When it comes to Shea, here's the full Brek: Dinamo Kyiv did in fact make an offer to FC Dallas a couple of months ago. It may even have been before I found out they'd been monitoring him closely back around the time of the France friendly.Long story short, the offer was quickly rejected (no word if they made a sour face when doing so) and Dinamo returned from whence they came.

Ricardo Clark got a little redemption but that's about it. (Getty Images)

It has been a long time coming for the US Men's National Team. A solid three-game winning streak.

Typically these sorts of things happen around the January friendly time. It certainly isn't the first time this has happened but with Jurgen Klinsmann in as boss, it is.

Hmm. Looks like a 4-4-2 diamond for the USMNT tonight. Not especially feelin' it, still don't understand why this camp roster wasn't larger. Oh well.. enjoy the game, player ratings after at MLSS and Will plans to drop some thoughts tomorrow morning.Rimando; DeLaGarza, Parkhurst, Cameron, Loyd, Zusi, Clark, Jones, Shea, Wondolowski, Bunbury- Greg Seltzer

The United States is running out of chances to find some solid form before World Cup qualifying starts in summer. Tonight, they take on a Panamanian team they really should beat and they will be returning to the 4-4-2 that Jurgen Klinsmann has seemed so intent on doing away with. Chris Wondolowski will start alongside Teal Bunbury at forward.

Rimando
DeLaGarza Parkhurst Cameron Loyd
Clark Jones (capt.)
Zusi Shea
Wondolowski Bunbury
1-Rimando2-DeLaGarza3-Loyd4-Parkhurst5-Cameron6-Clark7-Wondolowski8-Jones (capt.

When Saturday Comes has a nice article on John O'Shea.

Sabotage Times talks about Eric Cantona's kung-fu kick.

The Mirror reckon that United need a new right-back.

The Evening News says there are no problems over Welbeck's contract negotiations.

FIFA has a good Q&A with Gerard Pique.

With the first friendly of 2012 producing a thrilling, though somewhat disappointing 1-0 victory against Venezuela on Saturday, the U.S. men's national team is now in Panama preparing for the first tough road match for this young group.

Jurgen Klinsmann scheduled this Panama match with the expressed purpose of testing inexperienced players in a hostile environment, and the opponent is one who should provide a tougher test than the one provided by Venezuela.

By "The Other 87 Minutes" / Senior Unemployed English Major CorrespondentsFor today's entry, we bring you the top ten things Ricardo Clark's 97th-minute winner against Venezuela made us completely forget. 1. The entire 2010 World Cup, obviously. Welcome back Rico, all is forgiven.

Wes Brown was repeatedly given a hard time by Sir Alex Ferguson when it came time for contract negotiations. In October 2004 the club had offered Brown what they believed to be a reasonable deal and weren't prepared to budge.

"We've made the boy an offer and he's turned it down," said Ferguson.

We review the USMNT versus Venezuela, including post-match interviews with Benny Feilhaber, Bill Hamid and Brek Shea, and clips from coach Jurgen Klinsmann's post-match press conference.

Also on the show: Clint Dempsey sets another record in England, we discuss the first EPL game to air live on FOX and listener Jonathon Tolbert drops by for some Wikipedia Game.

The U.S. players had a lot to celebrate Saturday night

1. Ricardo Clark's game-winner in the 97th minute marks the latest goal scored in the second half by the United States in team history.
2. Jurgen Klinsmann has collected back-to-back victories for the first time since becoming head coach last summer, following the 3-2 win against Slovenia on Nov.

Last night in Arizona, the US national team topped Venezuela in the first of two friendlies for the camp cupcake roster, 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Ricardo Clark. Sporting KC forward Teal Bunbury and midfielder Graham Zusi both started for the US, while forward, CJ Sapong came on as a second half sub, replacing Zusi.

For 90 minutes the U.S. Men's National Team dominated play against Venezuela on Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz, but couldn't find the goal they needed to take the lead. Substitute Ricardo Clark finally had the answer with a stoppage time header to give the U.S. a deserved 1-0 victory.

