Some Soccer News for Jan 29, 2016

It's Day 29 of 2016.


Ranking the Top 25 USA players right now. By Doug McIntyre of ESPNFC.
-I think this is a pretty strong list but of course being me I have four issues: 1. Brad Guzan has fallen off a cliff and is still at #9. 2. Same goes for DeAndre Yedlin and is at #12. 3. Darlington Nagbe is still pretty much all about potential having never even featured for the USA and is at #11. 4. Jorge Villafana has never even been called in to a USA camp so he cannot be #24.

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Centerback Michael Orozco of Tijuana has been added to the USA roster for the two upcoming friendlies. He replaces Matt Miazga who is off to Chelsea.
-Orozco has only been playing in Copa MX for Tijuana.

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USA v Iceland
Sun Jan 31 at 2:45pm
-Here is where I will be watching. Come join me:
Lake Monster Brewery in St Paul
550 Vandalia St - Just off University & Cretin

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While Chelsea has yet to announce that they have signed American centerback Matt Miazga from Red Bulls their manager Guus Hiddink talked about him in a press conference this morning and the team posted this on Twitter:

Guus says Matt Miazga will be a squad player when his deal is finalised and the manager will assess his qualities in training. #CFC

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 29, 2016

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Minnesota United has signed Ibson to a new contract. Good move. I thought he was the most talented player in NASL last year. Not the most successful mind you, but the most talented.
-Said head coach Carl Craig: "I'm sure he's spent the whole offseason practicing his English, so he and I can share a few words and some expletives."

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Tony Tchani of the Crew had a great 2015 and has now been called up by both Cameroon and the USA, and he is currently at the January camp in LA. By Kyle McCarthy of Fox.

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Jermaine Jones is now voicing great displeasure with the 6 game suspension he was given by MLS after going nuts, screaming in the face and even a little shoving on the referee in a New England Revs playoff game last year. He says the length of the punishment is hurting his chances at a new deal with teams in Europe. By the Associated Press via ESPN.

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Portland has lost both their left midfielder and left fullback this offseason. Rodney Wallace signed with Arouca in Portugal today. And Jorge Villafana went to Santos Laguna already.

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14 Americans were on the field this week in Copa MX. 14! From Soccer America.

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Omar Gonzalez has another big test this weekend in Liga MX: #3 Pachuca v #2 Monterrey. (No USA TV dammit)

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And you can see Miguel Ibarra and Leon on Sat at 7pm CT away to Tigres on Univision Deportes!

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Some MLS academy teams are starting to add traditional schooling to the training mix and are looking for big results. This article focuses on the LA Galaxy, with a little bit on Philadelphia Union too. By Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the LA Daily News.

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An examination of the near miracle job head coach Diego Simeone has done at Atletico Madrid. By Jonathan Wilson of Sports Illustrated.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 28, 2016

It's Day 28 of 2016.


NASL is still in a business arrangement with Traffic Sports (the Brazilian company involved heavily in the FIFA corruption scandal.) What is the NASL doing to end that deal? By Dave Martinez of Empire of Soccer.

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Minnesota has signed Best 11 fullbacks Kevin Venegas and Justin Davis to new long term contracts.

-The way coaches and players talked in a press release it sounds like they are signed for MLS as well. Lots of "long term" talk.

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Freddy Adu speaks. Literally. We were all wondering if he still had a voice, its been that long since he did an interview. For better or worse, he says he finally "gets it." By Ives Galarcep of Goal.com.

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Tampa Bay Rowdies announced that they are hosting a preseason tourney featuring themselves along with 6 MLS teams: Montreal, Philly, NYC, DC, Toronto and RBNY.

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NY Cosmos signed 35 year old Venezuelan Juan Arango as a replacement for Raul. His most recent success was a few years ago at Gladbach, and he has just left Tijuana where he has been the last 2 years. Good signing.

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Rayo OKC has signed one of my favorite NASL players Billy Forbes who had been with the now defunct San Antonio Scorpions.

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NASL commish Bill Peterson talks about expansion - Chicago and more. By Jake Nutting of Empire of Soccer.

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A conversation with San Jose Earthquakes man at the wheel of the company truck - Dominic Kinnear. Part 1 - AND - Part 2. By the excellent Robert Jonas of Center Line Soccer.

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Adrian Heath is the head coach of Orlando City, and the writer of this article feels he is the right person for the job. By Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Thanks to Tim for the link.

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Tim Parker of the Vancouver Whitecaps is in the USA January camp. Who the hell is he? By Brian Sciaretta of American Soccer Now.

Other less experienced guys are trying to put their stamp on the current USA roster with a game coming up on Sunday. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

Another slightly different list of USA players looking to make a difference in this camp. By Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

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A MLS Coaches Preseason Hot Seat has been published. By Steve Davis of World Soccer Talk.
-Here is my preseason hot seat list:
6 Ben Olsen
5 Mauro Biello
4 Pablo Mastroeni
3 Greg Vanney
2 Jeff Cassar
1 Jim Curtain

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Long time thrilling-forward Robert Earnshaw has announced his retirement and will remain with Vancouver Whitecaps as an assistant coach for the 1st team and a head coach for a youth team.

