Alex Zotinca, who suffered a partial tear of the ACL in his right knee on March 5, underwent successful reconstruction surgery yesterday (Monday). Chivas USA team doctors Michael Gerhardt M.D. and Bert Mandelbaum M.D. performed the procedure.

The estimated recovery time is 6-9 months.

A five year veteran of Major League Soccer, Zotinca’s first season with Chivas USA saw him play mostly at right back, where he started 20 games and played in 22. In his MLS career, Zotinca, originally from Romania, has played 107 games (starting 82), with three goals and five assists.

Chivas USA doblegó el sábado pasado 4-1 al Real España, de la Primera División de Honduras, en el último encuentro de exhibición de los rojiblancos. El Rebaño Angelino obtuvo las anotaciones por conducto de Atiba Harris, Keith Savage, Panchito Mendoza y Alecko Eskandarian, y Brad Guzan jugó los 90 minutos bajo el arco. Un resumen está aquí.

El calendario completo de la pretemporada:

CHIVAS USA 2008: CALENDARIO DE JUEGOS DE PRETEMPORADA*
DÍA FECHA EVENTO HORA/RESULTADO*
Sab Feb 9 vs. UCLA G, 2-0 (Braun, Razov)
Mar Feb 12 vs. New York Red Bulls G, 1-0 (Razov)
Sab Feb 16 vs. Sub-23 de Japón P, 4-0
Lun Feb 18 vs. D.C. United G, 1-0 (Salazar)
Sab Feb 23 vs. Columbus @ Santa Clarita, CA P, 2-1 (Harris)
Vie Feb 29 vs. UC Riverside G, 1-0 (Suárez)
Vie Feb 29 vs. UC Irvine G, 2-1 (Galindo, Chiles)
Mie Mar 5 vs. D.C. United @ Schertz, TX P, 2-1 (Nagamura)
Mie Mar 5 vs. D.C. United @ Cibolo, TX P, 2-1 (Flores)
Vie Mar 7 vs. Houston Dynamo @ Cibolo, TX P, 1-0
Dom Mar 9 vs. Toronto FC @ Cibolo, TX P, 3-2 (autogol, Razov)
Sab Mar 15 vs. San Diego State G, 2-1 (Chijindu, Solórzano)
Dom Mar 16 vs. Fresno Fuego @ Fresno, CA G, 4-0 (Marsch, Harris, Savage, Thomas)
Mie Mar 19 vs. Cal State Fullerton G, 5-0 (Flores 2, autogol, Salazar 2)
Sab Mar 22 vs. Real España @ Fullerton G, 4-1 (Harris, Savage, Mendoza, Eskandarian)

Chivas USA ended preseason in emphatic style this past Saturday, beating Real España of the Honduran First Division 4-1 in Fullerton. The Red-and-White got goals from Atiba Harris, Keith Savage, Panchito Mendoza, and Alecko Eskandarian, and Brad Guzan played the full 90 in goal. The game report is here.

Also, the completed preseason schedule:

CHIVAS USA 2008: PRESEASON SCHEDULE*
DAY DATE EVENT TIME/RESULT*
Sat Feb 9 vs. UCLA W, 2-0 (Braun, Razov)
Tue Feb 12 vs. New York Red Bulls W, 1-0 (Razov)
Sat Feb 16 vs. Japan U-23 L, 4-0
Mon Feb 18 vs. D.C. United W, 1-0 (Salazar)
Sat Feb 23 vs. Columbus @ Santa Clarita, CA L, 2-1 (Harris)
Fri Feb 29 vs. UC Riverside W, 1-0 (Suárez)
Fri Feb 29 vs. UC Irvine W, 2-1 (Galindo, Chiles)
Wed Mar 5 vs. D.C. United @ Schertz, TX L, 2-1 (Nagamura)
Wed Mar 5 vs. D.C. United @ Cibolo, TX L, 2-1 (Flores)
Fri Mar 7 vs. Houston Dynamo @ Cibolo, TX L, 1-0
Sun Mar 9 vs. Toronto FC @ Cibolo, TX L, 3-2 (autogol, Razov)
Sat Mar 15 vs. San Diego State W, 2-1 (Chijindu, Solórzano)
Sun Mar 16 vs. Fresno Fuego @ Fresno, CA W, 4-0 (Marsch, Harris, Savage, Thomas)
Wed Mar 19 vs. Cal State Fullerton W, 5-0 (Flores 2, autogol, Salazar 2)
Sat Mar 22 vs. Real España @ Fullerton W, 4-1 (Harris, Savage, Mendoza, Eskandarian)

ENGLISH:

A few articles on the US U-23 National Team’s victory Thursday night in Nashville, TN, with mentions of Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan. From the LA Times, Fifa.com, MLSnet.com, Goal.com and Yanks-Abroad.net.

