It's not all that surprising that an American scored at Goodison Park on Wednesday. After all, Everton's match against Bolton marked Landon Donovan's return to the Toffees. Thing is, Donovan wasn't the one to find the back of the net.

In open play, goalkeeper Tim Howard unleashed a long kick from his own box that took a perfect bounce from about 25 yards out and got carried by a furious wind over Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan into the goal.

The Anfield tabby who made an appearance in the Liverpool vs Spurs match has become a major sensation like Susan Boyle, out of nowhere. Probably the most exciting event in that match other than Luis Suarez's kick to Scotty Parker's stomach that sent the Spurs midfielder to the ground grovelling in pain.

Simon Dawkins found himself as a surprise inclusion in Spurs 25 man squad list but any hopes of an appearance in the Tottenham first team this season have been ended with news of another loan spell in the MLS.

Simon has returned to San Jose Earthquakes, the side he played for last season and while Spurs fans are unclear as to what the 24 year old could offer his parent club, Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop is delighted to welcome him back.

And, ladies and gents, we have our first real goal of the year frontrunner. Seattle's own Fredy Montero makes a flash appearance with a thunderclap from on high to set the final score at 2-0 in a tone-setting win over the Galaxy. Watching this game tonight made me wonder whether Bruce Arena conceded defeat before the opening whistle blew.

Of the players that are expected to leave this summer, there was only certainty around the departure of Fabio Aurelio. Today it's been widely reported that he'll head back to Brazil on a free transfer to join Gremio, where he'll surely see out the final days of his playing career. We've said goodbye to the player once before, which makes this a less traditional farewell post, but he's still deserving of a mention for the impact that he made during his time with Liverpool.

I may be getting phone ear, but it allowed me to hear many interesting things along my travels through the back corridors the last few days - much more than I let drop in this week's summer transfer window preview Postcard. Let's spill a few more items... Not exactly a great secret at this point, but it does from all appearance seem that Terrence Boyd is heading to Rapid Vienna very shortly.

It's being reported today that Liverpool have agreed a deal with Sporting Lisbon for their young midfield starlet Joao Carlos Teixeira, in a deal believed to be worth £1million.

Young Teixeira has impressed while playing in the NextGen series, scoring against Liverpool in the process.

While he hadn't made a first team appearance yet for Sporting, he is highly rated in Portugal and has already been compared to Deco.

Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. Have your name in the book as an official sponsor. Updated information here

By Walter Broeckx

With Nico Yennaris making his debut against Leeds in the FA cup this month and making another appearance as a substitute against Manchester United we have seen another youngster making [.

Welcome to the Friday Crackovia Club, where it's always a party in here before the weekend! Of course, Crackovia is one of the most craziest football sketch shows from Catalonia and this week was all about Barcelona's quest to slow down Madrid using some insane dressing room rituals.

Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com

The pieces are in place for it to be the weekend of the landmark appearance for Americans across Europe.

After Tim Ream was named to Bolton's matchday roster and Charlie Davies was named to Sochaux's, West Ham announced that centerback George John will be part of the 20-man traveling party for the club's match at Peterborough United on Saturday.

Shane Ferguson came on in the second half on Saturday for his 4th appearance in a Newcastle United shirt this season. Shane Ferguson in action on Saturday Shane came in for the injured Jose Enrique last year, about this time, and showed what a good young player he is. And on Saturday he went out on the left wing, with Argentine Jonas Gutierrez moving over to the [.

As we all know, tonight the Portland Timbers will take on southern California side Chivas USA is round 2 of the Timbers' tournament. Tonight is an important game for both the Timbers and Chivas USA as each will want to prove that Monday's performance was a fluke, not a trend. Not to say the Timbers were terrible, but their performance left something to be desired.

Jaguares striker Jackson Martinez has Claimed that European giants Liverpool are pursuing for his signature. It is rumored Liverpool are willing to make a bid around €12 million for Colombian forward in the Summer.