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One of my favorite people in the American soccer commune is Shawn Francis. Here he tells his soccer story. From The Original Winger.

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In Copa MX on Wed night Leon was tied 1-1 at Necaxa in the 62nd minute when Miguel Ibarra was removed from the game. Within 14 minutes they were down 4-1 and lost by that score. You do the mathes.
-Another American Benji Joya came on as a late sub for Necaxa

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Omar Gonzalez is off to a very good start at Pachuca after leaving the LA Galaxy this winter. By Nayib Moran of ESPNFC.

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What city has the best food in the World? Let one of America's most outspoken chefs tell you. By David Chang for Lucky Peach.

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Go watch two crazy fuckers play ping pong with a soccer ball and their heads! From Welt Sport.

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USL team Arizona United has announced that EDM king Diplo is heading up a new group buying a stake in the club.

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This is exactly what I figured would happen in the FIFA presidential race - Four of the five leading candidates will meet to discuss forming an alliance. AKA backroom deals are getting done to move votes to 1 person. Same old Same old. By Simon Evans of Reuters via Yahoo.

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Former Red Bulls and Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio is now running the show for Mexico and says MLS is no place for his players. By Tom Marshall of ESPNFC.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 27, 2016

It's Day 27 of 2016.


A vision of the "superblock" surrounding the new Minnesota United stadium was rolled out in St Paul yesterday. By Frederick Melo of the Pioneer Press.

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Young RBNY and USA centerback Matt Miazga is on his way to Chelsea. And because he has a EU (Polish) passport he does not need an English work permit. Wow. Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC fills us in.
-Doug McIntyre of ESPN reported that Miazga has left the USA January camp.

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LA Galaxy has signed 35 year old English left fullback Ashley Cole from Roma. No one should forget that he called MLS a "relax on the beach" league.

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Portland gave head coach Caleb Porter a new contract.

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Landon Donovan's wife gave birth to a new baby today. Huge congrats to them.

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San Jose kicks off preseason training - the 2nd year under head coach Dom Kinnear. Lots of injuries. Big things are expected, but this actually sounds kinda grim. By Elliot Almond of the San Jose Mercury News.

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Good morning. If you didn’t hear last night, @Ourand_SBJ and I have confirmed that Fox will broadcast the Copa América Centenario.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) January 27, 2016

-No surprise with ESPN showing the Euro's which overlap. I guess NBC Sports could have been in the running too.
-Press release: "All 32 matches will be broadcast live from June 3-26 on FOX, FS1 and.or FS2."



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 26, 2016

It's Day 26 of 2016.


90.91%!
In 2011 CONMEBOL opened a new headquarters in Paraguay. There were 11 top officials in the federation at that time, the 10 country federation presidents and the regional federation president. Today 10 of those 11 have been charged by the US State Department in the FIFA bribery scandal.

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Bruce Arena, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerard and the Galaxy way to do things. By Paul Kennedy of Soccer America.

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The Galaxy has signed controversial 32 year old Belgian centerback/left fullback Jelle Van Damme from Standard Liege.
-Van Damme is best known to American soccer fans as the Anderlecht player who Oguchi Onyewu sued for racially abusing him. The case was settled out of court.
-Galaxy coach Bruce Arena is said to have talked to both Onyewu and Van Damme about the incident before the signing.
-JVD has played for clubs in Belgium, England, Germany and Netherlands, and has 31 international caps.

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Sporting KC has signed 30 year old Portuguese centerback Nuno Coelho from Balikesirspor in Turkey. He played several years for Sporting Braga before that.

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#ATLUTD signs first player, Alexander Tambakis https://t.co/x5SxC8JJoF pic.twitter.com/KatnzioP08

— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) January 25, 2016

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Day 1. The preseason has begun under a whole new regime in Chicago. By Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald.

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USA Friendlies:
USMNT v Iceland on Sun Jan 31 at 2:45pm CT on ESPN2
USMNT v Canada on Fri Feb 5 at 9:15pm CT on FS1

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Minnesota United has signed a new deal with hometown centerback Brent Kallman. Great.

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The 2016 Premier League of America schedule for Minnesota United Reserves is out today. (Scan down the page for the WEST dates.) They begin play on May 29 in suburban Milwaukee v Croatian Eagles.

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The 2016 USL schedule has been released.

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The Chilean football federation is in full meltdown - top officials arrested and head coach walks out - after such a great World Cup and Copa America. What now? Tim Vickery of World Soccer is an expert.

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An examination of the FIFA presidential candidates. By Sam Borden of the New York Times.

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CONMEBOL elected a new president today - Alejandro Dominguez from Paraguay. How much baggage does this guy carry? By Tariq Panja of Bloomberg.

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Hartford Yard Goats? Helluva name.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 25, 2016

It's Day 25 of 2016.


