Philadelphia Union

The Goalkeeper has a transcript of Wednesday's press conference with Peter Nowak. Among the highlights:

On Pajoy: "He's a guy who brings not only character but also a mentality to the game. He's very physical, and very fast as well. He can change the game, because he's a different option.

Lionard Pajoy was having the best season of his career as a 30-year old in Colombia, and now the 6'1″ striker has a chance to build on his late blooming success as a member of the Philadelphia Union.

The team announced the signing of Pajoy (pronounced "Pa-hoy") from Colombian first division side Itagui Ditaires today.

The Philadelphia Union officially announced the signing of Lionard Pajoy, formerly of Itagüí Ditaires (on loan from Millonarios).

Pajoy, 30, joins the Union after receiving his P-1 visa and is coming off of a career year, having scored 10 goals in 18 games for Itagui. The Colombian forward was tied for the scoring lead in Liga Postobon last year.

Veljko Paunovic released an open letter to Philadelphia Union fans through Twitter. The Brotherly Game asked the now retired player if the letter could be republished here, upon the site. With Paunovic's blessing, here's the full text of his letter:

I want to thank the great Union family for welcoming me from the very first day that I came here.

Photo: Nate Monahan

The Philadelphia Union announced today that 34-year-old Serbian striker Veljko Paunovic has called an end to his 16 year professional career.

In the press release from the Union announcing his retirement, Paunovic praised both the Union fans and the Union organization.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Jack McInerney scored in the US U-23 team's 1–1 draw with the USMNT. McInerney, Amobi Okugo, and Freddy Adu started the first half. Zac MacMath and Sheanon Williams started the second half.

John Hackworth says of Tom Brandt, the Union's first pick in the Supplemental Draft, "We wanted to get a quality player in the back and we feel like we did that with Tom Brandt.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Jack McInerney scored in the US U-23 team's 1–1 draw with the USMNT. McInerney, Amobi Okugo, and Freddy Adu started the first half. Zac MacMath and Sheanon Williams started the second half.

John Hackworth says of Tom Brandt, the Union's first pick in the Supplemental Draft, "We wanted to get a quality player in the back and we feel like we did that with Tom Brandt.

Yes, Brucio is still away. Sources say he's exploring restaurant franchise opportunities in Newfoundland. Please be patient with me. I am an amateur.
So how did everybody fare in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft?
Over at No Short Corners, Will Parchman is apoplectic that Enzo Martinez fell all the way to 17th, where Salt Lake scooped him up.

Philadelphia Union

Are the Union shopping Danny Mwanga, as was reported by Ives Galarcep on Wednesday? "For the record we are not shopping Danny Mwanga," Diego Gutierrez tells Kerith Gabriel. "A lot of teams are finding themselves in a tough spot in the market and are looking within the league to supplement.

Philadelphia Union

Are the Union shopping Danny Mwanga, as was reported by Ives Galarcep on Wednesday? "For the record we are not shopping Danny Mwanga," Diego Gutierrez tells Kerith Gabriel. "A lot of teams are finding themselves in a tough spot in the market and are looking within the league to supplement.

Featured image: Nicolae Stoian

We'll have updates of today's SuperDraft throughout the day as well as reaction to the Union's selection. On to the news...

Philadelphia Union

Ives Galarcep's mock draft at Fox Soccer has this to say: "The Union are believed to be shopping forward Danny Mwanga, and even with the recent addition of young Costa Rican forward Josue Martinez, Philadelphia can use some depth up top.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Reaction to the release of the 2012 schedule:

The Goalkeeper notes that the Union is hosting New York and DC twice. "This strikes me as unfair from a competitive balance standpoint...As such, it would seem to me to make more sense to have each team host one team once and one team twice.