Porto are also rumored to be interested in the striker, which is probably an indication as to Hulk's short-term future, but Liverpool's scouts have apparently been a permanent fixture at Jaguares games for some time now.

By Chris Wright

"£90? I don't even get out of bed for less than a ton!"

As you may be aware, God has been by the seaside these past few weeks, as Robbie Fowler has been training with Blackpool with his eyes firmly set on securing a permanent deal with the Championship club.

After sacking Claudio Ranieri on Monday, Inter named youth team coach Andrea Stramaccioni the club's caretaker manager. At the press conference to announce this change and introduce Stramaccioni, there was an interruption. And of course that interruption was Mario Balotelli.

With nothing to do between matches with Man City (aside from training or handing out money to homeless people), Mario decided to stop by his old club to congratulate the coach, even though Stramaccioni took over the Primavera squad after Mario was already with Man City.

Check out his latest ad released today (also with a brief Lionel Messi appearance) for a new line of running shoes that adidas describes as "ultra-breathable and fashion-forward adidas ClimaCool Seduction (that) features 360-degree ventilation to keep feet cool and dry for maximum comfort during warmer spring and summer workouts.

By Chris Wright

Coming on the very same day as his impromptu appearance in new Inter Milan coach Andrea Stamaccioni's introductory press conference, here we see Mario Balotelli - armed with little more than an off-camera bottle of water- coming to the aid of a young man collapsed in a car park

April Fools?

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't usually come across as someone who pays to much attention to their appearance, but this cartoon offended even him. Confronted with a caricature of himself to sign, the Portuguese attacker does a double-take. He says: "Is this me? My God. Very ugly, yeah?" But he pops his autograph on [.

By Chris Wright

Alessandro Del Piero still has magic in them thar boots as his brilliantly disguised free-kick winner against Lazio (Juventus are now one point clear of AC Milan at the top of Serie A) on his 700th appearance for the Old Lady last night will duly demonstrate.

The section of the world that the U.S. is competing in allows for three countries to automatically qualify for World Cup 2014 in Brazil. The U.S. competes with other countries from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Manchester United were tonight crowned Reserves League North champions. The lads needed just three points from their remaining five games but after going 3-0 down to Newcastle Reserves tonight, it looked unlikely that the title would be wrapped up tonight.

However, after four goals from Will Keane, one each from Ritchie De Laet and Davide Petrucci, our Reserves were named champions with a 6-3 win.

It's power vs. power as Bayern Munich takes on Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal matchup (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).

For Bayern Munich, maintaining their blistering home form is crucial if they want to entertain thoughts of returning to Allianz Arena for next month's final and become the first team to play for a European cup title at its home stadium since Roma did in 1983.

During a match against Montanesa in the Spanish fourth division, 24-year-old Espanyol B striker Bubacar Njie Kamba (known as Bacari) pulled off a beautiful variation of the backheel you don't often see.

Bacari made the most of a pass that came in behind him as he made his run into the box by flicking his leg up behind him and getting off a shot that floated over his head, over the outstretched keeper and landed gently in the goal.

By Alan Duffy

Super Michael patiently waits for his moment of glory...

Manchester United fans worried that your beloved team's grip on the Premier League trophy may be loosening? Well don't fear, because boy wonder Michael Owen is here.

Bright Dike practiced with the Timbers today in what could be his final appearance with the team in 2012. Word from practice is that Dike will go on a season long load to the LA Blues of the USL Pro division as was rumored on twitter yesterday. Dike will still take up a spot on the Timbers roster and will be able to be recalled to the team if necessary.

Around 400 Athletic Bilbao fans are believed to have missed their side's Europa League final appearance after getting their European capitals muddled. The barmy Basques turned up in the Hungarian capital Budapest expecting to see their team take an Atletico Madrid, only to discover that the match was taking place 500 miles away in Bucharest, [.

