Philadelphia Union and Faryd Mondragon confirmed Monday that the veteran goalkeeper will leave
to sign with Colombian club Deportivo Cali.
Mondragon, 40, will return to his hometown to play for the team he made his professional debut
for more than 20 years ago.
"For family reasons, I have requested the club to allow me the opportunity to finish my career
where it started," Mondragon said in a statement released Monday afternoon by the Union.
Philadelphia Independence owner David Halstead says the Philadelphia Independence will be back
in 2013.
In a letter to Independence fans on the club's website, Halstead said the decision to cancel the
2012 season was difficult, but necessary.
Halstead points to the ongoing litigation with Dan Borislow about his Florida-based franchise as
the reason for the cancellation of the season.
Women's Professional Soccer will announce later today that it has canceled the 2012 season.
The decision was reached after a vote by team owners on Monday morning. Am email was
subsequently sent to the players informing them of the decision.
While details are at present sketchy, the decision appears to be the direct result of the
ongoing legal battles with magicJack owner Dan Borislow.
Editor's note: For your offseason pleasure, PSP is happy to present an multi-part fiction
series entitled The Pine Barrens League. In the conclusion of the story, it is the second
half of the final. Schnauzer and company have 45 minutes to score a goal to win the
money.
We were exhausted when we got off the field at half time.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
The silly season got sillier for the Philadelphia Union over the weekend. Following word from
England that Sebastien Le Toux reportedly did not sufficiently impress while on trial with Bolton,
and the news that Danny Mwanga is training for two weeks with Aston Villa, the Union transfer rumor
well still wasn't dry.
It was the Alex Morgan show as the US downed Canada in the final of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying.
Morgan scored twice and assisted on two Abby Wambach goals as the US ran out easy winners over the
host nation. The game was largely meaningless save for regional pride, with both sides having
already qualified for this summer's London games.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon remains a Union player.
A Union official confirmed Sunday that Mondragon is in camp with the Union and said the club
has not talked with Deportivo Cali, despite Colombian reports that Mondragon could sign with his
hometown club, Deportivo Cali.
The US Women took down Costa Rica 3-0 to book their ticket for this summer's London Olympics.
Tobin Heath scored in the first half, Carli Lloyd continued her current run of form with a goal in
the second half, and Alex Morgan sealed the win with a late goal of her own.
Pia Sundhage made two changes from the team that faced Mexico on Tuesday, preferring Tobin Heath
over Amy Rodriguez and giving converted striker Kelly O'Hara a start at right back.
Following a tweet from player agent Richard Motzkin that announced Danny Mwanga would be
training with Aston Villa for ten days, the Philadelphia Union confirmed that the striker will miss
the team's first preseason session.
According to the Union, Mwanga "will join his teammates in Orlando on February 6, in time for
the start of the Union's second leg of preseason.
Friday, January 27
11am Niger vs Tunisia Al Jazeera Sports USA
2pm Gabon vs Morocco Al Jazeera Sports USA
2:30pm Hannover 96 vs Nürnberg ESPN3, ESPN Deportes
2:45pm Watford vs Tottenham Hotspur Fox Soccer Plus, FoxSoccer.tv, Fox Soccer 2Go
3pm Everton vs Fulham FSC
8pm USA vs Costa Rica concacaf.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
All-Stars, Le Toux rumors, and a new signing for the Philadelphia Independence are all part of
this week's KYW Philly Soccer Show.
In part one, KYW's Greg Orlandini and Philly Soccer Page writer Eli Pearlman-Storch kick of
this week's edition of the pod by talking about the MLS All-Star game, which will be held at PPL
Park, in Chester, Pa.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Le Talk
Yesterday he's going, today he is staying. An article from sportinglife.com suggests that Le
Toux "did not impress sufficiently" at Bolton. Owen Coyle is quoted in the article, "Sebastien came
in for a couple of days, and to be fair to him he hadn't trained for four or five weeks.
