NSCAA CONVENTION AND MLS SUPERDRAFT
The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12.
dN
du Nord will be there. Will you? Come find me!
dN
Watch the MLS SuperDraft on Wed - 11am CT on ESPN2 and ESPN3.

By Chris Wright

It's one that we've all seen a thousand-odd times before, the classic stretcher FAIL in which a prone player suffers a face-full of gooch at the hands of an utterly incompetent stretcher-bearer.

This time the poor unfortunate soul on the receiving end of an impromptu and unscheduled visit to Biffer's Bridge is Confianca (Brazilian youth side) midfielder Arthur.

Having finally recovered from a groin injury, Gooch was paired with veteran Brazilian Anderson Polga in the center of Sporting's defense in the Estadio Jose Alvalade and played a strong 90 minutes.

The United States were unfortunate to not get a better result in their 1-0 loss to Ecuador in a friendly at Red Bull Arena last night.
They created a number of good chances early on in the match, and conceded a late goal for the final 1-0 scoreline.
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America gives some of his impressions following last night's match.

Good first half. Familiar lack of finishing. Weak second and predictably punished. The defense did look better organized (at least until Bocanegra left) though uncomfortable against the quick counter, something that should have Mexico salivating. Anyway, just a few thoughts...
* Chandler looked really impressive at the problem left back spot.

1. We predicted last time that Gooch and Bradley would start. Clearly, that didn't happen. But with a short turnaround and fair amount of travel, we think it's safe to say Klinsmann will be mixing up the lineup quite a bit tonight. We'll say Gooch, Bradley, and DaMarcus Beasley make the starting eleven.

1. We predicted last time that Gooch and Bradley would start. Clearly, that didn't happen. But with a short turnaround and fair amount of travel, we think it's safe to say Klinsmann will be mixing up the lineup quite a bit tonight. We'll say Gooch, Bradley, and DaMarcus Beasley make the starting eleven.

- Jason Davis
The fourth installment of the Free on a Bosman program, enumerated with the classy Roman numeral desigination, is here for your enjoyment.
Jared and I start with the good news and the bad news around the USMNT. Just when Holden gets back, down goes Torres. Gooch is playing well (maybe?

Union

The Union reserves lost 2-1 to Columbus yesterday. Jack McInerney scored in the 14th minute for the U.

PennLive has videos and info on Harrisburg goalie Chase Harrison, who will be training with the Union today. Harrison also runs AskTheGoalkeeper.com.

The Shin Guardian offers up a wonderful breakdown of the current MLS playoff picture.

By Chris Wright

You can almost feeeel the hate flowing through Porto's new kits for 2011/12, as modelled by Emperor Hulk and his cronies.

Some feeble-minded gooch has disabled embedding on the video, so we're afraid you'll have to wander outside Pies' safe confines to check it out.

Let's not name names. It doesn't matter who - we all succeed and fail together... right?I say it's best just to get on with the linkery and spillery...- Top 5 Second Team Americans To Watch This Season- My take on Gooch's chances for success at Sporting- Karlsruher are in talks for Babajide OgunbiyiI still have another preseason Top 5 Continental Shifts to come at S365 today, plus a pile of

Thoughts on the United States 1-0 win over Panama;

• Freddy Adu has grown up. He played with confidence, did not try and do more than he is capable, and opened up the game for the United States. His vision to see Donovan and hit him in space is why he was labeled as special.
• Bob Bradley once again made the changes that carried the United States to the win.

Bobbo will undoubtedly field a similar lineup to the 2-0 result over Canada, especially after receiving news that the 23 is fully healthy, including Jermaine Jones, who asked off the field late against the Canadians. It wouldn't surprise me to see Ream get a breather, since he's now played full 90's against both Spain and Canada.

Amazing how refreshing a good cleanse can be.

Tonight's victory over Canada in the Gold Cup washes away the ugly filth of the Spanish drubbing from the weekend. The US team that showed up tonight bore no resemblance to the ramshackle crew assembled against Spain. Granted, Canada is far from the stiffest competition in the world (which is precisely what Spain is), but the play of the US team tonight was inspiring, regardless of opponent.

It's been a topsy-turvy run for Clarence Goodson on the USMNT. Goodson, who played at the University of Maryland in the midfield nonetheless, has been largely enigmatic for Bob Bradley in a US kit.

Clarence Goodson against Colombia, October 2010.

It was 2009 that Goodson got some run after a Jimmy Conrad injury at the Gold Cup.

I have mixed feelings on the eve of the United States' opening match of the 2011 Gold Cup. Everything that I was afraid of happening in the Spain match (except injuries) happened, and now Bob Bradley's team has U.S. fans nervous and somewhat pessimistic the day before they face the 76th ranked country in the world, according to FIFA and Coca-Cola.

A few observations from tonights 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the World Champions.

• The first half showed how much Dempsey, Donovan and Michael Bradley mean to the U. S. The midfield was a mess, particularly Jones and Edu. Robbie Rogers did not make an impact as well. I thought Sasha Kljestan was the best of the lot in the first half.

