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Here's what I've been scanning as I watch EPL games this morning:

* Phil Collin's profile of Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

* Steven Goff's profile of former Maryland duo A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez.

* The Salt Lake City perspective.

Alan Gordon: Poetry in Motion

Also:

College Roundup.

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DC United has posted on its blog that Coach Tom Soehn has decided to "remove his name from consideration for the club's head coaching position ahead of the expiration of his three-year contract at the end of the calendar year."
Despite Steven Goff's strange defense of Soehn yesterday (Tom must return his calls), Tommy must have known that his days were numbered or gotten word that DC was already deep in talks with a successor. Click to continue reading...

Kudos are clearly warranted for Clint Dempsey as he hits his second goal in as many weeks for Fulham FC.� � � � � While his first professional coach and likely mentor, ex-Liverpool great Steve Nicol, might not immediately love that Clint helped Fulham take down Liverpool, it was clearly a significant achievement following a goal the prior week against wanna-be powerhouse Manchester City.

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Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has fined D.C. United President Kevin Payne $5,000 for public comments about the Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake and the New England Revolution, which Garber deemed detrimental to the public image of the League.

Payne's comments appeared in the Soccer Insider blog by The Washington Post's Steven Goff:

"We don't want to play like Colorado or New England, which most of the season sat with eight or nine guys behind the ball.

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Uh-oh! Someone isn't happy about missing the MLS playoffs.

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I've talked to DC United president Kevin Payne several times through the years.

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That thrilling Honduras-USA qualifier is now available online from the closed-circuit provider that showed it earlier this month. You'll have to pay for it (big surprise there), but it's only five dollars. Hat-tip to Steven Goff at Soccer Insider. Click to continue reading...

After not winning any Champions League games last year, United has won three in a row to give itself a chance to advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament. It will be a difficult task though - United must try to get a win in Mexico, a feat never accomplished by an MLS team.

And Toluca will not make it easy.

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AC Milan are one of the most storied sides in Europe, but they could take a lesson in class from mid-table French side Sochaux. The tragic car accident involving rising US star Charlie Davies and the awful injury to defender Oguchi Onyewu during last week's World Cup qualifier revealed the true colors of the two players' domestic sides. Click to continue reading...

There's still not a lot of new information coming in on the accident that Charlie Davies was involved with early Tuesday morning. There is still no word on who the driver is or their condition.

Steven Goff was reporting this morning that US coach Bob Bradley visited Charlie on Wednesday morning and that he was responding to doctors but was still heavily sedated.

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There's not a lot of new information coming in on the accident that Charlie Davies was involved with early Tuesday morning and still no word on who the driver is or their condition.

Steven Goff was reporting this morning that US coach Bob Bradley visited Charlie on Wednesday morning and that he was responding to doctors but was still heavily sedated.

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CHARLIE DAVIES
Overshadowing the final game for all US fans is tragic car accident Charlie Davies was involved in early Tuesday morning on the GW Memorial Parkway in DC.
The vehicle was torn in half, Ashley J. Roberta, 22 killed, Davies underwent 6 hours of surgery, and the driver, a yet unnamed person, was life flighted and is probably also suffering from major injuries. Click to continue reading...

According to Steven Goff's Twitter feed, Charlie Davies was involved in a car accident on the GW Parkway near Washington today. Goff's indicated that Davies is in surgery, though his injuries are...

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As of this writing, Charlie Davies is currently undergoing an unspecified surgery after being a passenger in a one-car accident (that's the car pictured above) on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia that tragically resulted in a second passenger losing her life, while the condition of the driver is unknown.

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Honduras 2 U.S. 3

Game story.

Former Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon proved once again why he failed so abysmally in MLS, missing a crucial penalty in the 87th minute for Honduras that sealed the U.S. win. And then he missed another sitter two minutes later.

Still, it looked to me a legitimate Honduras goal was called offside.

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Confirming a report made by the Wasington Post's Steven Goff on Wednesday, Philadelphia Union president Tom Veit acknowledged this morning that the club may end up playing their first-ever league game in a venue other than the 18,500-seat stadium that is currently being built for them in Chester. Instead, there is a possibility that the team will kick off their first season in the league at 68,000-seat Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. Click to continue reading...

The story was written by Steven Goff from the Washington Post and I have to say that once again supporters of the US Men's National team are going to get screwed. If you thought that you couldn't find the Mun2 channel for USA Vs Mexico in English then you will be completely out of luck on a possible clinch to South Africa when the live event won't be on Pay Per View.

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If Steven Goff didn't exist, we'd have to invent him department:

Goff, in an ARTICLE ON FRIDAY with a FOLLOWUP TODAY is passing along some disturbing news, namely that the USA - Honduras match is unlikely to be available on a TV set near you.
And we're not talking about another mun2 circus, or even jumping around Justin. Click to continue reading...

We all know the stakes for this one. Just ten days after Seattle came to RFK and won the U.S. Open cup in United's home, the expansion side returns to DC for a hugely important League match. Both teams are in the midst of a fight to make the playoffs, with every point gained important.

Seattle will be without Freddie Ljungberg who is serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation, while DC will again be without Marc Burch (ankle surgery) and Dejan Jakovic (bi-lateral hernia repair).

