photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

Conmebol's Copa America is the oldest international continental tournament in soccer, and 2016 will mark its 100th birthday.

That could also be the year that many American soccer fans have a dream come true.

According to Mexican outlet mediotiempo.

The time has come for us to try and resurrect my old pet project, the Musket Rounds. Musket Rounds are a morning round-up of the important links in the world of the New England Revolution and American soccer in general. I draw these stories from my google reader, for the most part - if any of you read a publication that gets little love here, let me know in the comments and I'll RSS it for future consideration.

If you're a fan of the "wobble wobble" aka dubstep and American soccer you're going to love this new video by Jimmy Diebold playing with the lights at Century Link Field, the home stadium for Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders (and some silly NFL team, too).
Just splice some goal highlights, Kasey Keller saves, or some player running up-field making some ball moves to the music and you've got something even sexier.

One thing American soccer fans, especially MLS fans, obsess over is attendance statistics. In the general public we are a minority "niche" sport, casual Americans don't care, steeped in foreign-ness and all things immigrant. Never mind that high school participation has not seen a decrease since it was first tracked and soccer is the number 5 sport in high school for boys and girls (the girls are soon to take #4 away from softball).

We took in the United States Women's National Team international friendly against New Zealand in Frisco, Texas this past weekend. A pair of Alex Morgan late goals spared the Lady Nats blushes, but as always, when American soccer is on tap there's no question it was a good time.
We were joined at the tailgate by member several area chapters of the American Outlaws (Dallas-Forth Worth, Oklahoma City, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio)the San Antonio soccer supporters group, the Crocketteers (a NASL, the Scorpions starts play this season), and members of several FC Dallas supporters groups.

Saturday Everton - Blackpool 9:30am - Fox Soccer Landon Donovan's last game for Everton, with their schedule empty for the rest of the month after their Premier League game against Liverpool was postponed. Relegated from the Premier League last season, Blackpool are currently 4th in the Championship.

Inspired by the recent story at The Sporting News regarding Eric Wynalda, his engagements over Twitter and some small parallels between Kasey Keller and Wynalda as vocal players, Sounder at Heart conducted a 30-odd-minute conversation with the US Player of the Decade for the 1990s. It quickly became apparent that the topics would be far reaching, circling back and then shooting off in another direction.

One way to get your product introduced to a specific market is to hire a brand ambassador that is well known and carries a certian level of name recognition in the market you are targeting. That must explain the latest celebrity/athlete endorsement between former U.S. Soccer star Alexi Lalas and El Jimador Tequila.

Strike one up to the power of social media. The Wizards MLS Cup 2000 trophy has been found. After Sporting Times article a few weeks ago regarding the fate of the 2000 trophy, the question on where the trophy was has circled through not only the KC soccer community but had started to go through the MLS community as well.

The @BestSoccerShow's Jared Dubois says American soccer went pop when it should have went hip-hop.

If you are lucky to live long enough, you get the scary gift of watching the decades go by before your eyes.

Green Day went saccharin in a hurry...as did US Soccer says Jared DuBois.

The Montreal Impact announced on Friday that more than 25,000 tickets were already sold for the home opener at Olympic Stadium, March 17, against the Chicago Fire.

The Impact are hoping to create a new record for attendance at the Olympic Stadium with additional sales leading up to the home opener.

If you're a fan of American soccer and have ears then you need to be listening to "The Best Soccer Show" with Jason Davis and Jared DuBois on the North American Soccer Network.
Each Monday and Wednesday (a live show) the pair ruminate on the American game, players, news, views, and get some great interviews with personalities in and around the sport.

Josh Gatt is not a player many American soccer fans have seen play, but he is already considered one of the best young Americans playing in Europe.

The speedy Michigan native has enjoyed an outstanding start to his professional career, going from 18-year-old newcomer to 20-year-old transfer target, having already made one upward move from Austrian club SCR Rheindorf Altach to Norwegian champions Molde.

