Boyd, Perez and Colombians make early impact

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Mar 20, 2012

[MLS IMPORTS WATCH] Six first-year foreigners have already scored for their new clubs. In particular, Scotsman Kris Boyd and Panamanian Blas Perez could be impact players up front for Portland and FC Dallas. Colombians Jaime Castrillon (Colorado) and Hanyer Mosquera (Portland) could also be important additions for their clubs in the Western Conference race. Of the 37 imports who have played, 17 are from South America, 12 from Europe, seven from Central America and one from Asia. Colombia leads all countries with 14 imports, eight of whom have made appearances in the first two weeks. For a team-to-team breakdown of the imports and who has played well and who hasn't ...

*inactive.

CHICAGO FIRE
90/90 Paolo Tornaghi (Italy)
29/90 Federico Puppo (Uruguay)
0/90 Rafael Robayo (Colombia)
*Arne Friedrich (Germany)
With goalie Sean Johnson away on under-23 national team duty, 23-year-old Tornaghi was the lone newcomer to start at Montreal.

CHIVAS USA
180/180 Oswaldo Minda (Ecuador)
28/180 Miller Bolanos (Ecuador)
0/180 John Alexander Valencia Colombia)
Minda slipped on Jay DeMerit's winning goal for Vancouver on Saturday, Bolanos was no factor on Saturday, and Valencia is injured (quad strain).

COLORADO RAPIDS
180/180 (1 goal) Jaime Castrillon (Colombia)
180/180 Luis Zapata (Colombia)
0/180 Kohei Yamada (Japan)
*Martin Rivero (Argentina)
The Rapids are a new team with Castrillon and Zapata in the lineup. They looked very good against Columbus in the opener. On Sunday, Castrillon scored the easiest of goals, a tap-in after Philadelphia keeper Zac MacMath failed to hold on to Omar Cummings' cross.

COLUMBUS CREW
90/90 Milovan Mirosevic (Chile)
23/90 Olman Vargas (Costa Rica)
*Nemanja Vukovic (Montenegro)
As Mirosevic goes, so will probably go the Crew, which can use him as a playmaker or second forward.

D.C. UNITED
IN:
80/180 Hamdi Salihi (Albania)
45/180 Emiliano Dudar (Argentina)
Salihi, D.C.'s offseason Designated Player signing, didn't get off the bench in the 3-1 loss to the Galaxy. Dudar made his debut, entering after the break in Los Angeles.

FC DALLAS
IN:
180/180 (1 goal) Blas Perez (Panama)
180/180 Hernan Pertuz (Colombia)
149/180 Carlos Rodriguez (Panama)
0/180 Luis Perea (Colombia)
Perez has filled a big need up front, where FC Dallas struggled last season. Pertuz has started ahead of George John, who just returned from his loan spell at West Ham. Rodriguez has joined the Panama U-23s for Olympic qualifying.

HOUSTON DYNAMO
none.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY
83/180 (1 goal) Marcelo Sarvas (Brazil)
David Beckham set up Sarvas for the third Galaxy goal against D.C. United.

MONTREAL IMPACT
180/180 Felipe Martins (Brazil)
180/180 Matteo Ferrari (Italy)
13/180 Bernardo Corradi (Italy)
0/180 Gienir Garcia (Mexico)
0/180 Nelson Rivas (Colombia)
Corradi had not played in 11 months, while Rivas has been injured. Both are Seria A veterans, along with Ferrari, and need to come through if the Impact is to challenge in its first season.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
90/180 John Lozano (Colombia)
69/180 Fernando Cardenas (Colombia)
57/180 Saer Sene (France)
0/180 Florian Lechner (Germany)
*Jose Moreno (Colombia)
The Revs did not have good luck with their early signings last season -- remember Frenchmen Ousmane Dabo and Di­di­er Domi -- and Lozano, Cardenas and Sene didn't exactly tear it up in the first two weeks.

NEW YORK RED BULLS
180/180 Markus Holgersson (Sweden)
58/180 Victor Palsson (Iceland)
Holgersson was supposed to help the Red Bulls in the middle of the backline, but he was been very shaky, to say the least.

PHILADELPHIA UNION
180/180 (1 goal) Gabriel Gomez (Panama)
180/180 (1 goal) Lionard Pajoy (Colombia)
180/180 Porfirio Lopez (Costa Rica)
71/180 Josue Martinez (Costa Rica)
Pajoy teamed well with Danny Mwanga and scored his first goal in Sunday's loss to Colorado. Gomez had the lone goal in the 3-1 loss at Portland. The Union is counting on Lopez to hold down the left-back job.

PORTLAND TIMBERS
170/180 (1 goal) Kris Boyd (Scotland)
90/180 Hanyer Mosquera (Colombia)
0/180 Franck Songo'o (Cameroon)
*Jose Adolfo Valencia (Colombia)
Boyd, whos scored in the Timbers' opener, could feast on the service he receives from his Portland teammates. Mosquera could stabilize the Timbers' backline. Songo'o, who had a great preseason, just resumed training.

REAL SALT LAKE
0/180 Emiliano Bonfigli (Argentina)
0/180 Terukazu Tanaka (Japan)

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
180/180 Victor Bernardez (Honduras)
27/180 Tressor Moreno (Colombia)
10/180 Sercan Guvenisik (Germany)
Bernardez could be one of the best center backs in MLS and keep the Quakes in the hunt in the Western Conference. Moreno and Guvenisik came on late against Houston.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS
90/90 Michael Gspurning (Austria)
90/90 Adam Johansson (Sweden)
23/90 Christian Sivebaek (Denmark)
0/90 Jason Banton (England)
0/90 Cordell Cato (Trinidad & Tobago)
Gspurning has his work cut out to win over Sounder fans as the replacement for Kasey Keller. Adam Johansson is an upgrade at right back. Sivebaek gives Seattle depth on the wings.

SPORTING KC
none.

TORONTO FC
90/90 Miguel Aceval (Chile)
Geovanny Caicedo, signed in January to improve the TFC backline, was released days before the start of the season.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
180/180 Lee Young-Pyo (South Korea)
180/180 Martin Bonjour (Argentina)
*Barry Robson (Scotland)
The 'Caps have back-to-back shutouts with newcomers Lee and Bonjour on backline.