Jozy, Mo and Sacha are part of the group that arrived today
(extra credit if you can name the game)
The U.S. Men's National Team has returned to the friendly locale of Cary, N.C., to begin the important preparations for the friendly against Spain and the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Read it and... well... something besides weep. Eat a taco.- Postcard From Europe w/ Zak Whitbread- Gooch in doubt for Sunday's title bout- Forest proclaim Findley fit for Thursday- This week's Top 5 Continental Shifts- Greg Seltzer

Time to get the popcorn. Here are several Dynamo-related videos I've found. The first series of videos interviewing various Dynamo players is from serial YouTuber Futbolr. First, we start with the Dancing Bear himself, Will Bruin.

And here's everyone's favorite left back of the moment, the Carolina Speedster himself, Corey Ashe:

And Lovel Palmer.

Let's get our weekly catch-up out of the way before Will takes over with CONCACAF Champions League coverage...- Dempsey double downs Bolton, sets Fulham record- Postcard From Europe w/ Oguchi Onyewu- A quick word with weekend AaB hero Chris Rolfe- The latest Top 5 Continental Shifts at S365- Groove to Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" - as RDA advisesAs an added bonus, how about a few stray Gooch quotes

The Starting 11

This was much much better from the US!
There was some intent to build an attack instead of firing cannonballs up field.

Now for some context and conclusions:

1) The obvious one.

This was not Argentina. Nor was it against a Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, or any team whose style is to keep the ball.

I suspect few of you get the reference to old Wendy's commercial from the '80s about how their new burger was unlike the drab competition. Unfortunately, our USMNT seems unlikely to be much like Wendy's in this respect.

Players are in the camp now for upcoming friendlies against Argentina this weekend and Paraguay shortly thereafter.

Onyewu is chasing three trophies with FC Twente in Holland
For the last five years, Oguchi Onyewu has been an unmistakable presence in the center of the U.S. defense, not the least of which due to his 6'4" frame. A two-time World Cup veteran and holder of a pair of Gold Cup medals, Gooch has been a force.

One of the main concerns for the US Men's National Team over the last few years is defensive coverage, especially in the first 15 minutes of every match. The one stalwart that always seems to give us hope as a center half is Oguchi Onyewu. He's appeared in 58 matches for the United States in his career, and while he has given us glimpses of what he can do, the best word for me that seems to fit his career at this point is.

STARTERS
Some potential bad news appears to be brewing in the Netherlands as Oguchi Onyewu was subbed off after just 26 minutes in a league Cup game today at Twente due to what is reported to be a lower back injury. (Game info: tied PSV 1-1, and advanced 7-6 in Penalty Kick Shootout.

So the first day of preseason is in the books, and unfortunately I was unable to make it. This blog doesn't pay the bills so I was at work while preseason was going on. But the rest of the KC soccer blogosphere was there today and there is plenty of information that you can look at. I doubt I'll be able to make it out to a practice before the team heads down to Arizona, but there is certainly plenty to look over.

Our 2nd entry in what is sure be a long-running journal. Here was our first entry in October.

After most camps and friendlies, TSG puts together a piece with the following components for discussion amongst the community.

Could this triumvirate be celebrating goals together in the summer?

Great news for fans of U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu. The two-time World Cup veteran got his first league game action this year when he played 90 minutes in FC Twente's 5-0 demolition of Heracles. Gooch went the distance at left back for the club he has joined on loan, the side moving back into second place in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Alright, I'm being lazy while so many of you are at work. I'm off my ass now.We're in the 20th minute, Twente up on their derby rivals 1-0 on a Marc Janko goal (4') and our man Gooch is playing left back.Yes, LEFT back. Twente have an injury crisis at the back right now - only not in the center.Gimme a moment to get the line-ups to ya, but here we go.

One last thing before I pass out; FC Twente loan defender Oguchi Onyewu made his debut for the reserves tonight, going all 90 and scoring a goal in a friendly with nearby German mites Lotte. Not bad for the "little guy" entering the tallest country on Earth. New nickname: Goochje*? * = the Dutch equivalent of Goochinho or Goochito, pronounced "Gooch-yuh"- Greg Seltzer

It's that time of year again, it's time for another MLS draft and tomorrow in Baltimore KC will get the rights to 3 players for the next season. KC has the 10th, 32nd, and 46th picks tomorrow. There's been tons of speculation on who is going to be taken in the draft by KC. It seems like every mock draft has a different person being taken in the number 10 spot.

After a year-and-a-half spell at A.C. Milan, during which he couldn't get a sniff of playing time, Oguchi Onyewu has secured a loan deal to FC Twente.

The Dutch club confirmed rumors this morning, and announced that Onyewu will be joining their club for the duration of the season.

This move seems good for a few reasons:

1) Gooch was seemingly shut out of the Milan squad and getting nowhere.

In a much rumored move that is now official, US defender Oguchi Onyewu heads back to the Eredivisie to join FC Twente on loan through the remainder of the season from AC Milan

Onyewu, 28 and coming off an injury plagued 2010, will be rejoining manager Michel Preud'homme who we last played for at Standard Leige before his Milan move that saw the defender get but one game in the Champion's League for the Serie A leaders.