When We Needed You Most News

Looks like young American midfielder Danny Szetela is headed out on load from Racing Santander. Sounds like a great idea to me as his playing time has been barely minimal. Now let's see where he goes.

~and~

Benny Feilhaber is NOT going to play in Israel. His club Derby and Maccabi Tel Aviv could not reach a deal. But the club is talking to MLS about him coming home to play in America. Stay tuned. News from the Derby County website.

~and~

Is anyone who follows MLS surprised to learn that Adrian Serioux owns a pit bull? I didn't think so. Name? Knuckles.


In listening to Glenn Davis' radio show on Monday night, the Houston Dynamo Power Hours, we learned that Dynamo forwards Joseph Ngwenya and now Nate Jaqua are pursuing overseas deals. Ngwenya has had insufficient offers but nothing else concrete has happened yet.

The reason Polish forward Maciej Zurawski has not made a move to a MLS team (LA & Columbus have both been mentioned) is that Celtic want $2 million for him. That's not gonna happen.

More heavy rumor mill action: 2 things from Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog - "Morelia [of Mexico] is trying to acquire DC United's Luciano Emilio, which would be quite a feat considering he is under contract here and would command a large transfer fee. Ridiculous. Word out of Chile is that Columbus's Marco Gonzalez wants to join Universidad Catolica."

It's official now - KC sends left full back Jose Burciaga to Colorado for a 2nd round draft pick.

Dan Loney at the US Soccer Players Assoc takes a look at the failed Taylor Twellman transfer to Preston in England. He goes after the leagues overall low low low salaries. One thing I have to say on this subject, and excuse me if you have heard this all before, but Preston are lowballing MLS on Twellman's fee, and this tactic has to be stopped. Too bad its happening to guys like Shalrie Joseph last year and Twellman now, but the only way to stop it is to say no to these ridiculously low offers.

A picture of Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the new Best Buy sponsored Chicago shirt. I guess I am surprised to see they didn't slap that big Yellow Tag Best Buy logo on there. Although it might just look like a big ol' Yellow Card. (I am not sure who sent me this, but a note to whoever posted it -I stole it, and I thank you greatly for sharing it with all of us.)

-Here are a couple more photos of Fire players in the new kit. This link is from ImSeeinRed on the Section 8 message board.

Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times writes about the impact a front of shirt sponsor could have.

Chicago Fire has produced a tribute video to recently retired Chris Armas. I hope the team brings him back to get a nice standing ovation from the crowd this season. Thanks to Luis for tipping us off to this.

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with a story on the Galaxy's acquisition of forward Carlos Ruiz from Dallas.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America on the return of Carlos Ruiz to Los Angeles. You have to imagine that Ruiz is ecstatic.

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram on the departure of Ruiz from Dallas.

Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News also on Ruiz.
-Dallas coach Steve Morrow admitted that the team has been in talks with Argentine forward Claudio Lopez.

According to Steven Goff of the Washington Post, little known DC United developmental player Bryan Arguez has been sold to Hertha Berlin in Germany. Awesome for him. Really brutal for us when kids like this are bailing and the league plans to add 2 mores teams in the next 2 years. We needs these guys to stay.

The San Jose Mercury News with the story on the Earthquakes acquiring defender Nick Garcia from Kansas City yesterday.

The Merc News also talks to EQuakes keeper Joe Cannon about his return to San Jose.

The Ohio State Lantern with an article on their alum, Dallas keeper Ray Burse.

Aaaaaaaahhhh, the Zidane stories are back again. I saw a rumor article about Zidane coming out of retirement the other day, but chose to ignore it, hoping it would go away. But like herpes it's back again for Round 11. Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports this time.

Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul who is at the African Cup of Nations with his native Senegal. Coundoul is the only MLS player in the tournament.
-Bell with a little more on Coundoul on the Times Goal blog.

The Real Salt Lake preseason will look something like this: Salt Lake City, Oxnard CA, Sunrise FL, Rosario Argentina

MLS Combine
Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree with his Day 3 recap.
Jen Chang at Soccernet with a wrap up. He says defenders are the best bet.
Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives with his Day 3 review.

Steven Goff at the Insider blog talks to potential #1 overall pick Patrick Nyarko.

I have been told by some sources that Ohio State's Roger Espinoza has signed with MLS via Generation Adidas. But he was not on that list MLS published and if he signed after the list had been released then they have not found a reason to let us know that. We shall see.

Word has very quietly leaked out that ESPN2 will be broadcasting the first round of the MLS Superdraft starting at 1pm central time on Fri Jan 18.

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with his Chicago Fire draft preview.
-Arroyave also looks at how other teams are sitting.

Steve Davis at MLSnet calls this draft unpredictable.

Jeff Bradley at MLSnet with his First XI - the best of the Superdraft.

Guamster on Big Soccer posted a link to a video interview with Seattle part-owner Drew Carey on the Craig Ferguson show.

Where are they now: The Voice in Botswana catches up with local & former MLS player Dipsy Selolwane who has joined Jomo Cosmos in South Africa. They loooooove their Dipsy. (second story down)

The Miami Herald says that a potential MLS team in that city will now have an option on where to play - a second home is being bandied about.

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with his weekly world soccer news recap - Corner Kicks.

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune with his weekly round up - Trophies, Red Cards & Notes.

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer with his weekly world soccer news roundup.

USA Training Camp in Carson CA
-Official team blog.
-US Soccer has an audio interview with coach Bradley, plus Landon Donovan & Jimmy Conrad. Listen to or download here.
-Official training photos from the 12th and 15th.

I noticed something very interesting in those photos - Clarence Goodson is in them. We were told he left to go to Norway to sign with Start. So I guess that means he is back! Great effort on his part.

Dave Lifton at the US Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with former USA great and now TV guy Eric Wynalda.

Ives Galarcep writing for the Herald News says Giuseppe Rossi has until Feb 1 to change his mind and play for the USA national team instead of Italy. Galarcep says it will be Italy.

Word from the Netherlands is that Michael Bradley has turned down contract extensions from his club Heerenveen, so the club will look to sell him next summer. Let's hope his current season continues as it is now, and he goes somewhere excellent.

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times Goal blog looks at the brutal seasons being had by the clubs and some of our Yanks Abroad.

USA U23 aka Olympic Team Training Camp - in Bradenton FL
-U23 official blog.

The LA Times with a great article on the next battle ground for American youth soccer development - club v school.

The USA U18 team will hold a big training camp in Bradenton FL Jan 17-24. An incredible 72 players were invited. How do you work with that many? Here is the roster. The one thing that bums me out is that not one kid from Minnesota is on that list.

English FA Cup
12 matches that ended in tie scores last round will be replayed on Tue & Wed this week. Here are all the games.
-Several Americans are in action:
-Tue Jan 15
Reading 0-1 Tottenham
-Marcus Hahnemann sat this one out.
-Bobby Convey went the distance in the losing effort.
Millwall 2-1 Walsall
-Zak Whitbread did not dress for the win.
-Wed Jan 16
Man City v West Ham
-Tue Jan 22
Bristol Rovers v Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby
-The 4th round will be played Jan 25, 26 & 27.