Also, a piece by Luis Bueno for MLSnet.com on Brad Guzan, and his interesting offseason.

New Developmental Player Justin Braun was mentioned in the Utah Briefs section of the Salt Lake Tribune.

ESPAÑOL:

Sacha Kljestan, mediocampista de Chivas USA, marcó el tercer gol en la victoria de ayer por 3-0 de los Estados Unidos Sub-23 ante Canadá, en un partido en que los estadounidenses lograron un boleto a los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing 2008. Algunos artículos como Notimex y el períodico “Mundo Hispano” se refirieron a Kljestan.

También, queda muy poco tiempo para la búsqueda de nuevo talento en la competición “Sueño MLS” de Los Ángeles. FutbolMLS.com contiene un artículo sobre el tema aquí.

Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan and the United States U-23 National Team beat Canada 3-0 last night to earn a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing! Here’s the full recap from the US Soccer Official website. Sacha started and played 88 minutes, and scored the third goal of the match in the 78th minute.

Since the start of preseason, Chivas USA Goalkeeper Coach Leo Percovich has been giving the goalkeepers varied workouts. But for part of today’s training session, he was working with some of the team’s strikers, including Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, and Anthony Hamilton. He had them doing a number of finishing drills; below are photos of Ante and Maykel in drills under Percovich’s watch:

We caught up with Leo after practice to ask him a few questions about what he was working on with the forwards today. Here are a couple of his quotes, with more to follow in Spanish.

“We were doing a little bit of precision work. Sometimes forwards are rushing to put a lot of force behind the ball and lose their accuracy. They end up missing goals that would be simple with a more precise touch, with more technique. They started with little accuracy and at the end of practice you could see a little more precision.”

“When I have time, I can tell [forwards] something about the other side. As a goalkeeper coach, I can tell them what’s easy for a goalkeeper and what will favor the striker. In the work I was doing with the forwards, we’re looking for the angles that make the goalkeeper’s work difficult and to give more precision to these shots.”

One of Chivas USA’s fan-favorites, ‘Panchito’ Mendoza re-signed with the team on Thursday. The official press release can be found here.

A bit of trivia: ‘Panchito’ and Brad Guzan are only the two players who’ve been with Chivas USA since the very beginning. Here’s a quick before and after.

Mendoza and Guzan’s headshots from year one:

Their headshots from this year, year four, about three weeks ago:

Durante el entrenamiento de hoy, alrededor de 30 a 40 chicos de la Academia de Futbol de Chivas en Orosi , entre las edades de 7 a 13 años de edad, tuvieron la oportunidad de presenciar el encuentro entre Chivas USA y Cal State Fullerton.

Al finalizar el encuentro, Jorge Flores, flamante ganador de Sueño MLS el año pasado, gozó de la compañía de varios jovencitos que se le acercaron para pedirle un autógrafo y tomarse fotografías con él. Junto con Flores también estuvieron los juveniles Anthony Hamilton y Gerson Mayen.

Major League Soccer’s 2007 Goalkeeper of the Year, Brad Guzan, began his gradual return to training Tuesday afternoon, after suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his left knee during a practice session on March 3, prior to the team’s departure for Texas.

The 24-year-old netminder practiced today with the rest of Chivas USA’s ‘keepers for the first time in two weeks, under the direction of Goalkeeper Coach Leo Percovich. Guzan did not participate in Chivas USA’s intra-squad scrimmage, but instead took part in a special session with Percovich that included a lighthearted game of futvolei, or soccer tennis. (See photo above.)

Guzan is making gradually recovery from an injury that kept him out of Chivas USA’s three matches in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival in San Antonio, plus a scrimmage against San Diego State and this past weekend’s exhibition match against the Fresno Fuego.

“I’m feeling good. Hopefully in the next few days, I’m going to start getting back with the full team,” said Guzan. “I’m back to training where I’m able to train as a goalkeeper but at the same time I’m not able to play in small sided games. … Hopefully that will come in a day or two.”

Chivas USA will face Cal State Fullerton in a scrimmage Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. PT on Field 6 at The Home Depot Center.