Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
The Philadelphia Union have a plan, and they're sticking to it.
The club purchased the full rights to 20-year-old Colombian midfielder Roger Torres from America
de Cali, which had been loaning him to the Union for the last two seasons.
The U.S. Women's National Team faced a tougher test than expected, but ultimately the Americans
proved too tough for underdog Costa Rica and eventually punched their ticket to the Summer
Olympics.
A first-half goal by Tobin Heath gave the U.S. women the lead and despite a courageous fight
from the Costa Ricans, the United States held that one-goal lead before Carli Lloyd blasted home a
long-range blast in the second half to give the Americans a 2-0 victory in the CONCACAF Olympic
Qualifying semifinals in Vancouver.
Cold air, but sunny skies down at Starfire for the last split session training on the schedule.
Session One, the younger players, saw 10v10 action. They needed a warm body to fill out the full
20, instead assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson (now on twitter) played as a left back in their three
back set.
I initially filed this one under bullshit in my immensely well-organized mental
filing cabinet. It was first reported in the Daily Mail after all. That bummy rag may have
been on to something, though. In fact, they were probably dead-on.
Sincerest apologies, Mail.
Skillful wingers in the player pool are at a premium ahead of Thursday's MLS SuperDraft, but
three of the top players available at the position are some of the more sought-after attackers
eligible for selection.
Sam Garza, a Generation adidas signing out of UCSB who can play up top or on the wing, helped
his stock considerably with his showing while playing for the adiPure team at the Combine and had a
big hand in helping set up Ethan Finlay as part of the Creighton forward's hat trick.
By FRANCO PANIZO
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The second day of the MLS Combine was the first day for Ethan Finlay,
who had arrived to the Sunshine State on Saturday. He had missed the first day of the event on
Friday to attend the Hermann Trophy Award ceremony in St.
Just about every league except MLS in full swing this weekend. Some match-ups to watch. What
will you be hdtv'ing?
• The Ray Hudson Bowl
El Clasico.
Main dwarf...
Real Madrid and Barcelona. Lately this match has become more like a Catholic elementary school
game of tag at recess than a soccer match.
You might not have been reading CCN in 2007, but if you were, you may recall this:
Cruel, cruel, cruel.
A beautiful, freezing December evening. A sleepy first half, an engaging second, and then
disaster. Injury time: some bother as Newcastle attack, by the penalty spot, Omozusi – otherwise
excellent – late on a tackle, over tumbles the forward.
I think we all can agree that it's a bit too late to do a recap. Lamb to the slaughter it was
and all.
What we can do is drop five things we learned from watching the destruction. After the jump and
the epic screencap of Toretto and O'Conner you can check my Fast Five, compiled after watching the
match a second time.
I figured out why the club haven't been taking these CPO protests seriously. They're too busy
bidding for young talent in 45 minute stretches. Yes, yes we are. More, after the jump.
Worth his weight in gold?
Well, this came out of left field. According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea have succeeded in
securing the signature of MK Dons starlet Oluwaseyi Ojo.
Amazing, amazing, amazing. A truly awe-inspiring display of swift attacking football by the Red
Devils killed off any hopes Chelsea had in gaining three points at Old Trafford. Let's face it,
Manchester United is not afraid of any team in the Premier League. It may be an inexperienced
defensive lineup with Smalling, Jones, Evans and Evra and a weak central midfield with Fletcher and
Anderson but yet, the champions despatched an expensively assembled Chelsea team with ease.
International matches are proving a bona-fide bane to Liverpool. It has been so since the Benitez
days. Charlie Adam came back from Scotland international duty with a slight injury concern. That
clearly hampered his performance at the Britannia last weekend. Even the hardworking Dirk Kuyt
looked very lethargic and contributed little at Stoke.
Galaxy 2 Alajuelense 0
Game story
Watch:
Quotable:
"They play a different game - quickness - not the same style of physicality (you see in
MLS)," said Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena. "It was an important experience for us."
Mike Magee agreed with that assessment:
They're more technical than most MLS teams ," he said.
The impact of Homegrown Players in MLS has been gradual but significant, and last week the
Houston Dynamo saw the frst major contribution from one of their own homegrown players as Alex
Dixon stepped up and delivered a clutch game-winning goal against Real Salt Lake.
Dixon's goal, arguably the biggest goal of the past week, earned him SBI MLS Rookie of the Week
honors.
And Jesus said, go forth and save Arsenal for a recompense of loaves and fish
Kaka's future in Real is a mystery. The 2007 Golden Ball winner is drifting in a team that
signed Mesut Oezil, Nuri Sahin, and Fabio Coentrao to bolster the midfield.
Jose Mourinho played him sparingly in the pre-season fixtures with the LA Galaxy as the only
substantial outing.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Location: Lincoln Financial Field
Game time: Wednesday, 9:00pm ET
TV: ESPN2
Following the recent appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann as the coach of the US Mens National Team,
the focus of US Soccer has turned to Philadelphia, where the Nats will play host to Mexico on
Wednesday night in an effort to kick off Klinsmann's US career by turning over a three match losing
streak against their arch-rivals.
