Kenny Cooper opened his New York Red Bulls account on Tuesday, doing so against his former club in
the process.
Cooper scored the opening goal in the Red Bulls' 2-0 preseason victory over FC Dallas in Cancun,
Mexico, a game that was postponed from Monday because of field conditions.
photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
D.C. United added more depth to its midfield on Monday, signing a player who is no stranger to
MLS.
United announced the acquisition of midfielder Marcelo Saragosa, the 30-year-old Brazilian who
previously had stints with FC Dallas and Chivas USA.
D.C. United's preseason personnel surge continued on Wednesday with the acquisition of
Argentine centerback Emiliano Dudar from BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.
The 6-foot-4, 30-year-old Dudar is a player with experience on a number of levels and is a
one-time Swiss league Defender of the Year (2009-2010).
Photo by Patricia Giobetti/ISIphotos.com
D.C. United's wing options got a little more intriguing on Friday.
The club acquired midfielder Danny Cruz from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a partial
allocation, adding an up-and-coming player to the team's already up-and-coming nucleus.
By CALEB SONNELAND
Citing "personal reasons," FC Dallas has temporarily lost Jackson Gonçalves, as the club
loaned the 23-year-old back to Cruzeiro in his native land of Brazil.
Though the midfielder proved to be a large factor last season for FC Dallas, coach Schellas
Hyndman believes the situation can be "mutually beneficial.
photo by ISIphotos.com
George John left the U.S. men's national team camp last week to pursue an opportunity
abroad.
That move has been completed, with John moving to a club in England.
According to various reports out of England, FC Dallas has loaned John to West Ham United.
After the lengthy wait to have their chance to impress U.S. men's national team head coach
Jurgen Klinsmann, it appears George John and Omar Gonzalez will have to wait a bit longer.
Both John and Gonzalez have left national team camp in Arizona to attend to potential winter
moves. John has left the country to pursue a potential transfer while Gonzalez is mulling over loan
opportunities.
FC Dallas has emerged from its offseason slumber in a big way.
The club signed Panama striker Blas Perez and young Colombian defender Hernan Pertuz on Tuesday,
addressing two areas of need with international-caliber talent. Neither deal was classified as a
Designated Player signing according to a team release.
Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
For a team coming off of a championship run, the Los Angeles Galaxy have had plenty of major
moving parts over recent weeks.
Between Landon Donovan going back to Everton on a short-term loan, Juninho returning to Sao
Paulo, Donovan Ricketts being dealt to the Montreal Impact, Sean Franklin re-signing and David
Beckham, well, still making a decision, the Galaxy remain the talk of MLS deep into the
offseason.
For the first time since its soccer-specific stadium opened in 2005, FC Dallas won't be playing
at Pizza Hut Park.
Instead, the club will play at the temporarily named FC Dallas Stadium while it searches for a
new sponsor.
Pizza Hut is reportedly dropping its sponsorship of the stadium, effective after the Football
Championship Subdivision title game is held there on Jan.
FC Dallas traded Honduran winger Marvin Chavez to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday, securing
an allocation in the process.
The deal sent Chavez, who enjoyed a standout season in Dallas, to San Jose, where he should slot
right in as the team's starting right winger.
Chavez delivered six goals and four assists for FC Dallas, providing a perfect complement on the
right wing to Brek Shea's forays from the left flank.
The opening weekend of the 2012 MLS season will feature a Canadian derby.
The Vancouver Whitecaps will host the Montreal Impact at BC Place on March 10 as part of MLS
First Kick, the league announced on Tuesday, as bits and pieces of next season's schedule begin to
be released.
photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Geoff Cameron's switch to centerback was one of the key ingredients in the Houston Dynamo's run
to the MLS Cup, and that's why head coach Dominic Kinnear has made the move permanent.
Cameron will serve as a center back in 2012 after he and Kinnear had a discussion following the
end of the season.
Jeremy Hall is acquiring quite the jersey collection in a short amount of time.
The one-time U.S. youth product and Generation adidas signing is on the move again after being
traded from FC Dallas to Toronto FC on Tuesday in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2013 MLS
SuperDraft.
photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
You can add Brek Shea to the list of MLS players who will be training abroad this offseason.
Following the U.S. men's national team's upcoming friendlies against France and Slovenia, Shea
will train with Arsenal of the English Premier League for a month, FC Dallas announced on
Thursday.
The New York Red Bulls may have eked into the playoffs, but they're in a position to shake up
the postseason picture in a big way after their latest performance.
Joel Lindpere finished a cross from substitute Mehdi Ballouchy in the 61st minute, and Thierry
Henry scored an insurance goal in the final seconds of stoppage time to lift the Red Bulls to a 2-0
victory over FC Dallas in a single-elimination wild card match Wednesday night.
The road to the 2011 MLS Cup Final begins tonight, with the New York Red Bulls taking on FC Dallas
at Pizza Hut Park in Major League Soccer's first wild card match (Fox Soccer Channel, 9pm).
FC Dallas enters the match as the highest-seeded wild card team, but a 2-5 finish to the regular
season has Schellas Hyndman's club looking vulnerable against a New York Red Bulls side that
finished the season strongly.
The first two games of the MLS postseason are set for Wednesday and Thursday night, with the new
wild card format meaning that for two teams it's win and advance, and for two others it's lose and
go home.
New York and Dallas open the MLS playoffs Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park in a meeting of two
teams that had serious title aspirations entering the season.
By AVI CREDITOR
The New York Red Bulls have seen what their low-seeded predecessors have accomplished, and
despite falling short of regular-season expectations, the club is hoping to continue the MLS trend
of recent years.
