'HE WAS A GREAT TEAMMATE' Arena on Guevara, who wants to return to Bulls
Bruce Arena on Amado Guevara: "He was a great guy to be around every day. He trained hard, he was good in the locker room and played well in games. He’s a good player.” Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Dylan Butler
BigAppleSoccer.com Associate Editor
Montclair, N.J. -- A day after Amado Guevara expressed his desire to return to play for the New York Red Bulls next year, Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena didn't rule out the possibility of having the former MetroStars captain play here again.
Then again, he didn't rule it in, but Arena was quite complimentary about the Honduran international. He also made sure to refute some claims that labeled Guevara a distraction in the locker room.
“For me it was nothing but a positive experience,” Arena said of his time with Guevara. “He was a great teammate. I think some people questioned his character, but there’s no question here. For me, he was a great guy to be around every day. He trained hard, he was good in the locker room and played well in games. He’s a good player.”
Guevara was once the centerpiece of the New York-based MLS team. He was the team captain, main playmaker and was named league MVP in 2004. But he was traded from New York to Chivas USA for a second designated spot — which the Red Bulls used to acquire Juan Pablo Angel on a free transfer from Aston Villa of the English Premier League.
Arena said the only reason he dealt Guevara to Chivas is because he knew he had to give up something of quality to obtain a second designated player.
“What are you going to give up? A third round supplemental pick?” Arena said. “You toss the dice in those situations. How else do you get something of value without giving up value? That’s what the situation was.”
Quoted in Thursday's edition of El Diario, the Spanish-language New York city daily newspaper, Guevara expressed a desire to return to MLS after bolting for former Honduran team Montagua following a dispute with Chivas coach Preki.
“It was an error and that is very clear,” Guevara said. “The way MLS is growing, it’s becoming one of the most important leagues in the world. This makes me dream and motives me. I want to be champion with the Red Bulls, which I could not be with the MetroStars.”
In his first game back at Giants Stadium since playing for the Red Bulls while playing for Honduras at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June, Guevara said he misses playing in New York. He also said he keeps in touch with several of his former teammates.
"When you’re home, you always find comfort," Guevara said through a translator June 8. "When I entered the stadium, I went to my old locker room, I missed it a lot. I almost might stay."
And Guevara told El Diario he's excited about the players the club has brought in since his departure.
“I made a promise to New York fans and I want to fulfill it,” Guevara told El Diario. “I see myself playing next to Claudio Reyna and Juan Pablo Angel.”
Guevara's agent, Patrick McCabe, confirmed Guevara's desire to return to MLS.
"Amado is interested in returning to MLS," McCabe wrote in an e-mail to BigAppleSoccer.com. "We will look at all options in November/December. His rights are still owned by Chivas so that is a bridge that needs to be crossed."
