De la Fuente savors emotional return

For midfielder Bryan de la Fuente, his soccer career came full circle Wednesday night at the StubHub Center and culminated with his first professional goal. The Texas-born 21-year-old, who broke in with Chivas Guadalajara’s youth academy and transitioned to Chivas USA’s U-16 and U-18 squads before being signed as a Homegrown player, returned to start for the club that gave that gave him his start.

De la Fuente was part of the Red-and-White First Team and made his debut in October of 2010, appearing in one game during his two-year stint. Soon after, the native of Bell, Calif. pursued an opportunity in Mexico’s Primera Division. After the opportunity fell through, he was left without a club or contract, which left the attacker’s professional aspirations in limbo.

READ: De la Fuente returns to his first team.

There was a time, De la Fuente said after Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to FC Dallas, when he trained alone and played in community Sunday Leagues just to stay fit and continue his soccer dreams.

“I had to train double or triple time,” De la Fuente recalled. “It was hard to get in with another team. It was hard not to have the opportunity. Now that Chivas USA gave me a second chance it’s something that I have had inside me since I left.”

READ: Chivas USA add Bryan de la Fuente to their roster

And the night was made all the more special when the left winger tallied the game’s first goal to give the Rojiblancos the lead just before the half. Fellow academy product Marco Delgado found De la Fuente inside the box when he chipped a pass over the FCD defense. The midfielder brought the pass down off his chest, gathered the ball to his right and fired over goalkeeper Raul Fernandez to find the back of the net in the beginning of a near perfect return.

“When I saw Marky [Delgado] I made eye contact and that happens all the time in the game,” said De la Fuente. “That’s the way [we communicate] because sometimes you can’t hear because of the crowd. So we made eye contact and I made the movement and he chipped the ball. I received it and shot it. First I couldn’t believe it. I thought the ball was going to go over the goal. But then when I scored I just thanked God because of the opportunity and some tears came out of my eyes.”

Despite making his return in a losing effort, De la Fuente is thankful that his soccer dreams have been given new life and more so because it comes in a familiar place. Signed just last Tuesday, the Texan was immediately inserted into Head Coach Jose Luis Real’s starting 11 and went the entire 90 minutes.

“It’s incredible. There are no words to describe the feeling of playing with the First Team again. It’s been hard; it’s been a tough year for me. After [coming back from Mexico] and being out of contract and to come back to the team that saw me at the bottom and gave me my first chance professionally feels amazing,” he concluded.

Chivas USA host friendly Thursday morning

Chivas USA defeated UC Irvine Thursday morning, 2-1, in a friendly held at the StubHub Center’s Field 6. The sides competed in three 35-minute periods where the Goats came from a goal behind to claim the win on academy product Jose Gomez’s score in the third period and Aaron Ponce’s game-winner in the closing moments of the scrimmage on a penalty kick. The Anteaters’ lone goal came on forward Lester Hayes’ tally in the first period.

The Goats began testing the collegiate side early by getting into range but could not capitalize on their first looks at taking the initial lead. Tristan Bowen made a solo run down the right seam and got off a chip shot that sailed over the crossbar in the 10th minute. In the 25th minute, Bowen nearly combined with Gabriel Farfan to open the scoring when the midfielder back-heeled a pass to Bowen inside the box, but UCI goalkeeper Michael Breslin cut down the forward’s space and was able to deny the threat.

Five minutes later Jose Manuel Rivera took a dangerous free kick on the right seam from about 25 yards out, but his curling shot was not on frame as it traveled over the crossbar. UCI went up a goal in the 35th minute when Enrique Cardenas, from the right sideline, threaded a long through ball to a sprinting Hayes down the middle of the attacking third for the score after getting past the Red-and-White defense to head into the first intermission.

The Rojiblancos nearly equalized in the 51st minute when Julio Morales unleashed a strike from the top of the box that crashed into the right post and was promptly cleared out by UCI’s defense. However, the Goats would not be denied the chance to pull even as Gomez – who came on as a sub at center midfield – took control of the ball in the box and tapped it in past Breslin in the 90th minute.

Chivas put the exclamation point on the come-from-behind win when Ponce cashed in a penalty kick in the final minute of the contest. Moises Orozco worked the ball into box and got around two defenders before chipping his pass to Daniel Delgado who drew enough contact to warrant the penalty. Ponce lined up and fired his shot past the keeper’s left to put the Goats up 2-1 for good.

Chivas USA will return to league action as part of their short week to close out their three-game homestand when they host the New York Red Bulls on Sunday, Aug. 25, in a 2 p.m. (PT) kickoff at StubHub Center. The match will be the only meeting between the sides during the 2013 campaign and will be televised in Spanish on UniMas and will be broadcasted in Spanish on W Radio 690 AM. For more information visit cdchivasusa.com and follow us on Twitter @cdchivasusa and Facebook.com/chivasusa.