Featured image: Courtesy Dan Morrison and bethlehemsteelsoccer.org

The 1913-14 season saw the launch of the National Challenge Cup, the competition now known as the US Open Cup, by the recently founded United States Football Association. While the National Challenge Cup would quickly become the singular competition for the title of Champion of the United States, the American Cup tournament had been founded in 1885 by the American Football Association, the first soccer governing body in America.

Amazingly enough, Footiebusiness is about to start its 4th year of covering the business of American soccer. It has been a great ride and one that I hope to continue to enjoy and improve. When I started the site, I had no idea how long it would last, whether there was any interest in the business aspects of American soccer or whether anyone would read what I wrote.

Controversy Surrounds MLS' Home Grown Rule | College Soccer Recruiting News

This is part two of a two part series with Real Salt Lake's GM and an agent that has negotiated an HGP deal. More light is getting shined on this rapidly developing portion of the American soccer system every couple of weeks.

Images courtesy of the man himself, Lance Parker.

Footballer and male model, Lance Parker, is obviously cool with posing in his underwear.

Coincidentally, we are too.

Since he seemed down for our interview games and uncontrollable flirting tactics, we decided to spice up our Q&A style a bit.

While Major League Soccer teams head into the final weeks of preseason and players in the North American Soccer League and USL PRO teams are finalizing their 2012 plans, Aaron Hohlbein (Middleton/UW) is in Madison working to get healthy and hoping for a shot with one of those teams later this season.

American soccer lost a bit of its history last week with the passing of Harry Keough, a member of the US National Team side that shocked England in the 1950 World Cup.

Last season, Scott Lorenz (UW) spent time with the NSC Minnesota Stars, who went on to win the inaugural North American Soccer League title.

Now the defender has joined the team the Stars beat to win the championship: The Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

"Scott is an attacking player who we feel can play in defense and in the midfield," Strikers coach Daryl Shore said in a news release Monday.

Last week the USSF announced changes to the structure of the developmental academy system. The two primary changes were a shift to a nationwide 10-month season (USSoccer.com) and a top-down forced choice between high school soccer and the Academies (TopDrawerSoccer.com). These changes are part of the national federation's continued quest for improvement and are extensions from the establishment of the Academy system and growing MLS HomeGrown Player rules (both SBNation.

Evan though Mondelo talks about partnering with a lower division league, he is still careful in stating if or when it will happen, pointing out stability of those leagues as a major stumbling block. "Ideally, could there be an affiliation with the NASL? Maybe?" Mondelo said. "Maybe that is a way of increasing the number of teams that are participating in the reserve league and making the competition more meaningful.

U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Caleb Porter has named his 23-player roster for a 10-day training camp in Frisco, Texas. The roster includes the Chicago Fire's Sean Johnson so this means Johnson will be out between February 19 to March 1 and more.

The only other goalkeeper in camp will be D.

Time for some quick hitters from the world of soccer business. The Sports Business Journal is reporting that the Soccer Stadium, a network of soccer specific venues (made up of a number of MLS franchises and the Rochester Rhinos), has realized some significant success though its effort to jointly book concerts.

John Harkes, lifting the first MLS "Cup"Seventeen years ago seems like a long time. In soccer history, though, it is just a drop in the bucket. For Major League Soccer seventeen years means everything.
In 1996 our domestic league was in its infancy. A Washington D.C. club with a European-sounding "United" slapped on the end faced off against the "Galaxy" (an American sports team name if you've ever heard one) of Los Angeles on a soggy football field in Boston, Massachusetts.

By Dario Camacho - MIAMI, FL (Feb 17, 2011) US Soccer Players -- If you're an American soccer fan, we can add the debate about the Major League Soccer schedule to a list of absolutes that includes items like single-entity and the quality of officiating. Fans and pundits alike want to offer critiques, alternatives, and defenses.

When it comes to soccer in the United States, Ralph Perez has 'been there, done that'.
Kevin Baxter writes about the coach who has seen and done just about everything in soccer.
Choose any significant soccer event in Southern California over the last 38 years, and chances are Ralph Perez was there.

