Earthquakes Felt Once Again

The San Jose Earthquakes return has been made official, as the expansion team hosted the Houston Dynamo for a pre-season friendly last night.A respectable crowd of 3,182 fans turned out to PAL Stadium to welcome back professional soccer to the Bay Area, though the host Quakes lost the exhibition by a 1-0 score to a Houston club that boasted several players from the old San Jose days.

The game's only goal was scored by U.S. international Ricardo Clark, when the Houston midfielder received a pass from Chris Wondolowski and beat keeper Joe Cannon at the end of the first half.

Still, San Jose coach Frank Yallop sounded optimistic about what he saw on the field after only eight days of training camp.

"We have a solid core right now and we need to keep building," said Yallop. "I am happy with where we are at right now and we just need to keep getting better from here."


One such improvement was revealed yesterday, as the Earthquakes announced a trade with the Houston Dynamo for rights to defender Ramiro Corrales in exchange for allocation money.

It will be the third go-round in San Jose for Corrales, 30, who previously was a member of the San Jose Clash (1996-97) and Earthquakes (2001-04). The Salinas, California native spent the last three seasons playing in Norway with Ham-Kam and, most recently, SK Brann. He has also made six appearances for the US Men's National Team, including last week's 2-2 tie against Mexico.