Paolo Cardozo

How Acquired: Selected by the Galaxy in the first round (16th overall) of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

A small but technically gifted midfielder, Cardozo came on strong at the end of the 2011 season, playing in a number of games in the league and in the Champions League. He has a powerful left foot and can also dribble past defenders when the ball is at his feet.

MLS Highlights

2011: Appeared in 17 regular season games during his first year in MLS, making eight starts. He made his MLS debut as a second half substitute in the 1-1 home draw with New England on 3/20. He made his first start nearly a month later, playing 68 minutes in the 2-1 win at Chicago on 4/17. He went on to start six of the last seven games of the season, playing the full 90 minutes in five of those games. On 9/9 vs. Colorado, Cardozo had six shots, four of which were on goal, tying season-highs for the club in each category. Cardozo also played three games in the CONCACAF Champions League and two in the U.S. Open Cup, as well as friendlies against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Career Highlights

2007-10: Signed with Quilmes in 2007 and made his first team debut in the 2010 season when he was a teammate of former Galaxy midfielder Miguel Lopez. He helped Quilmes earn promotion to the Argentina’s Primera Division that season. 1996-2007: Played in the youth system at River Plate after being recognized by the club at the age of seven. He spent 11 years with the Buenos Aires-based club.