Jurgen Klinsmann will not be easing into the US national team coaching job. Klinsmann's debut will
be against Mexico in Philadelphia tomorrow, less than two weeks after replacing Bob Bradley.
Klinsmann has acted fast. The team was named last Thursday, and Klinsmann has had to modify the
roster along the way, making significant changes to a team that lost to Mexico in the Gold Cup
final June 25.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Game time: Saturday, 8:00pm ET
TV: 6 ABC
Any time an old streak ends, a new one can begin and that is exactly what will be on the minds
of the Union players when they square off against Houston this Saturday at PPL Park.
For all the questions regarding the strength in depth of the current Aston Villa squad, there
hasn't been a great deal of discussion, so far as I've seen, about the captaincy. In truth, the
role of the captain is often overblown, and it has to be said that the other highly paid
professional athletes on the pitch shouldn't need any motivation or encouragement from a colleague,
but a great leader can still be worth his weight in gold.
Writer Jerrod Roh will provide coverage, analysis, and opinion for the 2011 Women's World
Cup for IMSoccer News. He has attended the last 3 men's World Cups in South Korea, Germany, and
South Africa as well as the 2003 Women's World Cup in the U.S. He is a self-described fan, student,
and teacher of the game.
Yet another film from Nike Digital as they followed the U.S. team on its road to the WWC.
Today: The Sprint Test.
The modern game is built on speed.
Quickness over the first 10, 20, & 30 meters is critical.
Be there first.
Pressure Makes Us.
Five games unbeaten? Shutout with three rooks on the back line? Road point against the league
leaders and looking the more likely to win if anybody did?
Impressive. Even if the Galaxy were missing a couple of key offensive cogs. Some quick
thoughts...
* Josh Wolff has had four fantastic looks at net over the last couple of games.
It seems like yesterday that Roy Jones Jr. was the pound-for-pound king of the boxing world.
Now, well past his prime, Roy Jones Jr. is a joke. Boxing in Moscow, Jones was dominated by a
Russian by the name of Denis Lebedev. You can watch the Roy Jones Jr. video below to see him get
owned by the Russian.
Less than a week after their hard fought tie in league play, Madrid and Barça met in the final
of the King's Cup. Mourinho sent his defensive set into the midfield again, then put in Özil from
the start for an added touch of creativity in attack, and sprinkled the whole side with an extra
dose of aggression dust.
Showing off quickness, nifty dribbling and sharp passing, Portland Timbers midfielder Khalif
Alhassan has quickly established himself as one of Portland's most dangerous players, and his
performances in the Timbers two victories last week helped earn him SBI MLS Player of the Week
honors for Week five.
In lieu of the news that Chad Ochocinco is trying out for Sporting Kansas City, yesterday
morning I looked at members of the Philadelphia Eagles as soccer players and what attributes they
have that might translate onto a soccer field. Now I will look at a possible tactical formation
they might use if these Eagles were in fact soccer players.
You'll forgive me for the tardiness of this recap, but I needed a 24-hour reprieve from all
things Chelsea to clear my head. This was as hard a loss to swallow as we've endured this campaign.
If you could have predicted this outcome, then you'd probably be a rich man right now- or a
Liverpool fan.
You'll forgive me for the tardiness of this recap, but I needed a 24-hour reprieve from all
things Chelsea to clear my head. This was as hard a loss to swallow as we've endured this campaign.
If you could have predicted this outcome, then you'd probably be a rich man right now- or a
Liverpool fan.
Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com
By JOSE M. ROMERO
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. -- O'Brian White was asked point-blank if the team that made him the fourth
overall SuperDraft pick in 2009, Toronto FC, misused him.
A downward glance and shrug of the shoulders said a lot, even if the new Seattle Sounders
striker's words didn't.
- Jason Davis
The possibility that Charlie Davies could spend the year on loan to DC United is a natural marriage
brought about by timing, the vagaries of the MLS allocation order system, and a shared need for
both to find redemption in 2011.
Charlie Davies wants to play, DC United could do with some positive press.
Kip Kesgard reported on the Portland Timbers preseason training.
I had heard Coach John Spencer runs a rather animated training camp, and I would say even that
description didn't describe the atmosphere of training. Coach Spencer was planning on using the
first week of camp to focus entirely on fitness and stamina, and his first exercise was to break
the field players into two groups for shuttle runs around cones placed on the pitch.
The guys practice a little keep away. From right to left: Corrales, Lenhart, Convey, Johnson,
Leitch (I think), Jasseh, McDonald, Ward, Ampaipitakwong
The Winter transfer period is open and the Quakes are still adding some players to their roster.
Recently the Quakes have added a midfielder and a new goalie.
Ladies, gentlemen, those not of this realm,
I'd like to take this time to make an introduction, a most triumphant one. No, unfortunately
he's not from San Dimas. He does, however, hail from California the City of Angels, in fact.
Jack. Devin.
This fine man has been following The CO on the hush for a while.
By FRANCO PANIZO
The 2011 MLS Combine is in the books, but before all of the focus turns towards where these guys
will be playing this season, we're looking back at the event's top performers.
Several of the top prospects did not participate in the Combine, but there were still many
players who showed considerably well over the three days worth of matches in sunny Ft.
