D.C. United Press Release:
D.C. United acquires Danny Cruz from Houston United sends partial allocation to Houston for 21-year old midfielder
Washington, D.C. (January 20, 2012) – D.C. United announced today the team has acquired midfielder Danny Cruz from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a partial allocation.

Phoenix native Brad Evans will be at Tim Finnegan's Irish Pub on Friday night
U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Brad Evans is experienceing quite the whirlwind this week, returning to his native Phoenix on Wednesday after receiving the call from Jurgen Klinsmann to join the January Camp.

What started as a rumor on the ECS message board can now be confirmed: Brad Evans has been called into the United States national team camp as they prepare for games against Venezuela and Panama later this month. The source was of the confidential variety, but I can assure you that it's highly reliable and is someone who is in position to know.

Cate celebrates with Ted Chronopoulos after setting up Chronopoulos' second goal in a 2-1 win over D.C. United at Foxboro Stadium on August 18, 2001. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

Former New England Revolution striker Marco Antônio Lemos Tozzi, better known as Catê, passed away on Tuesday morning in a car accident in his native Brazil.

Photo by Max Becherer/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. -- Bryan Arguez has a lot to be excited about these days.

In the past two months, Arguez has gone from playing in the NASL with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, to getting signed by the Montreal Impact, to getting called into his first camp in years with the U.

The stage is set for what will be an amazing showdown between two of the most talked about players in the game today. In the next couple of hours, Neymar's Santos and Messi's Barcelona will fight it out for the honour of being called the best club in the world.

What i am going to say next might be hard to take for a few, however, it is a fact.

Two weeks after it was reported, the Portland Timbers have officially signed Colombian Jose Adolfo Valencia as a Designated Player.

The 19-year-old Valencia joins Portland from Colombian club Sante Fe pending the succesful completion of a physical, the Timbers announced on Thursday.

It looks like we Timbers fans are going to get an early Christmas present from the Timbers organization as they've announced, for really reals, that Jose Adolfo Valencia, the Colombian U-20 national team standout has been officially signed as the Timbers second Designated Player.

We've essentially covered El Trencito over the last few weeks so there's not much to say that you shouldn't already know.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

These days, Kelyn Rowe and Enzo Martinez have a great deal in common.

Both are playmakers for their teams with field vision that has pro scouts raving, and both are candidates for Generation adidas deals following this NCAA season.

Peter Nowak and the Philadelphia Union introduced their first summer signing today. Josue Martinez is a 21-year old Costa Rican international who fits the Nowak mold as someone who can slot in at multiple positions. ""He's a very humble guy. He has a different qualities with his speed, and can play as a central striker or on the wing," Nowak said.

The Philadelphia Union added a young, promising attacking piece on Wednesday by acquiring 21-year-old Costa Rican forward Josue Martinez from CD Saprissa.

Martinez brings a strong pedigree and attacking flair to the Union, where he joins a strikeforce that boasts other up-and-comers Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney in addition to stalwart Sebastien Le Toux.

Breakers' midfielders Meghan Klingenberg and Keelin Winters were among 31 players called into U.S. Women's National Team camp by head coach Pia Sundhage on Wednesday. The camp will run from Dec. 3-20, and will take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Klingenberg started in 10 games for the Breakers in 2011 after the team acquired her from the now-defunct magicJack squad on June 1.

Photo by Omar Martinez/ISIphotos.com

Bob Bradley isn't the only American making waves as coach of a non-U.S. national team.

Thomas Rongen won his debut as coach of American Samoa, which defeated Tonga, 2-1, in an Oceania World Cup qualifier for its first-ever victory.

After the conclusion of U-23 camp last week, ussoccer.com with both the coaches who led the 10 days of training in Duisburg, Germany.

• Claudio Reyna talks about what he saw as head coach of the U-23s during the training Camp.
• Tab Ramos wraps up the first camp of the U-20 World Cup Cycle.

Renken (middle) is Back in Camp with the Natinoal Team
We spoke to midfielder Charles Renken about his experience in this U-23 Men's National Team Camp. The midfielder seems like he has been around awhile - he was in Residency in 2008 - but he's still only 17 figures to be a part of Tab Ramos' player pool during the U-20 cycle.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

With their MLS seasons over after losses in the conference semifinals on Thursday, a handful of up-and-coming players in the U.S. Under-23 and Under-20 pools will get their chance to make their mark ahead of this spring's Olympic qualifiers.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America recently caught up with United States Under-20 national team coach Tab Ramos to discuss what are key components in playing for the US now that Jurgen Klinsmann is the head coach.
SA: U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna has talked about the national teams at all levels, from Jurgen Klinsmann's senior team on down, playing similar styles and in a similar system.

São Paulo forward, Henrique, who was voted the U-20 World Cup's best player in Colombia

Ney Franco has called up 18 players for the Pan-American games in Mexico. Brazil are in Group B and will kick off their campaign versus Argentina on 19th October. They then face Cuba on 21st and Costa Rica two days later.

Remember the below backheel from a few months ago? Well, the 21-year old Arab Emirates star tragically died in a car accident over the weekend, while driving home from training with his brother.

Awana Diab, who became an instant internet sensation because of the cheeky backheel, was seen as big prospect for the future.

Photo courtesy of UCLA media relations

By ADAM SERRANO

UCLA midfielder Kelyn Rowe knows a thing or two about trying to live up to high expections.

Rowe, who will have no shortage of professional options after his sophomore season with the Bruins, starred for the United States Under-20 national team during its failed attempt to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup, scoring three goals and one assist in leading the U.

The reserves literally just wrapped a 1-1 draw with Blackburn at Stamford Bridge. Somewhat unlucky, too. It was a solid performance from the guys, Mellis with the goal. Anyway.

