Perhaps no U.S. Men’s National Team player is as musically-inclined as the dread-locked, Argentine-born midfielder, who brings his geetar (sic) on just about every National Team trip, including the World Cup last summer. Although he’s a long way from matching the likes of Bob Dylan, he can out-strum veteran defender and fellow acoustic ace Jeff Agoos any day. Below are lyrics of one of the many songs he’s written in his spare time.

“I decided to write this my second year in the league. I was thinking about how lucky I was to be doing what I was doing for a living. Going into it a little deeper, I realized that my parents sacrificed a great deal of their lives to make my life that much more enjoyable. After all these years I felt like the best way to express my gratitude was to write a song thanking them for everything they've done for me.

"Here it is:"

THE GIFT

I wrote down these words today
Just to tell you how much I love you
For being there when I needed you most.

Grew up in a house of love
But at time we encountered hardships,
You never let anything bring us down

(chorus)
I needed you then like I need you now
Don't give up keep on showing me how
I'll always be two steps behind
You are my blood, you are my guide

Yeah you worked so hard
Just to give me anything I wanted
But I never sat down to thank you enough
I guess it's my turn
To give back to the people
That made my dreams a reality

So....if you go
Don't think that I won't follow
'Cause you know what you mean to me
You already know
I'm never one to follow
But you mean everything to me

Cause....
I needed you then like I need you now
Don't give up keep on showing me how
I'll always be two steps behind
You are my blood, you are my guide

Table of Contents
1) Armchair Midfielder (Looking Back at June 17, 2002)
2) In Threes (w/ WNT goalkeeper Siri Mullinix)
3) Music by Mastroeni (w/ MNT midfielder Pablo Mastroeni)
4) Queries and Anecdotes (w/ WNT forward Tiffeny Milbrett)
5) Mark That Calendar (MNT vs. Mexico – May 8)
6) Superstar!!! (w/ U-23 MNT forward Edson Buddle)
7) FAN Point/Counterpoint (Who will win 2003 WUSA MVP?)
8) "You Don't Know Jack (Marshall)" (USA-Mexico Trivia)

Download this issue of Center Circle (.pdf).

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