Chivas USA signs Guadalajara native

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, Mar 12, 2009

[MLS] A few days after its spiritual and emotional leader, defender Claudio Suarez, announced his retirement, Chivas USA regained a measure of its Guadalajara tradition by signing a forward born in that city.

Eduardo Lillingston, 31, comes to Chivas USA after playing 12 years in the Mexican league, including his most recent stop with another Guadalajara club, UAG (Tecos). He has also played for Toluca, Atlas, UNL (Tigres) and Santos Laguna, and began training with Chivas USA during its preseason trip to Guadalajara in February.

"Eduardo is an experienced player who has shown a good workrate and positive attitude since joining us at our preseason camp in Guadalajara," said Chivas USA coach Preki. "We are happy to have him join our club and look forward to his contributions to Chivas USA this season."

Lillingston played 258 Mexican First Division matches and scored 57 goals. He played on two championship teams with Toluca and helped UAG reach the 2005 Clausura final in which it lost to Club America. He joins a forward corps at Chivas USA that already includes Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, Alecko Eskandarian and Justin Braun.

Chivas USA plays its final preseason game Friday at Home Depot Center against Houston. It has lost its last two matches to Chicago and San Jose.