Continuing the stat updating for you tonight, it's time to update the 10,000 minute club.
In league play one new player joined the 10,000 minute club, as Michael Harrington became the 12th player for Kansas City, Davy Arnaud also jumped up 1 spot on the list moving ahead of Jimmy Conrad.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

The "2011 in Review" articles for the Philadelphia Union are now up on the MLS website. One provides decent insight, the other, not so much. In the Q & A cobbled together from the last press conference of the season, in addition to relating that Freddy Adu was at "60 percent" for much of the end of the season due to a back injury and the need for defensive additions and competition within the various positions on the field, Peter Nowak discusses the mindset the team needs to win a championship:

"I told you guys at the press conferences we've had all year long that we believe in what we're building, we believe what is the culture around the team.

Union

The Union has become well-known for its innovative use of social networking tools. The latest bit of cleverness is this: when their Facebook page gets 92,012 likes, they will unveil the new designs for the first and second kit. You can 'like' the Union by clicking here. As of this writing, there are only 6,500 'likes' to go.

Well as I said earlier, that was gutting, but here are some stats from the game, including a couple nice marks being hit.
The loss was KC's first home playoff loss since 1997, the team had gone unbeaten for 12 games since their 3-0 home loss to Colorado.
CJ Sapong tied a team record for appearances in a season with 40.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union manager Peter Nowak can prove Sunday just how good a manager he really is.

It will happen when the starting lineup is announced.

Outsiders may think Nowak's a potential coach of the year, but those who follow the Union closely know he's been a better executive than a chooser of starting lineups.

Here are some stats from last night's game against Real Salt Lake.
In the 51st minute, Michael Harrington moved past Diego Gutierrez and into 12th place for the most minutes played in Wizards history, Harrington finished the game with 12,285 mintues played.
Harrington also made his 156 appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 11th place on that list.

The Philly Soccer Page " 2011 MLS All-Star game in photos
PSP photographer Daniel Gajdamowicz was on hand to capture the action of 2011 MLS All-Star game at Red Bull Arena.

Colombia Stars shine in MLS | Infosurhoy

(Article is in Spanish) "Thirteen of the teams are now in bankruptcy," said Diego Gutierrez, head of recruiting and developing players in the Philadelphia Union, the American newspaper The Oregonian .

With tonight being MLS All-Star Game night, now is probably a good time to pause for just a moment and reflect on the unofficial first half of the Philadelphia Union's season, as well as look ahead to the remainder of their regular season fixtures (unofficial because they, like all MLS teams, are already a couple of matches into the second half of their schedule).

Here are your Thursday After Stats for last night's Open Cup game.
Michael Harrington made his 148th appearance for KC in all competitions, breaking his tie with Diego Gutierrez for 13th place on that list.
Harrington also made his 11th appearance in all Open Cup competitions, moving him into a tie with Preki for 4th on that list.

Here's stats for last night's game.
Omar Bravo's goal was his 3rd against Chivas USA, that ties him for the most goals in league play against Chivas with Davy Arnaud and Jose Burciaga.
Michael Harrington made his 147th appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 14th place on that list.

Here are some stats from last night's US Open Cup game.
Kevin Ellis became the first player from the Wizards Juniors program to make an appearance for KC's first team.
Kei Kamara's goal was his 15th in all competitions for KC, he's the 20th player to score that many goals in his KC career.

Here are stats from yesterday's US Open Cup game.
That's the first time we've won by 5 goals since our 6-1 win over Des Moines in the US Open Cup on 8/3/2005.
That's the first time we've scored 5 against an MLS team since we beat Dallas 5-1 on 7/3/2004
The last time we beat an MLS team by 5 goals was 4/29/00 AT Colorado, 5-0.

Here are some stats from last night's game.
In the 51st minute, Davy Arnaud moved past Preki and into 3rd place for the most minutes played in all competitions. Arnaud finished the game wtih 20,677 minutes played.
Roger Espinoza made his 50th start for KC. He's the 34th player to hit that mark for KC.

Here's stats from last night's game.
The own goal was the third own goal for KC against LA in their history, that's tied for the most own goals that have gone in KC's favor. New England also has given up 3 own goals against KC.
In the 5th minute, Teal Bunbury passed his dad, Alex Bunbury, for league minutes played for KC, Bunbury finished the game with 1924 minutes played.

