Union gets Costa Rican D Lopez

Chester, Pa. – The Philadelphia Union have acquired left back Porfirio Lopez, who was on loan with Costa Rica’s First Division Champion Liga Deportiva Alajuelense from Chinese Dalian Haichang.

Lopez will be eligible to join the Union upon receiving his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate.  Per MLS and Club policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

The 26-year-old arrives to Philadelphia with back-to-back titles with Alajuelense in the 2011 Summer and Winter Championships.  Playing primarily as a left back Lopez has appeared in a total of 16 games this season.  His first and lone goal with La Liga came in the 62nd minute of the team’s 4-0 victory over Cartagines on Sept. 7, 2011.

The left back made his debut with Santos de Guapiles in 2005, playing in a total of 42 matches before moving to Puntarenas in 2009.  Lopez saw action in 31 games with his new club, finding the back of the net in one occasion.  In 2010, the defender moved to China’s First Division side Dalian Haichang, notching two tallies in ten matches before returning to Costa Rica’s Alajuelense.