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Steven Goff is reporting that Casey did not go to Salt Lake City due to his wisdom tooth extraction but he is in good enough shape to play for the Rapids tonight. Hopefully he's good enough to start and add some continuity to a team that can use all they can get this week.
A decision will be made tomorrow on if he will join the Nats team for the midweek game in Trinidad & Tobago or not. Click to continue reading...

Though United is currently out of the playoffs as things stand, a couple of positive results over the next few weeks would put the team in solid position to qualify for the post-season down the stretch. The Eastern Conference standings remain tight, and even when you include mid-table teams in the West, all are within a handful of points.

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Americans Abroad / USMNT
USA Qualifying Update - Soccer Insider
Tickets Still Available To WCQ: US vs El Salvador - Keepin' It Real
Another Call-Up - Behind The Shield
Beckerman To Be Named To US Qualifier Roster - Deseret News
Beckerman To USMNT For Upcoming Matches - Keepin' It Real
Beckerman Getting Call For Qualifiers - Salt Lake Tribune
Beckerman Named To USA National Team - ABC4. Click to continue reading...

United hosts Toluca tonight in Group B play of the CONCACAF Champions League. After a 3-1 loss at Marathon, the Black-and-Red will be looking for a good result at home. D.C. has faced Toluca once before, in the final of the 1998 Champions Cup, when United defeated the Mexican side 1-0 to become the first MLS team to win the regional crown.

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D.C. United 0 Galaxy 0

Save the last dance for the Galaxy's Todd Dunivant and DC United's Luciano Emilio. (AP Photos)

You can always rely on Washington Post reporter Steven Goff for an elegant and thorough game story.

For comparison, check out the AP version.

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D.C. United returns to RFK Stadium tonight for its first League match since a 3-1 win over Colorado on July 18. Since that time, the team is 0-2-1 in MLS play and 3-3-1 in all competitions (CONCACAF Champions League, U.S. Open Cup). The last month has seen the team travel to San Jose, Houston, El Salvador, Toronto and Honduras.

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You might not have noticed it with the UEFA Champions League on something like 87 channels yesterday (at least if you had DirecTV like I do), but the CONCACAF Champions League group stage quietly got underway last night. Steven Goff points out even the players don't see the tournament as a priority: he quotes Santino Quaranta of DC, who ahead of their 3-1 loss to Marathon of Honduras said that "It's important to the club and it's important to the people here we're taking it seriously but for me, the league has to be [the priority], right?

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After downing El Salvador's Firpo in PKs in the preliminary round of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League, United entered into Group B along Toluca of Mexico, San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad & Tobago and Marathon of Honduras.

Following a disappointing road loss at Toronto FC, United traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to face CD Marathon.

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United returns to MLS play today against Toronto FC (4 p.m. ET) after two weeks without a League match. The team's previous League match saw D.C. fall to Houston 4-3 on August 1. Both United and Toronto FC are coming off matches against Spanish power Real Madrid, as D.C. fell 3-0 last Sunday while TFC lost 5-1 the prior Friday.

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This morning Steven Goff broke the news that Houston Dynamo Defender, Julius James, was traded to DC United for a draft pick. James was initially picked up by the Dynamo in last Fall's trade that sent midfielder Dwayne DeRosario to Toronto. James has good raw talent, but seems to have had trouble adjusting into the Dynamo defense. Click to continue reading...

Filling in for Bruce today is Chrös; I did the honors when Brucio was gone at the MLS Cup last fall as well. Let's not try to kid anyone and pretend that you are here for my thoughts. I've compiled some basic reading about the big game today, and I'll be back this afternoon with an MLS roundup as well. Click to continue reading...

Desperately seeking a situation that would allow him to get on the field has led Freddy Adu to seek a one year loan deal with Danish side Odense, according to Steven Goff at Soccer Insider. This...

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For the second time in club history, D.C. United faces Real Madrid this afternoon at FedEx Field. The first meeting between the two teams in 2006, saw a 1-1 draw at Qwest Field in Seattle in front of 68,000 fans. Today's match - which kicks-off at 3 p.m. - is expected to have over 70,000. The game can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel and Telefutura.

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D.C. United is in El Salvador for tonight's second leg match against CD Luis Angel Firpo in the preliminary round of CONCACAF Champions League. After a 1-1 draw last week at RFK Stadium, D.C. needs to do one of three things to advance to the group stage:

• 1) Win.
• 2) Score two or more goals in a draw (i.

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It's been a busy week, so I am finally getting my weekly crystal ball readings posted after a few thoughts about the spectacle at Rio Tinto earlier this week.
As for the All-Star Game, I have read so many blogs and comments dissing the existence of the game and, to be honest, I just don't get the objection. Click to continue reading...

United takes a short break from League play this evening as it hosts El Salvador's CD LA Firpo at RFK Stadium (8 p.m. ET) in the preliminary round of CONCACAF Champions League. United took part in the tournament's inaugural run last fall, but finished with a disappointing 0-5-1 record in the group stage, crashing out of the tournament before the knockout round.

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With a road record of 1-3-5, United hasn't exactly been struggling on the road but three points have been hard to come by. The sole road win came back on April 26 at New York. Tied with Columbus for second place in the Eastern Conference, only a point behind Chicago, the Black-and-Red will be looking for valuable three points that could put them atop the East again.

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