Amado Guevara versus The Towel

We remember a brilliant attacking and creative midfielder who was explosive and cunning while he had the ball at his feet. Transferred over from Motagua of Honduras by Bob Bradley, we saw the brilliance of Amado Guevara dancing on the field at Giants Stadium.

He scored some flashy goals and attacked with smooth and silky runs in the midfield to prepare for a big scoring chance, watching his brilliance was a marvel to see. He was able to score a match-winner against the Chicago Fire during second-half stoppage time.

Scoring big goals in a three-goal comeback draw against Chivas-USA and converting penalties with deadly accuracy. But the one moment that we saw was a game at home where he wasn’t taken down by a player, but by the snap of a towel.

The San Jose Earthquakes came over to play in a midweek tilt at Giants Stadium, and right from the beginning, it was exciting and fun to watch. Already in the second half, both sides were fighting to try and earn a go-ahead goal.

In the 60th minute of that match, a moment grew bigger and stranger with the officiating group trying to sort the situation out. Former Metro defender Ramiro Corrales was on the Quakes and was defending Guevara all match long. He couldn’t stop him, so Frank Yallop took him off.

When the ball was going towards the bench area of the field and rolled towards the Earthquakes side, it was Guevara who chased it. From a low camera angle by Fox Sports Net, he was down and in pain...or so we thought.

A big discussion with the officials to determine what happened, but thanks to multiple camera angles, we saw what happened. As Guevara retrieved the ball, it was Corrales who grabbed Amado’s shorts and pulled him back.

As Guevara felt the tug, he argued as to why this happened, then Corrales who had a towel snapped it at Guevara’s stomach, then Amado fell like a ton of bricks, held his face pretending that it hit him high, then stayed on the field motionless for a while.

Never in my life watching the world’s game have I ever seen a player who was coming off the field or sitting on the bench, interfere with the run of play like that. After the officiating crew got together to make a final decision, it was the referee who issued a red card to Corrales for his part, and Guevara was booked for simulation or faking an injury.

While that moment was exciting to watch, the match its self was fantastic as well. It ended up as a four-goal draw with Clint Mathis putting the Metro ahead, then the referee making a poor decision to allow the game to quickly restart that led Landon Donovan to convert another equalizer.

Corrales was always the whipping boy of the fans as his defense was never that good. So seeing him walking back through the tunnel, he must’ve heard a few parting shots back to the locker room. For Guevara, he played in four seasons and scored 32 times, a dangerous goal scorer who hunted the net like a predator, he was known as El Lobo.

Amado Guevara was always a hard-working player and a deadly finisher, hope one day he will come back to the club and spend time with the players and the fans with that huge smile of his.