IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM . . . Metros look into obtaining Razov from Fire
Ante Razov (left) battling for the ball with former MetroStars defender Steve Jolley in 2003, could join the Metros in a multi-player trade with the Chicago Fire. SportsVue Images/Linda Cuttone
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com
CARSON, Calif. -- Long-time MetroStars nemesis Ante Razov wearing a red and black jersey and playing regularly at Giants Stadium in 2005?
Don't laugh, it could very well happen if the Metros have their way, BigAppleSoccer.com has learned.
The Metros are talking to the Chicago Fire about acquiring the U.S. international forward in a multi-player trade, according to reliable league sources.
Dealing for the 30-year-old Razov, who has played for an MLS Cup champion (1998) would fit into the Metros' plans of adding veterans who have been there before to their group of promising young players.
Razov, who played for Metros coach Bob Bradley in Chicago, was hampered by a right ankle bone spur that sidelined him for the season on Aug. 11.
He has forged a reputation as a lethal finisher in the league who has fallen short at duplicating that production at the international level.
The 6-1, 175-pound Razov recorded four goals and two assists in 13 games this past season. He scored two goals in as many games against the Metros this past season before his injury. One goal was in a 3-0 Fire victory, the other the equalizer in a 1-1 draw.
In fact, he has been a major Metros' headache for years. Razov has scored 11 goals and added four assists in 16 matches vs. the New Jersey side.
During his nine-year MLS career, Razov has scored at nearly a goal every other game clip in his nine MLS season (77 goals in 161 matches). A native of Whittier, Calif., Razov has scored six goals in 24 appearances for the U.S. National Team.
According to sources, Razov has said he wouldn’t mind playing for Chivas USA, an expansion team that will be based at the Home Depot Center in 2005.
After two years on the Los Angeles Galaxy bench, Razov blossomed as a regular under Bradley in Chicago in 1998. He hit double figures in five of his first years with the Fire, including a career-high 18 goals in 24 games in 2000 (when Chicago lost to the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS Cup).
After the four Metros forwards combined for a paltry 24 goals this past season -- 10 alone by John Wolyniec -- Bradley wants to upgrade the front line with a superior target man, source said.
Bradley brought in three foreigners to boost scoring, but they felt woefully short, combining for only 13 goals and four assists in 2,720 minutes, the equivalent of a full season. Trinidad & Tobago's Cornell Glen finished with six goals and two assists, Jamaican Fabian Taylor with five goals and one assist and Argentine-Colombian Sergio Galvan Rey, the biggest bust and disappointment of the bunch earning a league-maximum $270,000, collecting but two goals and one assist.
One of Mike Magee's three goals was scored as a midfielder.
Metros president and general manager Nick Sakiewicz did not return phone calls.
