The Los Angeles Galaxy have called a press conference for tomorrow at ESPN Zone to make a 'major player announcement'. Head coach Bruce Arena and captain Landon Donovan are scheduled to be in attendance. It is expected that the team will announce a short-term loan that will send Donovan to English club Everton FC as soon as the winter transfer window opens up in January.

Here is a link to the live stream of adidas Official FIFA 2010 World Cup Match Ball Unveiling press conference to be held on Friday morning. Who are expected to be in attendance: FIFA President Joseph Blatter, David Beckham (pending the date of his grandfather's funeral) and Franz Beckenbauer Date: Friday Dec.

The day of the big World Cup draw has arrived and ESPN has big plans to cover the event with maximum fanfare. ESPN2 will provide three hours of coverage and will include usual suspects Harkes, Lalas and more to break down the action. It is fairly remarkable that we have reached the stage in American soccer where the World Cup draw rates a three hour presentation.

There is a lot of discussion going back and forth about what city Miami FC should play in. There is definitely division among South Florida soccer fans. Some have strong opinions about Miami and others have equally strong beliefs about Ft. Lauderdale.
One thing I think we can all agree on is that the two stadium situation will not work again.

I'm all for MLS marketing to supporters as well as to spectators, and encouraging the culture of soccer that everyone who is reading this blog probably appreciates the value of already.

FC Dallas obviously have a serious deficit of such supporters, and given the success of Seattle's marketing campaign, they and many other MLS teams have wisely chosen to try to appeal more to your active soccer fan.

FC Barcelona hosted Xerez in a midweek game in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. The match was played on this day because Barcelona will be competing in the FIFA Club World Cup in a few weeks. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

FC Barcelona beats Xerez 2-0 Video Highlights

Barcelona once again dominated possession and chances in the match as they extended their lead in La Liga.

The UEFA Champions League wrapped up its group stage on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 with several matches including Sevilla v Rangers. The first and second place finishers in each group move to the knockout stage while third place drops into the Europa League. Here's a recap and video highlights of the match.

As we said in our post on Monday, we will continue to look at MLS Holiday promotional efforts this week. Below are some additional promotions. For more, click here.

In Houston, the Dynamo have added a wrinkle to the typical holiday deal by offering two seats to their home opener and one Dynamo "tailgating" chair for $59.

There he is. The last of an extinct breed.

In attendance at Liverpool's 2-0 Boxing Day win over Wolves, this guy perhaps fittingly stands behind a man in a Yankees cap. Liverpool scored both their goals only after Wolverhampton's Stephen Ward was sent off in the 53rd minute.

[Photo: Reuters]

Having not been in attendance myself, I've waited until now to let the dust settle and to attempt to unshackle myself from the blind partiality that saw me almost keel over with joy after hearing that Plymouth had been granted a reprieve from a definite home thrashing on Saturday afternoon.Yet, as hard as I try to see it from both sides, I cannot help but think that the referee was correct to

I'm a typical fickle armchair supporter.

I'm not the only one. There are hundreds and thousands of us skulking around the edges of football. We're defined by our intermittent love for the game, and our wavering support for our chosen team. We're the guys who only watch MOTD when our side win.

I'm a typical fickle armchair supporter.

I'm not the only one. There are hundreds and thousands of us skulking around the edges of football. We're defined by our intermittent love for the game, and our wavering support for our chosen team. We're the guys who only watch MOTD when our side win.

They say the DFB-Pokal is the shortest route to Europe. But it's not just short, it's actually more lucrative than Europe itself as in the Europa League. I stumbled upon the official figures released by the DFB for the 2009/2010 season, and with the transfer window set to open again, you might want to get your calculators out and add up the extra funds your club has earned so far.

It has taken him seven years to get back into the MLS mix, but Octavio Zambrano is set to return to Major League Soccer.

Zambrano is poised to join the Kansas City Wizards as an assistant coach, sources have confirmed to SBI. We mentioned the Zambrano-KC connection a few weeks back and the sides appear to have finalized a deal to bring the former MetroStars and LA Galaxy head coach back to MLS as a member of Peter Vermes' coaching staff.

