The game might have been mostly even, but the final score sure wasn't. D.C. United lost its fifth match in a row on Saturday night against the Columbus Crew. Some might say that United turned in a better offensive performance, but the team also gave up three goals thanks to three mistakes by Brandon McDonald.
In the opening game of the 2013 season, D.C. United suffered two late goals at the hands of the Houston Dynamo - a familiar result in a far too familiar place. Here's what the rest of the local media has to say.
Their words:
Chris Pontius (via Steven Goff) - "I felt good about it for about 10 minutes in the second half.
Two questions that could loom large over Sporting KC in the coming days. First is a rumor that has
come up only today. LA Galaxy midfielder, David Beckham had been named to the MLS all star team
that will be taking on Chelsea at PPL Park this coming Wednesday. But the opening ceremonies for
the London Olympics are on Friday, and Beckham is possibly going to play a role or want to attend
those ceremonies.
On their first return to New Jersey's Red Bull Arena since D.C. United dispatched the New York Red Bulls in the 2012 Major League Soccer playoffs, both teams faced similar circumstances to last November's match: snow, lots of empty seats, and the Red Bulls desperate for a home win. This time, however, D.
It's officially official: The Seattle Sounders have signed Obafemi Martins as their third Designated Player on Friday. Assuming his flight arrives on time, he'll be in Seattle this evening and be eligible to play on Saturday against the Portland Timbers.
"This move is consistent with our promise to the fans," Majority Owner Joe Roth said in a team release.
Roche talks to Steven Goff of The Washington Post about MLS preseason, life on the road covering the U.S. Men's National Team, and stadium talks in DC, NY, and Orlando.
On Friday, Steven Goff leaked the news that D.C. United will be signing their fifth homegrown player, striker Michael Seaton. Unlike the first four, however, Seaton is likely to remain in the development academy for a year or be loaned out to a lower division side, without any real chance of him seeing first team minutes this season or next.
It appears the Seattle Sounders' wild day of activity isn't quite done. The latest signing is
apparently Mario Martinez, a 22-year-old midfielder who plays professionally for Real Espana and is
currently with the Honduras Olympic team.
Pardon if already reported, but hearing Sounders have completed loan for Honduran Olympic MF
Mario Martinez from Real Espana #mls
- Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) July 27, 2012
There's not a whole lot of information out there about Martinez, but we know he's been a regular
starter for the Honduras U23 team and is a midfielder.
Longtime MLS watchers and DC sports fans know that every year a hot rumor about DC United's stadium
situation begins to make the rounds, only for that rumor to fall apart and the team move ever
closer to leaving the ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
The MLS Players Union today released their annual list of players' salaries for the current
contract year. Â You can see the team-by-team breakdown here and Steven Goff lists the top 25 base
salaried players here. Â Salaries on the union site ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Article by Pedro Gomes [Editor's Note: FY = Fiscal Year]
On December 12, Soccer Insider Steven Goff dropped a budgetary bombshell on the soccer world. He
revealed an inside look into the United States Soccer Federations's Budget for FY'13. No one knows
exactly how this journalistic wizard came to this information and quite honestly I don't think many
cared because its juicy details lit the Twitter Sphere ablaze with questions, comments, excitement,
and disbelief.
Former Serie A and English Premier League star Obafemi Martins is rumored to be on the Sounders FC radar. He hasn’t dipped much in form since his peak, as he plays for Levante in La Liga right now.
Seattle Sounders FC has been recently linked to a number of current and former stars playing in Spain.
Seattle Sounders FC has been recently linked to a number of current and former stars playing in Spain. The latest is Obafemi Martins, who made a name for himself playing for Inter Milan and Newcastle United, as well as the Nigerian national team.
Seattle Sounders in hunt for Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins?
The coaching staff of the Philadelphia Union has begun an attempt to push starting goalkeeper Zac MacMath during both the preseason and 2013 Major League Soccer regular season.
According to Steven Goff, the Washington Post's Soccer Insider, Diego Restrepo is the latest goalkeeper to come into the Union's January camp at Wayne, PA's Youth Sports Complex to compete for one of the two open roster spots behind MacMath.
Their Words "There are no complaints from me. We have come away with four points from two of the top teams in the league." Bolton Wanderers manager Dougie Freedman. Other Sources D.C. United says it can weather the MLS playoff storm vs. Red Bulls - from The Washington Post's Steven Goff: "Our team is built for that.
Their Words "I lost my temper a little bit there, lost my head. If there's cameras in here,
someone's has to be laughing at me, because I was going crazy." Columbus Crew defender Josh
Williams. Other Sources D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls: Dwayne De Rosario scores 100th MLS
goal, but Wilman Conde equalizes late - from The Washington Post's Steven Goff: At the top of the
box, De Rosario met the ball an.
A report out of Scotland said that Peter Nowak had applied for the open Hearts managerial role,
but the former Polish international denied talk of his potential departure from the Philadelphia
Union.
Originally found by Philly Soccer Page, The Edinburgh Evening News said that Nowak was one of
two foreign coaches that had put in an application for the job that Paulo Sergio left due to a
disagreement over money.