Another American involved in a Cup match was Oguchi Onyewu who's team Standard beat Genk 2-0 and will advance to the Quarterfinals.

American defender Zak Whitbread signed a new 2 1/2 contract extension with Millwall.

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Tue Jan 15
Barcelona 0-0 Sevilla - tied 1-1 on aggregate, so Barca advance on the away goals tiebreaker.
-Wed Jan 16
Levante v Getafe (0-3)
Espnayol v Athletic Bilbao (1-1)
Racing Santander v Zaragoza (1-1)
Valencia v Betis (2-1)
Valladolid v Atletico Madrid (0-0)
Real Madrid v Mallorca (1-2)
Villareal v Recreativo Huelva (0-1)

Copa Italia - Round of 16
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Tue Jan 15
Juventus 5-3 Empoli - Juve win 6-5 on aggregate.
-Wed Jan 16
Palermo 0-1 Udinese - Udi win 0-1 on agg.
Fiorentina 2-0 Ascoli - Fiore win 3-1 on agg.
Sampdoria v Cagliari (0-1)
Catania v Milan (2-1)
Roma Torino (1-3)
-Thu Jan 17
Inter v Reggina (4-1)
Napoli v Lazio (1-2)

Kevin Keegan has been hired again as the manager of Newcastle. He was their coach in the mid 90's and did fairly well.

Michael Hann of the Guardian places the blame for recent Newcastle failure at the feet of legendary ex-player Alan Shearer.

Ex-Fulham manager Chris Coleman has been fired from his job running Real Sociedad in Spain. Just a couple weeks ago he said he would be there until at least the end of the season. So much for that. Sociedad currently sit in 5th place in the Segunda Division (2nd div).

Manchester City has made young German star striker Lukas Podolski their next transfer project. Podoloski can't get a game at his club Bayern Munich because he is behind Miroslav Klose & Luca Toni.

A very interesting new agreement has been signed by FIFA & UEFA for "financial contributions [to the clubs] for player participation in UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cups." This could be very very big. I would assume all the other confederations will be pressured to follow suit, but what will it do for small teams that have success. And what about qualifiers and friendly matches. Will there be compensation for that too?

The Telegraph of England has an interview with Croatian coach Slaven Bilic. And one this Bilic makes perfectly clear is that he feels English players are to blame for their defeats, not management or "the system".

Gregory Sica at Sports Illustrated tells us about the Latino power behind the mighty Inter Milan. I love this aspect of the team, it sure wouldn't be the same if it was all Italians I tell you that much. As a matter of fact they only have 1 Italian in the real first team (which goes about 20 players deep), and that is the massively hated/loved Marco Matterazi.

In the calendar year 2007, Inter Milan only lost 1, yes 1, Serie A game, and amassed an incredible 92 points. Impressive.

African Cup of Nations
-In the USA the ACN can be seen on TV via 3ATeleSud. I can get it via Dish Network.
-Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul who is at the ACN with his native Senegal.
-Bell with a little more on Coundoul on the Times Goal blog.
-The Ghanaian Chronicle says "beware the Yellow Card" (which they hilariously call "The Materazzi's").
-Business Day of Africa previews Group B.
-Reuters with a story from Guinea where a bus caravan for fans heading to Ghana has been canceled due to the huge threat of highway bandits in Ivory Coast. Sad.
-Paul Doyle of the Guardian with Group previews: Group A - Group B - Group C - Group D(coming tomorrow)

Crampin' What Little Style Is Left News

Dallas has sold forward Carlos Ruiz back to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The got Ruiz 3 years ago in the deal that freed up money for LA to sign Landon Donovan. Now they have em both.

~and~

The deal for forward Eddie Johnson to be sold to Fulham is nearly done. Expect it to be all set tomorrow. Kansas City has a lot of work on their hands. Can you believe that FFC will now have 5 Americans on their team?!?! They better not get relegated or our country will look pretty lame.

~and~

Which brings us to this - San Jose has traded the #1 overall pick in Friday's Superdraft to Kansas City for center back Nick Garcia. And KC didn't stop there, as Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives is reporting that KC is shipping left back Jose Burciaga off to Colorado.


