Thursday, March 27, 2008

Chicago loses a goalkeeper after Cervi decides not to sign with MLS

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Dominic Cervi was expected to compete with Jon Busch and Nick Noble to be the Chicago Fire's starting goalkeeper.

But Cervi won't play for the Fire or any Major League Soccer club after he decided not to sign with the league, the team said Thursday.

"His representative was looking for a change in policy in terms of Major League Soccer," Fire president and general manager John Guppy said. "Several players signed with the league before the draft and received additional benefits. Cervi did not sign and his representative was requesting the same benefits. At the end of the day, we could not accommodate his wishes."

Chicago selected Cervi with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 18.

He spent four seasons at the University of Tulsa and recently started two games for the Under-23 U.S. Men's National Team in Olympic qualifying.

Cervi had a 1-1 record in two games vs. Honduras, both 1-0 results. In three other games, he served as reserve keeper behind Chris Seitz.