SAN JOSE, Calif. – When the San Jose Earthquakes brain trust met last month to discuss options for filling their biggest remaining need – a forward with pace – there was a common thread to the observations regarding Innocent Emeghara.
“The one thing we all said is, ‘This guy’s going to help us,’” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said.
Now MLS will find out if Kinnear and his staff are right.
San Jose unveiled the final piece of their offseason rebuilding project Monday, introducing the 25-year-old Emeghara at Avaya Stadium. The Nigerian-born Swiss international joined the Quakes on a three-year deal, giving San Jose three Designated Players for the first time in their history – just as they are primed to open their new home next month.
“It’s a thing where you’re building,” Quakes general manager John Doyle said. “You’re not just filling holes. I like building a lot better than filling holes. But you need a big commitment from ownership to build, and that commitment’s there.”
Emeghara, who moved from Nigeria to Switzerland at the age of 13, said it was “not an easy decision” to walk away from offers in Europe and come to the US. But the length of the contract and a sense of stability were alluring to Emeghara, who played for three different teams in the last two years and became a free agent in July after Italian side Siena dissolved into bankruptcy following relegation from Serie A.
“I have experienced many leagues,” said Emeghara, who played in the top flights of France, Italy and Switzerland. “There is a motivation for me to come here because the football is different. The level is also very good. The league here is the future; it’s the coming football of the world. So I am very happy to be part of this now, to be here.”
The Quakes haven’t had a speed threat of Emeghara’s caliber since coming back to MLS as an expansion side in 2008. After struggling to score 35 goals last season – the second-worst total in the league – San Jose could threaten opposing defenses this year with Emeghara up top, US international Chris Wondolowski tucked underneath and Argentinean playmaker Matias Perez Garcia pulling the strings in the center of the park.
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“If you look at his highlight film from over the years, he’s not running away from boys,” Kinnear said of Emeghara. “He’s running away from grown men.”
As Doyle, a former US international, put it: “He can get behind defenses. As an old central defender, I wouldn’t want to play against him because he’s that [player] where, it’s a flick on and you look and you’re like, ‘Oh, no, I can’t catch him.’”
There will be plenty of pressure resting on the shoulders of the 5-foot-7 Emeghara as the Quakes work to rebuild from a last-place finish in the Western Conference. But he's not shying away from that.
“Everybody living life has pressure, in their own way,” Emeghara said. “In Europe, we’re used to it, pressure. Pressure is everywhere. I’m a professional, and I’m used to pressure.”
