SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Of all the San Jose Earthquakes players, perhaps no one was more frustrated by the club’s 1-0 loss at Portland last weekend than the man who was a few inches away from preventing the Timbers’ last-second game-winner.
Quakes midfielder Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi turned inside his own six-yard box as a deflected Timbers free kick flew over his shoulder. The 30-year-old Corsican swung his right foot up with an eye towards sending the ball into the farthest reaches of Providence Park.
Instead, Portland midfielder Jack Jewsbury brought his left foot to bear at the same moment and was able to get the final touch, delivering a looping blow over the head of Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham and snatching a road point away from San Jose.
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“I was sad,” Pierazzi said of his reaction to Jewsbury’s goal, “because I was never expecting that. In my head, it was like, ‘OK, it’s the last ball. If I can clear it out, get the ball really far, the game is done. The referee’s going to blow the whistle.’”
The tally undid more than 90 minutes of stout defensive work by San Jose. Pierazzi, making just his third start of the season, opened alongside Fatai Alashe in a pragmatic pairing as the Quakes attempted to compensate for the absence of all three attacking Designated Players – Innocent and Matias Perez Garcia were out due to injury, and Chris Wondolowski remains on U.S. Gold Cup duty.
“He holds the position well,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said of Pierazzi. “I think he’s smart, where he rarely pulls himself out of position. He’s always playing in between the two center backs, which is a smart thing for him to do; he’s an intelligent guy.”
Pierazzi was one of San Jose’s major acquisitions prior to the 2014 season, and started 23 games for Mark Watson, often in tandem with another defensive midfielder. A quadriceps injury early this season put Pierazzi on the shelf for several weeks, which opened the door for Alashe, the fourth overall selection in this year’s SuperDraft.
By the time Pierazzi was fully healthy, Alashe had established himself as the first-choice back-line screener in Kinnear’s 4-1-4-1 formation. Sunday’s game marked Pierazzi’s first start since March 28.
“Obviously, it’s not the best situation, but that’s part of the job,” Pierazzi said. “In your career, you can’t always be at the top. It happens. You have ups, you have downs. But the team is doing well, so it’s easier for me. If the team was doing bad, that would be maybe harder, but since the team is doing good, I’m glad with that. I want to play every game, that’s for sure, but I’m practicing very hard to get back for every game.”
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It remains to be seen if Pierazzi will remain in the lineup against Houston on Friday night. Kinnear said this week that the club is “absolutely” hopeful Perez Garcia -- who leads the club with six assists, and is the only Quake with more than one -- can return from a slightly strained left hamstring.
“I’m still kind of on a trial basis with some of these guys, myself,” Kinnear said. “And I’m trying, week-in and week-out, to put out what I feel is the best team. I think Fatai has been playing well, and it’s a similar position. It’s an unfortunate thing of sports sometimes, that some guy has a preference of one guy over another. But in saying that, the guy has to be ready to play so when he does get that chance, he shows you he’s a good player.”
