CARSON, Calif. -- Three weeks into the 2008 MLS season, Chivas USA has yet to use one of the club's most important pieces.
With any luck, Claudio Suarez could make his season debut on Sunday against an old friend.
Suarez missed the opening two games of the season after his father Vicente passed away, then missed the match in Columbus after lack of fitness and a broken nose combined for a damaging blow. The missed time has left Suarez longing for a quick return to the field.
"Hopefully I can make my debut this week," Suarez said. "For one reason or another I've not been able to play thus far and I'm very anxious to play."
After having gone through preseason unscathed, Suarez flew back to Mexico on the eve of the opener after his father passed away. He returned the night before the club's home opener but did not dress for the match, a 3-1 win against Real Salt Lake. He could not overcome the lack of training time.
"Hopefully he will get his fitness back a little this week," Chivas USA coach Preki said. "We talked to him and he said he didn't feel like he was 100 percent. Obviously he was down in Mexico for more than a week."
To make matters worse, Suarez had his nose broken in training on Friday. Upon returning to southern California, Suarez saw a doctor about the nose and was told it would require surgery.
"I'm still in a bit of pain because of the hit. I can't breathe properly," Suarez said. "(The doctor) asked me if I wanted to have surgery on it but it's better to wait until after the season to have it. ... Surgery is necessary just to breathe correctly more than anything."
Suarez said he's had his nose broken before. While playing in the Mexican league toward the end of his career there, Suarez broke his nose just before the playoffs. Surgery was not just an option then, it was required.
"Surgery was necessary that time because there was quite a bit of hemorrhaging and it was even more painful to breathe so they had to straighten it a bit," Suarez said. "I used a mask."
Although a mask is an option, Suarez ruled it out because of the mask's discomfort and how it limited his vision before.
"We're always in danger of some sort of hit. I've used a mask before and it was pretty uncomfortable," Suarez said. "If I take a hit, I take a hit. I'm not scared of taking a hit. It's part of playing the position."
Suarez could make his 2008 debut Sunday against FC Dallas. If he starts or comes off the bench, it might yet be another match he's played against Duilio Davino. The longtime Club America central defender matched up against Suarez often when the two played in Mexico. Often, those matches were in superclasicos, when Chivas and America met in Mexico's most intense rivalry.
But Suarez and Davino were longtime teammates as well, as both manned the Mexican national team's backline for several years together.
"Off the field we've spent a lot of time together," Suarez said. "We're very good friends as we played a lot of games together on the national team."
Davino and Suarez played together for El Tri in the 1998 World Cup as well as the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and in various other tournaments and matches. Suarez was one of Davino's mentors when Davino broke into the national team.
"I saw him make his debut. As an experienced player, I was one of the ones who helped him transition into the national team," Suarez said. "Duilio is a great player, a very intelligent player. He's been criticized about his speed and people say he's too slow. They've said the same things about me."
Suarez said Davino should be able to find success in MLS.
"He's experienced," Suarez said. "This league has some very fast players, physical players who can play well in the air and that might complicate things for him. But because of his experience and his positioning, he can minimize some of those things."
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