Toja Sold, Redeaux
August 1st, 2008 . 5:36 pm . By: Buzz Carrick
FC Dallas has announced via their blog the sale of Juan Toja to Steaua Bucharest. Stay tuned as we try to get some details on the sale. 3rd Degree had reported the sale done last week from a league source, but FC Dallas had denied the transaction had taken place. Whatever stumbling blocks remained have now been cleared and Toja is gone. Based on his play this year, Toja didn’t want to be here. It’s unlikely his value would have gone up any more without the playing being motivated to play at top form here.
Here’s the PR on the sale… FC DALLAS TRANSFERS JUAN TOJA TO STEAUA BUCURESTIFC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that midfielder Juan Toja has been transferred to Romanian club FC Steaua Bucuresti for an undisclosed amount. “We wish Juan all the best in Europe and thank him for his contribution to FC Dallas, on and off the field,” said Hitchcock. “Juan is a special player who will have success wherever he plays. That said we’re confident that we have a number of good young players who are ready to step up and fill the shoes that Juan is leaving.” Born in Colombia, Toja joined FC Dallas from Argentine-club River Plate in February 2007. In his first year with FCD, he scored six goals in 27 regular season games while playing three different positions, and was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player. In 16 games this year, he scored twice and added two assists. He was also selected to both the 2007 and 2008 MLS All-Star games, starting both games and scoring once in the MLS All-Stars 2-0 win over Celtic FC last year. “I want to thank FC Dallas for giving me the opportunity to play here, and giving me the opportunity to live my dream of playing in Europe,” said Juan Toja. “I am very excited for this opportunity. I want to thank my teammates, and wish them nothing but the best for this year and beyond. I also want to thank all the fans for all of their support.” Steaua has been drawn to play Turkey’s Galatasaray in the third qualifying round of the 2008/2009 UEFA Champion’s League, with the first leg on August 12 -13 and the second on August 26-27. FC Dallas will receive two-thirds of the transfer fee which may be use for development of the on-field product; a portion of which can be used as allocation money, and the rest for improvements to the first team or youth programs. 18 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
I guess we all saw the writing on the wall for this.
Looking forward to hearing what Steaua paid in the end.
Okay that’s done now… they can focus on max value for Cooper. They can wait until January but then FCD gets nothing as Mr Webster allows Cooper to leave on a free. Stay tuned folks.
So, now let’s retire number 8 and leave it in memory of Oscar as the heart and soulof that team and the best all-around guy to every play here…..
There is no retiring of numbers in soccer. That’s what the Texas Soccer Walk of Fame is for.
What’s your prediction as to who will be playing on the left side this week in Toronto now that he has left?
BJ, I’m working up something for tomorrow on that very subject.
finally the Colombian national team will see what we saw all all along. good for them.
good luck toja, we loves ya here in texas.
This is good, both for Toja and also for Steaua, cause Toja wanted to play in Europe and Steaua needed a player like Juan. Don’t worry FCD fans, Toja will be ok at Steaua and also he will have the opportunity to play in UEFA Champions League.
FORZA STEAUA
Oh, come on….
So, he will be in the walk of fame Buzz????
KD, there are two FCD/Burn players that belong in the TWOF, Kreis and Pareja.
That video made me sad. Well it was awesome to see him play! I hope he does well in Europe. He will be missed. Good Luck Juan!
Steve, Steaua paid 900.000 $ for Toja. He have some problems to come in Romania, with his visa, but monday he will be presented to romanian press.
Chances are it was FCD’s broken promises that soured Toja on the club and not any “wants a chance to play for Colombia” b.s.
Is fine, is in Romania! First picture with Toja in Dracula’s land!
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/3303/tojasi3.jpg
Toja made his debut for Steaua against Galatasaray, in Istanbul, in the 1st round of the qualifying matches for CL groups… Obviously, he didn’t play very well as he isn’t integrated in the team, but he showed some potential (pace, ball controll, dribbling skills)… If he finds out how to play (teamplay) accordind to our style (tactics), he’ll have a great future at Steaua…
some pics with Toja from a nite ro remember in Istanbul (final result: 2-2)… the Galata fans are well-known for the impressive show they set up in the stadium… it’s a nightmare, an inferno for an emotional player cuz it’s easy to lose morale when playing in such a hostile atmosphere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6×5MMITGxs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...v7kxLxtoIY&feature=related
and here are some pics with Toja from this very match:
http://www.stelisti.ro/uploads/modules/news/8236/p3.jpg
http://www.stelisti.ro/uploads...modules/news/8236/_POZ0711.JPG
http://www.stelisti.ro/uploads...modules/news/8236/_POZ0377.JPG
now we’ll wait them in Bucharest