Gustavo Cabrera on it. They were hung by fans of the Guatemalan defender ostensibly to implore the Revs to sign him. Besides the fact that he's an able bodied defender, I know two other things about this guy: [a] The Guatemalan community loves him, and his club team is CSD Comunicaciones, thus making him a former teammate of the Galaxatives and MLS 2002 Cup Final MVP Carlos Ruiz. Can anyone - Magpie. Calling all Magpies - clue me in on this player?
Talking about defender and Ruiz - Korea's WC team captain Hong, who was voted best 11 by FIFA, will join Galaxy next season.
Full Name: GUSTAVO ADOLFO CABRERA MARROQUÍN Common Name: Gustavo Cabrera Born: December 13, 1979 (currently 22 years old) Position: Defender Nationality: Guatemalan Club: CSD Comunicaciones (Guatemala). Joined them on July 13, 1998. Member of Guatemala’s World Cup team. Is primary central defender for Guatelaman Olympic (U-23) Team. Played in the CONCACAF 2002 Champions Cup series against D.C. United. The Magpie
errrr, Magpie that eould be National Team not World Cup team LOL I don't see them making it to the cup any time in the near future
Like with predators and criminologists, it's become an instinct with you - thanks, man!!! As always, and like Mamadou Diallo used to say, "goot stoff.
Intriguing ... the team could use some more young blood in central defense with Carlos getting up there. Wonder what spurred the Guatemalan fans to pick him as their object of futbol desire? And you'd imagine that MLS will look more carefully at Guatemala considering the success of Ruiz (see: the MLS/Taihuichi partnership following Moreno and Etcheverry's emergence).
Good point. For reasons unbeknown to me there were several pro-Gustavo Cabrera signs in the house on Sunday. Also, don't forget their former companero, Freddie 'El Rata [The Rat]' Garcia of the Columbus Crew.
Guatemala is on the rise. They are just now about 6 years past the end of a long, long civil war (started by US during the Eisenhauer/Nixon administration), and the emergence of new, young talent is probably due to the relative stability that's been missing for so long. In the semi-final round of CONCACAF qualifying they came close to edging out Honduras (which came close to edging out Mexico in the final round). In the Guatemalan League, there are 2 big clubs from Guatemala City that dominate, Comunicaciones and Municipal (los Rojos and los Blancos).
And hell, after seeing all the Guatemalan fans at the game on Sunday, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a player from there that could help draw in fans. I seriously hope and believe that once people from other countries come and experience a MLS game, they will start to notice that the league isn't as bad as originally thought. And if we can get a few more people who want to come and root on their fellow countryman/Revs player, I'm all for it.
I agree. MLS needs to market to soccer fans, not just soccer moms/dads/families. If these fans haven't had an interest in the league because they've heard negative things about it or don't feel they have a player they can identify with/cheer for, then they aren't likely to come out to see a game. MLS rosters now have several countries represented. In this area alone I've seen people from several different countries come out to support their national team or club teams from their country...USA, Brazil, Portugal, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Ireland, etc etc. Plenty of soccer fans around MA/New England...the question is how to get some of these fans to come to Revs matches and keep coming back. Part of that is having a winning team of course.
Those people came in the past and were disappointed with the quality. The home crowd has gotten progressively less "ethnic" every season. Hopefully, enough of the people who came out for the MLS Cup left impressed enough to give the Revs another look next season.
Just a correction. Carlos Ruiz played for Municipal (Rojos)- If Cabrera plays for Comunicaciones (Cremas) then that would make him Ruiz's archenemy.