Hot Link: Danny Dragoi to Italy; Castel di Sangro

Ran across this great little article over at Big Apple Soccer. It's about ex-St. John's University and Brooklyn Knights player Danny Dragoi, who recently signed a contract with Italian Serie C squad A.S. Verese 1910. Looks like he'll be playing straight away and the long and short of it is that - in these small Italian towns - soccer is life and many of the biggest supporters have the greatest access to all of the players.

Reminds me of one of my absolute favorite soccer books - The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.

Read it. Instead of an American player going over there - it's an avid soccer fan turned journalist who follows the trials and tribulations of a once Serie B team - Castel di Sangro.

YANKS ABROAD: Beasley strikes again.

Rangers 2, Kilmarnock 1

Beasley broke the deadlock in the 51st minute and Jean-Claude Darcheville hit for the game-winner as Rangers continued their unbeaten streak and classy play.

ESPN Soccernet Match Report

Heerenveen kick off their Eredivisie campaign with a Bradley start...

Michael Bradley is in the process of opening the season with the Frisians against a tough Willem II squad (remember Earnie Stewart?). It could be Bradley's year to shine as injury as put out central midfielder Andre Hansson and Paul Bosvelt's retirement. New striker Gerald Sibon will look to make an immediate impact as well - as goal glutton Afonso Alves still sits after returning to training camp late. There are expectations that Alves will leave before the deadline - and after scoring 34 goals in 31 matches last year - the pressure is going to be on the once-before Frisian Sibon to produce.

The ambition at Heerenveen is surprisingly low, however, coming off last year's 5th place finish. According to ESPN Soccernet, Heerenveen officials are saying that the Dutch big four (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, and AZ) have way too much money for the Frisians to even compete and that a more realistic finish this year would be 7th place. Could be reverse psychology.

Heerenveen's Starting Line-UP vs. Willem II

24 Rob Van Dijk (G)
3 Kristian Bak Nielsen (D)
4 Michel Breuer (D)
5 Michael Dingsdag (D)
36 Timmi Johansen (D)
7 Jacob Poulsen (M)
2 Gianni Zuiverloon (D)
23 Danijel Pranjic (M)
6 Michael Bradley (M)
35 Gerald Sibon (S)
21 Miralem Sulejmani (S)

Beasley overcomes monkey chants, rough play, and continues Champions League charm

DaMarcus scored the lone goal in a 1-0 away leg win over FK Zeta, which puts Rangers through on a 3-0 aggregate. They will now play the winner of Red Star Belgrade and Tallinn (Estonia).

The Rangers website reveals that apparently a section of the Zeta faithful were directing monkey chants towards Beasley and Jean-Claude Darcheville. DMB is now calling for a UEFA probe on the matter - and he means business. How bad ass is it to score in the midst of that crap being thrown at you, it being your first start for the club, and you have a reputation for scoring goals in Champions League games?

"I heard the chants from the crowd. It happened to me a few years ago when PSV played Red Star in Belgrade and I can't believe that racist abuse is still in football.

"People can come to a match and boo and jeer but the racist thing just has to get out of football.

"We tried to take action against Red Star in that previous game. Guus Hiddink and me were involved but nothing really came of it.

"It sickens to hear these chants but when you are on the pitch you have to try to blank it out. It degrades the game for everyone.

"I will discuss the situation with Rangers because I feel strongly about it and we will decide if we should file a complaint."

Beasley's strike was in the 81st minute and effectively destroyed the Montenegrin hopes. All I can say is - keep at it Run DMB.

The Red Bulls find a home, Feilhaber to Derby County?

Here at Center Holds It.

Danny Szetela to AS ROMA!

Milling around Ives Galarcep's neck of the blogosphere woods, you are always guaranteed to get a little piece of juicy news. This morning was no different.Found this article, Italy in Szetela's Future for North Jersey Herald News. It basically stipulates that the U-20 World Cup star and Clifton, NJ native has reached a pre-contractual agreement with Serie A powers AS Roma after his MLS contract with the Columbus Crew runs out on December 31st, 2007. The Serie A - great - but is Roma going to guarantee him any playing time whatsoever? He will most likely be loaned out to a Siena, Ascoli, Parma or Palermo (all who were in to snap him up in the first place).

