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Forward Madison continued to build out their roster today by announcing the signing of their 15th player, former Club Atlas outside back Christian “Pato” Diaz.
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Diaz is able to play at outside back on both sides of the pitch but Shore already has him penciled in at left back. Per Diaz’s own words, “I like to attack. I can play on the left and like to get forward.” Previously, he played at center left for Ricardo Volpe while at Atlas. And while he hopes to make a solid impression for the team, he could still contribute to an MLS team having already played Liga MX.
The soon to be 28-year-old defender came to sign with Forward Madison FC through fortune. It wasn’t his outreach and it wasn’t with a heads up from the technical staff of Minnesota, but rather his connections with Minnesota FC player, Miguel Ibarra. Ibarra placed a call to the Forward Madison FC staff and asked them if they had need of a defender. Lucky for us, we had a space to fill on the back line.
With stints at Club Atlas, Leones Negros and Tlaxcala, Diaz brings experience and a desire to win. More importantly, his signing shows the commitment of the Forward Madison FC staff to the diverse Madison community. Diaz is the first Mexican signing for the team, but certainly won’t be the last.
Madison, even in their defensive signing, is showing they want to take the game to their opponents. Additionally, it was announced, at the signing, that Madison will be playing a mid season friendly against a soon to be announced (this Thursday, so stay tuned) Liga MX team with the possibility of another unannounced European team midseason matchup in the works.
After a quick post announcement talk with Head Coach Daryl Shore, the team hopes to round out the roster at somewhere in the low 20s so there should be a handful of new players in the near future. These could be new signings, but he also left room that they may be loan signings from Minnesota. In the meantime, the team is packing up with new signings in tow, and heading to Rockford for the next two weeks as they finish their preseason training at a local indoor facility where they’ll match up against a former Peter Wilt team in Indy Eleven in a closed door scrimmage. March 2nd, they’ll face Saint Louis FC and March 5th, Saint Louis University, both in St. Louis before rounding out their preseason with matches against UW Parkside March 16th and Marquette University March 30th.
As a teaser, make sure to watch Forward Madison’s feeds around March 9th as it’s expected they’ll be rolling out a lot new merch including what is expected to be their new home and away jerseys. It’s never too late to be rocking some pink.