Fox Soccer Channel is going to broadcast a live show from the NSCAA convention in Baltimore this Thursday night. They did the same thing last year and it ended up being pretty cool with lots of guests, so scheduled, some impromptu. See it live at 7pm Thu Jan 17 on FSC. The host will be my man Max Bretos, and hopeful guests include Don Garber, Francisco Marcos, Dom Kinnear & more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Ringleader Don Garber will be the guest tomorrow on Voice Of America's next chat session. Here's the details on how to check it out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe is reporting that New England has declined to pick up the option on the contract of forward Pat Noonan. I would assume that they would be willing to re-sign him at a lower pay rate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In a sure sign that things are changing in soccer in America, the Boston Herald has a big story on Taylor Twellman's divorce. Wha? I am not linking to that. I almost feel about even mentioning it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his Red Card Blog has a few words with Fire coach Denis Hamlett.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Examiner has a quickie Q & A with San Jose manager Frank Yallop.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times with a story on former USA & MLS great Eddie Pope and his life after the field. Plus other USA & World soccer notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Firchau of the Chicago Southtown Star on the Fire's deal to put a Best Buy logo on the front of their shirts. The deal looks very lucrative to me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun gives us his thoughts on the first season of Beckman in America.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Robert Wagman of the Soccer Times says MLS has spent too much time worrying about parity, and not enough on quality. I think they started to address that last season and have every intention of upping the quality from here on out. To me Wagman is two years late with this article.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The MLS Superdraft will take place this Friday, Jan 18, in Charm City.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle looks at what the Dynamo might do in this weeks Superdraft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger looks at what the New York Red Bulls might do in this weeks Superdraft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of the New York Daily News also looks at what the New York Red Bulls might do in this weeks draft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet with a draft preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis of Soccernet with his list of the Top Ten unearthed gems in draft history.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pat Walsh of Goal.com goes through the archives and looks at past #1 over all draft picks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After 5 incredibly hard working years, Robert Zeigler has shut down his site Top Drawer Soccer. The good news thought is that his work will continue at 2 other sites: USFC, about elite youth soccer, and Soccer Capital, giving a cultural flair to the game in America with video, music, games and gear.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Training Camp in Carson CA
-Official team blog.
-I missed this one - Sweden won in Costa Rica at Saprissa Stadium 0-1 on Sunday. Sweden got their goal from Samuel Holmen. The match was a tribute and farewell match for long time Costa Rican forward Paulo Wanchope.
-With Eddie Johnson's departure for England that makes 3 players from this training camp that have left to explore new club options - Clarence Goodson signed with Start in Norway, and Matt Pickens has interest from at least Norwich and possibly others.
-We also hear that Danny Califf is having problems with a hamstring strain.
-Yanks Abroad talks to Toronto defender Marvell Wynne about his time in the current USA training camp.
-Nick Green of the LA Daily News writes about the types of players in the current USA camp.
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his Red Card blog has a few quotes from Fire & USA forward Chris Rolfe about the training camp. Rolfe comments on a few teammates too.
-Andrew Rogers of Soccer365 does a Q & A with USA & Sheffield Wednesday defender Frank Simek. The entire conversation is about his days in the Arsenal youth system though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The possible first USA opponent in World Cup Qualifying, Barbados, won a friendly over the weekend, 3-2 over Antigua & Barbuda.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U23 aka Olympic Team Training Camp - in Bradenton FL
-U23 official blog.
-The U23's scrimmaged the USA U17's the other day and beat them 7-1. Goals were scored by Charlie Davies(2), Arturo Alvarez, Chad Barrett(2, 1 on PK), Robbie Rogers & Johann Smith. U17 goal by Jack McInherney.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle talks to American midfielder Clint Dempsey about life at Fulham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad talks to American defender Heath Pearce about the upcoming second half to his first season at Hansa Rostock. target="new" ONCLICK="out=false"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise raves about the game & the crowd on the final weekend of InterLiga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English FA Cup
12 matches that ended in tie scores last round will be replayed on Tue & Wed this week. Here are all the games.
-Several Americans are in action:
-Tue Jan 15
Bristol Rovers v Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby
Reading v Tottenham
-Wed Jan 16
Man City v West Ham
-The 4th round will be played Jan 25, 26 & 27.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with several hot topics today:
-The quality of football being played in the English Championship division - It's not good.
-Jonathan Wilson gives us the low down on life in Bulgarian soccer.
-Ben Lyttleton on the power struggles of the wealthy in French football.
-Kevin McCarra tells us that Avram Grant has made Chelsea less hateable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Will former Liverpool & Lyon manager Gerard Houllier take over Newcastle? Odds would be better if the name started with an L. Lewcastle maybe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball at Soccernet recaps the first half to this La Liga season - he calls it remarkable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Glanville writing for World Soccer gives us some insight into new Fulham manager Roy Hodgson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is a picture of those new colored Nike shoes I talked about yesterday.
-And now the USA national team blog has an entry on these shoes. Landon Donovan's got his new shoes and there is a close up picture of them, and there is also a video clip of a new Crisitiano Rolando commercial with them featured. They look nuts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African Cup of Nations
-The San Antonio Express News of all newspapers with an ACN preview.
-Business Day of Africa previews Group A.
-Reuters Soccer Blog with an article on some of the more interesting coaches.

Newsflash: Pescado Back To LA

Dallas has sold forward Carlos Ruiz back to LA.

Here is the official press release.

More later.

Coffee Is Thought To Be An Upper News

Steven Goff is reporting that "Kansas City's Eddie Johnson has left U.S. national team camp in L.A. and is in serious negotiations with English club Fulham". From the Soccer Insider. So we would have 5 Americans on one team in England, and that team is in serious danger of being relegated. Doesn't sound so hot to me. FYI - Twellman has scored 91 goals in 156 MLS games.

~and~

After only a few months and even fewer appearances Benny Feilhaber looks to be leaving Derby County. The destination is rumored to be Maccabi Tel Aviv. Oof. By the way, this is the team of du Nord fave Dedi Ben Dayan who played in Colorado.

~and~

And to add to that rumor is another rumor saying Jonathan Bornstein of Chivas USA is headed to that same Israeli club on trial. Are you kidding me? Not to mention the fact that Jonny B just had ankle surgery and is out of action.

~and~

COMIN' UP FAST: USA v Sweden - Sat Jan 19 - 7:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel. I will most likely be out and about in the Twin Cities to watch this one, and I will post my location some time this week (once I take a couple minutes to figure it out.)


Here is the ballot from the National Soccer Hall of Fame for potential inductees in 2008. Who you gonna vote for?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick of the 3rd Degree talked to Dallas coach Steve Morrow about the rumor that forward Kenny Cooper wants out, but Morrow says that is a false rumor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