Szetela joins fellow NY/NJ native, Gabe Ferrari in the Serie A - Ferrari plies his trade for Sampdoria. Furthermore, he joins both Sal Zizzo and Freddy Adu in 'going European' as Zizzo is at Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga now and Adu went to Benfica of the Portuguese SuperLiga.
The IMG product also had interest from other world leagues - Everton, Galatasaray, Rangers, and FC Sion all had submitted transfer inquiries to the MLS front office. When it all boils down - you really can't frown upon this move and his reinvigorated performances with US U-20s made it happen. It's just a shame that Columbus couldn't have reaped the benefits in his 4-year stay in Columbus. The deal should be finalized in the next week or two and, as always, things can go awry.

Who's next from that U-20 squad to go? Chris Seitz? Tony Beltran? Ofori Sarkodie? etc.

Glasgow Rangers 3, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0: DMB gets chances, finishing not there.

Beasley still seemed like the hardest worker on the field - but the award for most productive certainly goes to Barry Ferguson. The Scottish captain had a Beckham like falling out with Rangers and former coach Paul Le Guen a while back. When loyalty was tested, Ferguson's was firmly with Rangers while the club had to choose between the benched star or the conflicted coach. The benched star won over and now Walter Smith has this team firing on all cylinders with a trustworthy captain to boot. Ferguson hit for a brace, while Spaniard Nacho 'Libre' Novo struck for the other. Bad news to the effect that striker Kris Boyd could be out for a while after he left with a knock in the 64th minute.

It was a firm display of quality soccer away from home and, maybe, just maybe...the 2-0 win over Chelsea had a little something to do with it. Regardless, it's gonna be one hell of a race between Celtic and Rangers this year.

Match Report from rangers.co.uk

Once Beasley starts putting those chances away - he had two breakaways but one time he was pushed wide and the other he mis-hit into the keeper's hands. The goals and assists will come.

Who do you think the next Yank Abroad will be?

UPDATE: Because I Think... Readers - Remember this? You guessed it right...that's pretty well done. Adu to Benfica - Champions League soccer and the SuperLiga awaits.


Your answer was:

Freddy Adu: 23 votes (31%)


Jonathan Bornstein: 14 votes (19%)
Eddie Johnson: 11 votes (15%)
Josmer Altidore: 9 votes (12%)
Justin Mapp: 8 votes (11%)
3 (Donovan, Twellman, Parkhurst) at 2 votes (3%)

Total Votes: 71

A Couple Morning Tidbits: Spector scores, West Ham scores a partnership, Beckham on-air, Man City keeps bringing in recruits

We saw Jonathan Spector's potential this summer and now he's bringing that well-reinforced confidence back to West Ham United. The fullback unleashed a long range shot that found net in a 2-1 friendly win over Norwich City.

Speaking of West Ham United - anyone catch this partnership between the Hammers and the whole of the United Soccer Leagues? Read up on it. One of the highlights is taking 20 or so handpicked Super-Y and Super-20 Leaguers and taking them to West Ham Academy to be trained, assessed, criticized, and then shipped back home better soccer players.

David Beckham's possible MLS debut against Toronto FC - as first seen on the blogosphere at MLSUnderground - will be aired by ESPN2 on Sunday, August 5th, at 7:30pm. Hopefully he plays and hopefully this starts a trend of kicking re-run poker shows off-the-air or at least ESPN Ocho.

Manchester City have raided former Fulham skipper Chris Coleman's new club, Real Sociedad for defender Javi Garrido for a rumoured $4 million or so. At the other end of the pitch, Bulgarian forward and former Fiorentina favorite Valeri Bojinov could be on his way to Manchester as well. Fiorentina made the crappy move of sending the still young striker to Juventus on loan last season and, despite their Serie B status, Bojinov didn't play too much. The deal could be worth as much as $11.5 million. Former Thai Prime Minister and bad boy on the run Shinawatra seems to be giving Manchester City the financial flexibility they always needed.

Beasley set to resume European play with Rangers

UPDATE: Even after Walter Smith sung his praises to local UK media, Beasley didn't get off the bench. A big reason for that, however, was Alan Hutton's sending off in the 60th minute. They were only up 1-0 at that point and felt like they had to protect it. Final score: 2-0. Beasley will get his chance.



