Mystery Brazilians ID’d; Doyle hints at future plans (updated)

The two Brazilians that have trained with the Quakes on Tuesday and Wednesday have been identified as Morelia duo Marcinho and Wanderson. The two spent the past season playing for Morelia’s entry in the Primera ‘A’ division, the second tier of Mexican soccer.

Marcinho,  also known as Marcio Batista, is a smallish (5-foot-8) forward who scored three goals in 11 matches for Morelia’s ‘B’ team in the just concluded Clausura.

[UPDATED] Marcinho is also the player that scored against Houston in the SuperLiga last year, although I will say the goal owed as much to Zach Wells’ incompetence as it did Marcinho’s composed finish.

Wanderson is a midfielder who is listed at 5-foot-7 on the league’s web site, but after observing him at Thursday’s practice, he seemed taller than that. He also scored three goals for Morelia’s ‘B’ team but did so in 14 matches.

It was Marcinho who scored against Stanford on Tuesday night, while Wanderson assisted on Marchinho’s goal as well as another tally by Julian Nash.

The pair’s Mexico City-based agent, Jose Garcia, indicated that they each have two years left to run on their respective contracts.

After Thursday’s session both Frank Yallop and John Doyle said they were impressed with both players, but that they would not be offering them a contract immediately, and that the two would be returning home on Friday. Doyle added that the Quakes will be bringing in a parade of players until the transfer window reopens in July, at which point they will make a decision on which players will be added to the roster.

“We have the window coming up and we have different agents that we like and trust that bring players our way,” said Doyle. “[The players] have good resumes, so we don’t need to see them for long, we just need to see them. So we’ll probably have a steady stream of guys every week, two or three guys. And then through the whole process, we’ll start to say, ‘Okay, who’s been the best? Who fits us the best? Who fits under the cap?’ And then we’ll make a decision on one of them.”

Or two?

“Maybe five,” Doyle added with a smile. “Who knows? I wouldn’t think that it will just be one. I would think by July, there will be three or four new players that we’re looking at. We’re slowly trying to get more quality as we go, strengthening the whole squad. But who knows. It may be none.”