Ventura Alvardo 1-4 Omar Gonzalez
-The two USA players went head to head on Saturday night and Pachuca went to the capital and cleaned house on America. Gonzalez had a good game, while Alvarao had a bad game. Pachuca's first goal was an Alvarado own goal, and the second started when Alvarado gave the ball away cheaply and was then not aggressive in tracking back to slow down attackers. Chalk up 3 points for Gonzalez.
-After 3 rounds in Liga MX only 2 teams are left with perfect records; Leon and Monterrey have 9 points.

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Bob Bradley's biggest hurdle is that he is American. By James Montague of the New York Times.

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Ale Bedoya scored midweek in the French Cup and again this weekend in Ligue 1 play for Nantes. That is a good week!

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CONCACAF has announced its Best 11 and other awards for 2015. Men and Women.
-Carli Lloyd and Chicharito were named Player Of The Year
-2 American Men in Best 11:
Michael Bradley - USA + Toronto
Tim Howard - USA + Everton
-1 MLS player in Best 11:
Roman Torres - PAN + Seattle Sounders
-4 USA Women in Best 11:
Carli Lloyd - USA + Houston Dash
Alex Morgan - USA + Orlando Pride
Becky Sauerbrunn - USA + Kansas City
Hope Solo - USA + Seattle Reign
-2 USA college players in Best 11:
Raquel Rodriguez - CR + Penn State
Diana Saenz - CR + South Florida

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CONCACAF has also stated that reformation of the federation is needed and these are the proposals.

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I live in a great neighborhood! Northeast Minneapolis.

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1955 Algeria - a brutal place to be - Algerian nationalist and French colonists going at each others throats with vicious and deadly results. Into this stepped French Algerian author Albert Camus. Many of those same (and very different yet related) scenarios are still being played out today. Can anyone do something to change the course? By Robert Zaretsky of the New York Times.

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RBNY gave new contracts to Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mike Grella, Sal Zizzo and Luis Robles. Good move.

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Despite all the consternation it looks like Didier Drogba is headed to Montreal for preseason!

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In 2013 Brian Haynes led Atlanta Silverbacks to the NASL Final, was named the leagues Coach of the Year, and then he was fired. Haynes tells us about this time in Atlanta, where he has been since then and why there are so few black coaches in American soccer. By Alex Schieferdecker of Northern Pitch.

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How is it going for Zinedine Zidane as head coach of Real Madrid? By Sid Lowe of the Guardian.

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Holy crap! Leicester City is back in 1st place in the Premier League. Wow. By 3 points over both Man City and Arsenal. Amazing.
-Meanwhile Aston Villa is doomed. They are now 11 points from safety at the very bottom of the standings.

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend's action. From the Guardian.

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Bundesliga Matchday 18 summarized. AKA, Dortmund was great! From Deutsche Welle.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 22, 2016

It's Day 22 of 2016.


It needs zazz.

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There has been a lot of talk about "foreigners" on the USMNT. What does Jermaine Jones think about that?

I don't understand the whole discussion about foreigners in USA! We are all foreigners here! Except the American Indians! All other people moved to this country at one point in their life. Or the parents or grandparents decided to establish a life in the united states. If you know about the history, why do you call yourself American and with others you make differences?!? We can all be proud to be a part of this beautiful country!

A photo posted by Jermaine Junior Jones (@jermainejunior) on Jan 21, 2016 at 2:29pm PST

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USA takes on Iceland one week from Sunday.

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Jurgen Klinsmann talks about his current and future teams. By Ives Galarcep of Goal.com

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Preseason officially begins today for MLS teams.

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What did Landon Donovan think about Seattle's introduction of Jordan Morris?

He may have a better chance at a successful career if you don't compare him to Messi the day he signs #JustSaying ?? https://t.co/50VtPpqddK

— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) January 22, 2016

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Does the official introduction of Patrick Viera as head coach of New York City look like a new light being turned on in MLS or the same old same old with foreign coaches coming into the league cold. By Leander Schaerlaeckens of the New York Times.

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No surprise really but the new stadium being built in Atlanta has fallen behind schedule. It could be delayed as much as 3 months next Spring, meaning Atlanta United could begin MLS play with one of those long grueling fruitless road trips. Or do they find a temporary home? Details from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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The Bundesliga returns from Winter break today with Hamburger v Bayern Munchen - 1:30pm CT on FS1.
-Bayern has an 8 point lead over Dortmund at the top of the standings. Hamburg is in 10th.
-Dortmund has a big game on Saturday at 4th place Monchengladbach - 11:30am CT on FS2.

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The Walker Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis is getting 16 new pieces this year - some of them quite spectacular. (Like the 20ft tall blue rooster!) From the New York Times.
-An interactive map of the garden with images of each new sculpture. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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RSL has torn up the contract of Designated Player Sebastian Jaime. It just did not work out, so they cut him loose to pursue another team - Universidad Catolica of Chile.

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Long time Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch has signed with Indy Eleven. There goes Jim Oliver's dream of seeing him in a Minnesota uniform. At least he will get to stand behind the goal and converse with his hero with Indy comes to town.

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The first big test for Omar Gonzalez at Pachuca comes on Saturday as they travel to America - you can see it at 5pm CT on Univision Deportes.

