While the players take a break from club duty for the midweek international friendlies, there's a lot going on with the U.S. players in Europe. Here's a quick rundown:

• Jozy Altidore and Steve Cherundolo are still alive in the Europa League, each reaching the Round of 32 that begins March 8, with AZ taking on Udinese and Hannover traveling to Standard Liege.

University of Virginia midfielder Morgan Brian, former Soccer America Freshman of the Year and Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year, along with her college teammate Oliva Brannon have been named to the roster of the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team for the upcoming 2012 CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship.

photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Gale Agbossoumonde has accomplished quite a bit in his young career. At 20 years of age, Agbossoumonde has already received his first senior national team cap, played in Europe and won a U.S.

Natalie Kulla has finished her soccer career and moved on to the next step in her life, but she keeps winning awards.

The former Marquette goalkeeper, who finished her career last fall ranked second in NCAA Division I history with 43 shutouts, was named the 2011-12 Big East Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Photos by ISIphotos.com

U.S. national team stars Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have not shared a field together since the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, but Friday they are slated to do so -- as opponents.

Everton and Fulham meet in a fourth-round FA Cup match at Goodison Park, and Fox Soccer Channel has picked up the 3 p.

STARTERS
US Soccer has named Clint Dempsey as the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year. And Brek Shea was named the Young Male Athlete of the Year.
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Richie Williams, the original Ankle Biter, has been named the new head coach of the USA U17 team. He had been serving as coach of the U18s, so I guess they are looking for a new boss now.

Two weeks ago Clint Dempsey made headlines with his first career hat trick, hitting the back of the net three times in Fulham FC's 4-0 FA Cup Third Round win over Football League One (English second division) side Charlton Athletic.

Now, just a day after being named 2011 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year, Dempsey is in the news again, with another three goal performance.

The United States Soccer Federation announced on Friday its end of year awards, with the highest honors of Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year going to US nationals Clint Dempsey and Abby Wambach. Young Male Athlete of the Year and Young Female Athlete of the Year, which can only be [.

It looks more and more likely with each passing day that Andrey Arshavin will pack up his boots and leave London during the summer, likely back to Russia with Zenit St Petersburg, where he's still considered a hero. In fact, it seems all of Russia regards Arshavin as some kind of football genius since he was named that nation's athlete of the year again for the fourth time running and is still the captain of his country's team.

*UCLA product Sydney LeRoux and Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach were named by U.S. Soccer as the Young Female Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year respectively. Brek Shea and Clint Dempsey won the corresponding awards for male players. All the award winners were picked by fans

Photo by ISIphotos.com

After turning in a dynamic year for the U.S. men's national team, Clint Dempsey being named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year should come as a surprise to nobody.

Dempsey turned in perhaps his finest year as a professional for both club and country.

On Friday, the United States National Team announced their Athlete of the Year award winners. On the men's side, Clint Dempsey won the Athlete of the Year award with Brek Shea winning the Young Player award. Abby Wambach and Syndey LeRoux won the women's awards. Dempsey also won the Futbol De Primera award, the other player of the year award associated with the United States National Team.

Here is one for you: Andrey Arshavin has become the athlete of the year for the fourth year in a row according to a body known as the all-Russian public opinion research center. No, I am not making this up (for once). It says so, here, in black and white on AA23′s very own website.

Now, I really want to like our little Russian.

The candidates for the 2011 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year are as good as ever and truth be told, all five would be deserved winners.
Who are you voting for?
Maybe these videos will help you make up your mind, or maybe not. After all, you can vote once a day!
Lauren Cheney: Breakout Star


Ali Krieger: Right Back, Right Time


Hope Solo: Golden Glove Winner


Abby Wambach: Ms.

Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) earned one of the most prestigious awards from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

The Creighton senior forward, a consensus All-American who was the leading scorer for the NCAA College Cup semifinalist Blue Jays, was named the NSCAA men's Collegiate Scholar Athlete of the Year.

For the first time ever the Associated Press has named a soccer player as their Athlete of the year. U.S. Women's National Team player Abby Wambach was announced today as the winner of this years award voted on by a panel of writers. The 31-year-old received 65 of the 214 votes cast, while teammate Hope [.

Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/ISIphotos.com

Abby Wambach's penchant for coming up big in the FIFA Women's World Cup this past summer has earned her more individual acclaim six months later.

Wambach was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year Tuesday, becoming the first soccer player -- male or female -- to win an individual year-end award from the AP.

Women's soccer

Abby Wambach is the AP's 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. Come on, WPS. Capitalize on this!

The USWNT will face Denmark, Norway and World Champions Japan in the 2012 Algarve Cup, which runs Feb. 29-March 7 in Portugal.

THE Val Henderson has a great article up on ESPN-W about Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson traveling to India to start a clinic and mentoring program.

Abby Wambach is the first ever individual soccer player to win AP's Athlete of the Year.
Abby Wambach has just made history, as she became the first individual soccer player in the history of the award (since it began in 1931) to win the Associated Press's Female Athlete of the Year.

Courtesy TribeAthletics.com
Mon, December 19, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. - Another week, another award for William and Mary Tribe women's soccer standout Mallory Schaffer, as the junior midfielder was honored as the CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's soccer, the conference office announced on Monday.

