Every now and then I read an article that catches me off guard and this is one such piece.
I turns out that the big soccer fashion trend in Cape Town, South Africa, these days is to wear condoms on your feet to keep your socks up.
The need for such an innovated way of using these prophylactics is the result of a lack of proper soccer gear, such as socks with elastic to hold them in place.

Is Juan Toja about to play his final match as a MLS player?
Rumor has it that the longhair midfielder will fly to Romania tonight, after the All-Star match, to finish a deal with Romanian powerhouse Steaua Bucharest.
Then again, it is just a rumor. Accord to FCD coach Schellas Hyndman, "I expect him here to play against LA (on Sunday).

US keeper Brad Friedel has been sold, on condition, to an undisclosed EPL club for £2 million. The deal will only go through if the Rovers land another goalkeeper.
Aston Villa is thought to be the undisclosed team, which also happens to be the club linked with fellow American Brad Guzan.

Canada's sports network TSN reports that "MLS Commissioner Don Garber will lift the original ceiling of 18 franchises and announce Thursday a new expansion plan of not less than 20 and up to 24 franchises by 2013-2014."
They add that, "Vancouver and Montreal are considered expansion priorities for Garber in 2011.

Toronto FC's slump continued last night as they only managed a 1-1 tie against the USL's Montreal Impact. With the point, the Impact won the Nutrilite Canadian Championship and earned a trip to the CONCACAF Champions League Cup, which begins next month.
Now the question is will this win have an effect on a possible move to MLS by Montreal?

Yanks Abroad reports that Landon Donovan's agent failed to deny a Sky Sports report concerning a possible move by the American to the EPL.
They then report this:

Donovan was recently quoted by the English media giant as saying, "The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at.

DC United vs Houston Dynamo
4 June
22 July
23 July?
Why is it that these two clubs can't get this game played? Last month is was rain that canceled it and tonight it is a lack of power. For the second time in about a week, RFK is having power issues and according to the Dynamo's blog, it will prevent the game from taking place tonight.

Peter Nowak has released his 18 man roster for Beijing and there are not a lot of surprises. As expected, Nowak went with Bad Guzan in goal and McBride up top. Both will give the team much needed depth in their positions with McBride providing a little bit more then Guzan.
The overage selection that could benefit the most from this experience is New England's Michael Parkhurst.

The Columbus Crew want to improve their team by bringing in a quality player from Norway's first division. So what's the problem? The player is Pat Noonan.
Noonan left the New England Revolution after the team decided not to offer him a respectable contract extension at the end of last season (they offered him less money then he made in 2007).

It looks like the Dynamo might be about to solve some of their offensive problems as Nate Jaqua has been offered a contract to return to Houston.
Jaqua left Houston during the off season for a spell in Austria, where he put up some great numbers (5 goals in 10 apperiences). Even with these quality results on the pitch, his club decided not to offer him a new contract.

Former Houston Dynamo and Zimbabwe international striker Joseph Ngwenya is on a three week trial with Bayern Munich, which seems to prove a rumor that circulated back in January when Ngwenya moved to Austrian side Kärnten. The rumor had Jurgen Klinsmann 'hiding' Ngwenya in Austria until he took over as manager of Bayern.

The good news that has surround the Wizards over the past week (late win against, and by, Real; comeback win in US Open Cup; re-signing of Josh Wolff) looks to be at an end as the team's management has been accused of "pervasive and regular" sexual harassment.
Kathryn Carver filed the lawsuit on Monday against the Wizards' ownership group OnGoal as well as 'Greg Cotton, executive vice president and general counsel for OnGoal, and Robert Thomson Jr, the company's vice president for marketing and communications.

Last night is the perfect example of why I enjoy the US Open Cup so much. Seeing all these underweight teams try to out punch MLS sides really is enjoyable. Sure, the MLS teams see this as little more then a reserves match, but it is still good fun.
As bad as it is that MLS teams dropped three of the eight games last night, it is actually much better then last season when five top teams fell.

Houston Dynamo 1-1 FC Dallas
In ESPN's continuing effort to deprive soccer fans of the chance to actually watch scheduled events, the sports network pre-emptied the first half of last nights outing due to an overtime basketball game. I understand the need to show the basketball game, but why not throw the MLS match over to ESPN Classic or is the viewing audience for a 15 year old, middle-weight boxing match really so great that it would be a crime to do such a thing?

The two groups have been drawn for Asia's final round of World Cup Qualification. Each group has five teams with the top two from each group advancing to South Africa. The third place teams in the groups will meet in a two-legged playoff with the winner playing the champion of Oceania.
Here are the two groups:
Group A
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Group B
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
North Korea
UAE
Although both groups have their difficulties, it looks to me like Group B is the tougher one since three of the teams made it to Germany in 2006 (S Korea, Iran & Saudi Arabia), plus North Korea is always capable of a surprise.