CARSON, Calif. (Monday, August 5, 2013) – The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has signed goalkeeper Jaime Penedo on a free transfer and that he will be added to the club’s roster pending the receipt of his P1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate. The 31-year-old Panamanian international spent the last six seasons playing in Guatemala with Municipal and most recently helped lead Panama to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. Per club and league policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
The 31-year-old began his club career in his native Panama, beginning his professional career with Plaza Amador before joining Arabe Unido, who he helped lead to the Apertura and Clausura titles in 2004. After two years in Europe, playing in Italy for Cagliari and in Spain for Ossauna, Penedo returned to Central America, joining Guatemalan side Municipal in 2007. He spent the last six years with the Guatemala City-based club, helping them win two Clausura titles (2008 and 2010) and two Apertura titles (2009 and 2011) while appearing in more than 150 games for the club. Behind the play of Penedo, Municipal qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League four times in the six years of the competition.
In addition to his club career, Penedo has also made 89 appearances with Panama’s national team since making his international debut in 2003. Originally born in Panama City, Penedo was his country’s first choice goalkeeper at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, helping Panama reach the Final for the first time ever, only to fall on penalties to the United States. Eight years later, he led Panama back to the Gold Cup Final where they once again fell to the United States last week. Penedo played in 11 of the 12 games that Panama played in those two tournaments, including a pair of wins over Mexico last month, winning the award for the tournament’s top goalkeeper each time.
Penedo, who also led Panama to the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup championship, has also played in four of Panama’s six games so far during the final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying. They are currently in fifth place in the group, two points behind Mexico for the third and final automatic qualification spot to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. They are one point behind Honduras for fourth place in the group.
Penedo will be eligible to make his Galaxy debut on Wednesday in the conclusion of the Guinness International Champions Cup when the Galaxy face AC Milan at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. That game, which is the tournament’s Third Place Match, is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. (PT) and will be shown live on FOX Soccer. The Galaxy will then return to MLS action on Sunday, August 11 when they take on FC Dallas in a game that will be shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. They will then return home for the first time in almost a month on Saturday, August 17 when they host Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center. That match, which will be shown live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, will see the club debut their new third kit, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by the club’s annual Alumni Game. Tickets for this game, which is presented by Herbalife, are on sale now by calling 877-3GALAXY (342-5299) or visiting www.lagalaxy.com/tickets.
NAME: Jaime Penedo
POSITION: Goalkeeper
HT: 6-0
WT: 160
AGE: 31
DATE OF BIRTH: September 26, 1981 in Panama City, Panama
HOMETOWN: Panama City, Panama
LAST CLUB: Municipal (Guatemala)
NATIONALITY: Panama
COLLEGE: --
SQUAD NUMBER: 18
