D.C. United's stirring comeback win against New England on Saturday helped boost Ben Olsen's club up the Eastern Conference standings, and also helped strengthen Nick DeLeon's already impressive Rookie of the Year candidacy.

It is only six weeks into the season, but DeLeon has been the most impressive rookie in the league and his two-assist effort in United's 2-1 victory against New England magnified that fact.

Oh, what could have been.

Despite initial reports claiming that Eric Cantona would be seeking the French presidency, the Manchester United legend has dropped out of the race. The initial announcement was instead a carefully orchestrated ploy to raise awareness about public housing for France's lower class.

JAKARTA (2 Oct 2011) – Six women referees have been identified to handle matches in the new season of the Indonesia Super League (ISL) 2011/2012 and also the lower Premier Division.

The six referees – Samkarya (Sulawesi Tenggara), Minin (Bekasi), Yiyin (Sumedang), N Cori (Sumatera), Herlin (Padang) and Cici (Semarang) – are now undergoing final test at the Hegarmanah TNI AD Perwira Candidacy School in Bandung.

RSL hopes to get back on track with a win in LA. (Getty Images)

Week 29 in Major League Soccer has already gotten off to a bang with last night's games. Out of nowhere the Chicago Fire go to Salt Lake and beat up on RSL in a 3-0 win. No one saw that coming and sure the officiating was questionable to some, you have to give Frank Klopas and his club some credit for continuing to make this playoff race an interesting one.

Picking names....again....

It's that time again.

The moment to toss out a couple of standards and a couple of surprises for who may make the next USMNT roster.

This is the first set of friendlies that at least that we know were made with Klinsmann involved in the decision making.

This weekend, Port Vale's board are due to publish answers to 141(141!) questions from fans about a proposed multi-million pound investment by American ‘sports construction' firm ‘Blue Sky International.' A full Vale article on this site will follow that publication. But there was a Vale vignette this week, demonstrating the mistrust which pervades the club and looks likely to do so for a while yet, whatever the investment.

MLS underway this evening with Houston vs. Columbus at Crew Stadium.

What a perfect time to bring up the following:

Shouldn't Davis be wearing the Stars & Stripes at some point in 2011?

• Brad Davis is having an MVP campaign. CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME?!

If you caught up with TSG on Twitter recently, you've heard our rants on Davis.

Please say no to Middle East or bust.

Update: With news that Bob Bradley is set to be confirmed for the Egypt national team manager role, we re-issue this editorial below.

-

Late Sunday, the news came across the wire Twitter, that is that Bob Bradley was one of three finalists for the Egypt national team job.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

The postponements caused by Hurricane Irene actually did a couple of teams a favor when it comes to the MLS standings and SBI MLS Power Rankings.

Teams like Philadelphia and D.C. were forced to sit idly by watching their competition for postseason berths do battle, and in the end, they had to be happy with the results.

Sometimes this game of soccer can be pretty fun to watch. On a day in which Lamar Neagle became the second Seattle Sounders player to ever score a hat trick, Mike Fucito finally got off the scoring schneid and Mauro Rosales bolstered his darkhorse MVP candidacy with a goal and an assist, the Sounders won in an absolute rout of the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew.

Please say no to Middle East or bust.

Late Sunday, the news came across the wire Twitter, that is that Bob Bradley was one of three finalists for the Egypt national team job.

Monday, Bradley's candidacy assumed pole position as MLS Soccer's Greg Seltzer clarified and corroborated the interest.

Was that the most satisfying win of the season? It was maybe not unexpected as the win over Real Salt Lake, but that one developed over a longer period of time. It was probably not as gutterly pleasing as the road win over the Portland Timbers, but this seemed considerably more far-fetched. Unlike literally every.

The Grinder is off its lazy duff for a rare mid-week edition, where we present some early frontrunners for MLS' venerable postseason awards. It's prediction time, ladies and gents. Have at it. Rookie of the Year Will Bruin, Houston Dynamo In the running: Rich Balchan, A.J. Soares, Perry Kitchen Notes: Bruin's rookie of the year candidacy has cooled off late this summer, but it may have been

Sporting Kansas City has a deep stable of forwards, including stars like Omar Bravo, and established veterans like Kei Kamara, but rookie C.J. Sapong continues to state his case as having the best year among the group.

Sapong added to his strong MLS Rookie of the Year candidacy by notching a goal and assist in Sporting KC's 2-1 win against Portland, a performance that helped him earn SBI MLS Rookie of the Week honors this week.

You'll already be aware that Aston Villa issued an official statement earlier this evening confirming the intention to interview Alex McLeish. Birmingham City have issued their own statement declaring their intention to take legal action in response.

