The New York-New Jersey MetroStars acquired defender Joe Addo through a waiver draft held on Tuesday by Major League Soccer, the MLS club announced.

The Ghanaian-born Addo, 30, had been training with the club in their preseason camp over the course of the last month, and the club had wanted to sign him to bolster their ranks in their defense.

With three days to play before their MLS season opener against the New England Revolution at Giants Stadium, the MetroStars had just five listed defenders on their active roster, in Marcelo Balboa, Daniel Hernandez, Brian Kamler, Orlando Perez and Mike Petke.

Balboa, however, has missed a significant portion of training camp through injury since being acquired in an offseason trade with the Colorado Rapids but should be able to play Saturday against the Revolution.

Addo, who has played in leagues throughout Europe in Greece, Portugal, Holland, Italy and Germany, played each of the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, but was left without a team after the Mutiny and Miami Fusion were contracted by the league in January.

Addo, who gained a college education in the United States at George Mason University, holds a green card through his marriage to an American woman and will not count against the MetroStars' quota of three foreign international players.

In related MLS news, the Colorado Rapids have released striker Daniel Amokachi, who has reportedly returned to his native Nigeria. The Rapids acquired Amokachi as an international marquee allocation in January, but coach Tim Hankinson cut the 29-year-old striker and former English F.A. Cup winner and Olympic champion due to what he perceived as a problem with the player's fitness, although Amokachi's much-diagnosed knee problems were said to be behind him.

"He was just too far away from being match-fit and sharp," Rapids g.m. Dan Counce told The Denver Post on Tuesday. "He probably would have gotten there, but it probably would have taken another eight or ten weeks. He was in shape for a regular person, but not in professional athlete shape."

Counce said that the team was looking at other international players who would fill the void left by Amokachi's release, and would be expecting to make an announcement on the matter in "the next few days," added Counce.