Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Jack McInerney scored in the US U-23 team's 1–1 draw with the USMNT. McInerney, Amobi Okugo, and Freddy Adu started the first half. Zac MacMath and Sheanon Williams started the second half.

John Hackworth says of Tom Brandt, the Union's first pick in the Supplemental Draft, "We wanted to get a quality player in the back and we feel like we did that with Tom Brandt.

The transformation of Ron Artest has been a lengthy one. Probably, no one would have guessed that the guy who started the biggest riot in sports with fans would have come so full circle as he has done.
Earlier in his career, while playing for the Indiana Pacers as the visitor against the Detroit Pistons, he was the first of a group of players at the end of a game to physically challenge fans and go into the stands seeking them out.

Liverpool is leading the hunt for Blackburn's defensive colossus Chris Samba.
The ambitious Rovers star has switched agents after failing to secure a move away from Ewood Park last summer.
And Liverpool have been alerted to the fact he remains keen on leaving the struggling Ewood Park club.

With the red cards, penalties and an own goal in the last two matches there isn't much that can be taken from the previous two meetings between these sides. Even the issue with the 2010 contests has been addressed, as the Seattle Sounders substitution patterns have dramatically improved in 2011 over previous season.

By JOSE M. ROMERO

Kasey Keller won't turn 42 years old until next month, but what a gift he was given by his Seatlle Sounders Saturday night.

Make that a few gifts.

On what Washington state government officials proclaimed "Kasey Keller Day" around the state in recognition of the veteran goalkeeper's final regular-season home match as a Sounder, Keller made seven saves and watched from between the pipes as his teammates rallied from a one-goal deficit through 81 minutes for a wild 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at CenturyLink Field.

We start in Scotland, where US National Team defender Carlos Bocanegra got his first taste of one of club soccer's biggest games. Bocanegra got the start along with fellow National Teamer Maurice Edu in a 4-2 Rangers win over Celtic at Ibrox. After Steven Naismith opened the scoring for the home side in the 23rd minute, Celtic equalized and went ahead with goals in the 34th and 41st.

The Seattle Sounders returned to practice for the first time since their US Open Cup Semifinal win over FC Dallas. Extraordinary weather welcomed them back to the packed Starfire Sports Complex (Labor Day Youth Cup, as well as Sounders pre-Academy game three). The primary concern of practice were 9 a side scrimmages of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd team with the one not playing doing finishing drills on the far field.

One of these things is just like the other...

Since arriving Saturday night, Manchester United have taken one heck of a bite out of the Big Apple. While staying a stone's throw away in New Jersey (here to be exact), the fellas are taking in all Manhattan has to offer and then some.

And by "then some" we mean fashion shows and belly dancers, obviously.

By Chris Wright

In no particular order, Pies brings you a run-down of ten of the brightest young buttons on the Premier League's tweed waistcoat (to coin a phrase) for you to keep your peepers fixated on next season...

1. James McCarthy, 20, Wigan

His classy, mature style has already made him a first-team regular and a crowd favourite at the DW.

It sounds from here as if our opponents experimented in the second half, when they got the goals. So that's not good is it?

Our team:

Fulham XI: Stockdale; Baird, Halliche, Hughes, Smith; Riise (Marsh-Brown 60), Murphy, Donegan (Harris 82), Frei; Dalla Valle, Trotta (Hoesen 45)

Now then.

US National Team goalkeeper David Yelldell has reportedly completed a move from MSV Duisburg to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany's topflight. Yelldell was the regular starter for Duisburg in the 2.Bundesliga, and is expected to be the backup at Leverkusen. He has one cap with the National Team, playing the second-half against Paraguay on March 29th.

By CALEB SONNELAND

As if the local rivals needed any more animosity between them, Aston Villa is closing in on the capture of Birmingham City's former manager Alex McLeish after agreeing to pay the Blues £2 million in compensation for the head coach.

Having quit Birmingham City via email just four days ago, McLeish has been in talks with Villa over the last couple days and it appears the two sides are ready to make a deal for his services.

England's Premier League season came to a close on Sunday, with a string of surprise National Teamer Abroad results making sure the top of the table stayed the same. Tim Howard and Everton's 1-0 win over Chelsea leave them the top ranked National Teamers Abroad team. Jermaine Beckford scored in the 74th minute on one of only two Everton shots on goal.

Let's play 'we spy'. Our turn first: we spy two round things encased in red. Any guesses?! Image Source: Facebook. Cheers for the story spot, MK!

All the Lukas Podolski-loving ladies and gents of the world, meet your new role model: Monika Pulchalski's breasts.

Presumably her donation to the 'groom's gift', this photo of the newlyweds (that LP posted on his Facebook page for his fans yesterday) shows just how how buoyantly proud her (recently enhanced?

Game Intelligence braves the heat of the Kalahari desert to bring you this week's AFNOTW... This week: Dipsy Selolwane - Botswana (Supersport United) An All-American first teamer whilst studying at St. Louis University, Dipsy has graduated onto bigger and better ... Continue reading →

The Seattle Sounders move on to part two of a very challenging opening to the 2011 season tomorrow versus the New York Red Bulls. If you order the schedule chronologically, the Sounders played or are playing in games one, four, and eleven, with a cross-country trip between each game. And the first two of the three are versus consensus MLS Cup contenders.

With several National Teamer Abroad clubs out of action over the weekend due to the Sixth Round of the FA Cup in England, we're suspending the star ratings for this week. Two National Teamers in England did see time in the FA Cup, with Stuart Holden getting the start in Bolton's 3-2 win over Birmingham City.

Recently, I caught sight of news that Manchester United was interested in approaching Juan Manuel Iturbe. "Iturbo" as he is sometimes labelled, is touted as the new "Messi". The successful signing of Javier Hernandez meant that any potential transfer target of Sir Alex Ferguson's will bring about a good amount of scrutiny.

The story of the European weekend was Clint Dempsey. It's tough to compete with two goals, but he wasn't the only National Teamer Abroad to be a difference maker for his club. First Star: Clint Dempsey's two goals gave Fulham a 2-0 win over Stoke City. Dempsey opened the scoring in the 33rd minute and converted from the penalty spot in the 56th for Fulham's second goal.