Another Argentine to become a Wizard?

By: Michael | June 8th, 2007

It has long been known that Coach Onalfo’s marquee target for foreign recruitment has been Argentina. The results thus far have been very satisfying: A week of training in Buenos Aires which cemented our team’s preparations for the regular season and gave Kevin Harman an excuse to write a blog, the acquisition of Carlos Marinelli, who when healthy has been exactly what the Wizards lacked at attacking mid, and an apparent network of connections which the Wizards will use to their advantage as time goes on. (PS – How crazy does Boca Juniors look now for showing interest in signing EJo during the preseason?)

Now Curt Onalfo has signaled that the Wizards are looking to once again tap the one land represented by both Maradona and Madonna (as Evita). Snuck into the end of an official press release:

Or a new player could be brought in to fill any scoring void that may be created in Johnson’s absence, and the Wizards are looking into the possibility.

“I don’t know the exact dates, but we are looking at a player from Argentina. We have established a real network of people we have worked with in Argentina, and there is a player that we liked when we were there in preseason,” Onalfo said. “We want to see how he does with our guys, see if it’s a good fit for him, and a good fit for us. We’re always looking to enhance our team.”

DO NOT, however, get excited. MLSNet would not have you heaping any expectations on the league’s ability to conduct business with a foreign league in any timely manner:

Any new foreign acquisition would not be available for selection for some time, and so it will be up to those players selected to play up front and the rest to keep up the form the Wizards have set.

…and that’s that. No specifics, nothing official except it’s an official possibility no time in the near future that an unidentified Argentine forward may be on trail to see if a signing would be mutually beneficial. But hey, MLSNet was the first to report it! Small steps, small steps…