Not to be out-shown by the atrocious work being done in the press box, both the United States
and Panama turned in embarrassingly poor performances in what was, by far, the least attractive
game of soccer in the Klinsmann era. Graham Zusi grabbed the game's only goal in the 9th minute,
lashing home a cross that the US was lucky to see bounce off the back of hapless striker Teal
Bunbury's leg inside the Panamanian area.
Gabriel Gomez was signed by the Philadelphia Union in late December. Last night was the first
chance Philly fans have had to examine the versatile Panamanian.
In a 1-0 friendly loss to the United States, Gomez played as a calming link between Panama's
back four and skittish front five.
The good news: He was fantastic.
Featured image courtesy of Philadelphia Union
Le Talk
While posing a hypothetical question to the Union Twitterati whether they would accept $2.75
million for Sebastien Le Toux, Jonathan "The Goalkeeper" Tannenwald mentions, "I've been told there
has been no offer yet."
Meanwhile, Daily News reporter Kerith Gabriel writes, "It's likely the Union will start the 2012
campaign without Frenchman Sebastien Le Toux.
All images courtesy of One Goal USA
 If you've made plans for Thursday, February 2, cancel them. Because that evening marks the
Philadelphia premier of LADUMA at 7:30pm at the Ritz East. Made by two local filmmakers, Ashwin
Chaudhary and Jon Korn, Laduma is "the story of how soccer united the South African people against
Apartheid, and how the sport brought Americans together in the magical summer of 2010.
Mexico's World Cup qualifying victory clearly shook the US Women's National Team to their core.
On Tuesday night, the US settled the score, reminding Mexico, and the world, that there is still an
enormous gap in class between the two sides. Were at not for some shoddy finishing and a whole lot
of five-alarm defending, the score line could easily have been doubled as the US controlled the
match from the opening whistle and were rarely troubled throughout the 90 minutes.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union got the MLS All-Star game for PPL Park.
So why aren't you excited?
Why was there a collective yawn in response to Tuesday's announcement when there could have been
rapturous joy?
Was it because word had leaked out early and killed the surprise factor?
Some amazing PSP original work from the past few days: Earl Gardner's sweet photo essay from the
SOB Help Kick Hunger event, info on the MLS All-Star game, Ed's fantastic piece on the last
All-Star game in Philly, Dan's take on the possibility of selling Le Toux, and Eli's examination
of the U's post-Seba strike force.
The US Women's National Team knocked off Mexico 4-0 in their final match of the group stage of
Olympic qualifying to win Group B. Carli Lloyd had a hat trick and Heather O'Reilly added a goal as
the USWNT rolled to an easy victory. They will face Costa Rica for a chance to qualify on Friday
(8pm, concacaf.
Featured image: Bobby Moore, Gerry Francis and Pele before the Team America vs. England game
at JFK
The news that PPL Park will be host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game means that Philadelphia will be
the host of a major pro sport All-Star event for the first time since the NBA came to town in
2002.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
It's official, PPL Park will be the site of the 2012 MLS All-Star Game on July 25.
The opponent, "a renowned international club," will be announced at a later date.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sackiewicz, Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter and Chester Mayor John Linder were on hand at the press conference at Philadelphia's City
Hall on Tuesday morning for the announcement.
Saturday's Sons of Ben-organized Help Kick Hunger charity at McFaddens at Citizen's Bank
Park was a huge success. $8,300 was raised at the event, which featured appearances from the
Philadelphia Union's Brian Carroll, Zach Pfeffer and Jimmy McLaughlin. The recently retired Veljko
Paunovic was also on hand.
Philadelphia Union
Sebastien Le Toux tweeted this morning, "I spent a great week at BWFC. Great club with great
people. Now back in Philly." We are waiting for confirmation on this from the Union on this and if
this means there will be no transfer to Bolton.
Following the successful appeal to secure Tim Ream the UK work permit necessary to complete the
defender's move to the Wanderers, Owen Coyle tells The Bolton News that he plans to "add one or two
more to take us on to the second half of the season" before the close of the transfer window on
January 31.
Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that only a contract issue is
preventing Colombian striker Lionard Pajoy from completing a transfer to the Philadelphia Union.
Pajoy, 30, leads the Colombian first division with 10 goals in 18 games for Itagui Ditaires.
Pajoy's profligacy in front of goal is a new development, however, with his career numbers
hardly indicative of a dominant striker.
Following the announcement by the Philadelphia Union that a press conference has been scheduled
for Tuesday at 11am to take place at City Hall in Center City Philadelphia, philly.com reports that
the Union will host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game at PPL Park.
The press release from the Union says that team CEO Nick Sackiewicz, MLS Commissioner Don
Garber, Chester Mayor John Linder and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter are all scheduled to be in
attendance.
Editor's note: For your offseason pleasure, PSP is happy to present an multi-part fiction
series entitled The Pine Barrens League. In part 8, Schnauzer and company play a team of
Russians hired by the organizers who don't want to give up their money.Â
It felt like the world had come down on us when we arrived at the "field.
Philadelphia Union
Le Toux spotted with Tim Ream at Bolton's win over Liverpool on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Kyle
Scott and crossingbroad.com
A report from The Bolton News on Friday quotes Wanderers' manager Owen Coyle on Sebastien Le
Toux, "I've had some decent reports on him. He's very industrious, hard working and looks a very
good team player, which is what I'm all about.
Photo: Paul Rudderow.Â
I tried to tune in to watch the USWNT take on the Dominican Republic at the appointed 10:30 pm
start time last night. In the 10 or so minutes it took me to update the stupid Silverlight player
and get the game to load, I missed the opening 3 goals, which all happened inside the first 7
minutes of the game.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
The U.S. women's national team won 14-0 over the Dominican Republic on Friday. Yes, the women's
soccer team won by that score. Amy Rodriguez scored five goals.
At halftime, Abby Wambach told her teammates to keep scoring in the Olympic qualifier, despite
being up 7-0, because goal differential can impact Olympic qualifying qualifying.
Friday, January 20
2:30pm Borussia M'gladbach vs Bayern München GolTV
2:30pm Sablé vs PSG ESPN3
8pm Altamira vs Universidad Guadalajara GolTV
8pm Mexico vs Guatemala Telemundo, CONCACAF, Sportsnet.ca
9:10pm Morelia vs San Luis Azteca America
10:30pm Dominican Republic vs USA Telemundo, CONCACAF, UniversalSports.
Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Independence
On Wednesday, the Independence finally made official what has been rumored for weeks, that
former Atlanta Beat midfielder/striker Lori Chalupny has signed with the team. Chalupny is a former
USWNT player who has been capped over 90 times for the senior squad.
Philadelphia Union
Sky Sports reports that Bolton manager Owen Coyle "claims no decision has been taken as yet
regarding a permanent deal" for Sebastien Le Toux.
Jonathan Tannenwald tweets, "A Union source says the team 'would not use Tim Ream as a
benchmark' in any negotiations over Le Toux regarding transfer fee.
Buy low, sell high. It might be the oldest rule in business.
So if Philadelphia Union was ever going to sell Sebastien Le Toux, now's the time.
At 28, Le Toux is in his prime. He may never be worth more than he is right now.
Bolton has never needed to buy good players for bargain prices more than right now, as they
desperately try to avoid a relegation that could devastate the club financially.
Buy low, sell high. It might be the oldest rule in business.
So if Philadelphia Union was ever going to sell Sebastien Le Toux, now's the time.
At 28, Le Toux is in his prime. He may never be worth more than he is right now.
Bolton has never needed to buy good players for bargain prices more than right now, as they
desperately try to avoid a relegation that could devastate the club financially.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Pauno is gone. That much we know. Le Toux's status? Training with Bolton with the potential of a
deal. Basically, completely up in the air. That makes this as good as any to look at the four
strikers who will be battling to win playing time throughout 2012.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Bolton manager Owen Coyle confirms Sebastien Le Toux is trialing with the Premiership club. "We
have received good reports about Sebastian, so we thought we would give him an opportunity to come
into the group," Coyle told the Daily Mirror. "He will train with us for a week and we will see
where we are after that.
