By FRANCO PANIZO

A day after a riot at a club soccer game in Egypt left at least 74 dead and many others injured, Egypt's prime minister has dissolved the Egyptian FA's board.

Kamal el-Ganzouri announced the decision to dissolve the board during Thursday's emergency parliamentary session, and also said that the governor of Port Said (where the game took place) and the area's police chief have resigned.

Very sad news for the U.S. WNT today as it was confirmed via an MRI that defender Ali Krieger had in fact torn the MCL and ACL in her right night after being brutally tackled in the USA's opening match win over the Dominican Republic.
We are happy to report that she is handling the situation extremely well and is sincerely appreciative of the outpouring of support from fans across the world.

It wasn't that long ago that Providence product Michael Parkhurst and Attleboro native Geoff Cameron were just two local talents hoping to play their way from the grassy fields of southeastern New England onto the big stage.

Cue the big stage.

On Saturday, the defending duo both of whom played club soccer for Rhode Island-based Bayside FC found themselves paired together in the center of the United States defense for the first time during the squad's 1-0 shutout of Venezuela.

This past week has been a whirlwind for Fire fans. We had the MLS SuperDraft hoopla last week with a couple of new player signings sprinkled in (Robayo and Puppo). On the heels of that we had a sponsor announcement and new jersey unveiling. Somewhat lost in the shuffle was the announcement of the changes to the U.

Arsenal-Manchester United Live on Fox - NYTimes.com

Sunday morning will be the first time that an EPL match is shown live on network US television. It is part of the lead-up to the Fox's NFC Championship coverage, includes a 30 minute pregame and features two of the largest fanbases in the world.

This midseason league match is a big test about how big club soccer can be.

Fort Lewis College men's soccer coach Oige Kennedy announced that English-born player Sameth Al-Basith has enrolled in classes this semester and has joined the Skyhawks in their defense of the NCAA Division II national championship.

"Sameth is a player that we are extremely excited to add to our roster for the upcoming spring," said Kennedy, who guided the Skyhawks to their third NCAA Division II title since 2005 last month.

Let's play a little trivia. Name the Chicago Fire Career Regular Season Goal-Scoring Leader. If the name Ante Razov was not at the tip of your tongue, it's time to bulk up on your Chicago Fire history. Razov holds any kind of goal related record you can imagine; shots (617), hat tricks (2), offsides (184), game-winning goals (23), penalty kick goals (12), multi-goal games (16), and of course just goals (76).

Four player with ties to New England were taken in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft.

Defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste (Connecticut), defender Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass.), midfielder Tony Cascio (Connecticut) and forward Luckymore Mkosana (Dartmouth) all had their names called at the Kansas City Convention Center.

The US Soccer Federation has approved a major change to the US Open Cup. A change that will certainly enhance how the tournament is played in the US.

The competition will feature a Modern Professional Era (1995-present) record 64 teams, including every US-based professional club in the American soccer pyramid from Major League Soccer (16 teams), the North American Soccer League (6 teams), and USL PRO (10 teams).

By FRANCO PANIZO

The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will much different than any of its predecessors.

U.S. Soccer announced a number of changes for the 99th edition of the tournament. Those changes include a 64-team field (the largest in the modern era), a random selection process for determining home teams from the opening round until the quarterfinals, and the inclusion of all professional teams from the top three divisions, meaning the MLS qualifying bracket is no more.

The Phoenix New Times has an in-depth look at some events in Arizona a few years ago that highlight some of the problems inherent to youth soccer and how youth soccer has changed recently. A successful coach at Sereno Soccer Club named Les Armstrong was suspended from coaching after he forged a parent's signature to drop a player from his roster before the State Cup championships.

With the holiday season in our rearview mirrors, the MLS pre-season is about to kick into gear. Likewise, the USMNT returns to action with the annual January camp and friendlies. But we begin with the different roster trajectories of the two biggest names in American club soccer...

The Perils of Success

It seemed that the price of the Galaxy's 2011 success would be an off-season dismantling, headlined by the long-rumored departure of David Beckham.

By Justin Shaffer - SEATTLE, WA (Jan 5, 2012) US Soccer Players --Previously, we previewed the year ahead for club soccer and now we give you a look ahead at 2012's jam-packed international calendar. Between the Olympics, European Championships, and World Cup qualifying, 2012 should be a huge year for soccer fans.

UPDATED The Disney Soccer Showcase kicks off today and there are two Missouri-based squads participating, both in the Under 17 age group. Disney is considered one of the top tournaments in the country and will have over 350 college coaches on hand to evaluate the talent.

Springfield SC 94/95 are participating in the Showcase Red group.

The first part of Sounder at Heart's recent conversation with Darren Sawatzky featured a few players from this year's U-18s. This second section is more about what the Academy is and how Seattle Sounders FC is handling it. The conversation is lengthy, but shows the efforts the team is taking to develop not just future pro players, but men.

Should they be playing up?

Oh how everyone talks as if they know what "development" is, and how to do it. Sigh ...

Let's talk a little bit about "playing up" and whether it helps or not.

This weekend our U11′s are going to play in a U12 tournament. This isn't the first time competing up either.

Hat Trick

Steven Goff has some juicy and exclusive details on the United States Soccer Federation's budget for their 2013 fiscal year. The link is a must read but here are three highlights:

• Jurgen Klinsmann makes four times as much as Bob Bradley did when Bradley was USMNT head coach
• USSF has budgeted $3.

Photo: Earl Gardner

The Union announced on Monday the signing of 18-year-old Jimmy McLaughlin to a Home Grown Player contract.