Of These Three, Only Hertzog RemainsIn what can only be considered a surprising move, the New York Red Bulls announced today that they have waived homegrown signings Matt Kassel and Sacir Hot. Both players had been signed by RBNY in 2011, though only Kassel managed to get a handful of first team minutes during the course of the regular season.

The last full week of February is upon us and the MLS season is just three weeks away. Here are some business stories from the weekend to get your Monday off to a great start. In San Jose, plans to build a $60 million stadium for the Earthquakes is continuing to creep forward. According to this article from the Mercury News, the stadium plan is set for a final vote on Wednesday night by the local Planning Commission.

The United States National Team roster for Olympic qualifying features twenty-three young players who capture the inventiveness and the vitality of contemporary American soccer. Each of the twenty-three players answered a brief questionnaire about there past, present, and future. Our editors have included highlights from the Q & A and also links to their stories.

When the Minnesota Stars won the 2011 North American Soccer League championship cup last fall we're sure they weren't thinking they'd be able to drink a beer made especially for them when their title defense kicked off the following spring.
The Twin Cities-based Northern Brewer, a home brewing store with over 17 years experience and the web's number one retailer of home brewing supplies, just announced a partnership with the club that will put a Stars-specific beer in the hands of their supporters.

Back before the first ever Seattle Sounders FC match in 2009, it was fairly clear who the veteran leaders would be -- Kasey Keller, Nate Jaqua, Tyrone Marshall and Peter Vagenas. Each had long careers and, except for Keller, those careers were primarily in MLS. Just three seasons later, none of those players are on the roster.

The Philadelphia Union were busy filling out their roster on Tuesday.

The Union signed five players -- 2012 MLS SuperDraft picks Greg Jordan and Ray Gaddis, Supplemental Draft picks Antoine Hoppenot and Krystian Witkowski and journeyman backup goalkeeper Chase Harrison -- bringing the number of players on the senior roster to 25 while providing depth at a number of positions.

Like it? We made it. NBC... call us!
The new NBC Sports Network just keeps cranking out the fantastic Major League Soccer promos for the upcoming 17th season. Whoever is behind them in the NBC marketing department is nailing it.
Each of the ads we've seen now have really touched a chord with us and the greater American soccer community.

The second episode of the monthly Pitch Invasion podcast, focused on North American soccer, features interviews with DC United General Manager Dave Kasper on the club's upcoming MLS season and general development, and a conversation with Jeremy Wright of the Timbers Army, discussing the growth and future of supporter culture in Portland and nationwide following the recent Independent Supporters Council conference hosted in the Rose City.

Pitch Invasion Podcast: Episode 2

"The second episode of the monthly Pitch Invasion podcast, focused on North American soccer, features interviews with DC United General Manager Dave Kasper on the club's upcoming MLS season and general development, and a conversation with Jeremy Wright of the Timbers Army, discussing the growth and future of supporter culture in Portland and nationwide following the recent Independent Supporters Council conference hosted in the Rose City.

One of American soccer's most storied and celebrated names returns in 2012 as the (new) NASL's Tampa Bay team recently re-acquired its traditional name and logos after a protracted legal battle. The original Rowdies were my first soccer love, the team of my youth, my pride and joy and the Bay area's first major professional team and "a kick in the grass" from 1975 until they folded in 1993.

The one thing we love more than drinking beer and watching some soccer is being able to share said beer with people. We do it all the time and so do the fine men and women that subscribe to the of the Free Beer Movement Philosophy. We share our beer with our friends, family, and co-workers who desperately need some education on the soccer front to understand the passion that drives our connection to the sport of soccer.

"I'm just as surprised as you all are that I'm coming back."Editor's Note: With all due respect and a thousand plaudits to "Dirty Tackle" (It's only fair... they spun off one of our series, too) we present the potentially true life and times of America's favorite soccer commentator, John Harkes.

By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 28, 2011) US Soccer Players -- American soccer is currently in the midst of a new policy of, for lack of a better word, "openness." Specifically, in regards to the United States National Team where head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is making every effort to explain his ideas often and at length to anyone that is willing to listen.