Former MVP Carlos Ruiz knows his role with Philadelphia Union

Carlos Ruiz' tone yesterday was of a player who realizes that his experience and skill needs to hold more weight than his words.

Already an MLS legend with 82 goals to his credit during time in Los Angeles, Dallas and Toronto, the 31-year-old Ruiz landed in Philadelphia after a 3-year stint in South America, Mexico and Europe. He arrived via free transfer from Greek top-tier club Aris Thessaloniki on Feb. 22 amid scrutiny on whether he still had gas left in his goal-scoring tank, and if he learned to curb comments that previously had gotten him into hot water.

"I am excited to come back to Major League Soccer after I played 3 years in different leagues," said Ruiz, an MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner (2002) who holds the MLS record for most postseason goals (16). "I have a lot of [personal] goals for this year and I hope that as a team we can do well. We all expect to play better than we did last year."

If Ruiz can revive the magic that made him a nightmare for MLS defenders, Union boss Peter Nowak will look like a genius, garnering talent that once held designated player status during his dynamic first years with the Galaxy (2002-2005). Ruiz returned to the Galaxy for 10 games in 2008.

"My role given to me by Peter Nowak, my coach, is simple," said Ruiz. "He knows that I am a player who knows the league and a player who has experience. I played 7 years [in MLS] so I can help a lot of our young guys. I think that the mind-set of a lot of our guys who have experience on this team, Danny Califf, Stefani Miglioranzi, Sebastian [Le Toux]. My job is to score goals, but also be a mentor."

"We believe Carlos is a player that still has a lot of upside," Nowak said earlier this month during the team's 2-week training sessions in Greece. "We expect him to come here and continue to use his skills to lead our offense and also mentor our younger players. Carlos is still a dangerous player who knows this league very well. That's always a good thing as you continue to try and elevate the level of your team."

Ruiz' MLS rebirth begins Saturday night in Houston when the Union open its campaign against the Dynamo (8:30, 6ABC).