Chivas USA 2-1 UC Irvine

Goal Summary
UCI – Lester Hayes (Enrique Cardenas) 35’
CHV – Jose Gómez 90’
CHV – Aarón Ponce (PK) 105’

Misconduct Summary
Ninguna

Lineup

Chivas USA
Patrick McLain (Derby Carrillo 70’), Marvin Iraheta, Bobby Burling (Ricardo Hernández 70’), Steven Purdy (Ángel González 70’), Jaime Frias, Tristan Bowen (Mario Ledesma 70’), Jose Manuel Rivera (Jose Gómez 70’), Oswaldo Minda (Joe Franco 51’, Aarón Ponce 87’ (Moisés Orozco 70’), Gabriel Farfan (Daniel Delgado 70’), Aarón Ponce (Jacob Barrón 70’), Julio Morales (Javier Castro 51’)

Real: We went from seeing and feeling the victory very closely

It was déjà vu for Chivas USA on Wednesday evening as they saw themselves go up in the scoreboard in the first half, taking a 1-0 lead over FC Dallas thanks to a goal by Bryan de la Fuente. Unfortunately for the Goats, the same thing that has happened to them over the previous 10 games happened once again as they took a disappointing 3-1 loss in the third and final game against the Western Conference squad.

Against Dallas, the Red-and-White had almost everything in their favor, taking the lead before halftime and eventually, going against ten men after FC Dallas lost Jackson in the 81st minute after a hard challenge on defender Carlos Bocanegra. Under Chivas USA Head Coach Jose Luis Real’s helm in the past 11 games, the Goats have been able to go up in the scoreboard first, but have only been able to maintain the lead once.

READ: Chivas USA Fall at home 3-1 to FC Dallas

“We went from seeing and feeling the victory very closely,” Coach Real said in a post-game press conference. “I think against Dallas we had the opposite to what has happened to us when we have played with ten players. Our problem is that when we saw ourselves up a man, we approached it the wrong way with a confidence as if we just had had won the game already in that moment, and that harmed us.”

In the mid-week match, recently acquired forward Bryan de la Fuente returned to the Red-and-White squad, being in the starting line-up for the first time with Chivas USA and Major League Soccer. It was a bittersweet return for the young forward, but Head Coach Jose Luis Real was content with what he from the Laredo, Texas native.

“I’m happy with what Bryan did today, not only because of the goal, but for what he did during the entire game,” Real commented. “I know that playing with a young team sometimes brings bad results, just like today, but ultimately we are going to have a team with players of very high quality that little by little will have to continue acquiring experience.”

With the possibilities of a post-season dimming, Chivas USA will be looking to end the season out of the last place and will be working towards that as they face the New York Red Bulls next Sunday, August 25 at the StubHub Center.

“This season, we need to see what young players stay next season with the first team and what experienced players go on with the team, so that next year with the combination of young players who this season show their quality plus the experienced players; we believe we will have a team that aspires to the first places,” Real finalized.

Bocanegra looking to improve with Chivas USA

In his return back to action after serving a one-game suspension, defender Carlos Bocanegra returned to Chivas USA’s starting lineup hoping to help the team earn its second victory in four games as the Goats hosted FC Dallas on Wednesday night at the StubHub Center.

After taking the lead in the 43rd minute of the match thanks to a goal by debutant Bryan de la Fuente, FC Dallas came back in the game in the 71st minute after a goal by Panamanian forward Blas Perez. Nine minutes later, things were looking better for Chivas USA as the Texan club went down a man after the ejection of Jackson. Despite the one-man advantage, FCD came back and earned a 3-1 win over the Red-and-White.

“It’s tough,” Bocanegra said after the game. “It feels like the rug got pulled out from under us. It was a tough one the take on the chin, especially at home.

«It’s always frustrating when you lose, regardless of how it happens. They got back in the game after a deflection goal. Those things, you just kind of have to roll with. We went up a man and maybe we didn’t do so well managing the game,» the defender added.

In last Sunday’s match against the Colorado Rapids, Chivas USA were able to earn a 1-1 draw playing with nine men after the ejection of Gabriel Farfan and Tristan Bowen. But in Wednesday’s match, the Goats were not as fortunate, as Dallas pressured the Red-and-White backline until the last second of the match.

«I think when we went up a man, it was more difficult to play like that in a game,» Bocanegra said. «You don’t really know exactly what to do; the other team, they could pressure you and sometimes it’s more difficult. Unfortunately that’s how it went.»

As Chivas USA prepare for their next match against the New York Red Bulls this Sunday at the StubHub Center, the group will have to correct the mistakes made in Wednesday’s match in order to finish the three-game home series on a positive note. And Bocanegra gets a hint of what the Red-and-White must work on if they are faced with the same situation they have had in the past 11 games.

«Sometimes when you have too much time on the ball, then the other guy doesn’t move and you sit on the ball. Sometimes that’s difficult and that’s something that we can do better,» Bocanegra finalized.