What was he thinking?

Last night's U.S. Open Cup final had plenty of Southern California interest what with the likes of former Galaxy team members Sigi Schmid, Pete Vagenas and Ezra Hendrickson (as an assistant coach) involved for Seattle and Josh Wicks starting for D.C. United.

Wicks, who seems to have learned from his traumatic experience last year in L.

New Jersey's Sky Blue FC announced the official firing of Head Coach/General Manager Ian Sawyers on Thursday afternoon.

According to the SBFC CEO and President Thomas Hofstetter, "The dissagreements between the coach, team, and management made it impossible to move forward successfully."

Hofstetter goes on to say that the club "needs to maintain the goals, and the atmosphere that is most conducive for [the] team, and be able to focus on building the league.

The Real Colorado Cougars won two games during a three-game swing in Southern California, beating Ventura County and Los Angeles and falling to W-League powerhouse Pali Blues.

Beth West, Becca Mays and Brittney McDonald scored for the Cougars in a 3-1 victory over Ventura County, and Kellyn Farrell, a right midfielder who is a recent graduate of South Dakota State, assisted on all three goals.

Thad over at The Back Post has the breaking news, with the press release coming soon, that Coach Onalfo has been dismissed by the Wizards. The move comes after the Wizards embarrassing 6-0 loss to Dallas on Sunday. Along with Onalfo being let go, assistant coach, Kris Kelderman was also let go. That leaves Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella as the two remaining coaches.

After all the head coaches to pass through with the New York Red Bulls and the MetroStars before them, it is easy to forget who the first man to run the club was.

That man is Carlos Queiroz, current head coach of the Portuguese national team. Although he is currently employed, Portugal's shaky position in World Cup qualifying could mean that Queiroz will be looking for a job in a month.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Philadelphia Union will be selecting its first players in just two weeks when Major League Soccer holds the Expansion Draft and Union head coach Peter Nowak will have his lead assistant coach in place for the draft.

The Union will announce the hire of former U.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola had what we can only imagine was an incredible evening for him, attending the Coldplay concert last night at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium, as one of over 63,000 spectators. Pep, there with his wife Cristina, was recognized and recieved by the fans with a standing ovation before the concert began.

Vancouver Whitecaps officials reportedly held a meeting with Tom Soehn last week, raising the possibility that the former D.C. United skipper could find himself employed by the soon-to-be expansion franchise by the end of the year, according to a report in The Province. The report suggests Soehn is being considered for the role of technical director for the Whitecaps, who will join Major League Soccer for the start of the 2011 season.

The Denver Dynamite's second year in the Professional Arena Soccer League will be marked by change.

The team bounced between venues last year but will play the upcoming season at the Bladium Sports Club.

Joe SaPereira and Mac Howell return as owners but will be joined by Chuck Estrada.

After being asked by a friend from the soccer pitch in Oakland about the LA Galaxy "trialists" (South African midfielder Mark Haskins, Irish defender Fred Murray, and Danish-American midfielder Jamil Fearrington) mentioned in Kyle McCarthy's article at Goal.com (click here for all the details in the original article from June 10th), I found out from the LA Galaxy that all the "trialists" have already left.

By Robert Scorca
Even though I am a very big fan of Miami FC, I am often puzzled by the way they do business. When it comes to the way they are towards the fans and the Miami Ultras they have been great. They have always made me feel special and appreciated. I have not heard any complaints in this area.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The MLS expansion Philadelphia Union has selected its first head coach and it has chosen a man with championship experience and a gritty style perfectly-suited for his new home.

CHICAGO (May 28, 2009) — U.S. Men's National Team assistant coach Peter Nowak has resigned from his position with U.S. Soccer to pursue other career opportunities.
Nowak served as head coach Bob Bradley's top assistant for more than two years, and led the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In Week 19 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Sky Blue FC (NJ) coach walked out on her team, a red card left the Boston Breakers shorthanded, and the two bottom teams pulled off some dramatic upsets. Of all the surprises in Week 19, the drama in New Jersey drew the most attention.