Another match, another dazzling display off the bench for Steven Gerrard. Only this time it led to three points, with the captain once again changing the complexion of a match with his introduction. Like the appearance against Blackburn, the boost was both sentimental and practical, with a notable change in confidence and quality in the side.

The Cordell Cato v Mrisho Ngassa "battle" may not exist at all. Word out of Mrisho Ngassa's Tanzanian club (Azam FC) is that they will release him to Seattle Sounders FC on a free. After purchasing him for a national record 40 thousand dollars this would be a huge move for a club in a relatively poor footballing region.

More than a year since his last appearance in a US jersey, New England midfielder Benny Feilhaber is aiming to re-establish his place on the team and carve out a place in Jurgen Klinsmann's system.

What started as a rumor on the ECS message board can now be confirmed: Brad Evans has been called into the United States national team camp as they prepare for games against Venezuela and Panama later this month. The source was of the confidential variety, but I can assure you that it's highly reliable and is someone who is in position to know.

Wojciech Szczesny has apologised for a Twitter update in which he said team-mate Aaron Ramsey looked "like a rapist". The 21-year-old was responding to a photo of Ramsey attending a golf event. Clearly unimpressed with the Wales captain's appearance, he wrote: "I don't wanna be rude mate but you look like a rapist on that [.

Most of the current group in Carson, Calif. has U-23 MNT Camp experience. Many of the players have been in one camp under Caleb Porter (December in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) and were part of the first U-23 Camp (November in Duisburg, Germany). The group isn't entirely the same, however, and one of the new-ish faces in U-23 MNT Camp this time is Joshua Gatt.

Good signing for Everton today as they picked up midfielder Darron Gibson from Manchester United for a reported £1million with a further £1million in appearance-related bonuses.

David Moyes gets a 24-year-old international who made 60 appearances for United, but never was able to grab a regular starting position.

Barca beat Real Betis as midfield maestro Xavi making his 400th appearance for the Catalunyans scored the opening goal. Leo Messi fresh of his third Ballon D'Or scored two. Betis made it a game but Barca's victory means they are within five points of league leaders Real Madrid. Keeping fingers crossed.

A couple photos of Michael Thomas. Sporting KC acquired the right of first refusal to Thomas earlier today for a fourth round Supplemental Draft pick. Presumably he will be signed soon. Last year Thomas trained with Sporting KC and even made an appearance in a reserve match as the often seen but rarely named "Trialist 1".

The club website sprang into action again yesterday afternoon and highlighted a double strike for our forgotten man John Bostock as a strong Spurs XI demolished a weaker Celtic side by four goals to one at the Lodge.

Perhaps it was more telling that John had started the game on the subs' bench and only came into action after an injury to Cameron Lancaster, who had opened the scoring in the 18th minute.

Player news is starting to pick up a little bit for Sporting KC. The team today made two announcements on player news, and a new rumor has cropped up on another player.
First, after the announcement yesterday of the trade for Michael Thomas' rights, the team today announced that they had signed the Olathe native to a contract.

It's the latest, and greatest, episode of Seeing Red: The NY Soccer Roundup. This week is Mark Fishkin and Dave "The Emperor" Martinez have none other than NY Red Bulls President of Business Operations Chris Heck. Mr. Heck makes a massive 40 minute appearance here and lots of topics (Season Tickets, Harrison lawsuit, the 2012 schedule, Cosmos, etc.

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has acknowledged that Manchester City's continued hold on the Premier League's top spot is impressive but warned the Citizens that "funny things can happen" between now and the end of the season.

Scholes, 37, came out of retirement earlier this month and has since played a part in each of United's three victories, the latest being a substitute appearance in the 2-1 win away to Arsenal yesterday.

On Sunday night IMS reported that the Soccer USA stores in the Twin Cities and Austin, Texas had the appearance of a failed business. The store had evidently shut down Sunday evening, January 15th after its Sunday shift. On Monday afternoon, Soccer USA released a statement via email, concerning their Burnsville and Blaine stores.