"I was thinking a little about that record," Red Bulls manager Hans Backe said.
Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
Well, the New York Red Bulls sure took the drama out of this weekend.
With New York's 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on Thursday, the 10th and final ticket to
the postseason was booked, and the Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire were eliminated from playoff
contention.
George John had to hold off on his dreams of a move to Europe this summer when a proposed
transfer to Blackburn fell through in the final stages. Those events may ultimately lead John to
wind up at a better club this winter, if reports are to be believed.
According to the UK Daily Mail, Everton and Wigan are both on the trail of the FC Dallas
defender and are expected to make January bids for the big centerback.
With the MLS playoffs a dream that disappeared long ago, Toronto FC had one thing left to play for
in 2011. They had a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals to try and win.
Standing in their way was FC Dallas, one of the better teams in MLS, a team that needed just a
draw on Tuesday night at their home ground to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
Major League Soccer has taken some major strides during the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League,
but as the final games of group play approach, there is still work to be done before crowning this
campaign as a great success.
Only one MLS team, Seattle, has clinched a place in the knockout stage so far, but that could
all change Tuesday night.
Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
The MLS playoff race sure is heating up.
With just a handful of matches remaining, nine teams are still competing for six available
postseason berths. A slate of influential weekend fixtures kicks off Friday with a critical clash
in the wild-card race between the Houston Dynamo and Portland Timbers.
By DAVE GUBALA
BRIDGEVIEW, IL -- The Chicago Fire went into Wednesday night's match against FC Dallas knowing
that anything short of a victory would all but erase their chances of reaching the playoffs. For FC
Dallas, the match was about trying snap a losing streak and poor run of form.
By ADAM SERRANO
Hector Jimenez has been living life under the radar in his rookie season, but when the
midfielder from the University of California has had his chance to see action, he's grabbed a hold
of it.
Jimenez was instrumental in the Galaxy's 2-1 victory over Morelia in the CONCACAF Champions
League, helping to create the winning goal.
Photo by Patricia Giobetti/ISIphotos.com
For the second straight day, the Portland Timbers got the better of the Vancouver Whitecaps by a
1-0 scoreline.
After the Timbers' first team accomplished that feat in the debut of BC Place on Sunday, the
Portland reserves did the same on Monday on the strength of an 82nd-minute goal from Bryan Burke
and a clean sheet by Jake Gleeson.
photo by Patricia Giobetti/ISIphotos.com
If the Colorado Rapids entered their game against FC Dallas hoping to close the gap in the
standings between the two teams, it was a mission accomplished.
Colorado defeated FC Dallas 1-0 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night on a headed goal
from Drew Moor in the first half.
Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
Saturday's showdown between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas may be a rematch of last year's
MLS Cup, but neither team has looked anything like a title contender lately.
Dallas is 0-6-1 in its past seven matches in all competitions, while Colorado has gone 0-5-1 in
six games.
By FRANCO PANIZO
It seems nothing can stop FC Dallas' current free fall.
Having been beaten in its last three games, Dallas was once again on the losing end on Wednesday
night, falling 5-3 on the road to Panamanian club Tauro FC in a wild CONCACAF Champions League
match that saw three red cards and two penalty kicks.
It's a big night for Major League Soccer teams both domestically and regionally. The Los Angeles
Galaxy and Colorado Rapids fighting for their CONCACAF Champions League lives, while FC Dallas
looks to take a giant step further toward advancing to the knockout stage.
In league play, Sporting Kansas City and Columbus meet in a crucial Eastern Conference battle,
while Real Salt Lake is expected to welcome playmaker Javier Morales back to the field at some
point during its match against the Chicago Fire.
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Playoff positioning -- and the 19th-century cannon/trophy known as El Capitan -- were on the
line Saturday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park, where the Houston Dynamo defeated FC Dallas 1-0 with a
late goal to claim this year's Texas Derby title.
Photo by Wendy Larsen/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
While the Texas derby between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo is an intense affair in its own
right, the playoff implications surrounding Saturday's showdown have added a little more spice to
the rivalry.
By ADAM SERRANO
Dasan Robinson is on his third club in just a year, but he's ready to return to the form that
once made him one of the finest young defenders in MLS.
Recently acquired by the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for Kyle Davies from Toronto FC, who had
acquired Robinson less than two months earlier from the Chicago Fire, Robinson is not unfamilar
with the L.
On a day that saw MLS clubs go winless in CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage matches, the
Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas lost crucial home games on Wednesday night.
The Rapids were defeated 2-1 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park by Honduran side Real Espana on a
pair of goals from Carlos Pavon.
Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com
The Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas have a couple of things in common these days.
Both 2010 MLS Cup finalists are looking to avoid backing into the playoffs after recent dips in
form, and both are seeking CONCACAF Champions League victories Wednesday night that would set them
up in a decent position heading into the final games of the group stage.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
This year's race for the MLS Golden Boot is congested, unclear and littered with a few surprise
candidates. With about a month remaining in the 2011 MLS season, there's no better time to break
down the prime contenders and see who will emerge from the pack with the most goals.
Missing Thierry Henry and facing a strong FC Dallas side on the road, the New York Red Bulls
didn't look like a good bet to get the three points they needed to pump some sorely-needed life
into their fading playoff hopes.
No, the Red Bulls didn't have their star goal-scorer, or three fourths of their starting
defense, but the team that hadn't won since July found a way to win anyway, as a Luke Rodgers goal
and standout performance from Frank Rost helped New York post a sorely-needed 1-0 victory over FC
Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.