Before we dig into some of my takeaways from tonight's battle with Venezuela (another three-pointer!), the original starting lineup: Bill Hamid, A.J. DeLaGarza, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron, Heath Pearce, Jeff Larentowicz, Jermaine Jones, Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber, Brek Shea, Teal Bunbury. As for the highlights, check out the ESPN3 replay here.

Here is the USA's starting lineup against Venezuela:
Hamid
DeLaGarza Parkhurst Cameron Pearce
Larentowicz Jones (capt.)
Zusi Feilhaber Shea
Bunbury
1-Bill Hamid2-A.

*UCLA product Sydney LeRoux and Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach were named by U.S. Soccer as the Young Female Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year respectively. Brek Shea and Clint Dempsey won the corresponding awards for male players. All the award winners were picked by fans

Photo by ISIphotos.com

After turning in a dynamic year for the U.S. men's national team, Clint Dempsey being named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year should come as a surprise to nobody.

Dempsey turned in perhaps his finest year as a professional for both club and country.

On Friday, the United States National Team announced their Athlete of the Year award winners. On the men's side, Clint Dempsey won the Athlete of the Year award with Brek Shea winning the Young Player award. Abby Wambach and Syndey LeRoux won the women's awards. Dempsey also won the Futbol De Primera award, the other player of the year award associated with the United States National Team.

The players spent many afternoons in training at camp in Phoenix at Athletes Perfomance, and during the time between lunch and lectures they got into some serious games of table tennis (not ping-pong, as we were admonished!). As you can imagine, the lads are competitive in whatever they do.
Make sure you stick around to the end.

The U.S. men's national team will play its first match of 2012, and an MLS-heavy squad will take the field against Venezuela on Saturday night in Arizona with many players looking to impress Jurgen Klinsmann and work their way into the full senior team mix.

Some familiar faces are back in the mix as Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark are in camp, while Heath Pearce joins them as the only players on the camp roster with more than 30 caps.

As we enter the 2012 season, there are many questions surrounding the Union, but one of the biggest is what to make of our young striker, Danny Mwanga.

After a fantastic rookie year, Mwanga seemed to regress in 2011. He started fewer games and scored fewer goals than he did his rookie year, and his appearances were inconsistent: during some games he looked like an absolute world-beater, while more often he was anonymous.

Last night, the US men's national team took on the US under 23 team in a scrimmage in LA. Both teams are currently involved in camps. The US team for their upcoming games against Venezuela and Panama, and the U23's as they continue to prepare for their upcoming Olympic qualifying. Three Sporting KC players appeared for the full national team last night.

FC Dallas was an up-and-down team last season, getting off to a slow start (remember Brek Shea as a fullback) before surging in the summer then falling off a cliff in the fall. The team ended the season on a ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

It looks as if the Seattle Sounders may be close to adding another new name to their roster: 23-year-old Christian Sivebaek. According to a report out of Denmark, the team is close to signing the midfielder/fullback, who is the son of former Manchester United and Denmark international John Sivebaek.

Jeremiah Writes A 2012 Wish List For MLS

And I agree with all of them, but there's one missing. A potentially huge one; I want to see a deep run by the US U-23s in the Olympics with stellar performances by Adu, Bunbury, Shea, Hamid, Wenger and Valentin. Imagine the USA beating Great Britain in London riding the backs of MLS' best young American talents.

The MLS offseason has certainly been interesting recently. Whether it was the Lee Nguyen lottery, the on again/off again Beckham to PSG debate (rumored to net Beckham 1 million dollars per month on an 18 month loan), or Americans to Europe talk, there hasn't been a shortage of news lately. A recent deluge of stories have come out recently linking Americans with moves to Europe.