It has taken him seven years to get back into the MLS mix, but Octavio Zambrano is set to return to Major League Soccer.

Zambrano is poised to join the Kansas City Wizards as an assistant coach, sources have confirmed to SBI. We mentioned the Zambrano-KC connection a few weeks back and the sides appear to have finalized a deal to bring the former MetroStars and LA Galaxy head coach back to MLS as a member of Peter Vermes' coaching staff.

Guingamp twice came from behind at the Roudourou last night to extend their unbeaten run to 4 games.

Victor Zvunka was forced to make three changes in attack ahead of the game with Gilmar, Hamroun and El Jadeyaoui dropping out to be replaced by Soumah, Giresse and Grax.

The game started slowly with neither team creating a clear cut chance, that changed in the 30th minute when CS Sedan took the lead.

The 2009 MLS Season was a success. Yes, I said it, and I believe it too. After all, attendance stayed at a nice level (over 16k per game for the 3rd straight season), and the level of play also kept fans satisfied. In the end, an upstart bunch of perpetual losers, RSL, overcame great odds (and their losing record) to hoist the MLS Cup.

Following on from the Coventry game thread, I thought it would be a good idea to put up another article for the Barnsley game, that you can just use for the match banter. This time yours truly will be in attendance but not all Toon fans are lucky enough to be there, even if there [...]

Aston Villa traveled to face Sunderland on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 in the English Premier League. Both clubs have aspirations of qualifying for a spot in Europe next season (Europa League, Champions League). Villa is 4th heading into the match while Sunderland are in 10th place. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

The English Premier League had a set of midweek fixtures including Burnley v Arsenal on Wednesday, December 16, 2009. It was a chance for Arsenal to continue their good form after defeating Liverpool on the weekend. Burnley, on the other hand, was looking to get a much needed result at home as they will be battling relegation.

How do you measure the popularity of a football club? Match attendance isn't very accurate because different teams have different sized stadiums and only a small percentage of fans can fit into those grounds each week. So is it TV viewership? Is it shirt sales? Fan club membership? Or, most likely, a combination of all these factors?

The UEFA Europa League finished its group stage on Thursday, December 12, 2009 with several matches including Rapid Vienna v Celtic. Both teams had no chance of making the knockout stage but it was a chance to finish the group stage on a high note. The match was in Austria with very tough conditions and freezing temperatures.

strong>Following on from the previous games threads, I thought it would be a good idea to put up another article for the Boro game, that you can just use for the match banter. Once again, yours truly will be in attendance but not all Toon fans are lucky enough to be there, even if [...]

! Article Start >Newcastle strolled to yet another Championship victory, at the expense of our Teeside rivals and in front of a record Championship attendance. And yet as bored as I'm with repeating myself, this was another game in which we failed to get the blood flowing, on a day when it was needed most.

2009 Recap: This is the toughest review I have had to write because it is almost impossible to describe just how disappointing NYRB was this year. After making it to the MLS Cup in 2008, the Red Bulls were by far and away the worst team in 2009. They ended the season 5-19-6 with a -20 goal differential.

Following on from the previous games threads, I thought it would be a good idea to put up another article for the Sheff Wed game, that you can just use for the match banter. Yours truly won't be in attendance but I've got the option of Sky Sports, with leftover Christmas dinner and a few [...]

Following on from the previous games threads, I thought it would be a good idea to put up another article for the Derby game, that you can just use for the match banter. Once again, yours truly will be in attendance but not all Toon fans are lucky enough to be there.. Of course the [...]

Newcastle, guilty of missing some great chances to put the game away, ended 2009 firing blanks. There was plenty of endeavour, and arguably we've played worse and won, but the match against Derby was one that won't be remembered fondly by many NUFC fans.

Ryan Taylor, Steven Taylor, and Nile Ranger were the Newcastle players who failed to take their chances.