News from Dallas also tells us that the team has re-signed midfielder Arturo Alvarez. He had been looking at some overseas chances. Excellent. Now let's see if he can take last years break out and make it real.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet with more on the denied transfer of Taylor Twellman to Preston. I think its horrible that the league and his team turned this offer down. On the other hand $2.5 million is not nearly enough. They are lowballing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Emlyn Lewis at Soccer New England gives his opinion on the Twellman non-transfer story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Embele Awipi of the Salinas Californian with an article on San Jose's re-building of team and stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times on his Korner Pocket blog has a Q & A with Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cardenas also had a Q & A last week with Chivas midfielder Sacha Kljestan that I missed. Thanks for this stuff Jaime.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Firchau at the Chicago Sun Times talks to Fire pres John Guppy about the hiring of new coach Denis Hamlett.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Davy Arnaud of Kansas City will not be able to start running for another month yet after having surgery to fix a microfracture. Those things keep basketball players out of the game for a year! Let's hope he gets healed real quick like.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on the Merry-Go-Round that is the story of Guillermo Barros Schelotto and his contract with the Crew. Is he staying? Or going? It seems to change as often as I change underwear, about once a week.
-Mitchell also reports that Celtic's Polish striker Maciej Zurawski who had been linked to the LA Galaxy may now be linked to Columbus.
-And the Crew will hold their preseason training in Bradenton FL, then California, England & Louisiana.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Apple Soccer says that Colombian newspaper El Pais is reporting that New York is signing Atletico Cordoba forward Luis Carlos Cabezas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For their preseason the New York Red Bulls will travel to LA, Salzburg Austria (the Red Bull mothership) & finish off at the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston SC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Offside Rules has a Q & A with Chris Rolfe. It is not your usual soccer X's & O's. Or kisses and hugs for that matter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former New England midfielder Andy Dorman made his debut for St Mirren in Scotland this weekend, coming on as a late sub in his teams 3-0 win over Dumbarton in the 4th Round of the Scottish Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Richard Snowden at Soccer365 says MLS needs to get teams into Copa Libertadores. I could not agree more. But first we need to figure out a level of importance for all the other tournaments suddenly piling up around us. US Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup, SuperLiga & next we will get the CONCACAF Champions League. Maybe the simple answer is that we scrap the league and go all tournaments? That way critics can't say that too many games don't have enough meaning!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TV Sports Daily wonders about the increase in foreign player allotments for MLS teams. Good or bad? (I think one of the things that hurts the NHL's popularity so much is all the foreign players from northern and eastern Europe.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America tells us about the owners of the new San Jose Earthquakes. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston Chronicle with the latest on Dynamo stadium talk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The St Louis Dispatch with a really good article about the potential MLS in St Louis owner Jeff Cooper. But this guy does not have the $$$ to make it happen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Combine
Reports from the guys with the knowledge:
-Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree with his recaps - Day One and Day Two.
-Jen Chang at Soccernet gives us his thoughts on Day 1 and Day 2 of the combine.
-Ives Galarcep at Soccer By Ives on Day One parts 1 and 2 and Day Two parts 1 and 2.
-And Ives looks at who might want to grab the first pick from San Jose.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the top college players the past few years, Joe LaPira of Notre Dame, is not at the combine and is said to be searching for a club in Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Galarcep spotted Mike Jeffries & Frank Klopas at the combine with new Chicago coach Denis Hamlett. They were supposedly head coach candidates along with Hamlett, so could they be new assistants instead? Hamlett was later spotted with Peter Nowak & Lubos Kubik. What was Kubik doing there?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his take on the upcoming MLS Superdraft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Minnesota Thunder announced their 15 home game schedule today. Make your travel plans now to come see me and my gang.
-Sunday, May 4, 5:05 p.m., Rochester Rhinos, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, May 10, 7:05 p.m., Montreal Impact, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, May 24, 7:05 p.m., Miami FC, National Sports Center
-Saturday, May 31, 7:05 p.m., Vancouver Whitecaps, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, June 14, 7:35 p.m., Atlanta Silverbacks, National Sports Center
-Friday, July 11, 7:05 p.m., Carolina Railhawks, James Griffin Stadium
-Sunday, July 20, 5:05 p.m., Rochester Rhinos, James Griffin Stadium
-Thursday, July 24, 7:05 p.m., Seattle Sounders, James Griffin Stadium
-Sunday, July 27, 5:05 p.m., Puerto Rico Islanders, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, August 2, 7:05 p.m., Portland Timbers, James Griffin Stadium
-Thursday, August 7, 7:05 p.m., Charleston Battery, James Griffin Stadium
-Sunday, August 10, 5:05 p.m., Seattle Sounders, James Griffin Stadium
-Friday, August 22, 7:05 p.m., Carolina Railhawks, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, September 13, 7:05 p.m., Charleston Battery, James Griffin Stadium
-Saturday, September 20, 7:05 p.m., Montreal Impact, James Griffin Stadium
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Training Camp in Carson CA
-Official team blog.
-Training photos from Friday.
-One on one video interview with New England defender Michael Parkhurst. (Video player is over in the top right corner of the linked page.)
-The Daily Pilot of Newport Beach CA with an article on their local player Zach Wells who is at the USA Training camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports says that US Soccer missing out on hiring Juergen Klinsmann was a bad thing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U23 aka Olympic Team Training Camp - in Bradenton FL
-U23 official blog.
-Julian Valentin has left the U23 camp after re-opening one his is facial wounds that he suffered a month ago when he got kicked in the face. At that time he needed a lot of stitches to seal him up.
-Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi has been asked to join the U23 camp after impressing everyone on the first 2 days of the MLS combine. He is from Tulsa. I think it's great that a camp like this can be so flexible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Interliga
Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 12
San Luis 0-3 Atlas - goals by Bruno Marioni y Jorge Achucarro(2).
America 3-3 Cruz Azul - Amer win 5-3 on PK's. - Amer goals by Salvador Cabanas(2, one on PK) & Rodrigo Lopez. Cruz goals by Cesar Villaluz, Jaime Lozano(PK) & Gerardo Lugo.
-The two winners are now qualified for la Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Orozco of the LA Daily News with a match report.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise chimes in with his match report.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Mexican 2008 Clausura kicks off on Friday Jan 18. Yes, already.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monterrey has pulled off a coup and hired former Mexican national team coach Ricardo La Volpe to run their club. Woooohoooo. He has that incredible Latino men's fashion gift for a graying mullet, jeans, midchest unbuttoned shirt, sport coat and cigarettes (sorry, but he just threw his jacket to the ground in disgust in this picture). Now that is sexy. The only thing that makes this story better is that the coach Monterrey just fired is named Isaac Mizrahi. Too bad it wasn't this guy.
-Remember La Volpe is the man who said his grandmother could play for the USA. Damn, she must be good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans in Europe - how'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 79th minute of another disappointing match, a scoreless home draw with Leixos.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - started and distracted the keeper enough to allow a free kick to go directly into the goal, but after only 14 minutes he had to come out with big gash under his left eye from an elbow, the team went on to give up yet another lead and lose 2-1 to West Ham.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - started, went the 90, and scored his teams 1st goal in a 2-2 road draw at Utrecht.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - came on as a sub in the 73rd minute but they lost again, 3-1 at Aston Villa.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played all 90 minutes of yet another loss, this one 2-1 at West Ham.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played all 90 minutes of a 1-0 loss at Preston.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - did not dress for his teams 0-1 home loss to Wigan. He appears to be heading out the door at any moment as well.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - in goal as always and winning 1-2 at Bolton.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went all 90 they lost again, 3-1 at Aston Villa.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the whole match, and again kept the net empty as they beat Manchester City 1-0 at home.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - did not leave the bench for his teams 0-1 home loss to Wigan.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - I am fairly sure he is not even in Greece yet, but his new team got only their 2nd win of the season, 1-0 over Iraklis. They are in last place.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - started and played the whole match, but it looked bad early on as he gave up a silly foul that was converted for a goal on a nice free kick, in the end though they won 2-1 over Fulham and that’s all that really matters.
-Danny Szetela - Racing Santander - was on the bench but did not play in a 0-2 win at Osasuna.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 16
Barcelona v Sevilla (1-1)
Villareal v Recreativo Huelva (0-1)
Levante v Getafe (0-3)
Espnayol v Athletic Bilbao (1-1)
Racing Santander v Zaragoza (1-1)
Valencia v Betis (2-1)
Real Madrid v Mallorca (1-2)
Valladolid v Atletico Madrid (0-0)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English League/Carling Cup - Semifinals
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 16
Everton v Chelsea (1-2)
Tottenham v Arsenal (1-1)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English FA Cup - 3rd Round
12 matches that ended in tie scores last round will be replayed on Tue & Wed this week. Here are all the games.
-Several Americans are in action:
-Tue Jan 15
Bristol Rovers v Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby
Reading v Tottenham
-Wed Jan 16
Man City v West Ham
-The 4th round will be played Jan 25, 26 & 27.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Matches Last Weekend:
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham - one of the London derby's and it has more meaning than ever these days as Chelsea tries to stay with the leaders, and Spurs try to regain some real footing.
Feyenoord 0-1 PSV - the two top dogs battle it out in Holland. #2 v #1.
Caen 0-0 Nancy Lorraine - the two big surprise teams this season, and they sit at #4 & #2
Ajax 6-1 AZ Alkmaar - the third place team in the Eredivisie tries to keep pace, while the surprise team of the past 2 seasons tries to get it going again.
Olympiakos 1-1 Panathinaikos - the biggy of the weekend, cuz not only are the bitter rivals, but they sit at #1 & #2 in the table, with only 1 point between them. But the tie game allowed AEK to leap frog them into the top spot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas at Goal.com got to watch his big Greek derby. At Roggie's in Boston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African Cup of Nations
-The group stage begins on Sunday in Ghana.
-The Accra Daily Mail in Ghana gives us their list of the players to watch. Here is Group A.
-Didier Drogba played for Cote d'Ivoire in a warmup v Kuwait and scored a goal. Is he fully healed?
-The Telegraph of England looks at the team from Sudan - a country that is nearly destroyed due to war, yet made it through qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Al Bangura of Watford who was being threatened with deportation back to his native Sierra Leone has been let off the hook, and given a work permit. Good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has a Q & A with the MetroStars all time greatest player, German legend Lothar Matthaus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Zaragoza has fired their coach. Unless you are a die hard you have never heard of him, and they replaced him with a former player that only the die hards will know of. So why am I writing this? Cuz they could be good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several from the Guardian:
-Sid Lowe tells us that Valencia aren't the biggest mess in Spain. That honor goes to Levante who only share a city with Valencia.
-The debut of The Duck in Milan.
-Raphael Honigstein ponders the Klinsmann to Bayern hiring.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Vickery at the BBC gives his raves to man-child Alexandre Pato of Milan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did ya see the newest color of Nike boots this weekend? I guess I would call them Orange-Copper Sunburst. They were worn by both you Nike endorsing stars: Cristiano Ronaldo & Pato. I would expect that we will see some American's in these new shoes v Sweden on Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Football Italia with their list of winners and losers from Week 18 in Serie A.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter has signed midfielder Nuno Maniche from Atletico Madrid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Milan finally broke their ignominious streak of not having won a home game yet this season. They were 0 for 7, and had scored only 3 home goals. But yesterday they beat Napoli 5-2 to crush all of that. On top of it all Ronaldo got his first start of the season and scored twice. Some kid played for them too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Insider at Soccernet tells us what Chelsea's signing of forward Nicolas Anelka means for the long run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Observer with an article on some Arab businessmen from Dubai who just may swoop in and but Liverpool from Hicks & Gillet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And David James, the Portsmouth keeper, at the Observer writes about the almost departure of his manager Harry Redknapp.