Photo: Nate Monahan
The Philadelphia Union announced today that 34-year-old Serbian striker Veljko Paunovic has
called an end to his 16 year professional career.
In the press release from the Union announcing his retirement, Paunovic praised both the Union
fans and the Union organization.
Fox Soccer is reporting that Union striker/top scorer/face-of-the-franchise/fan-favorite
Sebastien Le Toux began training with the English Premier League's Bolton Wanderers ahead of a
transfer that will be completed by the end of the week.
As of 12:40 PM, no sources have confirmed this news.
As we enter the 2012 season, there are many questions surrounding the Union, but one of the
biggest is what to make of our young striker, Danny Mwanga.
After a fantastic rookie year, Mwanga seemed to regress in 2011. He started fewer games and
scored fewer goals than he did his rookie year, and his appearances were inconsistent: during some
games he looked like an absolute world-beater, while more often he was anonymous.
Photo: Earl Gardner
The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday morning that they have declined the contract
options on Levi Houapeu, Morgan Langley, Ryan Richter and Joe Tait.
The release of Levi Houapeu and Joe Tait frees up two international spots on the Union roster, a
key concern with the recent offseason signings of Gabriel Gomez, Nizar Khalfan, Porfirio Lopez,Â
and Josué Martinez.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney scored in the US U-23 team's 1–1 draw with the USMNT. McInerney, Amobi Okugo,
and Freddy Adu started the first half. Zac MacMath and Sheanon Williams started the second
half.
John Hackworth says of Tom Brandt, the Union's first pick in the Supplemental Draft, "We wanted
to get a quality player in the back and we feel like we did that with Tom Brandt.
The Philadelphia Union's used their first pick, 13th overall, in the first round of the 2012
Supplemental draft to selected defender Tom Brandt (University of Pennsylvania). With their second
pick the Union selected forward Krystian Witkowski from Marist College
Round 1 Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation 1 Montreal Impact  Evan James  MF Â
UNC-Charlotte 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC  Gienir Garcia  D  Cruz Azul 3 New England Revolution Â
Dawyne Smith  MF  Bethel University 4 Toronto FC  Michael Green  MF  New Mexico 5 Chivas USA1
 RJ Allen  D  Monmouth 6 Real Salt Lake2  Andy Rose  MF  UCLA 7 Houston Dynamo3  Brian Ownby
 F  Virginia 8 Portland Timbers  Ryan Kowaluk  MF  Univ.
Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
Joining KYW's Greg Orlandini and PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch on the latest edition of the Philly
Soccer Show podcast is Philadelphia Union first round draft pick Chandler Hoffman.
The UCLA/Generation adidas forward scored 18 goals in 24 games during his last season with the
Bruins, and hopes to bring that scoring touch to PPL Park.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
With the SuperDraft behind us, thoughts now turn to the nitty-gritty of the 2012 Union season.
Naturally, questions arise. Over a two-part series we pose ten questions to our Union beat
reporter, Eli Pearlman-Storch, which began with a look formation, roster depth and leadership roles
within the starting XI in Part 1.
Supplemental Draft
The MLS Supplemental Draft takes place at 2pm ET today. There is plenty of talent available this
year since the SuperDraft was shortened to two rounds. The Union have the 13th selection.
Local club Reading United AC have five players near the top of the Supplemental Draft class:Â
UPenn midfielder Christian Barreiro, Delaware winger Evans Frimpong, Virginia forward Brian Ownby,
West Virginia defender Eric Schoenle and Creighton keeper Brian Holt.
Featured image: Nicolae Stoian
The next edition of the Philly Soccer Show podcast, scheduled to be recorded
tonight, will feature USMNT U-23 coach Caleb Porter and the Philadelphia Union's top pick in
Thursday's SuperDraft, Chandler Hoffman.