The U.S. Men's National Team has completed the 2011 campaign, finishing on a high note with an entertaining 3-2 victory against Slovenia in Ljubljana. Along with the introduction of Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach, there were a few key highlights:

• Clint Dempsey finished with a team-high five goals
• Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard finished with team-high 15 starts, the most appearances in a year in each of their careers
• Bocanegra became the 12th player in U.

The U.S. Men's National Team has completed the 2011 campaign, finishing on a high note with an entertaining 3-2 victory against Slovenia in Ljubljana. Along with the introduction of Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach, there were a few key highlights:

• Clint Dempsey finished with a team-high five goals
• Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard finished with team-high 15 starts, the most appearances in a year in each of their careers
• Bocanegra became the 12th player in U.

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Luis Gil is well aware of the hype. As a 17-year-old whose uncanny skill and composure on the ball has drawn the attention of such European titans as Arsenal and Real Madrid, it would be hard not to be.

The always exciting Swedish international has announced to the world that he plans to leave professional football for good in the fall of 2014 when his contract with Milan runs out.

Although Ibra has set the date for his retirement, he has also set the bar high for his achievements with AC Milan over next few years as to not let down his supporters too much.

Now in its 26th year of honoring the nation's elite high school athletes with the Gatorade Player of the Year award, The Gatorade Company presented the ninth annual Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards to the nation's best overall male and female high school athletes this evening.

In the female category, senior Morgan Brian of Frederica Academy received the 2010-11 Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year award at a dinner reception in Los Angeles.

When we visited Shannon Boxx in her hometown(s), it was a beautiful day in Los Angeles. Boxx grew up in Torrance and Redondo Beach, and currently lives in the South Bay, which is one of the best spots in many, many great spots in Southern California.
We visited her at her apartment during a rare respite from the road where she talked about the travails of a professional soccer player.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The National Soccer Hall of Fame inducted Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, Earnie Stewart, Bruce Murray and Bob Gansler in a ceremony held at Showcase Live in Foxboro on Saturday. Jones, Pope and Stewart were inducted in the player category, while Murray was inducted on the Veteran's ballot and Gansler was inducted as a builder.

Congratulations are in order for U.S. U-18 MNT midfielder Luis Rendon, who was named the 2011 Gatorade Player of the Year by The Gatorade Company and ESPN RISE last week. Rendon, who is currently with the U-18s in Portugal, and earned an assist in today's 1-1 draw against the Netherlands and has been part of the U-18 pool since late 2010.

GERMANTOWN, MD - Former college standout and W-League Champion Cindi Harkes has been named as the first assistant coach of D.C. United Women, joining head coach Michael Jorden in leading the new W-League team when it begins its first-ever season in May.
"Cindi is a top-class coach with extensive experience helping young women develop into outstanding soccer players," said D.

Courtesy TribeAthletics.com
Mon, April 04, 2011
Williamsburg, Va. (April 4, 2011) -- Former William and Mary Tribe women's soccer great Missy Wycinsky-Pruden will be part of a six-member class being inducted into the College's Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday evening.

Virginia Beach, Virginia - The W-League Piranhas are pleased to announce the signings of Brazilian forward Janaina Novaes from Lee University and England's center mid Elisha Fry from Lindsey Wilson College. Both internationals have earned NAIA First-Team All-American honors. They join the Piranhas subject to USL and USSF approval.

RICHMOND, VA – (Tuesday, March 15, 2011) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the signing of midfielder Shaka Bangura for the 2011 season after identifying him at the Kickers 2011 Combine earlier this month.
"We were impressed with Shaka's power, pace and ability to open up defenses," comments Leigh Cowlishaw, Richmond Kickers Head Coach and Director of Soccer.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Union

Alejandro Moreno discusses his departure from the Union. Clearly hurt at being let go, he is nevertheless one class act and ever the gentleman. Which you knew already after listening to the interview KYW and the PSP did with him on the Philly Soccer Show.

Williamsburg, Va. - The honors continued to roll in for the William and Mary Tribe men's soccer team on Thursday, as the 2010 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Men's Soccer University Division All-State awards were announced. Tribe head coach Chris Norris was named Coach of the Year, while Nathaniel Baako, Derek Buckley and Alan Koger were named First-Team All-State.

First of all, let me say that it is extremely frustrating to search for news on Philly's MLS team when the State of the Union address is coming up. Good luck tomorrow, Ed.

Sexism

It appears Andy Gray made a second set of disgusting remarks about female linesman Sian Massey.

The USA's 25-player camp that opened today features three players who received their first-ever call-ups to the full team. All played in a youth Women's World Cup for the USA and all are at different stages of their careers. Jordan Angeli (U-20s in Russia '06) had an excellent season with the Boston Breakers during her rookie year, scoring seven goals, second only to Kelly Smith.

Each year, the best performers on National Team are honored by two separate awards, the US Soccer Federation Male Athlete of the Year and the Futbol De Primera US Player of the Year. While there is often a consensus between the two awards, there have been six years so far where they have recognized two players who had standout seasons for the US National Team.