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Union add Costa Rican forward Martinez

Josue Martinez(5)

The Philadelphia Union added a young, promising attacking piece on Wednesday by acquiring 21-year-old Costa Rican forward Josue Martinez from CD Saprissa.

Martinez brings a strong pedigree and attacking flair to the Union, where he joins a strikeforce that boasts other up-and-comers Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney in addition to stalwart Sebastien Le Toux.

Martinez scored 18 goals in 43 appearances with Saprissa, and he's no stranger to MLS teams. He went up against the Seattle Sounders in the 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, scoring the goal that put Saprissa into the knockout stage. In the semifinals of that tournament, he played against Real Salt Lake.

In 11 appearances with the Costa Rican national team, Martinez, who starred at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scored twice, including a goal in this past summer's Copa America. He suited up for Los Ticos against the United States in a September friendly at the Home Depot Center as well.

What do you think of the signing?

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Comments

  1. Nice signing, but an MLS team also needs to look at Carlos Hernandez of Melbourne Victory. He was outstanding vs the Galaxy. Melbourne looked great at home. A-League has come a long way….very impressive for a team younger than the Galaxy.

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  2. I’ve heard Bimbo encouraged Saprissa to accept the Union’s offer with the intention that a higher profile team attracts more viewers (who happen to see Bimbo on their new favorite team’s shirt)

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  3. To call Jack McInerny an “up-and-comer” is laughable. Hopefully this guy is good, but why did he price drop? I’ve been reading he was valued around $1mil.

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  4. A strong region only makes USA stronger in the long-run.

    Can’t beat teams like Ghana in the World Cup if we’re only playing weak Canadian, Guatemalan, etc sides in qualifying.

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  5. That’s a great point re: a strong MLS strengthening the region . . . hopefully the rising tide raises all boats, especially the US . . . a stronger MLS with more sophisticated tactics and more technical individuals will hopefully be good for Americans as well (before they leave to conquer Europe of course)

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  6. MLS starting to consistently sign young up and coming CONCACAF and African players like they hoped to do when MLS was first starting out.

    Eventually, MLS’ success at this will make it more difficult for the US to qualify for the World Cup.

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  7. this is the type of player mls needs to be buying….young up and coming players that have potential and a future…which will increase the level of play in mls relative to where it currently is all while still being an investment for mls that can potentially lead to a profit when selling off the player later down the road.

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  8. Great signing! Good to see MLS teams take advantage of great values that are available in Concacaaf(outside Mexico). If he had been playing in Uruguay, Chile or Mexico he would be much more expensive.

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