By FRANCO PANIZO

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The U.S. Under-23 men's national team wrapped up its December camp with a second intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday afternoon, and the competition for roster spots set the tone for a physical and fiery match.

Split up into white and blue teams, the 29 players in camp (Bill Hamid left camp earlier in the week due to family reasons) took part in a windy match at IMG Soccer Academy that saw its share of physical play and rough challenges.

The December camp for the U-23 Men's National Team came to a close after eight days in Florida that included eight training sessions on the field and two 90-minute intrasquad scrimmages. U-23 head coach Caleb Porter and the coaching staff got a birds eye look at much of the player pool, and spent significant time educating the group
Terence Boyd and Sebastian Lletget (pronounced leh-JET) put in two nice finishes in the game at the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton.

STARTERS
One day after Luis Suarez was given and 8 game suspension by the English FA for racial abuse, Rob Harris of the AP reports that Chelsea captain John Terry has been charged with racial abuse in a criminal court. Both were part of on field incidents. So why are they being treated differently?

Photo by Max Becherer/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. -- Bryan Arguez has a lot to be excited about these days.

In the past two months, Arguez has gone from playing in the NASL with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, to getting signed by the Montreal Impact, to getting called into his first camp in years with the U.

With U.S. head coach Caleb Porter indicating there are about 50 potential players for the U.S. Olympic Qualifying roster, the chance to evaluate the individuals in game conditions is clearly important. It also gives the coaches a chance to gauge the progress of the group in understanding the concepts of how they want the team to play.

United States Men's National Team head coach Caleb Porter named five Philadelphia Union players as part of his 28-man roster for the Olympic squad's December camp, today. The Union players make up the largest group of club teammates on the team.

Freddy Adu, Zac MacMath, Jack McInerney, Amobi Okugo and Sheanon Williams will head to Florida from December 15-28 to train with the rest of the under-23 team at the Premier Sports Campus.

We told you it was coming, and here it is (no Teal Bunbury visit to Bolton now?). Olympic boss Caleb Porter is now on the job and has summoned 28 players to Florida pre-Christmas. There are several new faces, including Freddy Adu, Will Bruin, two keepers fresh off EPL training visits a pair of Duke players and the re-emergence of Bryan Arguez.

Caleb Porter has named a 28-man roster for his first camp in charge of the U.S. U-23 men's national team, and there's talent aplenty.

Freddy Adu, Teal Bunbury, Mikkel Diskerud and Bill Hamid are just some of the more well-known names in the eight-day camp that will be held in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

While the USMNT has their January "Camp Cupcake" coming up, the US U-23s will head to Florida under the direction of new coach Caleb Porter on December 15th, to participate in their own camp ("Camp Junior Mint?") in advance of next year's Olympic tournament.

The Dynamo's Danny Cruz, an unheralded name in the mix.

As Striker Liker Christopher Walsh put it on the Ultras facebook page "The blood letting continues..." Yes, not long ago Coach Shore assured the fans on Miami Ultras Alive #30 (see minute 21) that he expected to keep the majority of his ALMOST championship team.
We've already seen a number of Strikers players packing their bags and moving to other teams.

As Striker Liker Christopher Walsh put it on the Ultras facebook page "The blood letting continues..." Yes, not long ago Coach Shore assured the fans on Miami Ultras Alive #30 (see minute 21) that he expected to keep the majority of his ALMOST championship team.
We've already seen a number of Strikers players packing their bags and moving to other teams.

By AVI CREDITOR

Fans of the Montreal Impact who saw their team labor through a troubling 2011 NASL campaign and at one point staged a protest against team management probably couldn't forsee the events of this past week coming.

By opting to build its nucleus around established MLS veterans and a few young players who could thrive with an opportunity in a new situation as opposed to building around pricey newcomers who aren't as familiar with the inner workings of the league, Montreal has laid the groundwork to be far more than a doormat in its expansion season in MLS.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

The Montreal Impact have continued to wheel and deal as Jesse Marsch shapes his roster, with the latest blockbuster coming Monday with Montreal dealing Seth Sinovic and an allocation to Sporting Kansas City for veteran midfielder Davy Arnaud.

The deal is a smart one for Kansas City, which gets back starting left back and hometown product Sinovic, while also parting with Arnaud, a captain who had lost his place in Sporting's central midfield.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Montreal Impact continued their preparations for the 2012 MLS season by signing Ft. Lauderdale Strikers midfielder Bryan Arguez.

The former U.S. U-20 international, who had a stint with D.C. United in 2007, helped the Strikers reach the NASL Championship Series this past season.

DISCLAIMER: The following piece is written by Gefilte Fish and was published in my sole discretion. The following thoughts are not neccessarily the thoughts or belief of FMB.
This season has been frustrating for us all, but the past weeks have been rough on us all. Before I get to my rant, Ill give the comatose striker fans a brief overview:
LAST FOUR GAMES:
Tampa 4-2 Strikers
Atlanta 3-2 Strikers
Montreal 1-1 Strikers
Islanders 3-1 Strikers
In recent weeks, We've dropped TOO MANY GAMES.

NASL Week 14 consisted of two reversals of fortune, as NSC Minnesota beat the Carolina RailHawks 1-0 Saturday to break Carolina's 13 game unbeaten streak, while the Atlanta Silverbacks got only their second win of the season, holding on for a 3-2 victory in Fort Lauderdale over the Strikers.

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Ft. Lauderdale Florida when the New York Redbulls played against the Chicago Fire. Everyone who is anyone in the soccer world was there, but due to mis-communication between the Red Bulls front office and Lockhart personnel, some of them had just a little trouble getting in the door.

This week we start with MLS Miami expansion news as ESPN is reporting that MLS to Miami might be closer than we thought.

Talk is heating up that Beckham will, when his contract expires after this season, execute the clause in his contract that allows him to purchase an MLS expansion team, and that Miami is the best bet.

It was a warm, sunny day today at Ft Lauderdale Staddium when the U-20 USMNT played a scrimmage against our Strikers. It was all around an odd setting for a match such as this, but it was an interesting game none the less.
The U-20 came out with a full 25 man roster against a Strikers scrimmage team wearing all black Soccer Locker sponsored kit.

photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Poor finishing for the U.S. U-20 national team nearly cost it a result against a team made up of players from southern Florida, but Zac MacMath came up with a big second half penalty kick save to end the match at 0-0 on Thursday afternoon.