The Waiting Game

The latest chapter of the Jose Moreno Saga unfolded on Thursday when Revolution general manager Michael Burns admitted that the Colombian striker would not arrive by the anticipated Mar. 1 deadline.

Speaking with the media via teleconference from Tucson, Ariz., where the Revolution is preparing for Saturday’s championship game of the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup preseason tournament, Burns said that Moreno is finalizing the details of his arrival, but could not specify when the striker would arrive.

“Currently, Jose is in transit to Bogotá [Colombia] to set up his appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Bogotá to obtain his visa to travel to the U.S.,” Burns said via teleconference on Thursday. “I can’t sit here and say that for sure that he’ll be in uniform by [the season opener on] March 10th. That’s the hope and the goal, but we do anticipate him to be in the U.S. within the next – I’d say, maximum – 10-14 days and that’s even a little bit of speculation going on past examples.”

The story surrounding the Moreno signing has been well-documented. Days after the 30-year-old target man was announced as the team’s new number 9, Moreno was quoted in the Colombian media expressing little desire to show up for Revolution camp.

“I love this city and (Once Caldas),” Moreno told the official website of the Colombian first division on Feb. 7, according to an internet-based translation service. “I want to be quiet and comfortable here.”

Shortly after the report surfaced, the Revolution front office sprang into action. Burns himself reached out to Moreno’s representatives and Once Caldas for clarification on the striker’s situation. But whatever conversations were held did little to get Moreno in Foxboro in a timely fashion.

Although the Revolution maintained that all the pertinent loan and contract documents had been executed, the fact Moreno featured in a Feb. 12 Once Caldas match – one in which he reportedly injured his ankle – only served to cloud the picture.

While Moreno remained in Colombia, the team attempted to assure their supporters. During the Revolution’s annual Supporter’s Summit on Feb. 16, Burns stated that Moreno wasn’t actually due to report until Mar. 1. and that it was too early be terribly concerned.

But as February drew to a close, it became evident that Moreno wouldn’t join his new teammates by the report date. Although his contract has been signed, Burns revealed on Thursday that Moreno has not yet received his international training certificate and P-1 visa.

“We do anticipate to receive the ITC any day,” Burns said. “The visa process, generally speaking, takes the longest time to complete.”

Although Mar. 1 has come and gone with Moreno remaing thousands of miles away, Burns is optimistic that wait won’t be much longer. The main reason? The relatively timely processing of the ITCs and P-1 visas for recent Colombian signings John Lozano and Fernando Cardenas, which leads Burns to believe that Moreno’s paperwork won’t hit any snags.

“We’ve had pretty good success with both Fernando and John at the Consulate in Bogotá,” Burns said. “So we’re hoping once we get his date [to return to the Consulate in Bogota], that the whole process will be expedited.”

Even if the process is expedited and all goes according to plan – at this juncture, at least – head coach Jay Heaps acknowledged that it might be unrealistic to expect Moreno to play in the season opener at San Jose on Mar. 10.

“It would be premature to tell you that we’d want him to start on the 10th, or the next game,” Heaps said on Thursday’s teleconference. “First and foremost we have to get him up to speed on a health [basis], we want to make sure he’s fully healed from a muscle injury. I think that we move at that pace when we get him here.”

If he gets here. Given the amount of time and the mystery surrounding Moreno’s situation, many Revolution supporters remain skeptical about the forward’s arrival in Foxboro.

However, Burns said he has every reason to believe that Moreno will not only be here, but wants to be here.

“(Moreno) has assured us that he does in fact want to come to the U.S. and play for the Revolution,” Burns said. “We’re going to do our best to expedite the process as quickly as possible to get him in New England and in a Revolution jersey.”

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