Philadelphia Union
Sunderland blog the Roker Report tells fellow SB Nation affiliate the Brotherly Game that team
manager Martin O'Neill responded to a reporter's question about rumors of a possible Michael Farfan
loan by saying people should not read too much "into these things.
Fishtown Hipsters, kicking in the balls. I have to give it to the Russians, they know how to
make surprise moves, even Bobby Fischer wouldn't have seen this one coming. We all were
anticipating a team of skilled bullies in order to break us physically, to get at least one of us
hurt. Instead they went the other way.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
With the SuperDraft behind us, thoughts now turn to the nitty-gritty of the 2012 Union season.
Naturally, questions arise. Over a two-part series we pose ten questions to our Union beat
reporter, Eli Pearlman-Storch, beginning in part 1 with a focus on formation, roster depth and
leadership roles within the starting XI.
cover image courtesy of Philadelphia Independence
Paul Riley and the Philadelphia Independence seemingly got everything they wanted in Friday's
WPS Draft. When I spoke to the coach on Wednesday, he said they would be looking for a striker,
some defensive depth and a goalkeeper, and in their six picks, the Independence added three
strikers, two defenders, and a goalkeeper.
The Philadelphia Independence drafted six players in Friday's WPS draft, with University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen being the top pick. The big question is whether they'll get
her to move over from Bayern Munich, where she's under contract.
The Independence then took UC-Irvine defender CoCo Goodson and Florida State defender Toni
Pressley in the second round, Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger and Portland forward
Danielle Foxhoven in the third, and Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer in the fourth round.
Friday, January 13
9:10pm Estudiantes Tecos vs San Luis Galavision
9:30pm Correcaminos UAT vs La Piedad GolTV
Saturday, January 14
10am Aston Villa vs Everton foxsoccer.tv
10am Blackburn Rovers vs Fulham foxoccer.tv
10am Chelsea vs Sunderland Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Deportes
10am Liverpool vs Stoke City Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.
Now that we've got the men out of the way, it's the women's turn on Friday. The WPS Draft
continues an exciting week of soccer from Kansas City as the Independence look to bolster their
squad moving into 2012.
In speaking with Philadelphia coach Paul Riley this week, it appears the entire starting XI from
last season's WPS Final will be returning to Philadelphia.
Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
It's the MLS Superdraft/WPS Draft edition of the KYW Philly Soccer Show!
In part one, KYW's Greg Orlandini, along with Philly Soccer Page writers Eli
Pearlman-Storch and Mike Servedio, are joined by Philadelphia Daily News writer Kerith Gabriel from
the SuperDraft in Kansas City to discuss the Philadelphia Union's newest members, forward Chandler
Hoffman, midfielder Greg Jordan, and defender Raymon Gaddis.
Philadelphia Union
Are the Union shopping Danny Mwanga, as was reported by Ives Galarcep on Wednesday? "For the
record we are not shopping Danny Mwanga," Diego Gutierrez tells Kerith Gabriel. "A lot of teams are
finding themselves in a tough spot in the market and are looking within the league to
supplement.
Philadelphia Union have figured out the formula to the MLS amateur draft:
Be patient, wait for other teams to screw up, and draft the best player available. When in doubt
late, take a guy who played for Reading United.
The Union did it again this year, so let's talk about it with the proverbial Five Observations
About .
Click here to view the embedded video.
With the 13th pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, the Philadelphia Union selected UCLA striker
Chandler Hoffman. The Hoff had 29 goals and 9 assists in three collegiate seasons, including an
astounding 18 goals and 6 assists in 2011.
An impressive combine performance didn't help Hoffman, who dropped much further than
expected.
PSP will be updating this page with each team's pick as they happen in today's SuperDraft.
Page will auto-refresh every 2 minutes with updates.Â
Check out PSP's pre-draft coverage examining possible Union selections and local players in
this year's SuperDraft.