Foods Of The Ottoman Empire News

Chicago has finally handed over the reigns of their team to long time loyal assistant coach Denis Hamlet. It's about frickin time they gave him a shot. He has worked under every other coach in the teams history. Good luck amigo.

~and~

Steve Goff of the Washington Post talks to New England forward Taylor Twellman about the league & his team turning down a supposed improved offer of around $2.5 million for him by Preston in England. Needless to say, Twellman is pissed off. From the Soccer Insider blog.

~and~

Grinsi gets a job! - Bayern Munich has hired Juergen Klinsmann to be their next coach. Current boss Ottmar Hitzfeld is set to retire at the end of this season, and Klinsi will take over this summer.

~and~

There is a poll on the front of the LA Times Sports section call "Survivor". It asks reader: "If you had to vote for one team to leave town and never return, which team would it be?" And guess who was elimidated in the very first round? Yes it was, Chivas USA. Wow, and sad. On the other hand, you know who is leading the voting in the second round? The Lakers. Double Wow! Maybe it's OK to be eliminated early.

~and~

Here is something I find really disappointing - Ives Galarcep leaves the North Jersey Herald News and they not only don't hire anyone to replace him, but they dump their entire Soccer section. Booooooooooooooooooooooooo!


I keep hearing that Kenny Cooper wants OUT of Dallas. Is this true? (And now I see that Glenn Davis has a mention of this on his blog as well.) Cooper has been in England training with his old club Manchester United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cleetus has gone Greek! Clint Mathis has departed the LA Galaxy without even unpacking his bags and signed with Greek club Ergotolis (who I have frankly never even heard of). Good luck you old beer swillin' maniac. We wish you the best.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another young American player has flown the MLS coop - Clarence Goodson, who was recently claimed by San Jose in the their expansion draft, has decided to go to northern Europe and has signed with Norwegian 2nd division team Start.
-Goodson shares a few words with the USA official team blog on his departure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stories from Chicago on the hiring of Denis Hamlett:
Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Arroyave also on his Red Card blog with some thoughts on the Hamlett hiring, and then some direct quotes from Hamlett himself & Chicago GM John Guppy.
Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times & Southtown Star.
Chicago Daily Herald.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The San Jose Mercury News on the return of goalkeeper Joe Cannon to the Earthquakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch gives us a Columbus Crew story for the second day in a row. That may be a Crew off-season record. Today we learn about the teams search for new players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two Chivas USA players had surgery this week - Jonathan Bornstein on his left ankle, and Maykel Galindo on a hernia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chivas also gave their coach Preki a contract extension. No details are known. But this much is known - Preki is a card carrying member of the AARP, and was while still playing for Kansas City.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret Morning News says Salt Lake has all but finalized deals for two new players including American defender Ian Joy from German club St Pauli. The other is the rumored Argentine midfielder Matias Cordoba from Tigre.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bill Witz of the Daily Breeze tells us what the sale of Joe Cannon by LA to San Jose really means.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog talks to forward Alecko Eskandarian about the possibility of being sold by Salt Lake to Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goff also speculates that DC United is nearly finished with a deal to bring in veteran centerback Gonzalo Martinez of Juan Carlos Osorio's old club Millonarios in Colombia. From the Washington Post.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New York has signed goalkeeper Jon Conway to a new contract.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Houston has re-signed right winger Brian Mullan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Soccer Daily is rumoring that former Manchester City midfielder Kiki Musampa may be MLS bound.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas with his column for Goal.com: The 3-5-2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Soccer poster Alan puts up a picture of the brand new New England Revolution shirt from this year, along with an image from last year for comparison. Other than a slight change in the arrangement of the main colors, the only real difference is that they added a collar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speaking of new shirt looks - Oz City snagged this picture of an unbranded Kansas City Wizards shirt. Slightly new shade of blue for them. And gold trim? That IS new.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Business Journal with some surprising news on developments for a potential stadium in the District of Columbia for DC United. It's good news for a change.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston Business Journal with the latest updates on a Dynamo stadium too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Word from Portland is that the Timbers are finally going to replace their nasty old fake turf. No it won't be grass, but at least it will be brand new Field Turf. The players from every team in the league will be happy about that news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The USL First Division has announced their TV schedule on Fox Soccer Channel for the 2008 season. You all get to see my Minnesota Thunder 3 times. Yee Haw. I'm sure your crappy team is on there some time too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canadian striker O'Brian White of Connecticut was named the 2007 winner of the Hermann Trophy, aka the top college player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Interliga
Semifinals Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 12 - LA Home Depot Center
San Luis v Atlas
America v Cruz Azul
-The two winners of these games will get spots in la Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America tries to make sense of how a coin flip could determine one of the Copa Libertadores participants from Mexico. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA January Camp in Carson CA

