Misc. Notes
Donovan Returns to Germany
The San Jose Earthquakes and Major League Soccer today announced that Earthquakes forward and U.S. National Team captain Landon Donovan will be rejoining Bayer Leverkusen beginning on January 1, 2005 upon the expiration of a four-year co-sharing agreement under which he has played in MLS since 2001. The Earthquakes will receive a replacement allocation as Donovan returns to the club which signed him in 1999. The 22-year-old Donovan had originally signed an innovative two-year co-sharing agreement in 2001 which gave the Bundesliga club the right to recall the World Cup veteran at the end of the 2002 season. Leverkusen exercised that right to retain Donovan, but negotiations between MLS, Bayer Leverkusen and Donovan's agent, Richard Motzkin of SportsNet, resulted in a new two-year co-sharing arrangement on Dec. 18, 2002. As in the case of the first co-sharing deal between MLS and Bayer Leverkusen (2001-2002), the latest deal also provided the German club an option on the forward's contract at the conclusion of the 2004 season, which Leverkusen exercised earlier this summer.
Expansion Draft Recap
The Earthquakes lost two players in the MLS Expansion draft that was held on Friday, Nov. 19. Forward Chris Brown was selected in the sixth round of the draft by Real Salt Lake, while forward Jamil Walker was picked in the eighth round by CD Chivas USA. San Jose retains the rights to the other five players that had been left unprotected prior to the MLS Expansion Draft - Jeff Agoos, Jon Conway, Ronnie Ekelund, Wes Hart and Chris Ronér. Brown, 27, who came to the Earthquakes in a trade from the New England Revolution on April 8, 2004, appeared in 11 games with the Quakes in 2004 and scored two goals. Walker, 23, played in 29 games over two seasons for San Jose and scored four goals after being drafted by the Quakes in the fourth round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft out of Santa Clara University.
De Rosario Scores for Canada
Dwayne De Rosario played last Wednesday, Nov. 17 for Canada in its final World Cup Qualifying match against Guatemala in Guatemala City. The 26-year old forward scored the game-winning goal with a shot from outside the 18-yard box to give Canada its only win in qualifying (1-0). Despite the win, the Canadians did not advance to the final round of World Cup Qualifying.
Alvarez with U20s
Quakes midfielder Arturo Alvarez wore the captain's armband in two wins for the United States Under-20 national team this past weekend. Alvarez, 19, helped the U.S. defeat Honduras 2-0 on Friday, Nov. 19 and Mexico 2-1 on Sunday, Nov. 21. In the match against Honduras, Alvarez assisted on the first U.S. goal in the 45th minute. On Sunday night, Alvarez started and played 61 minutes as the U.S. won again. Alvarez will likely be part of the U.S. team for the CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifying Tournament which takes place from January 12-16 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Joining the U.S. in Group A are Costa Rica, Panama and the winner of the series between Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba. The top two finishers in Carson will advance to the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands from June 10-July 2, 2005.
Kinnear Scouting
Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear traveled to Santa Barbara on today to scout the NCAA Tournament second round game between the University of California - Santa Barbara and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. The game will be played tonight at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara.
Season Tickets on Sale Now
San Jose Earthquakes season ticket packages for the 2005 season at Spartan Stadium are now on sale. The Earthquakes 2005 season ticket package features 18 games, including all MLS regular season games and special bonus games. The Quakes season ticket pricing once again consists of a Youth (14 and younger) and a Senior (60 and over) discount in three price levels. Prices for the 2005 season ticket packages are $198 adult ($162 youth/senior) for Endzone, $252 adult ($198 youth/senior) for East Sideline, $450 ($396 youth/senior) for West Sideline and $720 for VIP seats. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at 100 North Almaden Ave., by logging onto www.sjearthquakes.com or by contacting the Earthquakes Ticket Office at (408) 985-GOAL.
