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CARSON, Calif. - Four years ago, Amado Guevara made a promise to Bob Bradley. If he follows through with it, Chivas USA will be the beneficiary.
"I made a promise to him when I first arrived in this league. I promised him that together we would win a title," Guevara said. "I am confident and I know that I will accomplish that with him."
Chivas USA formally introduced their newest addition on Tuesday as Guevara, Bradley and general manager Whit Haskel talked about the Honduran's arrival. Chivas shipped its designated player slot as well as a third-round 2007 SuperDraft choice on Monday to New York in exchange for the former MLS Most Valuable Player.
Guevara said he knows he is in the right place for him to accomplish his main objective.
"Coach (Bradley) knows me. I know him. He knows what my mentality is and I know his," Guevara said. "The most important thing is the objective. His goal is mine and that's to win a title."
Try as he did, a title never came to fruition in New York. In three seasons under Bradley, Guevara scored 24 goals and picked up an MVP award. But the then-MetroStars never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Late in 2005, Bradley was fired as the club was in a battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
In his final season in New York, Guevara scored eight goals while playing for Bradley's replacement in Mo Johnston and then former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, who ultimately traded Guevara to Chivas USA.
Awards and accolades were encouraging but did not represent Guevara's bottom line, he said.
"I had many individual accomplishments but for me those are not enough," Guevara said. "I want to win a title and in four years I was not able to reach that goal. So a change of scenery was best."
Aside from his positive accomplishments, Guevara seemingly has some baggage. Twice this year he clashed with Red Bull officials, including his refusal to join the team for preseason training camp.
But Bradley shook off any fears that Guevara may be tainted goods or the notion that Guevara was comparable to outgoing Chivas midfielder Juan Pablo Garcia.
"It's not always fair to compare players but the one similarity is that both are fierce competitors and both want to win and that may come across as they both lose control," Bradley said. "More than anything, we want to have players that want to win. Whenever I have been with Amado, his mentality to compete and do everything to help the team is tremendous. I feel great that we can add him to our team. I know how much it means to him to try and win a championship in this league."
With Guevara's arrival, Chivas USA is the lone L.A. club with a Central American native on its roster. The Galaxy has counted on such Central American icons as Mauricio Cienfuegos and Carlos Ruiz in the past but finished the 2006 season without a player born in Central America.
While Chivas' roots are Mexican, Bradley said it was important to embrace the entire Latino community.
"We know the history of Chivas Guadalajara but I think we've tried to also adjust a little bit for Chivas USA," Bradley said. "The idea that we are first Mexican but second representative of the Latino community in Los Angeles is really important. I really have seen the way our fans have responded to a team that they enjoy watching and a team that they are proud of. We are trying to represent the entire Latino community and give MLS a team that represents its fans at the highest level."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
