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Who will be first soccer idol?

Posted on Sun, Feb. 18, 2007

Major League Soccer, in its endless search for new talent and publicity, is taking a cue from American Idol.

Two thousand aspiring soccer players -- including 11 from South Florida -- are in Los Angeles this weekend for Sueno MLS, a nationally televised open tryout that stretches over a month and culminates with one winner getting a two-week training-camp contract with Chivas USA.

Contestants have one hour in front of scouts, and the top 60 players are invited back to L.A. next weekend for a second round of workouts. From there, 24 are selected to return March 3 for a final tryout, and the winner will be announced March 25. Highlights of the search will be televised every Sunday at 11 a.m. on Univision's Republica Deportivo sports show.

Juan Jose Garcia, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian computer systems analyst who lives in Miami, saw the commercial for Sueno USA a few weeks ago, and his mind started racing. Garcia began playing soccer when he was 4, represented Ecuador in an international youth tournament, and played for the youth division of Deportivo Quito, a professional team. When he was 21, he chose to turn his focus to academics.

''I've never stopped dreaming of being a pro soccer player,'' Garcia said. ``I know this is a long shot, but somebody is going to be chosen, so why not me? I will do my best and see what happens.''

Garcia, like all the contestants, had to pay his own way to California. He found a $280 round-trip airfare that got him to Los Angeles around midnight Thursday, and he is staying with relatives. His tryout was from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. He will find out Tuesday if he advanced.

''There were a lot of good players in my group, and I heard they are looking for somebody younger than me, but it was still a great experience and now I'll just wait to see what happens,'' he said. 'Before I signed up, I asked my wife if she thinks I'm crazy, and she said, `No. This is what you love. Go for it.' If I didn't do it, I'd be watching on TV, wondering how it would have been.''

The 2,000 spots were snapped up in less than eight hours when the contest was announced Jan. 28. Another 4,000 applicants were put on a waiting list. There were entries from all over Latin America, and also Great Britain and Canada.

The other South Florida contestants are: Andres Avendano (Miami), Franco Pratalongo (Miami), Vic Bastidas (Hollywood), Fernando Valencia (Doral), Andres Delgado (Miami), Juan Carlos Uzcategui (Hollywood), Alonso Gutierrez (Miami Beach), Jorma Cano (Boca Raton), Luis Campo (Weston) and Jimmy Apolo (Coral Springs).

990 AND COUNTING

Romario, 41, a 1994 World Cup star for Brazil who spent last summer with Miami FC, is back in Brazil playing for Vasco da Gama, and he clearly still has a knack for scoring.

Romario came off the bench Feb. 11 and scored a hat trick in 10 minutes during a 6-1 rout of Volta Redonda. He entered the game in the 65th minute, with Vasco leading 3-0, and he scored four minutes later.

The three goals bring his career total to 990, by his calculations (some soccer historians say his statistics are inflated), putting him 10 short of the 1,000 mark he is trying desperately to reach. Pélé is the only Brazilian player, and one of the only players in soccer history, to reach that milestone. Pélé finished his career with 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches.

MIAMI FC, TAKE II

Miami FC, minus Romario, opens training camp March 1, and kicks off its second season April 15 at Tropical Park.

Sixteen players are under contract, and another six will sign in the coming weeks. Zinho, Romario's 1994 World Cup teammate, will be back as a player-coach. Other returning players include goalkeeper Chris Doyle, Jamaican national Sean Fraser, Haitian Stephane Guillaume and Colombian John Pulido.

The team recently signed Luis Enrique Calix, a Honduran-American whose father, Luis, played for the Honduran national team. The younger Calix attended Gulliver Academy in Miami, as did Nico Mosquera and Luchi Gonzalez, who also are new players on the Miami FC roster.

Another new player to watch is Sergio Van Kanten, a 22-year-old Dutch-American forward/midfielder who was raised in Hialeah and played briefly for Middlesbrough in the English Premier League.

The club also brought in three Brazilian players from Diesel FC, formerly Desportivo Brasil, which is owned by Traffic Sports, the same company that owns Miami FC.

One of the early season highlights is an April 21 friendly against Honduran club Olimpia. Later in the season, Miami FC will participate in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a tournament that includes teams from MLS, USL and other minor leagues. There is a chance Miami could draw the L.A. Galaxy, which might mean a visit from David Beckham. If South Florida was so fortunate, be certain the match would be moved to a larger venue and there would be numerous Becks-Posh sightings in South Beach. (You didn't think we'd get through a whole column without mentioning Becks and Posh, did you?)