The San Jose Earthquakes, who enter Major League Soccer as the league's 14th team in 2008, Wednesday selected FC Dallas defender Clarence Goodson in the 2007 MLS Expansion Draft. San Jose chose the maximum of one player from 10 MLS teams, with three teams not having any player selected (Colorado, Kansas City, and Real Salt Lake). Each of the 13 MLS teams protected 11 roster players from being available to be selected in the draft, with FC Dallas leaving 17 players unprotected.
"A lot of thought and talking went in to our protected list, and a lot of tough decisions had to be made," said FC Dallas Head Coach Steve Morrow. "It is disappointing for me to lose any player, and naturally, I'm disappointed to lose Clarence. Clarence is a great guy and we'll miss him. We all wish him the very best in his next venture. We will continue to work tirelessly to make the required improvements to our roster in the weeks ahead".
Dallas selected Goodson with the 7th overall pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Maryland. In four seasons with the club, the 25-year old defender appeared in 74 regular season games, scoring three goals. In 2007, Goodson was voted as the team's Defender of the Year after starting 27 regular season games as a center back.