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The incomparable Jeff Johnson is back again this week with his glorious NFL prognostications: "I spent a few moments this week conducting Internet searches with the terms “Andy Reid” and “Great Depression.”"



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 21, 2016

It's Day 21 of 2016.


Benny Feilhaber of Sporting Kansas City has not taken kindly to being left off the USA roster lately, and gives coach Jurgen Klinsmann an earful. By Paul Kennedy of Soccer America.

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The coach responded to Feilhaber publicly. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

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Klinsmann goes further to answer more of his critics. By Ives Galarcep of Goal.com.

There is a strong smell of burnt rubber in the air, or am I smelling something else?

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How much do Klinsmann and other top US Soccer earners get paid? By Steven Goff of the Washington Post.

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The other day I picked on Jordan Morris for not having a left foot. But my friend Paul, who always puts me straight, pointed out that Arjen Robben has no right foot and he has done kinda OK for himself. So there's that.

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Jordan Morris, by the way, has officially signed his first pro contract with Seattle Sounders.
-Subject line of email I received from MLS about Jordan: "The next great American star arrives" Gee, not too much pressure then.

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Nice! John Spencer has been hired as Colorado Rapids "First Team Assistant Coach." He's a former Rapids player, and former Timbers head coach! And Scottish.

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Young fullback Brandon Vincent has never played a minute of professional soccer or even youth international soccer but has been called in to the latest USA training camp. Brian Sciaretta of American Soccer Now talks to him.

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Bill Hamid's knee injury was worse than previously known - after surgery they are now saying he will miss 6 months.
-That would take him out of consideration for Copa America. Damn.

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Real Salt Lake is getting serious about its academy set up and has plans to invest many millions of dollars. By Christopher Kamrani of the Salt Lake Tribune.

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Holy Mole! Check out this video story on the Cholo-Goth music scene! Only in America! From the Vice music site Noisey. Thanks to Kieran for the link.

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An unbiased look at the Best Picture nominees of 2016. By Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post. Very unbiased.

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Ale Bedoya scored a glorious goal on Wednesday for Nantes in the League Cup. He came on as a sub in Extra Added Time and just seconds later took a long ball over the top and slipped it past the Mantes goalkeeper. (Nantes v Mantes - love it)

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The 17 year old American Christian Pulisic has been training with the Borussia Dortmund first team during winter break and making people take notice. By Liviu Bird at Sports Illustrated.

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Miguel Ibarra resumed his starting role for Leon in Copa MX, but got injured in the 61st min and was replaced. But as he said himself on Twitter today, "no Im fine practicing today. :)" They won 5-0.

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Attn Minnesota United supporters + fellow Dark Clouds: Game tickets for Preseason tournament in Portland

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Multiple articles on NASL after talking to commissioner Bill Peterson. By Jake Nutting and Dave Martinez of Empire of Soccer.
-NASL v USL v MLS
-Westward Expansion

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How has Chelsea done since they fired Jose Mourinho? Not much better? Facts included. By Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 20, 2016

It's Day 20 of 2016.


Aston Villa still appears to have plans for Brad Guzan - he started the FA Cup game on Tuesday and they won 2-0 v Wycombe. They move on to the Round of 32 v Man City on Jan 30.

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Yesterday was media day for MLS and journalists talked to 20 of the top players from all the teams in a Los Angeles hotel. Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated recapped each of the talks he had.

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The ESPNFC TV crew (Max, Ale and Kasey) share their thoughts after MLS media day. (video)
-When you go to this page you will dozens more excellent videos with MLS players.

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Clint Dempsey talks all things USA and Seattle Sounders - now and the future. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.
-Clint also names his Top 5 CONCACAF players (video). Via ESPNFC.

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Vancouver with a very smooth move picking up Costa Rican attacking midfielder Christian Bolanos.
-So where does this leave designated player Pedro Morales? He sure seemed out of favor late in the season, especially surprising for a guy with that much talent.

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Why is the USA and particularly MLS failing to produce (even one) truly great players? By Will Smith (yes, that Will Smith) for Big Apple Soccer.
-Thanks to Brian Quarstad for the heads up on this article.

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Attn Minnesota United FC supporters + fellow Dark Clouds: Game tickets for Preseason tournament in Portland



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 19, 2016

It's Day 19 of 2016.


Back in action here at the blog after a nice week off!

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Did ya hear the wild story about Marco Pappa? Recently sold by Seattle Sounders to Colorado Rapids, he was found in the company of beauty pageant winner "Miss Washington" stabbed and bleeding. No charges have been filed, so we don't know who stabbed Pappa (who needed surgery), but its a bad scene all around. Daniel Boniface of the Denver Post with the details.
-Turns out Miss Washington also got a DUI and has now been stripped of her pageant title.

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Bruce Arena of the LA Galaxy talks about the quality of MLS, the players and development, and expansion. Good topics. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

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Here is a complete list of all the MLS club roster moves this off-season.

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Good to see Toronto addressing their defensive leakage:  Signed fullback Steven Beitashour (Vancouver), centerback Drew Moor (Colorado) and goalkeeper Clint Irwin (Colorado).
-They still need another big time centerback to make the whole team very solid.

