Liberian striker gives Rapids size
By Alan Pearce, Rocky Mountain News
February 28, 2003
Zizi Roberts, a Liberian striker who has been working out with the
Colorado Rapids for three weeks, now is officially a member of the
Major League Soccer team.
Roberts' signing will be announced today, although he accompanied the
team to its South Florida training camp. He has not played in
Colorado's three exhibition games because of a strained calf.
Roberts and Weah celebrate a goal
Roberts, 23, has made 34 appearances in international competition with
the Liberian national team, scoring seven goals. He played last season
with Olympiakos in Greece and, before that, with Panionios.
At 6-feet-2 and 194 pounds, Roberts offers a new dimension to the
Rapids offense. The past two seasons, the team has relied on two
smallish players, 5-8 Chris Carrieri and 5-6 John Spencer, for most of
their goals up the middle.
"He's a big, solid forward that will add a different approach in the
box," Rapids coach Tim Hankinson said of Roberts. "He's built like a
running back. We felt we needed to add that choice.
"These guys will all battle for playing time, but it's important to
have that (size) dimension to go to. There are certain teams in the
league that sit back and invite you to play a bigger ball. Last year,
we weren't very efficient in taking advantage of that."
Hankinson said the Rapids had to expend an allocation pick to acquire
Roberts. League teams can acquire new players with either a discovery
choice or an allocation.
Allocations are awarded by MLS to teams that lose a star player or
don't qualify for the playoffs. The Rapids received an allocation when
midfielder Carlos Valderrama retired.
"These allocations are not what they were in the first two years of
the league, when there was more money to sign players," Hankinson
said. "(Roberts) is a relatively inexpensive player, married to a
permanent resident of the U.S. and eligible for a green card. We
expect him to be listed as an American on the roster in short order.
We see a lot of upside to him."
Hankinson said the Rapids likely will use their last discovery pick to
acquire a Mexican defender.
Meanwhile, the Rapids have gone 2-1 in the preseason, beating the
University of Florida 6-1 and Florida Atlantic University 5-0.
Colorado's loss was a 2-1 decision to the U.S. under-20 national team.
Rookie Casey Schmidt, a draft pick from Boston College, has scored six
goals in three games.
|
|
