Part III: The Post-1998 World Cup Breakout
By now, most of the trailblazers had returned home to play in Major League Soccer (MLS); Caligiuri to Los Angeles, Wynalda to San Jose, Harkes to DC United, and Lalas to New England. Nonetheless, the number of American players in Europe exploded to unprecedented numbers with over 20 playing in Germany alone – a combination of established professionals, young players, and journeymen.

Welcome to today's now-typical wrap up of trading/rumor action. For all the trades wrapped up, just as many seem up in the air. What the hell? Let's start with the latter. No, wait. Can't do that. Look at the title...another trap! And I set it for myself. - Steve [...]

Courtesy of our friends of MLS en Espanol.net...
Ante Razov could be heading to Mexico in 2009.
According to this article published on AM.com.mx, Chivas USA's forward Ante Razov would be one of the players Leon wants to have on their roster next season...
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Forbes has put out a list of the best paid benchwarmers in all the major sports. Included in the list are MLS players. The fact that Forbes is including MLS in it's list is definitely a good sign for the league. Jeff Cunningham, Ante Razov, William Conde, and Franco Niell are all on the list. Along with those 4, is Wizards midfielder, Sasha Victorine.

The middle of May is an interesting time in Major League Soccer. The summer transfer window is just weeks away, teams are starting to break away from one another and some clubs are finding out what they did or didn't do right in the offseason. This time of the year is also a big time for [...]

Here's a photo Chivas USA forward Ante Razov with former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey. In the future, when biographers look back on her life, this photo of her with Ante's despicably luxurious mane will mark the exact moment that she went from being "former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey" to "disgraced former beauty queen Shandi Finnessey".

Awhile ago I mentioned MLS originals, I mentioned Jaimie Moreno as one of them. I was wrong. Jaimie came in during the 1996 season, he wasn't with DC United to start the first MLS season. Tony Sanneh isn't playing right now (retired?) so that leaves Chivas USA's Ante Razov and Jesse Marsch as the only one's left.

All sorts of changes tonight for Chivas USA including Dan Kennedy in goal, Claudio Suarez on the bench, Mexican Roberto Nurse making his debut up front and young Kraig Chiles getting a rare start (likely as a withdrawn forward).

The Chivas USA lineup: Kennedy, Jim Curtin, Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein, Francisco Mendoza, Sacha Kljestan, Paulo Nagamura, Chiles, Nurse and Atiba Harris.

A while ago I mention that Jaimie Moreno technically wasn't an MLS original. He joined DC United after the 1996 season was underway. With Tony Sanneh retiring from the game after his 2007 sting with the Colorado Rapids it appears that there are 5 players left that were with the league on it's first day.

Before there was David Beckham in the US, there was Cobi Jones, the real deal. He was a lethal combination of talent, charisma, and oomph.

And before MLS decided to anoint Beckham as the saviour of the sport in this country, Jones was already doing more to bring soccer to everyone.

Five changes for the Galaxy this evening after last week's loss to New England and no wins in the last three games.

Most fans will undoubtedly be pleased to know that even with an ankle injury to central defender Sean Franklin that was announced Wednesday the hapless Abel Xavier is nowhere to be seen.

A common theme for Chivas USA Coach Preki this season has been his grousing that his team doesn't capitalize on their chances.

Well, they did tonight, substitute Ante Razov scoring with an eight-yard header from a nice Sacha Kljestan cross in the 73rd minute for the only goal of the game.

Spent the day columnizing for Tuesday's newspaper about the most popular national team in Southern California - Mexico - which plays an 8 p.m. Wednesday exhibition at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum against Chile.

Fans who want to get an autograph or two from Mexican National Team stars should show up at the adidas Sports Performance store Tuesday on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

Ante Razov scored in the fourth minute off a feed from Sacha Kljestan to give Chivas USA a 1-0 preseason victory against the Red Bulls at Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Yes, that's trialist and former MetroStar Diego Serna on the ball (with Claudio Suarez closing him down).

No, I didn't start sniffing glue.

Yes, I know we lost.

Yes, I know we looked bad.

Alecko Eskandarian and Maykel Galindo played 20 minutes of the match! And for two rusty players that haven't played all season, they looked great! They threatened the defense, made intelligent runs and had a few looks on goal.

ChivaGirls ready to suit up against Houston Dynamo if needed!

Chivas USA take on the Dynamo Wednesday night. Well, half of the Chivas USA will take on the Dynamo while the other half remain on the injury list. Lets do the math.

28 Full squad
-11 Injured
-1 International Duty
_____
16

Sixteen players are healthy and available for the matchup.

NPR is in the building this evening preparing a story on Jorge Flores and tabbed your truly for a quick interview, so I'm a little late with the lineups.

The night's important numbers: the Wizards have won just once on the road this season and and Colorado's 5-4 win over the Red Bulls earlier today means Chivas USA is third in the table and seven points behind Western Conference leaders Houston, which drew 1-1 with Toronto.

Time for another edition of the stock watch in Major League Soccer. People seemed to enjoy the first edition last month, so I decided to bring it back again like I had hoped. Anyways, to refresh your memories on how this all works. Everything including players, coaches, GMs, officials, and whatever else I think of are [.

An event-filled opening 45 minutes saw Chivas USA blow a lead, squander a penalty kick and come in at the half trailing 2-1.

Chivas could and probably should have been up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes, with Sacha Klejstan hitting the bar from 16 yards, wasting a fine Jonathan Bornstein run, who split the Pachuca defense after intercepting a lazy clearance.

Dang. Chivas plays tonight on HDnet at 7:30 pm and I'm planning on catching the game at Coester's in the hopes of seeing Lance Parker in goal. The Wizards game kicks off at 6:30 pm, in DC.