Official blog.
-The blog has a Q & A with Chicago forward Chris Rolfe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Philadelphia Daily News has an article on local player Jeremiah White who is in the current USA camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U23 January camp in Bradenton FL

Their official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet has a very good video interview with American midfielder Freddy Adu of Benfica. He talks plenty about MLS etc. It might take a while to load this clip. But I think it's worth it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer at American Soccer Daily talks to American forward Johann Smith who is back to full health and ready to try and earn a spot on the first team at Bolton.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is the kind of crap that makes CONCACAF still a 2nd rate world football federation - some stadiums are not up to standard for the first round of World Cup Qualifying, so those series will become one leg instead of two. Are you kidding me? You make them find stadiums to play the matches, in other countries if you have to, or you throw them out. And don't tell me that this situation hasn't been known about for ages. From the AP via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Matches This Weekend:
-Sat Jan 12
Chelsea v Tottenham - one of the London derby's and it has more meaning than ever these days as Chelsea tries to stay with the leaders, and Spurs try to regain some real footing.
Feyenoord v PSV - the two top dogs battle it out in Holland. #2 v #1.
Caen v Nancy Lorraine - the two big surprise teams this season, and they sit at #4 & #2
-Sun Jan 13
Ajax v AZ Alkmaar - the third place team in the Eredivisie tries to keep pace, while the surprise team of the past 2 seasons tries to get it going again.
Olympiakos v Panathinaikos - the biggy of the weekend, cuz not only are the bitter rivals, but they sit at #1 & #2 in the table, with only 1 point between them. This is one I wish I could see in person!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios has followed his old boss Steve Bruce from Birmingham to Wigan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian gives us a look at 6 of greatest football grounds in Britain. Thanks to Johnsoon for this one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian also looks at some of the asinine money that is wasted in the transfer market.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So who will be guarding the net for Deportivo La Coruna this weekend? The top two keepers got into a brawl at training yesterday and both have been suspended by the club. They rest of the team takes on Villareal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chelsea have bought French striker Nicolas Anelka from Bolton.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the Newcastle coaching situation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Will the human-bobble-head Harry Redknapp bail on Portsmouth to take over Newcastle? Probably.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters has a story on Brazilian forward Adriano. His new coach at Sao Paulo says he is raring to go! Really? I kinda doubt it, but I hope so.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I have seen a few mentions on message boards about a new mega-deal between Milan & Adidas (and when I say mega I mean MEGA), but I cannot seem to dig up any official news. Stay tuned.

New Breeds Of Grasshoppers News

John Spencer turned down Chicago head coaching job cuz they low balled him!!

~and~

Jonah Freedman is reporting on his Thrown-Ins blog that San Jose has bought keeper Joe Cannon from Los Angeles.

~and~

Dallas has signed Duilio Davino. The Mexican defender played for Club America last fall. It's always great to have a new villain in MLS.

~and~

The USA game next week v Sweden will be #500 in the history of US Soccer. Quite the milestone if you ask me.

~and~

Here is a great sight to see - Brain McBride on the training field - from Fulham's web site.

~and~

The rumor mill is on fire with word that the new team in Seattle will be known as Emerald City FC.