Here are some stats from last night's game. Lots of positions being tied by Davy Arnaud and Michael Harrington.
Davy Arnaud made his 254th appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Preki for 3rd place on that list.
It was also Arnaud's 224th league game, tying him with Nick Garcia for 2nd place on that list.

Feilhaber to New England Revolution | Philly Union Talk

Despite the clamor, the answer is no. Benny Feilhaber gets picked up by the Revs, and the Union continue the internal search for a playmaker.

The Philly Soccer Page " When 1-0 is not enough...
As Peter Nowak vaulted himself into Carlos Ruiz's waiting arms, I felt the distinct taste of vomit rising in the back of my throat.

Colombian newspaper El Pais reported today that striker Andrés Ramiro Escobar is set to have his future decided by the "start of business on Friday." The just-turned-20-year-old (his birthday is today) will go to either the Portland Timbers or Philadelphia Union, according to the report.

Escobar is currently with Deportivo Cali in the Colombian top league, Categoría Primera A.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

Peter Nowak is among the 25 on the Player Ballot for the 2011 class of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

The Brotherly Game quotes a report from Monday in Guatemala-based Prensa Libre that says Carlos Ruiz was in discussion with the Union but terms could not be reached.

Union

Union Director of Player Development and Scouting Diego Gutierrez features prominently in this piece from the MLSsoccer.com that looks at the resurgence of Colombian players in the league:

"The state of Colombian soccer is not the best right now. A lot of clubs have gone belly up and their finances are in disarray.

Union

Union Director of Player Development and Scouting Diego Gutierrez features prominently in this piece from the MLSsoccer.com that looks at the resurgence of Colombian players in the league:

"The state of Colombian soccer is not the best right now. A lot of clubs have gone belly up and their finances are in disarray.

Here's another week of former SKC Wizards updates. First, there were plenty of former SKC Wizards in Omaha late last week when the US 94 World Cup team played an exhibition against the Omaha Vipers. Alexi Lalas, Preki, Roy Lassiter, and Diego Gutierrez all played for the US team, Tony Meola was supposed to play but couldn't make it due to travel.

The USMNT blog just announced their 18-man roster for tonight's game versus Chile.

Goalkeepers
1-Sean Johnson
18-Nick Rimando

We hope our own Sean Johnson gets the start. SB Nation's Ryan Rosenblatt has a good preview to get you caught up.

Merging the worlds of USMNT and Major Indoor Soccer League, the Omaha Civic Auditorium hosted an unique matchup that saw a collection of players from the 1994 USMNT World Cup team (and others) take on this year's Omaha Vipers.

OMAHA, NE. For three quarters the 1994 United States World Cup team more than held their own in an indoor soccer exhibition against Major Indoor Soccer League's Omaha Vipers on Friday night.

Alexi Lalas and other members of the '94 U.S. World Cup team took part in an indoor exhibition in Omaha on Friday.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union

I don't know about you but I'm still amped from yesterday's unveiling of Faryd Mondragon and Carlos Valdes. Sure, they were no surprise but, after a month or more of rumors, there is something to knowing it is all finally official. If you were unable to see the players yourself at Fado, or found that our updates from the event only whetted your appetite, you can watch the press conference in its entirety here.

PSP photographer Nicolae Stoian was on hand at Fado to shoot the introduction of Faryd Mondragon and Carlos Valdes to the media and Union supporters on Thursday. Here's a look at what he saw.

Nick Sakiewicz moments before the start ot the introduction of Faryd Mondragon and Carlos Valdes to the media and Union supporters.

Union

According to the Geman newspaper Nürnberg Zeitung, Toronto FC are also interested in Marek Mintal. In the report, FC Nürnberg Sports Director Martin Bader confirms the interest in Mintal from the Union: "There is a free request." The report goes on to say that "Mintal himself was tight-lipped yesterday and would not comment on the speculation surrounding his future.

Continuing to update my offseason stat information here on the blog. This time I'm updating the 10,000 minute club for the Wizards/Sporting KC. For league minutes, there was a new player added to the list, as Josh Wolff hit the 10,000 minute mark in league play, becoming the 11th Wizards player to hit that mark.