Photo: Earl Gardner/Daniel Gajdamowicz

This might sound familiar.

Going into opening day, Philadelphia Union's presumptive starting goalkeeper is a former University of Maryland All-American, U.S. youth international and top five draft pick. He was coached by Union goalkeeper coach Rob Vartughian in college and apprenticed to a top veteran goalkeeper in the pros.

Yesterday, Tweed Thornton and I had the opportunity to speak with Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas. It was an excellent chance to ask some questions that we had been wondering about and had been hearing from other Chicago Fire fans. It was also a chance to get to know the man who will be starting his first full season as head coach in March.

U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is closing in on adding another big piece to the coaching staff, as U.S. Soccer has made contact with former Austrian international Andreas Herzog after receiving permission from the Austrian Federation last week.

Herzog would be bring a wealth of playing and coaching experience, having earned 106 appearances and scoring 24 goals for Austria, making him their most-capped player in history.

Lee Nguyen's wait to find out his new club is almost up.

MLS will conduct a weighted lottery for the services on Thursday afternoon, the league announced.

The teams that have thrown their hat into the ring for the lottery are the Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC, Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy.

Toronto FC goalkeeper coach Mike Toshack leaves the club and joins Portland Timbers #MLS

via @LukeWileman, a well respected Canadian sports journalist.

No official announcement just yet.

Liverpool goalkeeper coach John Achterberg has revealed how the club is looking to replicate the skills of Pepe Reina in the juniors rising through the ranks at the academy.
The Spanish stopper has been an ever-present at Anfield since his arrival on Merseyside in 2005, with the 29-year-old a first choice under managers Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

With their MLS seasons over after losses in the conference semifinals on Thursday, a handful of up-and-coming players in the U.S. Under-23 and Under-20 pools will get their chance to make their mark ahead of this spring's Olympic qualifiers.

Former English national team goalkeeper Chris Woods has joined the U.S. staff under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Woods was at the U.S. team training session Monday, ahead of an exhibition game against Ecuador. Woods has been Everton's goalkeeper coach for 13 years, and Klinsmann says Everton manager David Moyes had given permission for Woods to take the U.

STARTERS
The rumor going around is that one USA opponent in the November international friendly week will be France.
dN
South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane has committed one of the great blunders in modern football history! The national team played their final game in African Cup of Nations qualifying last Saturday thinking they only needed 1 point to qualify because they held a wide margin in the goal differential tie breaker if 2 other potential teams won their games.

Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

HARRISON, N.J. -- Jurgen Klinsmann's coaching staff is slowly starting to take form.

After Martin Vasquez became entrenched as Klinsmann's second-in-command, the U.S. national team manager announced the addition of Chris Woods as the goalkeeper coach.

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates. Nick Cardenas is still getting looks from the Sporting KC coaching staff and I'd expect him to be invited to preseason this coming year. Two other former Wizards have taken coaching jobs under Jesse Marsch with the Montreal Impact. Preston Burpo has been named the team's goalkeeper coach, while Mike Sorber has joined as an assistant coach.

Photo by University of South Florida

By FRANCO PANIZO

When goalkeeper Chris Blais' 2010 season came to a close, it did so a game earlier than he wanted. Blais had helped guide Michigan to an impressive run in the NCAA Championship tournament, one that ended with a semifinals loss to eventual champion Akron.

Klinsmann will spend time in Europe
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is taking full advantage of his time in Europe following the match against Belgium, traveling across the continent to visit current and future U.S. prospects. Here's the breakdown:
Sept. 7 - Jurgen watched Stuart Holden play 65 minutes for Bolton's reserves against Rochdale in the Manchester Senior Cup.

At a conference call Monday afternoon, Zac MacMath talked to reporters about his first half in MLS, how he found out he was going in, and what he needs to do to help the team reach the playoffs.

"I didn't really know for sure til 7-8 mins left in halftime," MacMath said. I was already out there warming up in case and then our goalkeeper coach Rob Vartughian came out and just starting warming up and everything and that's when I knew I was going in.

The signings just keep on coming during the PASL offseason as teams prepare for the upcoming campaign.
Today Managing Partner/Head coach, Bernie Lilavois and the newest professional sports team in Southern California, Anaheim Bolts, will announce the second player to be signed in Jeff Hughes, as well as new goalkeeper coach, Jeff Tackett.

Most Sporting KC fans thought, and felt that Wizards coach, Peter Vermes would get a fine and or suspension for his comments after the game against Seattle where he said:
"We have been under this so many times this season — red cards or non-calls on penalty kicks — at some point, it has to change.

STARTERS
Egypt wants Bob Bradley to be their new head coach.
dN
Reports say Jesse Marsch is going to be the new head coach of the Montreal Impact. Don't know yet when he would take over, now, or after current season.
dN
Kitsap Pumas beat Laredo Heat 1-0 to win the 2011 USL PDL championship.

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America writes of the diverse group of assistant coaches that new US head coach Juergen Klinsmann has selected to work with him for his first camp.
You really couldn't ask for a more diverse group of assistants for Juergen Klinsmann for his first game in charge of the U.

STARTERS
The NSC Minnesota Star will host Breast Cancer Awareness Night at their home game on Sat Aug 27 v Montreal and will be wearing, auctioning & selling one-off pink Admiral kits. Please give them your support.
dN
This will be the 20th season of the English Premier League.

Jurgen Klinsmann has called 22 players into camp for the United States friendly game vs. Mexico on August 10 in Philadelphia. Staying true to his word that the team would have a Latin influence Jose Torres, Michael Edgar Orozco Fiscal, and Edgar Castillo were called into camp. DaMarcus Beasley makes his return to national team as does Edson Buddle and Heath Pearce.

