Chivas acquire midfielders Dejair, Victorine

In a series of deadline-day moves, Chivas USA strengthened its squad Monday with the addition of two versatile midfielders: nine-year MLS veteran Sasha Victorine, acquired via trade from the Kansas City Wizards, and Brazilian attacking midfielder Dejair (pronounced 'dey-zha-EER'), signed as an international player. Today is Major League Soccer's Roster Freeze Date, the last day teams can add players to their rosters for the 2008 season.

"As we enter the last six weeks of the season, we are pleased to be adding some additional depth to our midfield in the face of injury and international call-ups," said Chivas USA Head Coach Preki Radosavljevic. "We hope both Sasha and Dejair will make important contributions to Chivas USA as we continue our push toward the playoffs."

Victorine is expected to arrive in Southern California tomorrow and will be available for selection for Saturday's crucial Western Conference clash at Real Salt Lake. Dejair, for his part, will be eligible to make his debut for Chivas USA, pending finalization of his U.S. work visa and receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. With just six games remaining in the MLS regular season, Chivas USA sits in the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference, tied on 30 points with the Colorado Rapids. However, Chivas currently holds the tiebreaker over the Rapids by virtue of a 2-1 win at Colorado on May 24.

Versatile midfielder Sacha Victorine, a UCLA graduate and Southern California native, joins Chivas USA from the Kansas City Wizards. A nine-year veteran of Major League Soccer, Victorine was drafted in 2000 by the Los Angeles Galaxy as a first-round pick out of UCLA, where he won the Hermann Trophy in his senior year (1999). In five seasons with Galaxy, Victorine helped the Los Angeles club claim a U.S. Open Cup (2001), CONCACAF Champions Cup (2001), Supporters Shield (2002) and MLS Cup (2002), before being traded to Kansas City in a draft-day transaction in 2005. In all, between Los Angeles and Kansas City, Victorine has played in 227 MLS regular-season games (starting 205), logging 18,378 minutes and registering 30 goals and 39 assists. On the international level, Victorine has 4 caps and 1 goal for the full U.S. National Team, having debuted as a sub in an Oct. 25, 2000 friendly vs. Mexico in Los Angeles and scored on Nov. 17, 2002 vs. El Salvador in Washington, D.C. He also represented the U.S. Olympic Team at the Sydney Games in 2000, making three appearances.

A product of the Botafogo youth system, attacking midfielder Dejair joins Chivas USA from Brazilian club ABC FC of Natal, which he led to the 2008 Rio Grande do Norte state championship. Born Dejair Jorge Ferreira on Dec. 14, 1977 in Brasília, Dejair joined the youth system of Brazilian giants Botafogo at age 19, playing three years with the Rio de Janeiro club before transferring to Sampaio Corrêa in 1999. In all, during his 12-year career as a professional in Brazil, Dejair has won two national championships, both with Criciúma (Serie B, 2002; Serie C, 2006), as well as state championships with club sides Moto Clube (Maranhão, 2000) and ABC FC (Rio Grande do Norte, 2008).

In related transactions, Chivas USA today placed midfielder Raphaël Wicky and defenders Lawson Vaughn and Eric Ebert on the club's Season-Ending Injury List. Wicky, 31, was acquired by Chivas USA in the offseason from Swiss side FC Sion; he would play 5 games for the club (starting 1), logging 138 minutes and 1 assist, before undergoing reconstructive ankle surgery on July 16. Vaughn, 25, played 7 games for the Red-and-White (starting 7) in this, his third year as a professional, despite suffering a left ankle injury that would sideline him for much of the campaign; he is expected to undergo surgery in the coming weeks. Ebert, 24, played 7 games for the Red-and-White (starting 2), logging 256 minutes, before suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee during Chivas USA's Sept. 6 game at Toronto FC.

TRANSACTIONS: Chivas USA: Signs Brazilian MF Dejair (pron. 'dey-zha-EER') as an international player; Acquires MF Sasha Victorine in a trade with the Kansas City Wizards, in exchange for allocation money; Places MF Raphaël Wicky (R ankle surgery), DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle instability) and DF Eric Ebert (R knee lateral meniscus tear) on Season-Ending Injury List.

SASHA VICTORINE

Name: Sasha Caleb Victorine

Number:

Position: Mediocampista/Midfielder

Born: 1978-02-03, Santa Ana, California

Hometown: Carmichael, California

Citizenship: USA

Height: 1.88 m / 6'2"

Weight: 77 kg / 175 lbs

Last Team: Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

Acquired: Trade with Kansas City Wizards, Sept. 15, 2008, in exchange for allocation money

DEJAIR