Great article from Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer. He sits down to talk with Chicago Fire midfielder Bakary Soumare, and his high school coach Martin Jacobson of New York's famed Martin Luther King high school. As always, top notch stuff from TIAS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sportsnet Ontario with an article on the seriousness of the Montreal Impact to join MLS. Could Canadian Liverpool owner George Gillet be involved?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News with a stories on FC Dallas's signing of Dirty Davino.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with the story of John Spencer walking away from the offer of Chicago head coaches position.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave on his Red Card blog says another big rumor in Chicago has Best Buy sponsoring the Fire shirts next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree does a Q & A with Dallas manager Steve Morrow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rumors continue to bounce right along about 34 year old Argentine forward Claudio Lopez signing with an MLS team. His current club is Racing in his native country.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I also got several emails today about a new rumor that has Clint Mathis heading to play in Greece. And just like the rumors having him head off to Australia, I say the same thing. Go Clint Go. How often do we get chances in life to see other parts of the world, and get paid while we are there?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch talks to Crew GM Mark McCullers about Guillermo Barros Schelotto and another possible big name signing (a forward?).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune looks ahead to what he sees for 2008.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star says Kansas City is moving ahead as if forward Eddie Johnson will still be on the roster come the season opener. I am glad that they are confident, but I sure hope they have a back up plan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From the Why-Oh-Why department: the LA Galaxy announced that they have re-signed forward Alan Garden. To which the natural response is - Why oh why would you ever do that?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LA defender Ante Jazic has also undergone surgery to fix ankle ligaments and he will most likely be out of action until early summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dan Loney at the US Soccer Players Assoc on Beckman, Year Two.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Andrew Dixon, also of the USSPA gives us One Grown Man's Opinion - his 3 wishes for 08.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston Chronicle with the latest positive step toward building a downtown stadium for the Dynamo. But complications with a possible new owner for the team could make this a real bitch to get built.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick reporting for Soccernet, scouts the forwards that will be available for next weeks MLS Superdraft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Each year MLS signs a crop of very young players to a special contract via money provided by a sponsor, currently Adidas. These players do not count against regular salary limits etc etc. They are all available for the upcoming Superdraft. Here are this years players:
-Eric Avila - M - 20 - UC Santa Barbara
-Tony Beltran - D - 20 - UCLA
-Josh Lambo - G - 17 - Chicago Magic FC
-Chance Myers - D - 20 - UCLA
-Alex Nimo - F - 17 - FC Portland
-Patrick Nyarko - F - 22 - Virginia Tech
-Ciaran O'Brien - M - 20 - UC Santa Barbara
-Brek Shea - M - 17 - Texans FC
-Rob Valentino - D - 22 - U San Francisco
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star with an article on local player O'Brian White who is hoping to make a big splash in the Superdraft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The MLS Combine starts tomorrow in Ft Lauderdale FL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Training Camp in Carson CA
Game on Sat Jan 19 v Sweden in Carson CA at the Home Depot Center.
-And seeing as this is the 500th all time game in USA history, the federation is unofficially polling fans to see who they think are the 3 best USA players of all time. Here is who Michael Parkhurst picked.
-I gave them my top 3 (and my reasoning behind it):
Tony Meola
Tab Ramos
Brain McBride
-I am not that much of a historian, so it really only goes back to the 90 World Cup for my beginnings with US Soccer.
I didn't pick these 3 so much for sheer accomplishments or even my "personal favorites", but for what I perceive to be their innate ability to bring that little something extra special that you can't describe in words. A presence maybe, or a spark, or maybe even pure will power. You know that twinkle in their eye that allows them to go above and beyond. And this is not said to diminish in any way what all three of them have pulled off individually for the USA. But again I come back to that unknown property they possess (and very few others ever do) that impresses me most.
On the other hand there are close to a half dozen other guys that come really close to that same list for me: Eric Wynalda, Brad Friedel, Landon Donovan, Eddie Pope & Claudio Reyna.
And if I took the time to really dig deep I bet I could find a dozen more lodged somewhere in my brain from the last 17 years.
Who are yours?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer has audio interviews with defender Drew Moor (of FC Dallas) and goalkeeper Brad Guzan (of Chivas USA).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And some video of training too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brand new official photos of training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports comes up with his 2008 "to do" list for Team USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rogers also gives us the story of American forward Jeremiah White who plays for Aarhus in Denmark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U23 aka Olympic Team Training Camp - in Bradenton FL
US Soccer gives us photos & video from camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U23 official blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's funny to hear Johann Smith talk now, cuz he is getting that Bolton accent going.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Rogers at Soccer 365 has a Q & A with USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ravi Ubha at Soccernet gives us the update on Jay DeMerit & Watford's race to rejoin the Premiership next season, plus other notable news about Americans playing in Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Interliga
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jan 2 - Group Stage
Monterrey 0-1 UNAM Pumas - goal by Pablo Bonells
Cruz Azul 0-1 San Luis - goal by Alfredo Moreno(PK)
-Thu Jan 3 - Group Stage
Toluca 0-0 Atlas
Morelia 0-1 America - goal by Alejandro Arguello
-Sat Jan 5 - Group Stage
Cruz Azul 1-0 Monterrey - goal by Edgar Andrade.
San Luis 2-0 UNAM Pumas - goals by Tressor Moreno & Alfredo Moreno.
-Sun Jan 6 - Group Stage
America 2-1 Toluca - CA goals by Alejandro Arguello & Richard Nunez. Toluca goal by Vicente Sanchez.
Atlas 2-0 Morelia - goals both by Bruno Marioni.
-Tue Jan 8 - Group Stage
Monterrey 1-0 San Luis - goal by Humberto Suazo.
UNAM Pumas 0-1 Cruz Azul - goal by Nicolas Vigneri.
-Wed Jan 9 - Group Stage
Toluca 3-1 Morelia - Tol goals by Cristian Gimenez, Zinha and Vicente Sanchez. Mor goal by Ever Guzman.
Atlas 2-3 America - Atl goals both by Bruno Marioni (2nd on PK). Amer goals by Ismael Rodriquez, Salvador Cabanas & Alejandro Arquello.
-Sat Jan 12 - Semifinals
San Luis v Atlas
America v Cruz Azul
-The two teams who win the Semifinal matches will get spots in la Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times has a Q & A on his Korner Pocket blog with American defender Michael Orozco who plays for San Luis in Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Del Rey
Round of 16 - 2 legs - played on Jan 9 & 16
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jan 9
Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona
Recreativo Huelva 1-0 Villareal
Getafe 3-0 Levante
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Espanyol
Zaragoza 1-1 Racing Santander
Betis 1-2 Valencia
-Thu Jan 10
Mallorca v Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Valladolid
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English League/Carling Cup - Semifinals
First Leg
-Tue Jan 8
Chelsea 2-1 Everton
-Wed Jan 9
Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham
-Return legs are on Jan 16.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester United will hold preseason training in South Africa next summer, and play some friendlies too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The CBC gives us their list of 10 players to watch for in 2008.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Molinaro of the CBC with an article on the surprise team in France this season - Nancy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent of England with their annual list of the top players in the UK who are not playing in the Premiership at this time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dutch mega-goal scorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy has signed a contract extension with Real Madrid through the 2010 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulham defender Moritz Volz with his first diary entry of 08. Always top notch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov has been named the 2007 Bulgarian Footballer Of The Year. And forward Nikolay Dimitrov of Levski was named Young Player Of The Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Everton has signed Valencia midfielder Manuel Fernandes to a loan deal for the rest of this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Glasgow Herald with an article on former Rangers coach Paul Le Geun who was brought in after great success at Lyon, only to flop and is now in charge at Paris St Germaine, where he is still struggling.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And the Glas Her with a second story, this one on the man who followed Le Guen at Rangers, Walter Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian tells us what a decent human being Rangers main man Smith is.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA.com with an article on the boy they say is gonna save Milan. The Duck. Alexander Pato. They are putting a ton of pressure on this 18 year old from Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the ouster of Sam Alardyce after only a few months in charge of Newcastle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Observer with a report card on the Premiership teams at the half way marker.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun gives us his description and defense of Stylish Soccer. Me thinks he doth protest to loudly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated with the latest World Club Power Rankings. With so few games being played in the past 3 weeks there has been only slight movement in the ranks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African Cup of Nations
Reuters talks to Senegal captain El Hadji Diouf, who believes his team is one of the favorites to with the Cup.

Climbing Grimmin Mountain News

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe is reporting the English Championship Division team >Preston North End is making a serious bid for New England goal scoring machine Taylor Twellman. Yes! Twellman deserves a chance like this, and it would also force New England to get off their ass and start looking for some impact players to change their luck in the big big games. There is also some good stuff here on Twellman and Rev's teammates Michael Parkhurst & Pat Noonan from the USA training camp in Carson CA.

~and~

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America does a Q & A with USA coach Bob Bradley. See section on Team USA below for link.

~and~

Canada's largest soccer supporters group The Voyageurs have named Julian de Guzman as the 2007 Canadian International Player of the Year. Congrats to the midfielder from Deportivo La Coruna in Spain.

~and~

Newcastle has given coach Sam Alardyce the old heave ho. Adios big Sam. We hardly knew ye.


Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune says Fire team President John Guppy wants Houston assistant coach John Spencer to be the teams next head coach, but the decision is not ultimately up to him to make. The teams owner will make that call.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says on his Soccer y Futbol blog that the race for the job is between Chicago assistant Denis Hamlett & Spencer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens has more than one suitor in Europe beyond Norwich in England. My guess is that he will use these other teams to get a better deal out of MLS for now. Although someone could offer his a deal he can't refuse.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Sky Sports adds 3 more teams to list of those chasing after Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan - Auxerre, Liverpool & Olympiakos. (Arsenal & Celtic were the first 2 names we knew of.) That is impressive.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speaking of goalkeepers - Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul has been named to the Senegal team for this months African Cup of Nations!!!! It's Bouna Times! Congrats to him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Zimbabwe Herald with a story on another MLS player trying to make an impact on his national team in Africa - Joseph Ngwenya of Houston. The country has just hired a new national team coach to hopefully get them into the 2010 World Cup - he is Brazilian Valinhos, known to his mother as Jose Claudinei Georgini. Unfortunately his resume reads more like a travelogue than a success story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England will have their 2008 shirts ready for sale starting tomorrow. And the new look with have a collar on the shirt. I hope it look nice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally some "arrivals" news .... Steven Goff of the Washington Post says Argentinos Juniors forward Franco Niell looks to be the first off season signing for DC United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goff also reports that Real Salt Lake will have a 4th Argentine on their squad this season, the other forward from Argentinos Junior, Matías Cordova, will join them. So let's see who did the better scouting job and got the right guy. Last season RSL signed defender Matias Mantilla from Arg Juniors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally Goff on his Soccer Insider blog gives us new info on Columbus midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto and how the news of his departure from MLS may be premature.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that RSL are very close to selling forward Alecko Eskandarian to Chivas USA. He also reports that now retired defender Eddie Pope has been hired by the Players Union as their new Director of player relations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says the Dynamo want Ramiro Corrales, the American who currently plays for Brann in Norway but wants to come home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis also from the Chron tells us about the packed 08 calendar! A fans dream.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Davis's radio show is also back this week after a holiday break. As always he has top notch guests. See link in right hand column.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston Dynamo forward Paul Dalglish has seen his contract expire, and he is currently at Ipswich Town in England trying out for them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pat Walsh at Goal.com says that the top teams in MLS are playing to many games for their current roster size and strength. I completely agree.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson is back in England during the offseason, and he is training with his old team Wolverhampton.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times Goal blog and Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger talk to New York Red Bulls new Sporting Director Jeff Agoos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chris Armas told Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer that he is NOT interested in being an assistant coach for the New York Red Bulls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The KC Star is reporting that the Wizards have picked up the option on the contract of midfielder Carlos Marinelli. But assistant coach (and long time MLS player) Chris Henderson has left the team. So where is he headed?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our main man DJ Walker at the 3rd Degree gives us his personal 2008 New Years Resolutions. I somehow missed this one last week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Bradley at MLSnet with his First XI, lets us know what to follow between now the time the next season starts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet with an article on Dallas defensive midfielder Pablo Richetti, who had an impressive debut season in the league, is all healed from injury and ready to be even better in 08.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet reviews the Columbus Crew 2007 season. And asks 5 Big Questions for 2008.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goalkeeper Josh Lambo, from the US Soccer Residency program in Bradenton FL has signed a contract with MLS and will be available for the draft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The player combine for the MLS Superdraft begins on Friday in Fort Lauderdale FL. The draft itself is Jan 18 in Baltimore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The stories on a demotion for FC Dallas President Michael Hitchcock got the facts wrong. Yes some of his duties were being shifted away, but he will actually be more closely involved with the team now (completely contrary to rumors), and less involved with the day to day running of the Pizza Hut Park complex. Here is the official press release.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC Dallas Updates give us the low down on the newest addition to the teams coaching staff. He is Jorge Alvial, the chief scout for Chelsea in this hemisphere. He sounds like quite a catch to me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Charleston Battery's 5th annual pre-season (mid-March) Carolina Challenge Cup will see the First Division team take on 3 MLS teams - this year its going to be New York, San Jose & Toronto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Maryland Gazette reports that El Salvadoran Dennis Alas has by-passed both MLS & the First Division to sign with USL Second Division team Real Maryland. This is very bizarre to me seeing as the 2D is nearly all amateur still and that Alas is a starter in his native country for San Salvador and has many national team caps at only age 22. His connection to the team is their other big signing - Ronald Cerritos. Wow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Interliga
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jan 2
Monterrey 0-1 UNAM Pumas - goal by Pablo Bonells
Cruz Azul 0-1 San Luis - goal by Alfredo Moreno(PK)
-Thu Jan 3
Toluca 0-0 Atlas - no goals
Morelia 0-1 America - goal by Alejandro Arguello
-Sat Jan 5
Cruz Azul 1-0 Monterrey - goal by Edgar Andrade.
San Luis 2-0 UNAM Pumas - goals by Tressor Moreno & Alfredo Moreno.
-Sun Jan 6
America 2-1 Toluca - CA goals by Alejandro Arguello & Richard Nunez. Toluca goal by Vicente Sanchez.
Atlas 2-0 Morelia - goals both by Bruno Marioni.
-Tue Jan 8
Monterrey 1-0 San Luis - goal by Humberto Suazo.
UNAM Pumas 0-1 Cruz Azul - goal by Nicolas Vigneri.
-Wed Jan 9
Toluca v Morelia
Atlas v America
-Sat Jan 12
Semifinals
-All matches are played here in the USA, cuz they make loads of money!
-The top two teams will get spots in la Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Club America & Cruz Azul have both advanced to the big games this weekend that will determine who goes to Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA January Camp
-Official Blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America has a Q & A with USA boss Bob Bradley. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog says the USA opponent on March 26 in Europe could very well be Poland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And the USA U23 team arrived in Florida today to begin their training camp as well.
-Their official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with an article on the multiple players that could be joining Americans Eddie Lewis & Benny Feilhaber at Derby Country in the Premiership during this transfer window. There are several big names on the way, potentially including fellow American Eddie Johnson. I guess your name has to end in "ie" or "y" to sign with Derby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times also has a story on new Fulham coach Roy Hodgson, who has 4 Americans on his roster - Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey & Kasey Keller. And let's not forget former Columbus Crew midfielder Simon Elliot of New Zealand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer America directs us to a story last month from the Nation News of Barbados where the country's technical director of football says that they can beat the USA in World Cup qualifying. I guess he has to say that, but good luck to you buddy. If I remember correctly the last time around the aggregate score was 11-0.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English League/Carling Cup
Semifinal 1st leg Matches & Scores
-Tue Jan 8
Chelsea 2-1 Everton 2-1 - return match is Wed Jan 23
-Wed Jan 9
Arsenal v Tottenham - 2nd leg on Tue Jan 22
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Del Rey
Round of 16 first leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jan 9
Sevilla v Barcelona
Getafe v Levante
Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol
Real Betis v Valencia
Recreativo Huela v Villareal
Zaragoza v Racing Santander
-Thu Jan 10
Mallorca v Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid v Valladolid
-2nd leg matches are Jan 16
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Madrid's Argentine left fullback Gabriel Heinze has torn a thigh muscle and will be out at least a month.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Milan forward Superpippo Inzaghi will be out for a while with kidney stone trouble and a foot injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times Goal blog has a full transcript of his Q & A with injured Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Zimbabwe Herald with a story on the nation of Ghana who are hosting this years African Cup of Nations and hoping to end decades of football futility.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with a story on all the African players (40) who have left English clubs this month to participate with their national teams in the African Cup of Nations. Can the clubs blame anyone else but themselves if they are short on players? The answer is simply - NO! They need to stop complaining immediately.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ravi Ubha at the Seattle Post Intelligencer with a good weekly roundup of some (mostly) under the radar stories from around world football.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with a story on refereeing legend Pierluigi Collina, the freaky looking hairless dude who scared everyone when he took to the field in charge of a game. Excellent story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A little out of the ordinary for du Nord, but just too damn good to pass up - The Guardian with an article on the rise of Women's football in Palestine.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally today, an article from the Chicago Sports Weekly but a writer who finds himself in England looking for something out of the ordinary. He ends up in Sussex at Lewes, checking out a very lower division team. Goof story.