Photo by Michael Pimentel/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON -- D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid thought he was being spammed by a telemarketer.

Nope, it's just new U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann offering an opportunity of a lifetime.

As new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann mentioned in his opening press conference, he is planning on bringing in a variety of different coaches for the next few months before settling on his future staff. Here's a brief intro to the first crew:
Martin Vasquez - Vasquez re-unites with Klinsmann after serving as an assistant coach at Bayern Munich.

Ger Coppinger

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State men's soccer head coach Jon Leamy announced today the hiring of Ger Coppinger as the team's new assistant coach. Coppinger takes over for David Stockton who accepted a similar position at Cal State Monterey Bay this spring.

"Ger is a great addition to the Missouri State soccer program," stated Leamy.

The U.S. team held its standard pre-game in-venue training today at the beautiful Rhein-Neckar Arena which will be sold-out 25,000 strong for the USA's match against Colombia tomorrow. Kickoff is at 12 p.m. ET (6 p.m. local) and the match is live on ESPN, ESPN3.com and Galavision ESPN has a pre-game show starting at 11:30 a.

Minnesota's Mukwelle Akale (Minneapolis, Minn. Minnesota Thunder Academy) and Max Stiegwardt (Maple Grove, Minn. Minnesota Thunder Academy) were called back into the U.S. Soccer Under-14 Boys' National Team domestic training camp in Carson, California. That camp started June 12 and will run through Sunday the 19th.

The Vancouver Whitecaps announced Monday afternoon that Teitur Thordarson has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the organization.

According to a source the team held a meeting with all its players this morning where Director of Soccer Operations Tom Soehn gave players the news.

Becky Sauerbrunn and Ali Krieger work the abs with a medicine ball throw

This morning was weight training for the U.S. WNT, which the team powered through as usual, but the most amusing part occured when the first group was finishing up and the second group was arriving at the gym and the team decided to have an impromptu "emergency goalkeeper tryout" which basically meant U.

Tonight our defense is once again put to the test as they face one of the quickest producing newcomers to MLS, Charlie Davies. The boys also put up their undefeated streak of five games, looking to extend it to six. There will be a gamethread going up about an hour before the match is slated to begin, and I will do my best to make sure it's updated with the score and action as it happens (thank you MDL).

Courtesy TribeAthletics.com Thu, March 24, 2011 Why did you choose the Tribe?
I chose the tribe because of the great reputation of the women's soccer team and the members on the team. I couldn't ask for a greater group of girls.

Describe a moment when you felt the most Tribe pride.

Courtesy TribeAthletics.com Thu, March 24, 2011 Why did you choose the Tribe?
I chose the tribe because of the great reputation of the women's soccer team and the members on the team. I couldn't ask for a greater group of girls.

Describe a moment when you felt the most Tribe pride.

Part Dark Cloud, part powered by Naranja Zach Woosley writes about the Houston Dynamo over at Dynamo Theory. The Houston side troubled Seattle in '09, and are only challenged by the Los Angeles Galaxy for team most often in opposition of Seattle. The Traffic Cones take on the Safety Vests tonight, so what should we know?

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

The solution to D.C. United's goalkeeping problems appears to have been right in front of the club all along.

Goalkeeper coach Pat Onstad is coming out of retirement to compete for the club's starting keeper job in the aftermath of Steve Cronin breaking his wrist.

Article reprinted with permission of the author: Coree Reuter
It was raining this morning when I woke up and headed down south to Stafford, VA to watch Virginia's State ODP training session. Rain is my favorite soccer weather, so I should have known straight away it was going to be a good day.

The Atlanta Silverbacks recently announced the hiring of head coach Jose Manuel Abundis to guide the team in the upcoming 2011 NASL season. Assisting Abundis will be former MLS MVP Alex Pineda Chacon and goalkeeper coach Jose "Gaucho" Pinho. The Silverbacks' staff will have a decidedly Latin flavor, as Abundis is a native of Mexico, while Chacon hails from Honduras and Pinho is Brazilian, but all three have been involved in U.

By AVI CREDITOR

After putting last season's historically bad campaign in the rear-view mirror, D.C. United is aiming for a fresh start with Ben Olsen at the helm of a team on a mission.

With a bevy of new faces in camp and a fresh attitude to boot, expectations of a vast improvement are abound in the nation's capital.

Jason Kreis was Major League Soccer's all-time goals leader (with 108) when he retired at the start of the 2007 season to become Real Salt Lake's head coach. Two months later, he added Robin Fraser to his staff.
Together -- and with general manager Garth Lagerwey and goalkeeper coach Jeff Cassar -- they transformed MLS's weakest side into its best, winning the MLS Cup title in 2009 and playing the league's finest soccer most of the 2010 campaign.

Ex TOT-CAT, Sisaket and TTM Phichit striker Valci Teixeira Junior (far left of photo) has been confirmed as Thai Port's first signing of the year. The 23 year old scored 9 league goals during the 2010 season, including a cracker at PAT Stadium that earned TTM a 1-1 draw.
* Port have also snapped up ex Muangthong United goalkeeper coach Nipon Malanon (far right of photo).

The 37-year-old central defender signed a new one-year contract, the club announced this afternoon.

Berhalter slowed visibly last season, his second with the Galaxy after a 15-year career in Europe, and by season's end was mulling retirement.

Injuries limited Berhalter to just 16 games last season.