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Yura Movsisyan has returned to Real Salt Lake after 6 years in Europe, most recently at Spartak Moscow where he scored 25 goals in 62 games. He is 28 years old.

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A running thread of chats with players (including Clint Dempsey, Giovanni Dos Santos, Sebastian Giovinco, Diego Valeri, Robbie Keane) from MLS media day today in Los Angeles - by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.

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Where does Jermaine Jones stand on the "I need a new contract front?" By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

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Aston Villa has relieved Brad Guzan of his starting duties - could this be the end for him at the club?
-Still don't understand why he wasted those 4 important years sitting on the bench there.

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USA January Camp News:
-Bill Hamid is out and will need surgery to repair a knee injury that has plagued him for a year. He will be down for several months to start the DC United season.
-Sean Johnson of Chicago Fire has been added as another goalkeeper.
-Brad Evans of Seattle Sounders has been added to the roster.
-Stuart Holden, a man with no club, is training with the team but not on the roster proper. I am sure if things go well they would add him.

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Jordan Morris has told Werder Bremen, "Thanks, but no thanks," to the contract they offered him. -What's next for Morris? By Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

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The group stage draw for the Copa America Centenario will be held on Feb 21.

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Minnesota United has re-signed Jamie Watson to a new contract.
-The team also insinuated that more player announcements will be coming this week.

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In just 18 months everyone seems to have forgotten that Luis Suarez was the most hated man in soccer. By Rob Hughes of the New York Times.

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Chile's head coach Jorge Sampaoli has stepped down due to all the chaos in that countries federation and CONMEBOL. He was incredibly successful and some country will land a good leader.

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Hey Leicester City FC is still very close to the top in England after 22 games. I call that a miracle. Tied on points with 1st place Arsenal and only 3 back on goal differential. Amazing.

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Bundesliga returns from winter break on Friday.

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An exec of Swiss bank Julius Bar has been arrested by the US Dept of Justice. Could this split the whole FIFA corruption case wide open? From Inside World Football.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 12, 2016

It's Day 2 without David Bowie.

Adult: these kids don't even know Bowie ?? Kid: *removes headphones playing Space Oddity* why did your generation destroy the housing market

— Big Kriterion (@AbrissErik) January 11, 2016

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New song from Mountain Singers: iteration 2015.12.29

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Jason Kreis has been added to the USA coaching staff for the January Camp. Nice.

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The Atlanta Silverbacks are dead. Long live the Silverbacks. By Doug Roberson of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
-NASL announced late Monday that the Atlanta club has ceased to exist.
-That leaves the league with 3 new teams coming in: Miami, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma City - still don't really know if they are entering in Spring or Fall seasons.
-And now 2 teams going out: San Antonio, Atlanta.
-What was an 11 team league is now a 12 team league.

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After several big player losses this off-season Ottawa made a key move by signing both Rafael Alves and Paulo Junior to contract extensions. Very good.

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Looks like Landon Donovan and Warren Barton may be interested in putting a USL team in San Diego! Info rounded up by Adam Serano of the LA Galaxy.

This is an entertaining story and interesting idea but there's no truth to it. https://t.co/XyVCvrYVeE

— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) January 12, 2016

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In case you care, TJ Dillashaw v Dominic Cruz for the UFC Bantamweight championship on Sun Jan 17 - 9pm CT on FS1.

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TODAY: Oil is currently at $30 per barrel.
EIGHT YEARS AGO: Oil was $130 per barrel.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 11, 2016

It's Day 11 of 2016.


RIP David Bowie. The greatest pop music star ever!
-His latest single is Lazarus, was released last Thursday.
-The first line of the song is "Look up here, I'm in heaven."

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The first big impact David Bowie made on me was his 1979 appearance on Saturday Night Live. It wasn't really the music, which was kinda normal, but the feeling of sheer weirdness the performance gave to this small town kid - Klaus Nomi, wooden clothing, men in dresses, pink poodle, puppet body! Glorious.

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Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all. pic.twitter.com/Kh2fq3tf9m

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 11, 2016

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New Minnesota United coach Carl Craig gives us some insight on what he wants from his team. By Jon Marthaler of the Star Tribune.

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Minnesota United Reserves are moving from NPSL to the Premier League of America for 2016.
-Never heard of this league. 2015 was its first year, and it was called the Great Lakes Premier League last season.
-Other teams in the league: Aurora Borealis - Aurora IL, Aris - La Crosse WI, Milwaukee Bavarians - Glendale WI, Carpathia - Sterling Heights MI, Croation Eagles - Franklin WI, Madison 56ers - Madison WI, Oakland County - Rochester MI, Ole - Wyoming MI, RWB Adria - Chicago IL, Toledo United - Maumee OH

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Peter Wilt has begun "pursuit of a NASL team in Chicago."
-Wilt is leaving Indy Eleven, but for now continues on as a GM consultant. A replacement as team president has been hired, and its no one any of us have ever heard of.

