Toronto FC signs veteran USMNT defender Omar Gonzalez
Toronto FC has signed veteran U.S. men’s national team defender Omar Gonzalez from Mexican club Atlas, the club announced on Monday afternoon.
TSN’s Kristian Jack was the first to report the deal. Gonzalez’s contract will run until the end of the 2021 season, with a club option for 2022. He’ll join the Reds when MLS’s summer transfer window opens next month.
Multiple sources have confirmed to me that Toronto FC have signed centre-back Omar Gonzalez. Announcement to come soon. See him as a ‘cornerstone’ of their defence going forward. Available after July 7th. Two and a half year deal plus option. #TFCLive
— Kristian Jack (@KristianJack) June 3, 2019
Financial details were not immediately available. But Gonzalez, who was a high-earning “designated” player when he left the LA Galaxy for Liga MX side Pachuca in late 2015, will not be a DP in Toronto, which already has the maximum three such players on its books in his fellow Americans Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley and Spanish playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo. Gonzalez was acquired with targeted allocation money, according to Sportsnet’s John Molinaro.
Gonzalez, Altidore and Bradley are currently in training camp with the USMNT in suburban Washington D.C. The three players, all starters on the U.S. team that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, were named Saturday to U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter’s 28-man roster ahead of the Gold Cup, which kicks off later this month.
Gonzalez scored an own-goal in the infamous loss at Trinidad and Tobago that snapped a streak of seven consecutive World Cup appearances for the U.S. He’s made just one international appearance since. But he remains popular with his teammates and with Berhalter, who values his leadership on a young squad that lacks experience.
With first-choice center back John Brooks unavailable for the regional championship because of injury, Gonzalez, 30, is expected to make the 23-player final roster, which will be announced after Wednesday’s Gold Cup tuneup against Jamaica in the nation’s capital.
A native Texan, Gonzalez won three MLS Cups and two Supporters’ Shields in seven seasons with the Galaxy. He was the league’s top rookie in 2009 and made the All-Star team four times before moving south of the border.
He was a champion in Mexico, too, winning Liga MX with Pachuca in 2016 and the domestic crown/CONCACAF Champions League double a year later. He also hoisted the 2013 and 2017 Gold Cups as a member of the U.S. team, and represented his country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
“He has won numerous trophies during his career on the club and international level, [and] he is hungry to be part of championship team in Toronto,” TFC general manager Ali Curtis said. “Omar’s a good guy. He will fit in well with the group, and he will be a welcome addition to the locker room and daily environment.”
Gonzalez played in 23 league games for Atlas this season on loan from Los Tuzos, but became a free agent when his contract expired last month. Gonzalez would earn his 50th U.S. cap with an appearance Wednesday against the Reggae Boyz.
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