Marcus Tracy will not play in his hometown of Philadelphia, as the former college standout's luck landed with the San Jose Earthquakes in a Major League Soccer lottery.
A Hermann Trophy winner in 2008, Tracy decided to forgo playing in MLS to pursue a career in Europe with Aalborg, a Danish club. After successive knee injuries over the course of three seasons, Aalborg declared in October that it would not renew his contract.
"Before he was injured he was a fantastic athlete who was still in the process of learning the game at a high level," Brian Sciaretta, of Yanks Abroad, told the Brotherly Game when asked about Tracy's pre-European play. "It's unclear how he is now. He's missed a lot of time."
After training with the Philadelphia Union leading up to today's lottery announcement, Tracy was attractive to the Chester based team, despite his three year history of knee tendinitis. Union head coach John Hackworth went so far as to say that he "hoped" the team could acquire Tracy.
"Yes, he would be someone that we would be very interested in," Hackworth said at Wednesday's weekly press conference. "Marcus was one of the top players coming out of college before he went overseas. Unfortunately, he's had some injuries that have set him back. But I think he's in a good spot now."
Tracy would have joined a much maligned offense that has managed only 25 goals in 26 games this season. Led by third year striker Jack McInerney, the Union's front three in Hackworth's 4-3-3 have only been able to contribute three goals the last month, as the team was outscored 3-8 in August (0-3-2).
Even though the Union had the third highest probability for winning the lottery, they were beaten out by San Jose, which had only a 4.6 percent chance of getting Tracy. Last year, the Union were able to add another injury riddled striker to their squad, getting Chris Agorsor in a lottery before releasing him prior shortly thereafter.