Carlos Ruiz Officially Signs With Philadelphia Union

Ruiz has spent the last two years playing with Paraguay’s Olimpia (not to be confused with the Honduran power), Mexico’s Puebla and, most recently, Greece’s Aris. Ruiz joins the Union on a free transfer from Aris. During 15 matches with Aris this year, Ruiz scored just one goal in 15 league matches, but scored three goals in Europa League competition.

At times during his MLS tenure, Ruiz was one of the most dangerous players in the league. In addition to his 24-goal, seven-assist debut season, he scored at least 11 goals in four of his five other seasons. But his final year in the league did not go so well. He switched teams twice and scored just one goal in 15 matches.

MLS fans certainly remember Carlos Ruiz, the man not so affectionately known as “Pescadito.” The positive or negative nature of those memories is probably closely tied to whether or not he was playing for their team, as the only thing for which he was better known than scoring goals was his penchant for embellishing fouls (hence the nickname). Either way, it appears MLS fans will once again familiarize themselves with both sides of his reputation as Philly.com is reporting he has already signed with the Philadelphia Union.

The official announcement will reportedly come this week, and Ruiz is reported to have already begun training with the team. The Union just returned to Philadelphia from Orlando and are heading to Greece on Wednesday, where they’ll be until March 10. It would stand to reason that the Ruiz announcement would come as soon as Tuesday.