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Several stars from the soccer and basketball worlds will gather in Manhattan on Wednesday evening for a charity event that should be a sight to behold.

Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna have organized a charity 8-on-8 soccer game that will feature international soccer star Thierry Henry as well as several NBA stars.

Hot young Maryland prospect Chris Agorsor proved again last week why he could be one of the most exciting young prospects in US Soccer, helping his team win the Development Academy U-17/18 championship at the Home Depot Center in southern California. Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times has a great writeup on the tournament here.

Part III: The Post-1998 World Cup Breakout
By now, most of the trailblazers had returned home to play in Major League Soccer (MLS); Caligiuri to Los Angeles, Wynalda to San Jose, Harkes to DC United, and Lalas to New England. Nonetheless, the number of American players in Europe exploded to unprecedented numbers with over 20 playing in Germany alone – a combination of established professionals, young players, and journeymen.

Various UK news sources, including Sky Sports and the Globe and Mail are reporting that the final details are being worked out in a deal to bring American Maurice Edu from Toronto to Glasgow Rangers. After returning from Olympic duty in China, Edu was supposed to be in Glasgow yesterday for Rangers' home opener against Hearts to iron out a deal worth a reported $5 million.

Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Claudio Reyna, Jozy Altidore and a host of other stars from soccer and basketball, will be playing a charity 8 v 8 soccer game in Chinatown at 5pm today! The best part about it? Its open to the public!

Run out of school kids.

Apologies for the lack of posts; the wife and I are sick as dogs and life at TOR Towers is not unlike that inside a leper colony. Except in the leper colony they probably still don't have to go to work.
Hopefully I feel better soon so that I can make down to SoHo tomorrow evening for what's swiftly becoming "Steve Nash's Soccer-Basketball Mutual Appreciation Society All-Star Rich Guy Fest".

On one hand, this kind of talk is appalling. On the other hand, I kinda like WWII.

You would think from the accolades last week that Zinedine Zidane had just retired. In fact DaMarcus Beasley somehow compared Claudio Reyna to ZuZu before the 2006 World Cup saying: On the field, technically he's our best player. He's so smooth. He's very nonchalant. He always reminds me of [Zinedine Zidane].

The festivities leading up to the US men's 500th game have begun as the official US MNT bog asking readers to pick the best three US players ever. Their one rule, it should only be based on time with the national team, meaning club performance is out.
So who are the best three US Nats ever?

Standing in the middle of an energized crowd, Jozy Altidore rattled off autographs and posed for picture after picture. Even after most of the other stars who played in the Steve Nash/Claudio Reyna charity match in Manhattan's Chinatown, Altidore stood on the turf at Nike Field and signed and posed for fans eager to meet American soccer's most exciting young star.

Alot of things I didn't think were possible happened yesterday.

#1 - A park in the middle of New Yorks infamous Chinatown district was packed on all ends by thousands of footie fanatics dying for a glimpse of some of their favorite stars.

#2 - I got to see TiTi Henry, Robbie Fowler, Kalou, Reyna, Altidore, Angel, Jason Kidd, Barbosa, Baron Davis and and the infamous Steve McManaman play some footie from about a half foot distance.

UPDATE: This list has been updated to include Darren Huckerby's salary, Emilio's big pay raise and Claudio Reyna's retirement.
Also the list of celebrity MLS fans has been updated here.
While MLS is not the English Premier League, that hasn't stopped a few players from making a tidy bit of coin and greenbacks.

Post-1994 World Cup: Breaking Into First Division Soccer
After the 1994 World Cup in which the US team showed great progress from 1990, the European soccer establishment started to notice two things; that the Americans do indeed play soccer and that a few more of their players are worth signing.

My SI.com editorJonah Freedman takes the New York Red Bulls to task about the Claudio Reyna retirement situation.
Freedman argues that if New York knew about Reyna's impending retirement, which really he should have been euthanized when he first broke down this year, then the Bulls should have made a push for Ronaldinho.

On Friday, Denilson made it official, he is done with FC Dallas as he signed with Brazilian side Palmeiras. It is no shock that he is gone as FCD basically told him take a big pay cut, thus no longer being a designated player or don't come back. Since Denilson likes to make money, he decided to move along.

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer got a story's worth over in Salzburg as he was over there for Red Bull New York's training at their sister club's complex. Apparently, a scrimmage today between the Salzburg reserves and New York got chippy and prompted a normally quiet Claudio Reyna to say this... "I played in Germany [.

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash will be doing some drafting of his own on the eve of the NBA draft, calling in some big names from his two favorite sports for a first of its kind charity game. Baron Davis, Jason Kidd and international soccer star Thierry Henry have committed to join Nash and longtime U.

The Steve Nash Foundation hosted the Showdown in Chinatown in NY last month, a pick-up game starring such notables as the recently retired Claudio Reyna, Barca's Thierry Henry, Jason Kidd, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, and Juan Pablo Angel.

Who caught Captain American playing in the 2002 World Cup eighth-final against Mexico?
You might want to hit mute before you hit play.
The USA beat Mexico 2-0. Captain America Claudio Reyna had a great game against Mexico. Check out the embeded football video: it's that 2-0 victory in the 2002 World Cup over Mexico.

Knives out haters, Claudio Reyna is on Press Pass this week.

In order for the LA Galaxy to bring David Beckham to Major League Soccer the rules had to change. The salary cap was too small for Beckham to fit on any team by himself, so the league added DP's which only count toward some of your salary cap. After that the team can pay that player as much money as they want to.

