As the San Jose Earthquakes work through a challenging injury bug, the club has taken another step to provide head coach Frank Yallop with additional options with the signing of Bay Area native Alexandre Gonzalez Emerson, the club announced on Thursday.
The 20-year-old striker left San Jose at age 12 to enter the youth system at Mexican club Necaxa and became a full-time member of the academy two years later.
Gonzalez Emerson worked his way up through the ranks to become a member of Los Electricistas' first team last year, yet he decided to return home in the hopes of earning a spot with the Earthquakes.
San Jose initially rebuffed his requests for an opportunity but eventually granted him a one-day tryout, during which he impressed Yallop enough to be invited to the Quakes' preseason camp in Arizona.
Gonzalez Emerson proved his potential by netting a brace in San Jose's opening preseason match, a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo.
