All The World Time News

MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune with an article on the expected new contract for Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
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COLUMBUS CREW

The teams official blog The Black And Gold Standard has posted a slide show of players making love to the MLS Cup.
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DC UNITED

The team has signed a new contract with left back Mark Burch.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 talks tons of subjects with the one and only Jimmy Conrad.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The Galaxy made several roster moves today:
-Signed journeyman midfielder Leonard Griffin
-Re-sign goalkeeper Steve Cronin
-Re-sign forward Jovan Kirovski
-Release defender Eduardo Dominguez
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RED BULL NEW YORK

The team has signed a new contract with defender Carlos Mendes.
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Jeff Carlisle of Center Line Soccer reports that contrary to earlier reports the team is all but set to sign goalkeeper Joe Cannon to a new contract.
-The team also expects midfielder Francisco Lima to return next season.
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GENERAL

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com writes about the tough road ahead for MLS rookies.
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MLS College Draft Talk

The league has announced the signing of 9 college players to the special Generation Adidas big money developmental contracts. Here they are:
-Kevin Alston - Indiana - D
-Danny Cruz - UNLV - M
-Stefan Frei - California - G
-Omar Gonzalez - Maryland - D
-Jeremy Hall - Maryland - M
-Baggio Husidic - Illinois-Chicago - M
-Peri Marosevic - Michigan - F
-Rodney Wallace - Maryland - D
-Steve Zakuani - Akron - F
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Buzz Carrick and 3rd Degree, as always, has the best insight on the draft prospects. The league's official scouting combine is this weekend, with the "SuperDraft" (4 rounds) taking place next Thu Jan 15 in St Louis. You can see the first hour live on ESPN2 starting at 1pm central. This years players look to be much stronger than last years.
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Here is the list of round by round team draft order.
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Goal.com with an article whispering - Roma's Christian Panucci to LA. Not gonna happen - never.
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Greg Seltzer of No Short Corner in the middle of a post of rumors drops this one "Rosenborg's Costa Rica defender Roy Miller is set for a one-year loan with the Seattle Sounders." Interesting.
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MLS Expansion News

The Oregonian reports that Merritt Paulson has given the city of Portland financial numbers on how he expects the business of the new MLS team to go. Shouldn't the city hire their own financial team to study numbers if they are going to invest big bucks>
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USL First Division News

Montreal started training camp today in preparation for the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal home and away series against Santos Laguna on Feb 25 (home) and Mar 5 (away).
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Team USA

Keep track of the team on the official blog.
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Defender Ugo Ihemelu from the Colorado Rapids is the latest player added to the January camp roster.
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Injury heads up from the camp: "Geoff Cameron (hamstring strain) and Chad Marshall (mild knee sprain) will not train today."
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Goal.com has a short video interview with coach Bob Bradley.
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USA U18 News

The team is headed to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival for a series of matches. Here is the schedule and roster.
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Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 15
USA v Chile
-Fri Jan 16
USA v China
-Sun Jan 18
USA v Australia
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Roster:
G:
Alex Long - CASL
Zac MacMath - Maryland
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - IMG Academy
Chad Barson - Crew Juniors
Nick Millington - Wake Forest
Jossimar Sanchez - PDA
Kofi Sarkodie - Akron
Zarek Valentin - PA Classics
London Woodberry - FC Dallas Juniors
M:
Jose Altamirano - Del Mar Sharks
Miles Bypass - Arsenal
Scott Caldwell - Akron
Amobi Okugo - San Juan Lightning
Scott Prozeller - FC Greater Boston
F:
Will Bates - Richmond Strikers
Adam Jahn - San Juan Lightning
Dillon Powers - Andromeda
Hasani Sinclair - Schulz Academy
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Americans In Europe

Andrew Hush at ESPN Soccernet does a Q & A with Michael Parkhurst. This is part 1 of 2.
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Yanks Abroad fills us in on a rare & positive start for Freddy Adu at Monaco - albeit a friendly v Juventus, but a start none the less.
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TRANSFER RUMORS

Beau Dure of USA Today looks at many players who were said to be "on the move" in this transfer window, but appear to be staying put.
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Americans In Mexico

Rumor that won't go away: Ante Razov to Leon.
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Inter Liga

The tournament that sends Mexican teams to South America's Copa Libertadores tournament.
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Official website
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Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 2
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Dallas TX
Toluca 1-1 Morelia - Tol goal by Sergio Santana. Mor goal by Fernando Salazar.
UAG Tecos 0-4 Pachuca - Pach goals by Edgar Benitez, Marco Ivan Perez, Edy Brambila & Victor Omar Manon.
-Sat Jan 3
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
UANL Tigres 0-0 Atlas
Guadalajara 1-1 America - Guad goal by Sergio Amaury Ponce. Amer goal by Jean Beausejour.
-Mon Jan 5
Venue Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Pachuca 1-0 Toluca - Pach goal by Edgar Benitez.
UAG Tecos Morelia - UAG goal by Diego Jimenez.
-Tue Jan 6
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
UANL Tigres 1-3 America - UANL goal by Guillermo Marino. Amer goals by Enrique Vera, Salvador Cabanas & Robert de Pinho(PK).
Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Guadalajara 3-1 Atlas - Guad goals by Ramon Morales(PK) & Carlos Ochoa(2). Atl goal by Bruno Marioni.
-Thu Jan 8
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Morelia v Pachuca
Toluca v UAG Tecos
-Fri Jan 9
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Atlas v America
UANL Tigres v Guadalajara
-Sun Jan 11
Finals
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England News

David Conn of the Guardian writes about the huge financial crunch that has affected sales of Premiership teams like Newcastle.
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LEAGUE CUP

Big upset on Wednesday as Derby knocks off Man U in the first leg!
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Semifinals 1st leg Matches & scores:
-Tue Jan 6
Tottenham 4-1 Burnley
-Wed Jan 7
Derby 1-0 Manchester United
Semifinals 2nd leg Matches & scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Tue Jan 20
Manchester United v Derby (0-1)
-Wed Jan 21
Burnley v Tottenham (1-4)
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European News

ITALY

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is officially healthy after a back injury and ready to lead the team is chasing down Inter in Serie A.
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SPAIN

COPA DEL REY
Round of 16 First leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 6
Atletico Madrid 1-3 Barcelona
-Wed Jan 7
Polideportivo Ejido 3-2 Espanyol
Racing Santander 1-1 Valencia
Sporting Gijon 3-1 Real Valladolid
Real Union Club du Irun 0-1 Real Betis
Sevilla 2-1 Deportivo La Coruna
-Thu Jan 8
Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao
Mallorca v Almeria

Round of 16 Second leg Matches & Scores (with First leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 14
Barcelona v Atletico Madrid (3-1)
Espanyol v Polideportivo Ejido (2-3)
Valencia v Racing Santander (1-1)
Real Valladolid v Sporting Gijon (1-3)
Real Betis v Real Union Club du Irun (1-0)
Deportivo La Coruna v Sevilla (1-2)
Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (-)
Almeria v Mallorca (-)
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World News

Jon Carter at ESPN Soccernet tells us about some of the great young talent from around the world -the first bunch we have all heard of, but then it gets interesting. Including a couple guys we have heard of!
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Lionel Messi names his team of 2008:
G:
Petr Cech - Chelsea
D:
Maicon - Inter
Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United
Carles Puyol - Barcelona
Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Feyenoord
M:
Javier Zanetti - Inter
Xavi - Barcelona
Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal
Andres Iniesta - Barcelona
F:
Sergio Aguero - Atletico Madrid
Wayne Rooney -Manchester United