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Chivas USA wins Sal Zizzo lottery

Sal Zizzo (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Chivas USA hasn't had much go its way this MLS season. The Rojiblancos watched star midfielder head to Anderlecht this summer, and Jonathan Bornstein has made plans to depart after the season. All during a forgettable season that will see the Goats miss the playoffs.

Chivas USA finally saw some luck go its way today after winning the lottery to acquire former U.S. youth national team midfielder Sal Zizzo. The former Hannover 96 winger has signed with MLS and was allocated via lottery to Chivas USA, which beat out the likes of D.C. United, Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls for his services.

It remains unclear whether the team will keep Zizzo, a UCLA product and San Diego native, or trade him. He could slide in as a natural replacement for Sacha Kljestan, but he's also the target of interest from a handful of MLS teams, including the New York Red Bulls.

At least early on it sounds like Chivas USA plans on keeping the 23-year old midfielder.

“Zizzo is a player that our coaching staff knows well, and we’re very happy to have him join the club,” Chivas USA Head Coach Martín Vásquez said in a team press release. “He’s a young, exciting attacking player with both international experience and a great deal of potential, and we look forward to seeing him in action.”

What do you think about Chivas USA landing Zizzo? Think the Goats should keep him, or should they deal him for a package?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Isn’t the MLS lottery system amazing? Just days after Bornstein, a fullback, announces he’s leaving the league, Chivas win Zizzo, a fullback, in the lottery.

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  2. Isn’t Zizzo a Robbie Rogers-esk? Flashes of skill and guile…but just flashes. Both still young, and let’s hope we see more than just flashes.

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  3. He’ll be injured again before you know it.

    Ives – How is his heart condition holding up? A loan from Hannover to Dusseldorf last season was held up by that incident.

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  4. He’s close to home on a team that he could easily put on his shoulders and become their star… in LA. I don’t see him leaving unless the club wants to dump him for some draft picks.

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  5. Maybe this will make up for “star midfielder _____” Good ole what’s-his-name. (I do hope Sacha does well in Europe, and gets back on form.)

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  6. Oh really a lottery. san diego hometown for a 17 year old gets taken “by luck” by a team that is in the same state”!

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  7. I don’t think Freddy Adu or Beasley would fall under a lottery system. Since they both have full national team caps, even though Zizzo did as well, they would probably go through the allocation system like McBride and Berhalter.

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  8. If I’m not mistaken the 2 teams who had the 2 chances that were higher than Chivas USA dropped out of the lottery, then 3 more teams dropped off as well.

    It is based on the teams record the last 30 regular season games. Some teams may feel like bigger prospects might be coming back to MLS like DaMarcus Beasley or Freddy Adu for that matter?

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  9. Any team but Chivas ‘USA’ – not my pick for him

    Hope somebody trades for him. Good luck, Sal – great player

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  10. That it should actually be a lottery, not a “and what does this player want for christmas?”

    I would be all in favor of teams bidding for these players directly, but we’re not allowed to. What we have here is double stupidity.

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  11. Seeing as all the worst teams are in the Eastern conference, and the lottery favored those teams, I find this hard to believe. Looks like a fix. Chivas looks to be the worst team that resides in California, which is where Sal wants to be. Thanks, MLS, you could just tell us that we’re being screwed.

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