Round 1 Pick # MLS team Player Position College 1 Montreal Impact 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3 New
England Revolution 4 Toronto FC 5 Chivas USA 6 San Jose Earthquakes 7 D.
Photo: Michael Long
Midfielder Sinead Farrelly has officially agreed to terms to return to the PhiladelphiaÂ
Independence for the 2012 season. Farrelly was a standout at the University of Virginia where she
was a second team All-American and a Hermann Trophy finalist. Â The Havertown-native was
Philadelphia's first pick (second overall) in last season's draft.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
In a conference call on Wednesday, Union assistant coach John Hackworth confirmed that Michael
Farfan is in northern England training with English Premier League club Sunderland. "But with
Michael, he's there because he wanted to make himself fully prepared and ready, he wanted to go
experience it and make sure he's ready for preseason," Hackworth said.
Featured image: Nicolae Stoian
We'll have updates of today's SuperDraft throughout the day as well as reaction to the Union's
selection. On to the news...
Philadelphia Union
Ives Galarcep's mock draft at Fox Soccer has this to say: "The Union are believed to be shopping
forward Danny Mwanga, and even with the recent addition of young Costa Rican forward Josue
Martinez, Philadelphia can use some depth up top.
Philadelphia Union assistant coach John Hackworth spoke to reporters via conference call on
Wednesday night ahead of today's SuperDraft. He discussed the Union's approach to the Players
Combine, the possibility of trades, particularly for an international spot, and how the Union are
in a different position going into the 2012 SuperDraft compared to 2010 and 2011.
Freddy Adu spoke to Arch Bell of ESPN.com and, in a column published Monday, expressed an
interest in returning to Europe immediately.
The money quote from Adu is here: "It would be an amazing opportunity to be able to stay here at
Rayo [Vallecano]."
"I definitely miss playing in Europe," Adu continued, "I always said that when I went back to
MLS, I wanted stability, and that I wouldn't go back until I could play for a top-five league.
The MLS SuperDraft is Thursday, January 12 at 12pm ET (ESPN2, ESPN3). The Philadelphia Union
have the 13th, 32nd and 35th picks this year, and nobody knows
what the team will do. PSP runs down some of the options.
Tony Cascio
What: Winger
Why: Some experts believe the Union will look to solidify their wing play by
adding a player like UConn's Tony Cascio.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
Tweet from SBI: "I'm told Philadelphia Union midfielder Michael Farfan will be heading to
England for a training stint with Premier League side Sunderland." As of this writing, we are
waiting for confirmation from the Union about this report.
Happy birthday, Seba! The Flyin' Frenchman is 28 today. Did you know he's the only remaining
member of the '09 expansion draft class?
The Brotherly Game says an anonymous league source claims the 2012 MLS All-Star game will be in
Philly or Kansas City. Yesterday, Broad Street Hooligans announced that a source within the Union
had illegally discovered that the 2012 MLS All-Star game would be in Philly.
Featured image courtesy of Reading United A.C.
When Major League Soccer teams make their draft picks in Thursday's amateur draft, several
players with local ties are sure to go off the board. You may not have three former Reading United
players go off the board in the first round, as happened last year when that burgeoning soccer
factory churned out C.
While we were waiting for the van Win had to get something off his chest. "Listen," he said with
gravity, "the money is getting huge now. What I want you to know is that, after every game' we can
decide to quit and take the money. Or we can continue to the next game, thereby risking losing it
all.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Philadelphia Union
Broad Street Hooligans says they have "a few connections who work down at PPL" and that these
connections "may have accidentally overheard their bosses super-secret text messages" to the effect
that Philadelphia will host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game.