Finally, there are real games to dispute for the U.S. Men's National Team on the way towards trying
to qualify for World Cup 2014.
The last significant match the team contested was against Mexico almost a year ago in the Gold Cup
Final played in the Rose Bowl. It was head coach Bob Bradley's last hurrah.
The Philadelphia Union have traded Danny Mwanga for Jorge Perlaza of the Portland Timbers.
Mwanga moved to the United States in 2006 and attended high school in Portland before playing at
Oregon State for a year. The 20-year-old was drafted first overall in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft,
becoming the Union's first ever draft selection.
The U.S. Men's National Team is in Canada! The team arrived in Toronto after the short flight from
D.C., following regeneration this morning and some general relaxation in the team hotel. It's
another quick turnaround from the game against Brazil, and the team will refocus ahead of the final
preparation game before the big start of World Cup Qualifying.
What news outlets on both sides of the Atlantic are writing about the USA - Scotland friendly.
Donovan scores hat-trick, US wins easily - from FoxSoccer.com's Ives Galarcep: "Tonight was one of
those nights where most things went right." Three thoughts on U.S.-Scotland - from SI.com's Grant
Wahl: The U.
Amateur team Stanislaus United Turlock Express qualifies for the US Open Cup!
dN
Remember last summer when the huge match fixing scandal broke out in Turkey and all those people
were arrested? Do you know that there has still been no punishment handed out to anyone, and barely
to any teams?
No clue how I missed this. However, more good news for us stateside supporters of the Chels.
According to several online reports, including one from the Washington Post's Steven Goff,
Chelsea will play AC Milan at FedExField on July 28. Shades of 2009 this friendly, eh?
Ten days after blessing the Left Coast with their presence in an exhibition with the Sounders,
Chelsea have been booked to play the Italian giants in the District.
Former D.C. United striker Blake Brettschneider is the latest free agent hoping to earn a spot
on the New England Revolution for the 2012 season. Brettschneider is set to join the team on trial
next week the Revs confirmed to New England Soccer Today on Thursday afternoon.
Brettschneider, a 22-year-old who can also play in midfield, played in 15 league games,
including nine starts, for D.
Rumors have been swirling recently involving German midfielder Michael Ballack possibly making
the move to Major League Soccer.
Ballack, best known for his heroics in the 2002 World Cup Final and time spent with Chelsea and
Bayern Munich, has been linked to the expansion Montreal Impact for the past few months.
Steven Goff of the Washington Post wrote about the 604-page U.S. Soccer Federation budget for
fiscal year 2013, which covers April 2012 through the following March, and must be ratified at the
USSF's annual general meeting in March.
This will more than likely be correct, as signs have been pointing to Caleb Porter being the
lead candidate for the job, but we're still calling it a rumor. Here is what we know right now.
There was a tweet a week ago from Steven Goff, which broke the news that Porter and the Portland
Timbers were in talks:
Getting word Timbers and Akron/U23 coach Caleb Porter like one another.
Two pieces of info that have come up since my post earlier this evening.
Tim Hinchey responded to a question on Facebook about the details of Rivero's loan to say that
its a two year loan with an option to buy. So my scenario wasn't 100% correct but I wasn't that far
off. Rivero will be owned by the Rapids should he work out.
Freddy Adu's contract situation was quite one sided, in favor of the Philadelphia Union's front office, until the player spoke out through Alexi Lalas on ESPN's broadcast of the Portland Timbers-New York Red Bull. Through a statement released to ESPN, Adu detailed, tersely, his desire to return to the field and play in MLS, whether with the Union or a different team.
Finally, Seattle soccer fans might see their national team play a meaningful game in person.
Speaking to reporters gathered in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for the United States’ opener in the Hexagonal today against Mario Martinez’s Honduras, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati addressed the topic of Seattle hosting in as straightforward a manner as possible:
Based on Gulati press event, seems likely that soccer-mad Seattle will finally host a US World Cup qualifier this year.
We've known for more than a month that Seattle was in the running to host a World Cup qualifier, but now it looks like there could actually be two World Cup qualifiers held in the Pacific Northwest, against Panama (June 11) and Honduras (June 18).
Hearing USSF aiming to play June 11 and 18 WC qualifiers in PacNW (Portland & Seattle).
Over the second half of the 2012 season there have been plenty of things for D.C. United fans to disagree on. Even as the club embarked on an impressive run during September and October, returned to the playoffs, and invigorated a fanbase that had seen casual support lapse, there were rumblings of discontent.
Today, the MLS players union released another update to the player salaries again. Only one new addition on the list for Sporting KC, the addition of former Barcelona B player, Oriol Rosell. The Spaniard is making $90,000 for his base salary and $98,750 in guaranteed compensation, the salary is prorated since he didn't sign until midseason.
It's been an odd week or so at the corner of 71st and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Marco Pappa is out. The Fire decided to take the transfer fee from Dutch club SC Heerenveen instead
of keeping his MLS rights. There were rumors swirling about that this was because they were
interested in Carlos Bocanegra, which you know by now signed with Racing in the Liga Adelante; the
Spanish second division.
