Israeli Forward on Trial for the Wizards

By: Michael | June 1st, 2007

Idan Shriki

Breaking on BigSoccer in a similar manner as Carlos Marinelli’s original appearances in a Wizard’s uniform, it was posted earlier this week that Israeli forward Idan Shriki has been practicing with the Wizards. The original article can be found in Hebrew here, and while I have been spending the past few days attempting to find a reliable translation or official details of the trial, so far nothing more than the hearsay listed on the post has turned up.

From the YouTube clips which feature plays by Shriki (I recommend the “Round 26″ clip), it looks as though he would fit in nicely as a replacement for the injured Sealy or Gold-Cup-bound Eddie Johnson. If his talent can translate onto the MLS pitch, Onalfo will have found himself yet another quality international signing… I think I can speak for everyone following the Wizards to say it would certainly be nice to have someone who could keep our attack going in the face of injury/absence. Yura and Ryan Pore have not looked as though they will be capable of producing a reliable attacking force this year. If Shriki is indeed offered a contract and allowed to play, our front end would look like this, even in the face of both our strikers being out:

Victorine——–Marinelli——–Harrington
———Arnaud———-Shriki———–

Depth in the attacking third (or anywhere!) = fewer points thrown away due to key players missing the inevitable game or two or ten down the stretch. It also means fresh legs and fresh options in the second half, something we sorely lacked last season whenever we fell down by a goal.

On a final note, you’ll notice that on the original BigSoccer post, the article is linked as “Ashdod GM: Shriki deserves to progress”. This is perhaps a nice compliment by Ashdod’s GM, who implies by “progress” that the level of play in MLS is greater than that of Israel’s professional league, of which FC Ashdod is a prominent team (by my understanding). Always nice to see someone outside of the United States compliment the quality of MLS soccer!

If anything more substantial breaks or my investigating finally turns up any more details, you’ll be able to read them here.