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USA January camp kicks off today in Southern California and 3 more players have been added to the roster: defenders Steve Birnbaum and Brandon Vincent, and midfielder Perry Kitchen.
-Who is Brandon Vincent? I guess he is another college kid from Stanford.
-Two San Jose players, Fatai Alashe and Marc Pelosi were dropped from the roster due to injuries.
-Centerback Matt Hedges of Dallas has to be wondering who he offended.

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Looks like Sunderland found DeAndre Yedlin. He played the entire game at right fullback in the FA Cup - a 3-1 loss at Arsenal.
-Cody Cropper played in the FA Cup too, going 90 in goal for MK Dons, as they tied Northampton 2-2 on the road.

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Omar Gonzalez made his Liga MX debut for Pachuca, a 1-1 tie at Tijuana. He had a solid game, clearing a ball from in front of an empty net when the keeper was out, and flicking a a corner kick header to the back post where a teammate finished!
-Miguel Ibarra was on the bench for Leon but did not play in a 2-0 win over Santos Laguna.
-Ventura Alvarado (America), Paul Arriola (Tijuana), Jonny Bornstein (Querataro), Edgar Castillo (Monterrey), Joe Corona (Dorados), Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna) and Will Yarbrough (Leon) all played.
-Here are the rest of the scores from the opening weekend of the Liga MX Clausura:
Queretaro 1-3 Atlas
America 0-0 Puebla
Monterrey 1-0 Pumas
Morelia 2-2 Cruz Azul
Chiapas 1-0 Dorados
Toluca 1-0 Tigres
Guadalajara 2-2 Veracruz

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FIFA Awards:
Carli Lloyd - Womens Player Of The Year
Jill Ellis - Womens Coach Of The Year
Lionel Messi - Mens Player Of The Year
Luis Enrique - Mens Coach Of The Year

No one was more deserving of a Player Of The Year award than Carli Lloyd. What she did at the World Cup last summer was nothing short of incredible.

-Here is the official voting for the Mens player of the year - each FIFA country gets 3 votes - coach, captain and media.
-Jurgen Klinsmann: 1)Lionel Messi 2) Neymar Da Silva Santos Junior 3) Cristiano Ronaldo
-Michael Bradley: 1) Lionel Messi 2) Cristiano Ronaldo 3) Luis Suarez
-Paul Kennedy: 1) Lionel Messi 2) Cristiano Ronaldo 3) Neymar Da Silva Santos Junior

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I know some of you like this crap (hehehehehe) - FA Cup: talking points from the third round. By the Guardian.

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Haiti and Panama became the last two teams to qualify for the Copa America Centenario.
-Haiti knocked off Trinidad & Tobago, which makes the USA weak effort and tie game at T+T in November look even worse.
-Panama beat Cuba.
-Official Seeding of the 16 teams:
#1 seeds: USA (32), Mexico (22), Argentina (2) and Brazil (6).
05 Chile (5)
06 Colombia (8)
07 Uruguay (11)
08 Ecuador (13)
09 Costa Rica (37)
10 Paraguay (46)
11 Peru (47)
12 Jamaica (54)
13 Panama (64)
14 Bolivia (68)
15 Haiti (77)
16 Venezuela (83)

dN

The president of the University of Alabama earned $565,000 last year.
The football team strength and conditioning coach of the University of Alabama earned $517,045 last year.

dN

A Fighter’s Hour of Need - The 60 minutes after the boxing match in 2013 at Madison Square Garden were crucial for Magomed Abdusalamov's life. What happened? By Dan Barry of the New York Times.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 8, 2016

It's Day 8 of 2016.


All the latest on Minnesota United stadium building in St Paul. Brian Quarstad of Northern Pitch covered a public meeting yesterday. Lots of little details to glean.

dN

Down goes CONMEBOL! The South American football federation aka CONMEBOL pulled a crafty move in the early 90s relocating their headquarters to Paraguay and getting the government of that country to give the federation the equivalent to diplomatic immunity. But at the end of 2015 Paraguay government leaders rescinded that promise and on Wednesday this week state prosecutors served a search warrant on the CONMEBOL offices and a massive police raid commenced, searching for financial documents. This is all tied to the FIFA corruption scandal being lead by the USA Department of Justice. Info on that raid from The World Weekly.
-My favorite part of the article are the quotes from 2 different CONMEBOL lawyers who basically contradict each other!

dN

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Borussia Dortmund has been named African Footballer Of The Year. Huge congrats to him.

dN

Every year a lot of tweaking of the rules of soccer go on behind the scenes and we rarely hear about it. So here you go, changes to the laws of the game for 2016. Lots of subtlety. By Rob Harris of the AP.

dN

Alen Marcina was hired as first ever head coach for Rayo OKC.
-Last we saw of Alen he was standing at a baggage carousel in San Antonio getting fired by the Scorpions. Not the band, the now-deceased team.

dN

Liga MX Clausura Opening Weekend:
-Fri Jan 8
Queretaro v Atlas
Tijuana v Pachuca
-Sat Jan 9
America v Puebla
Monterrey v Pumas
Leon v Santos Laguna
Morelia v Cruz Azul
Chiapas v Dorados
-Sun Jan 10
Toluca v Tigres
Guadalajara v Veracruz
-TV schedule.

dN

2016 Canadian Championship begins May 11
-Edmonton and Ottawa face off first
-Winner advances to take on Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto

dN

Introducing LAFC. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

dN

What kind of head coach will the great Zinedine Zidane be? By Paul Doyle and Sid Lowe of the Guardian.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 7, 2016

Its Day 7 of 2016.


