Lazo Alavanja, cody anderson, aleksey korol...those guys are all listen on the wizards roster for spring training. when did we pick these guys up? And wasnt Alavanja waived from DC?
This just wild speculation, but... Korol used to play for Dallas a while ago. I know he's bummed around in the A-League, and even got a cup of coffee in Chicago when they were hurting for forwards due to the WC and injuries. This means Testo didn't make the best impression in S. Africa, so Korol is the next guy they're looking at. Alavanja may be the victim of the midfield crunch at DC. Or maybe DC just didn't think much of him.
I think both qualify as SIs. I think that's why DC dropped Alavanja. But I think he's pretty close to a green card, too.
Alavanja was born in the States (Chicago?...to immigrant parents). Korol probably has a green card by now (born in Ukraine). Cody Anderson is from Lee's Summit, and was in Lazio's youth system.
You're right - I was thinking of Korol. Alavanja was injured in a car wreck last season. I think that contributed to DC releasing him.
I remember reading about Cody in the YA forum. Did his youth contract run out and Lazio decide not to resign him? What is the skinny on him?
I just met a coach from Lazio's youth program a week ago who is hear in KC. We are working with him to become a trainer and possibly our director of coaching for our youth league. He wants to stay in the US. I am going to have to ask him about Cody.
A thread on YA mentions an old back injury that may have contributed to his release: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=27187&highlight=cody+anderson