Both statements in full:

Aston Villa Football Club
This is a message to the fans of Aston Villa.

You'll already be aware that Aston Villa issued an official statement earlier this evening confirming the intention to interview Alex McLeish. Birmingham City have issued their own statement declaring their intention to take legal action in response.

Both statements in full:

Aston Villa Football Club
This is a message to the fans of Aston Villa.

KYW's Greg Orlandini and Philly Soccer Page writer Eli Pearlman-Storch have a special guest this week on the KYW Philly Soccer Show.

One of the top soccer writers in America, Grant Wahl, senior writer with Sports Illustrated and onetime FIFA presidential candidate joins the program to his insight into the game.

I won't bore you with another mega-post detailing this FIFA crap. Just remember two things: 1) As long as FIFA gets (practically) free labor from players and shifts the burden of hosting to countries, then they will be a money-grubbing gang of crooks with no incentive to change. 2) FIFA is not a dictatorship, it is a 21st century kleptocracy ala Latin America where the forces of capital hollow out democratic mechanisms.

Mohamed Bin Hammam has withdrawn his candidacy for the FIFA presidency

The ongoing story regarding allegations of corruption at the very heart of world football's governing body FIFA seems to have taken the game to an all-time low. Surely the only way for these allegations to be addressed is for an independent body to look at the crux of the matter and investigate every figure who is alleged to have been involved.

Hours after announcing he was ending his candidacy for the FIFA presidency, Mohamed Bin Hammam was suspended by that organization's ethics committee. CONCACAF president Jack Warner was also suspended. The ethics committee cleared FIFA president Sepp Blatter and also took no action against those members of FIFA's executive committee accused of wrongdoing by evidence presented in front of a British Parliamentary inquiry into soccer.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed Bin Hammam has withdrawn his candidacy from the upcoming FIFA presidential elections.

The elections were due to be held on Wednesday June 1 and Bin Hammam was the prime challenger to current FIFA President Sepp Blatter, but in the wake of the corruption scandal, the AFC supremo has dramatically pulled out of the race to succeed Blatter.

SOURCE: GOAL.COMMay 29, 2011: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed Bin Hammam has sensationally withdrawn his candidacy from the Fifa presidential elections, which were due to be held on Wednesday June 1.
The AFC supremo was the only challenger to current incumbent Sepp Blatter in the race for the organisation's top job, but with the 62-year-old due to face Fifa's ethics committee on Sunday amid allegations of bribery, he has taken the decision to remove his name from consideration.

SOURCE: GOAL.COMMay 29, 2011: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed Bin Hammam has sensationally withdrawn his candidacy from the Fifa presidential elections, which were due to be held on Wednesday June 1.
The AFC supremo was the only challenger to current incumbent Sepp Blatter in the race for the organisation's top job, but with the 62-year-old due to face Fifa's ethics committee on Sunday amid allegations of bribery, he has taken the decision to remove his name from consideration.

Update: The FIFA Ethics Committee has opened proceedings against Jack Warner and Mohammed Bin Hammam over possible charges of bribery (official FIFA statement). The committee is due to meet (and most likely decide) on May 29th, just a couple of days before the June 1 elections date (and funnily enough, on a Sunday, right after the Champions League final).

He's had fans demonstrating against him for so long he hardly ever attends games anymore. The government refused to back his nonsensical world cup bid and have actively opposed him. Boos calling for him to stand down echoed round Bung Karno Stadium at the AFF Cup Final against Malaysia seen and heard around the region.

Grant Wahl is everywhere at the moment, from Bloomberg TV and CNN International, to BBC and international outlets of the soccer/football variety. He was also kind enough to give me some of his time to talk about his candidacy for the presidency of FIFA, a conversation that covered just how serious this thing is, how making himself the story fits with his role at SI, the various planks of his platform (including the two women he believes are qualified to be General Secretary), and the response to his bid from around the world.

- Jason Davis
It's lunchtime in America (or was when I started this), and soccer fans everywhere are lining up to support Grant Wahl's newly announced candidacy for FIFA president. It's time for a new voice. An outsider. A guy whose name doesn't rhyme with "splatter" or "pin yuh mom.

Graham looks at Wahl's candidacy for SBN-soccer

In brief, don't get too excited.

PARIS, France French soccer star Zinedine Zidane launched a legal complaint on Friday against a comedian for insulting him in a sports magazine over his support for Qatar's successful bid to host the World Cup, his lawyer said on Friday.ac Lawyer Alberto Brusso said he was suing comedian Christophe Aleveque and the magazine Sportmag [.