Whoa. Good move for Sporting Kansas City acquiring long time Houston Dynamo captain Brad Davis. From the Kansas City Star.
-While Davis is definitely showing wear on his tires he can still be a key cog in a 15-18 player rotation needed by a championship contender.

dN

New court documents show what went wrong with Peter Nowak in charge of the Philadelphia Union. This is a pretty sad story. Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com has been sorting it out since day one.
-Everyone comes out of this with a stain on them.
-Former MetroStars and Philadelphia Union exec Nick Sakiewicz has been hired as the new commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. If you are a lacrosse fan I feel bad for you today.

dN

Q & A with Mexican superstar Javier Hernandez aka Chicharito aka the little pea, who has brought his career back to a full boil this season at Leverkusen. By Paul Tenorio of the Orlando Sentinel.

dN

San Antonio was officially announced as a new USL club today.
-The team is owned by the NBA San Antonio Spurs and have bought the stadium that used to house the San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL, a team that is now fully extinct.
-This new ownership group has but one item on its to-do list: MLS.

dN

Here is a Q & A with NASL commissioner Bill Peterson that was published on the league website.

dN

A logo and colors for LAFC have finally arrived. And the supporters dig it. (Their hashtag is second only to #SpreadTheDarkness)

#TheDeadShallInheritTheCity pic.twitter.com/EKmcuCWBOe

— ⚒Black Army 1850⚒ (@BlackArmy1850) January 7, 2016

-Will Ferrell was also announced as part of the LAFC ownership. He said the last thing he was a part-owner of was a 1984 Camry.

dN

Keep getting told that the 2016 MLS match schedule is being released today. Still haven't seen it. Check here to see if its been posted - they will have it first.

dN

San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham has been added to the USA January camp roster.
-Matches:
Jan 31 v Iceland
Feb 5 v Canada



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 6, 2016

Talk about bold statements: "Our goal is to bring as many players as possible to Europe."
-USA assistant coach Andy Herzog said that to German newspaper Kreiszeitung.
-He was commenting on Jordan Morris training with Werder Bremen.
-Absolutely fascinating seeing an assistant coach giving interviews to German press about American players. Has he ever spoken to the American press?
-It seems to me that the national team staff is telling the young striker to go to Germany, and not Seattle Sounders. We shall see what happens.

dN

The roster for the USA January camp has been released:
G: Bill Hamid - DC United, Luis Robles - New York Red Bulls
D: Kellyn Acosta - Dallas, Matt Besler - Sporting Kansas City, - Matt Miazga - New York Red Bulls, Eric Miller - Montreal Impact, Tim Parker - Vancouver Whitecaps
M: Fatai Alashe - San Jose Earthquakes, Michael Bradley - Toronto, Mix Diskerud - New York City, Ethan Finlay - Columbus Crew, Jermaine Jones - no club, Darlington Nagbe - Portland Timbers, Lee Nguyen - New England Revolution, Marc Pelosi - San Jose Earthquakes, Matt Polster - Chicago Fire, Tony Tchani - Columbus Crew, Wil Trapp - Columbus Crew
F: Jozy Altidore - Toronto, Jerome Kiesewetter - Stuttgart, Jordan Morris - no club, Khiry Shelton - New York City, Gyasi Zardes - LA Galaxy

dN

"DROGBA NE JOUERA PLUS"
-From the front page of L'Equipe today.

Didier Drogba arrête sa carrière https://t.co/7IyXuyUD1k pic.twitter.com/KhG2nB72GQ

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) January 6, 2016

-They say Didier Drogba has retired. Meaning he leaves playing in Montreal to become an assistant coach at Chelsea.
-Montreal should be financially compensated by Chelsea for breaking his contract.
-Oh, and the Impact have repeated that Drogba has not told them he is retiring.

dN

R.U.Ready? For Some Liga MX?
Clausura Opening Weekend:
-Fri Jan 8
Queretaro v Atlas
Tijuana v Pachuca
-Sat Jan 9
America v Puebla
Monterrey v Pumas
Leon v Santos Laguna
Morelia v Cruz Azul
Chiapas v Dorados
-Sun Jan 10
Toluca v Tigres
Guadalajara v Veracruz

dN

Minnesota United's new head coach Carl Craig will be in attendance at the MLS Combine this weekend, scouting for potential players. If you are there, go say Hi to him.

dN

I really love Los Angeles. Not just for the weather. The food is one of the biggest reasons. Best food in America. BY FAR. New York is second place. Check out this guide to late night dining. Amazing variety.

dN

NICE! After discontinuing the sturdiest turntable ever made Technics has seen the error in its ways and will re-introduce the 1200!