Photo courtesy of Duke University
Pennsylvania native Andrew Wenger won the Hermann Trophy Friday as the best player in men's
college soccer. The former Reading United and Duke University star is expected to be a top-3 pick
in this month's MLS college draft. Stanford's Teresa Noyola won the women's award.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the past several weeks PSP continued with a review of the 2011
season. We conclude with a review of Peter Nowak's 2011 season.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
With the release of the Union's 2012 regular season schedule, I, along with my colleagues at the
PSP, am buzzing about the prospects of the new season. Just 66 more days (stupid leap year) until
the Union take the pitch in Portland to get Year Three underway. In the meantime, now that MLS has
thrown out last year's balanced schedule (take that purists) we have plenty to talk about with
respect to the construction of the 2012 Union schedule.
Sounder at Heart reacted immediately yesterday to the MLS schedule announcement, posting an
analysis of strength of schedule. They did a great job collecting the data, and concluded that
"Seattle's getting it about as good as you can get it in the West, but of course the league bends
over backwards for the Galaxy once again.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Reaction to the release of the 2012 schedule:
The Goalkeeper notes that the Union is hosting New York and DC twice. "This strikes me as unfair
from a competitive balance standpoint...As such, it would seem to me to make more sense to have
each team host one team once and one team twice.
Friday, January 6
8pm Altamira vs Toros Neza Gol TV
Saturday, January 7
7:30am Birmingham City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.tv
10am Fleetwood Town vs Blackpool Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.tv
10am Swindon Town vs Wigan Athletic foxsoccer.
The 2012 Philadelphia Union schedule was released on Thursday afternoon. After opening the
season in Portland on Monday, March 12 at 9:30pm, the team will open at home against Colorado on
Sunday, March 18 at 4pm.
The Union will finish the season hosting New York on Saturday, Oct. 27.
In the Eastern conference, the Union will play New York, DC, New England and Columbus at home
twice and once on the road.
Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
MLS is scheduled to release the 2012 schedule today at 2pm. We'll post the Union schedule as
soon as it is available.
Who will the Union play in their home opener? After using some logic based on what schedule
details are already known (the Union open the season at Portland on March 12, play in Chicago on
March 24, play in Toronto on May 26 and September 15 while playing host to Toronto on July 7), The
Goalkeeper writes, "I would not be surprised if it is against the New York Red Bulls, the Houston
Dynamo or David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
When Roger Torres joined the Union at the young age of 18 he was an exceedingly raw talent.
Featured image: Courtesy of Dan Morrison and bethlehemsteelsoccer.org
Against the expectation of many in the US, the United States Football Association's first
international tour in Scandinavia in the summer of 1916 had been a great success. The cash-strapped
USFA had come out of the trip in the black—the Swedish FA had paid for the tour thanks to the
backing of a leading Swedish newspaper—and the team had performed well to garner a 3–1–2
record despite having been put together only days before departure to Europe without the benefit of
tryouts.
Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
A leaked copy of Toronto FC's 2012 schedule obtained by Canadian Soccer News shows the Union
traveling to BMO Field on May 26 and Sept. 15, with the Canadian team at PPL Park on July 7. This
unbalanced schedule thing is gonna take some getting used to.
Union
Nick Sakiewicz tells the DelCo Times about starting the Philadelphia Union and how he financed
the first four months of operation on his AmEx. Yikes.
The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association will hand out a Special Achievement Award to Seba Le
Toux at the end of January.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
The Freddy Adu redemption narrative began this year the same way such stories typically begin:
At rock bottom.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
Scouts spend all year watching college players on the field, then they show up at the January
combine and throw it all out the window.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Happy New Year from all of us at the Philly Soccer Page. The Union's first kick is only 70 days
away.
Some New Year Tweets
Philadelphia Union: Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for a memorable 2011...see you in 2012!
#DOOP
Philadelphia Independence: Have a safe and wonderful New Year Independence fans, WPS fans,
Soccer fans!
I'm not going to bother you with my personal issues this time (it's going to be couples
therapy), but my God, what a game.
I told you last week we were at that school, right? Last Saturday we were using that same field,
but now there were at least a thousand people, maybe more. Everybody was dressed up to go to a
fancy AC New Years Party, there was a great atmosphere.