At halftime, sporting director Michael Emenalo spoke to ChelseaTV. He offered some good insight into what to expect from some of our high-profile youth players that are currently on the fringes of the first team.

U.S. MNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann will take charge of his second and third games for the USA next month.
U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named a squad of 24 players to prepare for the upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium. The MNT Blog asked Klinsmann for a few thoughts on the roster and the team's upcoming games:
On Costa Rica:
"Playing Costa Rica is an exciting opportunity.

*Brazil won the FIFA U-20 World Cup, defeating Portugal 3:2 in the final in Bogota. Mexico beat France 3:1 to clinch third.
The seleçao were top gunners with 18 goals in seven matches but Nigeria were the most prolific, averaging three goals a game. Spain were the most on-target team, shooting on goal 54 times in five games.

The Sounders had a great win 1-0 on the road against FC Dallas this weekend. It puts the team back in the hunt for the Supporter's Shield although the Los Angeles Galaxy would need to drop a match or two. The man of the match was defender Zack Scott who did an admirable job in containing Brek Shea.

Image via thefashionspot.

Rather than bore everyone about our hatred for Monday mornings, we've taken the more mature route by telling today to 'suck it'.

Boy did that feel good!

Saturday

- Carles Puyol's girlfriend, Malena Costa, was busy teaching Barcelona the next 'big' thing in goal celebrations over the weekend.

Brazil is the greatest footballing country in the world, and tonight they won the U-20 World Cup in Colombia, after defeating Portugal 3-2 after extra time. The credit for the Brazilians is all the greater considering that Portugal had not conceded a goal the entire tournament, and were 2-1 up. Oscar, the Brazilian youngster from Internazionale scored all three Brazilian goals, and he will surely

Stade Brestois 29 Olympique Lyonnais Week 3

It hasn't been all sunshine and lollypops for Lyon coach Remi Garde's kick-off to the season, he still hopes to take the team out of the curse of the conceded goal. Is it just a fluke or do they really need this wake-up call?

The Title and nothing less!

Mexico's quest to capture the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups in the same summer came up two wins short.

Brazil beat Mexico, 2-0, in a U-20 World Cup semifinal on Wednesday, getting two late goals from Golden Boot front-runner Henrique in a four-minute span to eliminate the final CONCACAF representative in the tournament.

Friday Aug 19 2:30pmBorussia M'gladbach vs WolfsburgESPN3.comBundesliga 9:10pmEstudiantes Tecos vs PachucaGalavisionMexico Primera Division Saturday Aug 20 7:00amSunderland vs Newcastle UnitedESPN3.

I was recently in the most wonderful country in the world, Colombia, where the U-20 World Cup is currently taking place. The atmosphere is great as Colombians greet the world with their usual smiles, hospitality and friendliness.Except if you are Argentine... I had made nothing of an incident between the Argentinean team during a match against Egypt and the fans in Medellín until, last Saturday,

Whoever said kids should be seen and not heard has not been watching the U-20 World Cup. Stand up and shout boys, this has been one hell of a tournament. Watching the semifinals this weekend was euphoric and anxiety-inducing, just like good football should be.
Where to begin? With Portugal's one-for-the-ages penalties win over Argentina?

U.S. Soccer referee are continuing to get top assigments at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. It was just announced that Mark Geiger will be serving as the fourth official for this weekend's quarterfinal between Brazil and Spain - Needless to say, it is one of the most highly-anticipated matches of the tournament.

When Freddy Adu joined DC United at 14 years old, both he and Peter Nowak were under a tremendous amount of pressure. The teenaged sensation took multiple trips around the television talk show circuit, he participated in several 'next big thing' marketing campaigns including a soft drink commercial with Pele, and somehow found time to play professional soccer against men twice his age (and size).

*Shinji Kagawa hit a brace and Keisuke Honda added another as Japan downed South Korea 3-0 in Sapporo. Players wore black armbands in honour of former Japanese international Naoki Matsuda, who died a week ago, and observed a minute's silence.
*Tottenham's home match with Everton on Saturday has been postponed as the clean-up continues following the riots in London.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Mexican national teams have won two international tournaments this summer, and El Tri's U-20 squad got one step closer to potentially making it three.

Mexico advanced to the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup after defeaing Cameroon in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.

It's been a summer marred by disappointment for U.S. Soccer. Most notably there was the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final collapse against Mexico by the U.S. Men's National Team and the loss to Japan in the Women's World Cup Final by the U.S. Women's National Team.

But while those two defeats may have garnered the most attention, the youth national teams on the men's side were also falling well short of expectations.

By DAVID MOSSE

Spain's remarkable run of success recently might carry over into another tournament with Julen Lopetegui's side looking like a serious contender to capture the FIFA U-20 World Cup after blitzing through the group stage in dominating fashion.

The field at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup has been narrowed to 16 teams.

Spain, Nigeria and host Colombia were the only teams to win all of their matches in the group stage, with Nigeria boasting a tournament-best +10 goal differential.

On the other end of the spectrum, Guatemala managed to qualify for the group stage after a late goal lifted the first-time participants to a 1-0 victory over Croatia in their final group game.

This weekend marks the return of some of the top leagues in the world, as the summer break continues to end across Europe.

Teams in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie all start their quests for successful seasons, with a number of those teams employing U.S. national team players.

If you have basic Time Warner Cable, last night you got a chance to see 3 Mexican First Division games, 1 Friendly from the Herbalife Ultra Challenge between Chivas of Mexico and Barcelona of Spain, and 1 CONCACAF Champions League match between a Mexican club and Honduras club. And, this was all from 8p.