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 5, 2016

My dream from last night: Brek Shea was staying in a very fancy hotel and they didn't have any towels. The hotel didn't believe in towels.

dN

A conversation with Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani on the goals of the federation for 2016. By Daniel Squizzato of MLSsoccer.com.

dN

You can't go wrong listening to or reading every Bruce Arena interview. Here is the coach of the LA Galaxy on the Extratime Radio podcast.

dN

Some info on the USA January camp, which has changed its start date from Jan 4 to Jan 11, has finally leaked out. By Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
-PLAYERS NOT BEING INVITED: Kyle Beckerman, Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans, Omar Gonzalez, Nick Rimando, Chris Wondolowski and Graham Zusi.
-Two friendlies at StubHub Center are scheduled:
Jan 31 v Iceland
Feb 5 v Canada

dN

Sonic astonishment: Co)))ltrane - John Coltrane's "Mars" mixed together with Sunn O)))'s "Rabbit's Revenge"

dN

Steve Nash and 2 others have paid $22M-US for a controlling interest in Spanish club Real Mallorca.
-The team currently sits in the relegation zone of the 2nd division.

dN

Jordan Morris officially told Stanford that he is done with college soccer. So where is he headed? Seattle Sounders made him an offer. He starts a try out with Werder Bremen next week.

dN

Full MLS 2016 schedule comes out on Thu Jan 7.
-New season begins in 61 days.

dN

Portland Timbers will release a documentary on their MLS championship season on Thursday too.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Jan 4, 2016

Mark it down: Today is the day Zizou took over the reins of Real Madrid.

dN

Liga MX Clausura 2016 begins on Fri Jan 8.

dN

A year of discontent and regression for USMNT. By Matthew Doyle of MLSsoccer.com.

dN

An ugly 2015 for the USA men. By Doug McIntyre of ESPNFC.

dN

Predictions for 2016? Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated makes his.
-He has New York Red Bulls pegged for MLS Cup winners.

dN

Portland has allowed 31 year old centerback Liam Ridgewell to take his 8 week off-season and cut it to 4 by going on loan to English 2nd division team Brighton + Hove. They better hope he holds up for the whole 2016 season.

dN

Can you believe that the Red Bulls of New York/New Jersey have signed 6 of their academy players to first team contracts since the end of last season. Seems to be that this trend is about to stop being news - its the norm now.

dN

Another new song from Mountain Singers for the new year!
The song is "iteration 2015.12.29 "
"I dreamed that presidential candidate and wealthy real estate tycoon Donald Trump had gone missing. After 4 days with no answers his head was found impaled on the wall separating the United States and Mexico. His body was never found. What a strange yet poetic dream. This is the soundtrack to that dream."
-Video
-Audio

dN

Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro, has been named OCCRP’s 2015 Man Of The Year In Organized Crime - for his work in promoting crime, corruption and uncivil society

dN

Over Christmas weekend my father turned 84 years old and many pictures were taken. He declared he was done smiling though. "I have been looking at a lot of pictures of people in their obituaries lately and none of them are smiling, so I am done smiling for pictures." He didn't explain what his actual motive is, but I like that he is taking a firm stand. The next photo I took of him he smiled.

dN

The significance of local ownership: The new owner of Netherlands club ADO Den Haag made big promises when he bought the club in 2014 - the fans are still waiting for him to deliver. By James Montague of the New York Times.

dN

CONCACAF region people indicted for corruption by the USA Department of Justice:
Chuck Blazer - USA
Aaron Davidson - USA
Jeffrey Webb - Cayman Islands
Costa Takkas - Cayman Islands
Eduardo Li - Costa Rica
Brayan Jiménez - Guatemala
Rafael Salguero - Guatemala
Hector Trujillo - Guatemala
Alfredo Hawit - Honduras
Rafael Callejas - Honduras
Julio Rocha - Nicaragua
Ariel Alvarado - Panama
Reynaldo Vasquez - El Salvador
Jack Warner - T&T
Daryan Warner - T&T
Daryll Warner - T&T

dN

Week after week, this is a great column to read: English Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action. From the Guardian.

dN

On Nov 23 I wrote this about then EPL leaders Leicester:
-"Coming up in the next 6 games are Nov 28 v Man U, Dec 5 v Swansea, Dec 14 v Chelsea, Dec 19 at Everton, Dec 26 at Liverpool and Dec 29 v Man City. Lets see where they stand come New Years Day."
-Its now Jan 4, how did they do?
1 Nov 28 v #2 Man U 1-1 D
3 Dec 5 at Swansea 0-3 W
3 Dec 14 v Chelsea 2-1 W
3 Dec 19 at #7 Everton 2-3 W
0 Dec 26 at #8 Liverpool 1-0 L
1 Dec 29 v #3 Man City 0-0 D
-11 points
-Since then:
1 Sat Jan 2 v Bournemouth 0-0 D
-That's 3 games in a row with out a goal.
-Leicester has fallen 2 points behind Arsenal and into 2nd place.
-Odds are still very good that they will end up in the top 4 or 5, which is remarkable.



The Bird Is The Word