A year ago, Paulo Nagamura was treading new waters. As a member of expansion Toronto FC, Nagamura was preparing for a new adventure in yet another foreign land.
The journey lasted all of four games.
This year, Nagamura started the year off in familiar surroundings. Unlike the shaky foundations his short-lived stint in Toronto FC had, Nagamura's place in Chivas USA seems secure. The Brazilian-born Nagamura is part of a deep Chivas USA midfield and has set his sights on hitting the ground running once the new season begins.
For now, though, Nagamura would be content with running sans the pain. Nagamura has barely trained and has not played at all this preseason. A lingering groin issue has slowed him down, but has not dampened his spirits.
"I'm coming back from a groin injury," Nagamura said. "I pulled my groin at the end of the last season but I'm almost ready to come back to practice and hopefully be ready for the first game this season."
Nagamura did not play against New York on Feb. 12 nor did he suit up against D.C. United on Feb. 18. If all goes well, however, Nagamura said he might try and dress for Saturday's match against Columbus in Santa Clarita, Calif.
"I've been running. I've been knocking the ball around a little bit," Nagamura said. "I'll be available I think. With the injury that I had, it's too soon to come back and play a full game. If I feel good, maybe I'll be part of that game."
Chivas USA has not yet been privy to a full squad as Nagamura is just one of a number of injured players the club has yet to see participate in a friendly. Jonathan Bornstein, Alecko Eskandarian, Lawson Vaughn and Francisco Mendoza are among those who have yet to play a friendly and have not trained at full speed this preseason.
For Nagamura, starting the season off his the focus. While he has not trained as much as some of the other midfielders, Nagamura said he has not exactly fallen off the depth chart.
"It's only two weeks," Nagamura said. "I only missed two weeks of training so I don't think I'll be too far behind those guys."
Chivas USA counts a number of talented players in the midfield. Nagamura started 20 of the 22 games he played with the Red-and-White last year. He scored two goals -- including a match-winner at Chicago in June -- and had a pair of assists.
Mendoza led the club in minutes a year ago with 2,459 while Jesse Marsch logged 2,425 minutes. Each finished with two goals and four assists. Sacha Kljestan, meanwhile, had four goals and 13 assists in 2,186 minutes played. To the mix, Chivas USA has added Raphael Wicky, a former Swiss international and veteran of the Spanish and German leagues. Also adding to the depth, second-year man John Cunliffe has played almost exclusively at left midfield during the preseason.
Having a wealth of options for coach Preki to choose from will be a positive this year, especially in the latter part of the summer.
"That's important because this year we are going to play four tournaments," Nagamura said. "We are going to have guys serving on the U.S. Olympic team like Sacha and we are going to play a lot of games so we need good players to fill the roles of those guys who leave to play in other tournaments. It's very important to have that depth."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