The USA will hold its annual January training camp for players who are currently in their offseason.
The camp will run Jan 3-26 and training will take place in Phoenix, Carson CA and Panama.
They will finish with 2 games:
-Jan 21 v Venezuela
-Jan 25 at Panama
USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
George John - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes
Who surprises you the most?

Top 10 MLS loan stars your club could sign: Donovan, Henry, Shea, Ream and more

Click on the arrows to see which MLS players could join your club in the new year

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:01:00 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

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 Vancouver Whitecaps have won the lottery to acquire winger/forward Lee Nguyen, who most recently played professional football in Vietnam.

The Whitecaps beat out FC Dallas, Toronto FC, LA Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo, and Real Salt Lake to Nguyen's services.

Vancouver had a 47.6 percent chance of landing Nguyen in the lottery, the best odds of all of the teams who participated.

Sporting KC has done well so far this offseason. (Getty Images)

Well, it is mid-December. The Christmas trees are up and the snow is falling in some places around the country. The Re-Entry Drafts have come and gone for the 19 MLS clubs. Teams are constantly making moves this offseason at times more moves than it seems like ever before.

Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com

Sporting Kansas City's week of wheeling and dealing has ended with an exclamation point.

The club acquired Bobby Convey from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for an international roster slot.

Convey, who did not have his contract option picked up by San Jose after this past season, was part of the initial list of players available in the MLS Re-Entry Draft, but that is no longer the case after Sporting KC stepped up to trade for the veteran left winger.

The wave of young MLS players heading to train in England continues to grow, with New York Red Bulls striker Juan Agudelo the latest to take the trip across the pond.

Agudelo will spend two weeks training with Liverpool FC. Ron Waxman, Agudelo's New York-based agent, confirmed the training stint on Wednesday.

The San Jose Earthquakes wasted no time finding a new option for the left side of midfield after parting ways with Bobby Convey, and found a familiar face to fill the role.

The Earthquakes traded for former San Jose winger Shea Salinas, acquiring him from Vancouver in exchange for an undisclosed amount of allocation money.

The Philadelphia Union felt the pain of the Expansion Draft for a second year in a row, losing veteran left midfielder Justin Mapp to the Montreal Impact in today's draft proceedings. Mapp became the third Union player ever selected in an Expansion Draft, along with striker Alejandro Moreno (Portland Timbers, traded to Chivas USA) and right winger Shea Salinas (Vancouver Whitecaps).

D.C. United's Dwayne De Rosario will receive the MLS MVP Award today in Carson (AP Photo).

There are three days left to go until MLS Cup 2011 in Carson between the Galaxy and Houston Dynamo.

*The interactive guide to MLS Cup activities in the South Bay and beyond is here.

Securing victory over Slovenia was nice. And scoring three goals was even better, but until World Cup Qualification begins, the results still do not matter. Rather, it is the performance of individuals and how they help to shape the team's formation and tactics that are most important to evaluate as the pieces come together for Jurgen Klinsmann's US National Team.

D.C. United star Dwayne DeRosario has enjoyed one of the best careers in MLS history and is widely regarded as one of the best players the league has ever seen. He has won multiple championships, and most recently a Golden Boot, but the one honor he hadn't won before was MLS Most Valuable Player.

Houston Dynamo fans will be a bit disappointed when they wake up this morning to discover that Brad Davis was not named the 2011 MLS MVP, but that disappointment will be tempered a bit since Dwayne De Rosario, once an important member of the Dynamo, is this season's MVP. In fact, the last time De Rosario won the MVP, in 2007, he was a member of the back-to-back MLS Cup winning Dynamo.

Ladies & Gentlemen, here they are:
The 2011 du Nord MLS Best 11
David Beckham - LA Galaxy
Nat Borchers - Real Salt Lake
Danny Califf - Philadelphia Union
Brad Davis - Houston Dynamo
Dwayne De Rosario - DC United
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
Mauro Rosales - Seattle Sounders FC
Josh Saunders - LA Galaxy
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes
And the 2011 du Nord MLS Player of the Year:
Mauro Rosales