Cienfuegos, Diaz Arce Get Deals From MLS

In Major League Soccer’s “year of no excuses,” the Galaxy and San Jose Clash no longer have any to offer.

On Friday, the teams each brought their Salvadoran stars back into the MLS fold, as Galaxy midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos and Clash striker Raul Diaz Arce finally reached agreement with the league on new contracts.

The move ended the threatened return to El Salvador by both players and means they are not only wealthier but should be in a much better frame of mind when their teams face each other tonight at Spartan Stadium.

Cienfuegos, clearly the Galaxy’s most influential player in its first three seasons, and Diaz Arce, the second-leading goal scorer in league history, had been trying for several months to renegotiate contracts that paid considerably less than several top American players.

The top salary in the league is between $250,000 and $275,000, but Cienfuegos, 31, was reportedly earning $106,000 and Diaz Arce, 27, $103,000. Details of the new contracts were not revealed, but they were known to be closer to, if not at, the league maximum and to include additional years.

It took a Thursday visit to Los Angeles by Commissioner Doug Logan to get the deal done.

Even then it was late evening by the time Logan and Ivan Gazidis, the league’s vice president for player personnel, placed what one Galaxy official called “a final take-it-or-leave-it” offer on the table before returning to New York.

Corey Clemetson, the agent for both players, expressed satisfaction with the new pacts, saying Cienfuegos and Diaz Arce were relieved to finally be able to put the matter behind them.

Cienfuegos had two years remaining on his former contract, but after being one of the keys to the Galaxy’s 24-8 regular season in 1998, he believed he was being severely underpaid.

He finished among league leaders in several categories, ranking second in assists with 16, seventh in points with 42, tied for eighth in goals with 13 and tied for third in game-winning goals with five.

Despite the contract squabble, he played in the team’s first two matches of the season, coming on as a substitute in the opener against the Colorado Rapids and starting the second game against the Dallas Burn, but was ineffective in both.

Tonight, the season begins anew for him and Diaz Arce.