Another American keeper to Europe! Soccer 365 is reporting that Zach has transferred to Benfica of Portugal. The club recently has a player collapse and die on the field, and has released several players to cut payroll. Zach may be a bargain signing. While he was the enemy with Chicago, especially for his crashing challenges, he was a valuable Metro previously. Congratulations to Zach, may his impact by as large as Tim, Brad & Kasey!
It's kind of revisionist history to claim that he was a "valuable Metro" since he only started 5 games ... LEAGUE: GOALKEEPER (metrofanatic.com) YR GP MIN W L T GA GAA SO --------------------------------------- '96 3 270 1 2 0 9 3.00 0 '97 3 196 1 1 0 5 2.30 0 TOT 6 466 2 3 0 14 2.70 0 That said, all the best to Zach in Europe.
The football, the food, the weather, the life... He's going to love it there. With so many good keepers -- and they can't all have enough caps to get a Brit WP -- I'm glad to see opportunities available outside England. Major US exports: corn, wheat, and goal keepers!
In the 1997 season, when the Metros were already finished, we threw our scrubs out against a surging DC United. Zach Thornton stood in goal and dominated. We killed them. It didn't make it a winning season. It didn't give us any kind of title. But dismantling DC at that point of the season was still nice. Screw the other four games. For that one game, Thornton was a valuable Metro.
Zack was on the field on May 4th, 1996. That alone confirms his status as an all-time Metro great in my mind. http://www.mlsnet.com/games/96/0504tbmet.html
You know what my favorite aspect of that match was? It wasn't the 3 goals in 4 minutes, the shootout, the crowd of 38k (imagine getting a crowd that big these days, even if el Pibe showed up), or even Gio's goal. It was the fact that Rubencho was wearing a different shirt than all of his other teammates. Truly MLS bush-league style. That being said, and even though Zach let in more goals (3) than he made saves (2) in that match, he won the shootout for us and became a part of Metro folklore. When the shirtless face-painted wasted Colombian guy next to me asked me the keeper's name, and then proceeded to scream a chant of "FORNTON! FORNTON!" during the shootout, I felt as if Metro and MLS had truly arrived. And by the way, I have a shrine to Mickey Kydes in my closet.
hahaha, thats classic man. but trust me, even though i'm sure you all have great memories of him, for a Fire fan, losing Zach is such a horrible feeling. Of all the people lost in the last couple years (bradley and Bocanegra included), i'd say the only one that hurts more than losing Zach, was losing Peter Nowak. I think its different than when you guys lost Howard, becuase, except for the first half of the 98 season, Big Zach Thornton has always been there for us. but now...
Well, since somebody had to ask the question ... Does Chicago get an allocation for losing Zach? Yes, he was out of contract, but so was Bocanegra.
So, in other words, unless Chicago gets an allocation for Zach, MLS' rules on player allocations can be considered "flawed".
Yeah, that's gotta be tough. And he was still pretty much in the prime of his career. Not to mention, Timmy going to start at Man U., and Zach going to Benfica... there is a difference there. Even the most hard-core Tim Howard fan was happy to see him get the shot at greatness that we all knew he deserved. As for Zach, it's hard to see him progressing to the level of Timmy on the international club scene simply given his age, but you never know. And I do think if we're handing out allocations for Mathis and Bocanegra, that the loss of Thornton deserves one as well. MLS keeps on losing big players and we've got only a couple of months to sign new ones (according to the new FIFA rules). I hope they're working overtime down at HQ, cause Kirovski and Gibbs alone ain't gonna cut it and there are a lot of teams (Fire and Metro included) in line to get theirs.
he's not fat Zach for nothin...i really think he was far better when he left here, and early in his career with the Fire than he is now...after throwing Amado into the side netting (and it going unpunished by the league), he was one of the players i hated most in MLS...but i agree with the popular opinion, and i'm just glad he's out of MLS...as an american abroad, i hope he is successful and it's pretty cool even if he's not in the EPL, Benfica is a name club and it's definitely something to be just as proud of...is it just me though, or did this come out of nowhere???...there wasn't even a single rumor about Thornton being wanted abroad, but now the Fire defense has taken a seriously jolt (also losing Boca), i have to admit it puts a smile on my face..
First Bocanegra and now Thornton. I guess Sarachan is going to have build his own team in '04 and not just ride the unit Bradley built.
Re: Re: Thornton to Benfica Unless the league does the same thing as Joe Cannon. It sounds like Thornton's contarct is only until May. Chicago doesn't get an allocation but keeps his rights. If he comes back either Chicago gets him or they get something from whoever wants him. As for who gets allocations, doesn't each team need to designate 1 or 2 important players and those are the allocations eligible? Isn't that why San Jose didn't get an allocation for Cannon and why Chicago may not get an allocation for Zach?