I thought it might be his turn after Dan Kennedy's outing last week against the New England Revolution in the Superliga group stage.

Goalkeeper Zach Thornton made his Chivas USA debut a day after being traded by New York, striker Ante Razov was out injured and the Fire's John Thorrington (Chadwick School) was man of the match as Chicago Saturday downed an unconvincing Chivas USA, 1-0.

How much did Chivas USA miss the midfield creativity and spark of Sacha Kljestan?

Chivas USA take on the Wizards this weekend.

Chivas USA have been struggling to fill the line up, dealing with injuries and suspensions.

There are two people that are considered out for the game, probably the lowest in the season. Raphael Wicky and Alex Zotinca will not be available for the game.

No Ante Razov. No Maykel Galindo. No win. But a valiant effort.

Question: What did Preki et al see in Roberto Nurse?

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm in the middle of moving into residence at York University, which means that this preview is going to be a little shorter than I would like it to be.

Tonight marks the opening match of a home and home series with Chivas USA. Unfortunately for TFC, a home and home includes a road game.

Two teams with shaky defenses=open, entertaining game.

The teams ended the first 45 minutes tied 1-1, but both could and probably should have had more goals than that.

Toronto FC opened the scoring when Rohan Rickets found a streaking Jim Brennan on the right wing with a piercing ball.

The Galaxy has always had a history of former players doing damage in the league. Before, I couldn't figure out if it was bad scouting that led to the release of so many players that did well elsewhere or perhaps just the natural consequence of trades, or maybe just roster limitations that did not allow the Galaxy to keep all of their players.

He may be one of LA's most eligible bachelors but that won't be enough to get him on the field this week. Ante Razov is injured yet again but may be back in time for Chivas USA's final match of the season. I hate to see a guy hurt but it might be better for him if it was an injury that required surgery since chicks dig scars.

The Colorado Rapids have signed Chase Hilgenbrinck. Hilgenbrinck is an American left back that was last plying his trade in Chile. Is this a sign that Fernando Clavijo is looking to repeat the short but successful Dedi experiment? For those that don't know, Dedi was an Israeli left back the Rapids signed in 2005 and moved up to left midfield.

First off, this is a pulsating game, the players being spurred on by a large and boisterous crowd, which makes all the difference.

Chivas USA is leading 2-0 with Ante Razov playing a massive role in creating both, but Paulo Nagamura was sent off after receiving a second yellow card just before the end of the half, likely changing the whole complexion of the game.

So Fortune figures Ante Razov is overpaid, citing his salary relative to his low playing time this year. They're looking at minutes, though, and don't mention that in the 582 he's spent on the field, Razov has a goal and two assists.
Really, in the last game versus Chicago, his old team, Razov's pinpoint passes picked apart the Fire and contributed a huge amount to the win by Chivas USA.

Chivas USA defeated the Earthquakes on Saturday at the HDC. Ante Razov curled a world class ball off a set piece past Joe Cannon and the wall late in the game to provide the only goal.

San Jose was a little tougher than expected, but Yallop has the quakes playing aggressive with pressure.

Thursday's game against the LA Galaxy is just one of a string of big games Chivas USA will have in the coming days. On Sunday, Chivas USA will play Pachuca in the SuperLiga opener for both teams. Then, Santos will visit on Wednesday followed by a match against New England on July 20.
That's four games in 11 days.

The difference in this game is again the easily flustered Galaxy defense, who froze as Sacha Kljestan, proving why he was a deserving pick in today's announced MLS All-Star XI, ran menacingly at them to lay the ball back to Ante Razov, who sent an assured, perfectly-placed strike out of the reach of Cronin for the 113th goal of his career.

Write this one down, file it away and see if it comes true in a couple months. Call me crazy, but when CONCACAF World Cup 2010 qualification begins for the U.S. there's pretty good chance that Ante Razov is considered for some matches. Normally I'm against recalling old players (Razov is 34), but after watching the current Chivas USA forward play he could be useful as a stopgap measure to fill

Even with a fun title like that I must make this a bit quick. Week 16 wasn't the biggest week for any league games, though I'm sure fans in Salt Lake would disagree. But even with the lack of games going on there were a couple guys that stood out and shined above the others. Easily [...]

In their short history, Chivas USA has gone through quite a bit. For a while, every positive thing was a first: the first win, the first winning streak, the first time they were over .500, the first time they were top of table, etc.
Still, in Year Four, those string of firsts is not stopping.

Welcome to the beautiful Titan Stadium for tonight's SuperLiga (and I use the word beautiful loosely). I tried to get pictures of both teams before the match but only New England gathered for a team shot. Perhaps Chivas players were too focused on the game...
Here are the starting lineups:
Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.

The charity events MLS teams do (like golf tournaments) are hosted by sponsors, so players have to show up, but it's also a time for teammates to bond outside of the regular grind of practice.
Lance Parker poses on the course with the energy drink models.
Bobby Burling gets in the buffet line.

Tomorrow night we get a rematch of last years first round playoff game between the Wizards and Chivas USA. Like last year, Chivas will be without a few of their first team players. Both Ante Razov and Claudio Suarez are questionable for the game with injuries. Sacha Kljestan will also miss the game for the Goats, as he's in China for the Olympics.

Five changes for Chivas USA tonight with a Tuesday CONCACAF preliminary round game looming Tuesday in Panama as Coach Preki tries to rest some starters, while defender Cary Talley is the latest to join a long injury list with a thigh strain. Six players are still out including striker Maykel Galindo

Zach Thornton is in goal, while Jim Curtin replaces Claudio Suarez as the long defensive change.