We have updated the MLS Rich List with salaries of players who came to the league since we last made the list. The only real change is that DC United's Luciano Emilio jumped up the list 10 places from 18 to 8 due to the raise he got making him a Designated Player.
>While MLS is not the English Premier League, that hasn't stopped a few players from making a tidy bit of coin and greenbacks.

Just as promised, once I got more information, I would pass it along to you. This morning was more like a flood of information from sources, reports, and other blogs. What we do know is Captain America has retired. But what it appears to be now is he was some what forced into retirement by his [...]

Like many of you I too wondered a great deal about the famed second designated player slot that the New York Red Bulls owned. With the announcement of Claudio Reyna's retirement today the question on everyone's mind was surrounding that second DP slot. As we all recall New York traded for a second DP slot back [.

As reported in an article by the New York Times, it appears that Maurice Edu from Toronto F.C. and also recently on the U.S. Olympic team, is going to be transferred to Glasgow Rangers, possibly to replace Carlos Cueller who recently was sold to Aston Villa. Even I have to admit that this is a great move for Edu as Rangers are a very big club within the Scottish Premier League and even in the context of Europe (despite their recent setback of getting knocked out of the Champions League).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the Claudio Reyna retirement press conference still a few hours away, there are still plenty of questions being asked about his retirement and its ramifications. I've decided to answer some of the questions I'm seeing being raised.

Soccer By Ives is reporting that Claudio Reyna has retired from the New York Red Bulls.

FIRST ON SBI

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Ultimately, the injuries were just too much to overcome.

After a 14-year professional career that saw him play in Germany, England and Scotland before returning to the United States, Claudio Reyna has decided it is time to stop playing.

As first reported on Soccer By Ives, Claudio Reyna is finally doing the right thing and retiring.......thus allowing the Red Bulls to purchase a player with his vacant DP spot. I would write a congratulatory post on all of his accomplishments, but seeing as how he didn't wanna take a buyout to help the team he wasn't helping.

TRADER MO HAS STRUCK AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!

Every year, you can always expect certain things to happen in the MLS

1. There is an Older European player who, underestimated the level of play in the MLS.

This year, we have had a number of examples to add to the growing list of euro washouts.

By JAMES CLARKNew Jersey has such a rich, wonderful history when it comes to American soccer. Names like John Harkes, Claudio Reyna, Tony Meola, Tab Ramos and Bob Bradley drip off the tongue, as do clubs and schools like Kearny Thistle and St.

The roster for the US U23 squad that will play at the upcoming Olympic games has been named. Lots of familiar names including including Brian McBride, Brad Guzan and Michael Parkurst as the three older players allowed under the rules. Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and some others. Then there's the fellow pictured in the photo (by Micheal Goulding, Orange County Register) who I've seen plenty of as I've become a Chivas USA fan this season:

Sacha Kljestan, captain of Team USA during Olympic qualifying, is also a lock to be named Thursday to the U.

Another soccer-filled weekend is on tap, so let's get to it.

*The Galaxy are out of town in New York where Claudio Reyna retired this week and the Red Bulls signed two South American midfielders who could make their debuts Saturday.

The game airs live at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel and a crowd of more than 45,000 is expected to turn out largely to see David Beckham who continues to prove why he's nicknamed Golden Balls.

Just because I needed an excuse to use this photo I'll mention that Ivesinho spoke with Goose yesterday and all indications are that Claudio Reyna will be back in an RBNY uniform for 2008. Although 2007 was a let down of Clerks II proportions, I'm going to hope for the best this season.
I submit to you that with a new familiar coach, enough bad press & fan dissatisfaction to fill Kim Kardashian's jeans (that butt is juicy y'all) and a year on the turf under his belt that maybe "the Captain" might have enough motivation and inspiration to turn in a Kurt Warner-like resurrection at the Meadowlands.

You know most of the time I don't worry about a player seeing his time run out with a club unless I have a strong connection with him, know him, or have followed his career. Claudio Reyna actually doesn't fit into any of those categories. Don't get me wrong, I've been a fan of Captain America [...]

Photo by ISIphotos.com

A blown lead on an absolutely embarrassing mistake, A 2-0 loss to a USL-2 team AND a 4-0 blowout loss on the 4th of July. These three events took place in a seven-day span, leading me to wonder if there is any way this wasn't the worst week in the history of the club.

Another day, another retirement. After a 14-year career that saw him play in Germany, England and Scotland before returning to the United States, Claudio Reyna has decided it is time to stop playing. The former U.S. national team captain and New York Red Bulls midfielder is retiring immediately, according to Ives Galarcep and his sources withing [.

ESPN is reporting that New York Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna is retiring from Major League Soccer immediately. The annoucement is expected to be made at a press conference tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Newark, New Jersey.

In case you read Eric Wynalda's comments on Claudio Reyna in today's notebook and wondering what the former U.S. forward and ESPN commentator is doing these days, the answer is he's in business with Joe-Max Moore. See the clip.

Wynalda says he doesn't miss TV at all, and he's watching more games than ever while spending time with his kids and occasionally playing with the PDL's Bakersfield Brigade.

From everything! Forever!
It's kinda sad, but I can't remember watching this guy play since the World Cup.
Nevertheless, Claudio Reyna (aka Captain America) is one of the few Americans that has earned street cred in Europe.
He's played in England, Germany and Scotland at a high level.