CARSON, Calif. - When asked about his more memorable Major League Soccer goals, Chivas USA striker Ante Razov paused.
"Certainly the one against the Galaxy last year, the volley," said Razov, whose other goal that game helped Chivas USA beat rival L.A. for the first and only time.
"The goal in the playoffs against Houston," said Razov, whose goal helped the club win its first-ever playoff match a year ago.
"The semifinal goal when I was in Chicago I scored against New York ... that got us in MLS Cup (2000) that I scored with a few minutes left," he continued.
Razov paused again.
"I can't remember a lot of them to be honest, but those are some of them," he said.
Who could blame Razov for his hazy memory? After all, Razov has 99 career goals that apparently at some point have blended into each other.
With his next goal, Razov will join some elite company. Only Jason Kreis (108 career goals) and Jaime Moreno (105) have scored more regular-season goals than Razov. In Chivas USA's season-opening 2-0 win against Toronto FC, Razov bagged the near-historic goal. In the 35th minute, he took a feed from Maykel Galindo and knocked the ball into an empty net.
It was just the latest in a goal-filled career. Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch has been on the field for a majority of the goals. Marsch's memory was not quite as muddled as his longtime teammate.
"He scored one in Dallas from about 45 [yards] in the upper corner back in maybe '99," Marsch said. "It was up for Goal of the Year."
Marsch also mentioned the goal Razov scored on Oct. 6, 2000, that provided the winning margin and sent Chicago to MLS Cup 2000.
But one of his favorite Razov moments was not in a playoff setting or necessarily on a highlight reel. Marsch recalled a Chicago Fire game in New England that his club won 3-1. Razov had a hat trick and scored one of those goals on a great individual effort. The match, played on May 19, 2002, was the second hat trick of his career but his effort still stood out to Marsch nearly five years after the fact.
"He's obviously fun to play with in so many ways but when he's doing all those little things you feel like he's as important as a teammate and a player as anyone you've ever played with," Marsch said.
Razov could hit the century mark against Houston on Saturday, against Real Salt Lake on April 21 or against the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 28. Razov scored three goals apiece on each of those clubs in the regular season last year.
Whenever it happens, Marsch will be excited.
"I'm happy for him. I'm looking forward to his 100th goal," Marsch said. "As a friend and as a teammate it will be nice to see him get the amount of attention he deserves because he's been a major player in this league for 12 years."
Like Marsch, Razov has played in each of the league's 12 seasons. He's scored one goal in limited time with the Galaxy (six games in 1996-97) and Columbus (seven games in 2005) as well as six for the MetroStars after he joined the club from the Crew. His goal against Toronto FC was his 15th tally for Chivas USA. With Chicago, where Razov enjoyed most of his success, he netted 76 goals and is the club's all-time leading scorer.
Typically, if Razov has stayed on the field he's been productive, more so than either Kreis or Moreno. Entering this weekend's matches, Kreis has 108 career goals in 24,972 career minutes. Moreno, meanwhile, has scored 105 career goals over 20,438 career minutes. Razov has bagged 99 in 16,988 minutes, or roughly one goal every 171 minutes.
Still, Razov said what matters most is his club. If the team wins, he's happy regardless of his goal total, he said.
"It's a nice thing. I hope it happens soon so we can kind of get past it," Razov said. "It will be a bigger deal when my career is over because I want to keep it going. I don't want to get stuck on 100 or 99 or whatever. I just want to kind of keep going whatever it ends up to be."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
