AMSTERDAM – Championship title chasers Queens Park Rangers announced on Wednesday that they have inked US free-agent center back Oguchi Onyewu to a one-year deal.
The 31-year-old, who was released in August from the remaining season of his contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal, will now embark on his second foray into English soccer, having spent half a season on loan with Newcastle in 2007.
"QPR are a club with huge ambitions to return to the Premier League, and I wanted to be part of it," Onyewu told the QPR website. "I had a really good feeling about QPR from the moment I arrived here. I’ve already integrated well into the group, so I’m looking forward to what will hopefully be a very successful and happy time here."
Onyewu, who was handed shirt No. 14, joins a club just two points off the top of the table heading into Saturday's trip to first-place Burnley. On his debut, the defender will become the fourth American to suit up for QPR, following Frank Simek, Juergen Sommer and Roy Wegerle.
A veteran of both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, the powerful center back and Washington, D.C., native is seeking a way back into the US national team picture after seeing his international career disrupted by repeated injuries.
He made just two starts for the Yanks this year, going the full 90 minutes in both a 6-0 rout of Guatemala in a July 5 Gold Cup tune-up in San Diego and the USMNT's 4-1 comeback win over Cuba in Sandy, Utah, in the tournament's group stage, where he wore the captain's armband for the second time in his career.