McLaughlin, a graduate of Great Valley High in Malvern, played club soccer for FC Delco before playing this fall as a freshman at Colgate. McLaughlin started every game in hi s freshman year and was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

While the University of Minnesota may not have a Men's D-1 program, they do have a Club Soccer program that was well respected for many years. In recent times former Minnesota Kicks and Strikers player and coach Alan Merrick has led the U of M team and has them competing at a national level again. [.

The Southeast Regional portion of the US Club Soccer National Cup XI will be taking place in Richmond, VA June 23-26, 2012.
The National Cup XI Regional is open to U-11 through U-18/19 and Adult teams as part of US Club Soccer's national championship competition.
For more details follow the link: US Club Soccer - National Cup XI Southeast Regional

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At sports bars around the country, Sunday Night Football between the Steelers and Ravens was in full flight, on multiple HD big screens with the volume turned up. With a little luck, the Semi-final for the MLS Cup, going on at the same time as SNF, between Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy (with arguably the greatest tandem ever in U.

At sports bars around the country, Sunday Night Football between the Steelers and Ravens was in full flight, on multiple HD big screens with the volume turned up. With a little luck, the Semi-final for the MLS Cup, going on at the same time as SNF, between Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy, (with arguably the greatest tandem ever in U.

Caroline Brockmeier -- Democrat photoBy Jim Henry
Democrat writer
Caroline Brockmeier has developed into one of the country's top youth soccer players. The sophomore goalie at Chiles High was invited to a national select camp two years ago and actually plays club soccer in Chicago. Established collegiate programs have started to express interest.

A riveting weekend of international club soccer just came to an end, but Tuesday's slate of cup and league matches provides a chance for some more fireworks.

Manchester United takes on upstart Aldershot Town (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv) and Arsenal faces Bolton in Carling Cup round-of-16 matches; Barcelona returns to action against Granada (2 p.

The standard of American collegiate soccer has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years, and are now becoming a home for top international imports to ply their trade.
J.R. Eskilson of Goal.com writes of how international imports arriving in the collegiate game here in the US is changing the landscape of the game.

Eclipse Select Communications
CHICAGO -- Six players from the Eclipse Select Soccer Club have been invited to participate in this weekend's U.S. Club Soccer id2 Camp this weekend in New Jersey.
Eclipse Select U-15 midfielder Ann Marie Niro (Barrington, Ill.), and from the U-14s Eclipse Select midfielder Marissa Bosco (St.

The international break provides FC Barcelona time for Iniesta and Fabregas to recover (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

FIFA's infamous international breaks are dreaded by most club soccer fans, who think that they kill the momentum of the league season and add extra weight on the legs of key players.

The state girls club soccer champions crowned Sunday in the Wisconsin State Championships at UW-Oshkosh's Titan Stadium left little doubt to their title credentials: The winning sides scored at least four goals apiece and the average margin of victory in the four games was 3.5 goals.

Hartland club Lake Country United claimed the Under-15 and Under-16 championships, beating Madison 56ers Red 4-0 and Croatian Eagles Blue 5-1, respectively.

Eclipse Select Communications
CHICAGO -- Eclipse Select Soccer Club U-18 goalkeeper Klaire Adee has made a verbal commitment to play for the University of Akron women's soccer team beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
The Rockford, Ill., native is in the midst of her 2011-2012 senior year at Boylan Catholic High School.

The Seattle Sounders relative easy access to Clark County, Washington talents (Nick Paludichuk, Mikhail Doholis) will shortly be coming to an end as the Portland Timbers will be selecting their U-16 and U-18 players come spring 2012. While some criticized that the Sounders took over a top level Academy program to springboard their launch, the Timbers are even more aggressive taking over the whole of the Oregon Olympic Development Program (though still have catchment limits on HGP signings).

A profile on Sacha Vander MostvanSpijk, former head of Youth Development at Chivas USA. He is now involved in the deeply-flawed, money-spinning enterprise that is US Club Soccer. Seems like a cool guy though. Nice video as well, much more easily digested than the spelling of his last name.

We start in Scotland, where US National Team defender Carlos Bocanegra got his first taste of one of club soccer's biggest games. Bocanegra got the start along with fellow National Teamer Maurice Edu in a 4-2 Rangers win over Celtic at Ibrox. After Steven Naismith opened the scoring for the home side in the 23rd minute, Celtic equalized and went ahead with goals in the 34th and 41st.

(Summary is not available.)

(Summary is not available.)

Maybe American coaches do have more of a tactical acumen than we get credit for around the world.
Tony Edwards writes of the success of American coaches in MLS over in Mexico during the CONCACAF Champions League.
In Bayern Munich and Germany captain Philip Lahm's new book, The Fine Difference, United States National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann is presented as, well, less than a tactical genius during his short-lived time leading Bayern.

(Summary is not available.)

It's the craziest day of the year in the club soccer world, as the close of the summer transfer window has arrived, bringing with it a seemingly endless string of transfer rumors, actual deals and plenty of surprises.

England is where many of the transfer rumors begin, but there is plenty of action all over Europe as clubs look to strengthen themselves one last time.

Graham Zusi has received quite a bit of attention recently. He was just named MLS Player of the Week and has been touted as the next potential national team call up. I spoke to him recently as was impressed by how humble and realistic he is about himself and his situation. Graham shared with us his thoughts on Sporting KC, his future and how he spends his free time.

On Saturday I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Ralph Perez from the University of Redlands. I am very grateful to Coach Perez for giving up some of his valuable time to pass on his advice and knowlege to our soccer coaching community here at www.soccercoachingblog.com.

The interview lasted over 30 mins and covered topics such as practice exercises, use of time and space, use of video, advice for college recruits, and ideas for recreational, club and high school coaches.

(Summary is not available.)