On Thursday, Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey abruptly left the team with no explanation at all.

Earlier today I had the pleasure of speaking with Juan Carlos Hernandez Jr., Vice President, and Cuauhtemoc Rios, Assistant Coach of the Houston Leones. As you know, the Leones are members of the Premier Development League, which is a division of the United Soccer League.

Wednesday night's Saprissa Massacre has to be considered one of the lowest points for the U.S. National Team since returning to the World Cup in 1990, and instead of dissecting that game and breaking down the various reasons for the loss and the various mistakes made by Bob Bradley and his squad, I want to point out that the U.

According to the DC United news source the Soccer Insider Ben Olsen is now considering the option of retirement. As the SI said, the idea was thrown around after last season with his 1 appearance last season.

Olsen is DC United. When you say DC United you think Ben Olsen. One would hope that when Olsen does decide retirement is necessary, he will stay with the club in some capacity.

Chivas USA became the second of five teams to fill their hole at head coach yesterday, when they hired former Chivas USA, L.A. Galaxy and Bayern Munich Assistant Martin Vasquez to lead the squad.

Vasquez (who is on the far right in the adjacent photo) replaces former Chivas USA and current Toronto FC Head Coach Preki at the helm of the Los Angeles club.

Not a lot of former Wizards are playing right now, but there has been some news in regards to former Wizards. First, former Wizards Will John and Carlos Marinelli have been found. John is playing for Croatian second division side NK Vinogradar. Marinelli is back in Argentina now, set to play with CA Aldosivi in the Argentine second division.

Discovered at the age of 10 in New York. In an elite American residency program in Pennsylvania at age 11. Three seasons at FC Metz youth academy in France at 13. A year in Italy as an amateur on AS Livorno's reserves at 17m followed by a spell in Scotland at St. Mirren.

A soccer vagabond by the age of 19, Devann Yao is now back home in New York, and that's where he wants to stay.

Wilmington, NC (May 22, 2009) – Soccer players from around the world are applying to train at the Scuola Calcio, Italian Premier Soccer School's year long academic soccer boarding school in Italy. Students will train daily under the Italian youth coaching staff.
Take a year to experience another country, learn another language, and sharpen your soccer skills and knowledge.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Peter Nowak said farewell to one job on Thursday, setting up his next coaching opportunity, which will begin on Friday.

Nowak officially resigned from his post as U.

The team's celebration in Rome stretched on till morning, three o'clock in fact for most of the players, and Messi, Puyol, Pique, Bojan, Botia and Muniesa partying on until five.
The team was on their flight back to Barcelona the next day, where they landed at the El Pratt airport in Barcelona at five in the afternoon following the Champions League victory.

Barca continues to party as the entire team gathered for their treble celebration dinner at the Grand Hotel La Florida. Bojan was the first to arrive on the scene, followed shortly by Vic, Puyol, Yaya and Titi. The rest of the team came soon after, and Samu was the very last one to make his appearance.

It seems only yesterday that Spain's scintillating Euro performance was being celebrated. Luis Aragones was a big part of the transformation from a chronically underachieving team to world beaters. Aragones was hailed for his use of Marcos Senna, Spain's best kept secret, who went onto becoming the player of the tournament.

For South Korea, the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign is almost over and first place in the group guaranteed. There is still one act to be played out however and it promises to be an intriguing one.
The final game takes place on Wednesday. South Korea have bagged the first of two automatic qualification spots which leaves one up for grabs.

Bob Bradley shook up the US lineup today inserting the young Charlie Davies into the starters and the move payed dividends in the 21st minute were Davies stayed persistent and jammed the ball into the net from the left side of goal. The play used some skill and a lot of heart, something the US had been missing in the games against Brazil and Italy.

Spain were predicted to beat the USA comfortably, but if you took a look at the whole match, anything but occurred

Usually in soccer, USA have nothing to show, but if the Americans showed one thing tonight, however cliché it may be; it's that having a coach who knows his tactics and who knows how his players fit the tactics can prove to be very effective, effective enough to beat the European champions.

Finally, a little commentary by the coaches of AC Milan and LA Galaxy. Leonardo (former fan favorite AC Milan midfielder) primarily spoke on camera about Ronaldinho and fitness, while off camera he spoke about wanting David Beckham back at AC Milan as well as trying a 4-3-3 and other formations for the coming season.

Even Liverpool's normally impassive manager Rafa Benitez could not fail to be moved by the adulation and adoration of the club's local fans during a boat ride along the Singapore River on Saturday.
Benitez, who started the cruise inside the boat politely acknowledging fans through the window, ended up standing at the bow smiling and waving as enthusiastic fans cheered his name, sang songs and waved banners written in his honor.

Walking into Carson stadium for the WPS final, I found myself thinking that a win for Sky Blue would be good for the league, and perhaps even good for the Sol. The WPS needs to get rid of the impression that there is one team that is far and away better than the rest. The playoff structure, which guaranteed a place in the finals for the regular season champs, did that by clearing a path to the final for the Sol, as if they deserved a free pass.

USA 2-2 Costa Rica

It took 95 minuets but the US Mens Soccer team seemed to will themselves into finishing atop their CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying group.

Bryan Ruiz scored a brace within minutes of each other for Costa Rica. Those goals in the 21st and 24th minute of play capitalized on the few chances the Ticos had been allowed up until that point.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

In a move that was long expected, Preki has left Chivas USA after three seasons as head coach.

Preki took over as head coach for Bob Bradley before the 2007 season and guided the team to the playoffs all three seasons.

I never liked John Carver, and I let him know on the occasions I could get close to him, bellowing over a lukewarm beer that he'd long ago lost the plot, especially toward the end of last season. But Carver, like a few other stand-ins over at Toronto FC, was just another cog in the MLSE machine.
Let's tease out the name: Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney wrote about the recent hiring of Chris Cummings by Toronto FC, and how assistant-turned-head coach promotions in Major League Soccer have worked in the past.
At some point, the MLS coaching career of John Carver careened off-course, and whether anyone might have foreseen it happening is no longer an issue.

AMSTERDAM (AP)—Marco Van Basten resigned as coach of Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday after the club failed to qualify for next season's European Champions League.
The 1992 FIFA Player of the Year became coach of the club last July, after he quit as coach of the Netherlands following the European Championship.

Tampere United v FC Honka, Sunday 6:30pm

Tampere United have all the finesse, skill, confidence and panache of a bag of used cat litter right now. Their 1-0 loss to Haka was not an awful performance, but their goalkeeper messes up big time and they lost. he's a young lad and should be replaced, but now Mikko kaven has a knee injury.

Kenya's coach Antoine Hey boycotted the team's trip to Abuja, Nigeria for Sunday's World Cup qualifying match against the Super Eagles, a day after Kenya's players protested over non-payment of their allowances.
Hey arrived at the airport 30 minutes after the plane had taken off, saying he'd been held up in the traffic.

GOAL OF THE WEEK: Rapids striker Omar Cummings is up for voting for MLS goal of the week for his 88th-minute equalizer against Real Salt Lake on Saturday in Utah. Read all about it at the Rapids Undercurrent. And vote for Omar at MLSnet.com.

FORMER RAPIDS PLAYER RETIRING: In Chicago, veteran defender Brandon Prideaux announced that he will retire after this season, his 11th in the league.

Gopher Sports.com - June 12, 2009
Minneapolis, Minn. - University of Minnesota head soccer coach Mikki Denney Wright is pleased to announce the hiring of recent graduate Krystle Kallman as an Assistant Coach. Kallman will replace current associate head coach Kate Cortis who will be getting married on July 11th, 2009 and moving to Denver, Colorado.