The Montenegrin champion FK Zeta looks to make it tough at home for Beasley and the roster-shocked Glasgow Rangers. Rangers - strapped for cash over the last decade after Walter Smith's last tenure with club when he dropped the cash on veteran Italians (an experiment that failed) - have opened their doors to forward Jean Claude 'the Rocket' Darcheville and defender Carlos Cuellar from Osasuna, while also bringing in Lee McCulloch from Wigan Athletic. All - preseason friendly-wise - seem to have meshed well with Beasley and the American winger looks to make his competitive debut at Ibrox today ay 3:00pm EST.

Updates on the outcome - FK Zeta defeated Lithuanian champion FBK Kaunas in the first round of qualifying, 5-4 on aggregate. A little overview of the match with quotes from Walter Smith.

American, dare I say traitor?, Guiseppe Rossi to Villareal

The 20-year old Rossi will be taking place of the departed Diego Forlan who went to Atletico Madrid to replace Fernando Torres who went to Liverpool. It's a game of transfer musical chairs. Rossi, well-known for his US-Italy - which team to do I want to play - tug of war, was born in the NY metro area and is one of the many youth prospects found and nurtured by Manchester United, but eventually - due to the attraction of bringing in big name players, already established - he was cast aside. Rossi could find life tough in La Liga, but then again, if you can score in Serie A as he did with Parma on loan last season, you can score anywhere.

Source

It is confirmed: Benfica answers Adu's European come-and-get-me call

The 18-year old showed his true colors at U-20 World Cup and now, about $2 million later, Benfica - a storied Portuguese superpower, legendary for being Portugal's soccer savior Eusebio's stomping ground - has won the signature of Freddy Adu. Confirmation here.

The task will be a tough one - Benfica has won the signatures of some highly rated players this summer. Angel di Maria, also a U-20 standout from Argentina, was courted heavily by Arsenal to add to their already youth-laden line-up, but found an $8 million move to Benfica much more appealing. Belletti, the versatile Brazilian who has long been a part of the core that was Barcelona's success, will join on loan after a tumultuous and frustrating year at Barcelona has brought in several new players, weeding Belletti out. Adu has his competition and large shoes to fill as slightly older Simao Sabrosa was considered Benfica's attacking heart and soul, but just transferred out. A $27 million offer from Atletico Madrid (who also recently just captured former Arsenal and Real Madrid attacking mid Jose Antonio Reyes) was too enticing to turn down.

Apparently, Adu has trained with them (as seen above, courtesy of Yanks Abroad), has received the graces of a Salt Lake community (who will be happy to have the money open up for a rebuilding acquisition) as well as a former D.C. community who want the kid to succeed (for the most part). If he plays with the grace and tenacity that he had in the recent U-20 World Cup, this kid could be something special. After 98 appearances in the MLS and the continued pressure of being the USA's first "soccer wonderkid", Adu will test his mettle abroad where the scrutiny is more intense and everything is under the microscope.

My verdict? Good move - and given two years, we're going to see a consistent, refined, and even haughtier Freddy Adu. One who can perform against teams other than those in CONCACAF (i.e. Mr. Donovan).

For those Benfica supporters/Portuguese SuperLiga fans that are looking for information on Freddy. Check here...

What are your thoughts?

Be back with more later. Day job calls.

YANK ABROAD UPDATE: Frankie Simek signs on for 3 more years.

The Sheffield Wednesday fullback made it clear to the Premiership squads interested in him would have to fight a little harder if they want his signature. A newly-minted American international, Simek's consistent play in the Championship has attracted interest from Everton and Birmingham respectively. His thoughts, however, are on getting Sheffield Wednesday back into the Premiership (which quite interestingly was the team that John Harkes you used to play for). Therefore, Simek has agreed to a new three-year deal.

Sheffield Wednesday will open their season at Ipswich on August 11th.

UCLA's Zizzo off to Hannover 96

Sal(vatore) Zizzo will join Heath Pearce as the second Yank to head to the Bundesliga this transfer window. Pearce recently joined newly promoted Hansa Rostock. The 20-year old Zizzo, who thanks to Johann Smith's untimely injury, terrorized the sidelines along with Robbie Rogers during the US U-20's quarterfinal run in Canada.

The move has been confirmed by Hannover 96's website (with the little German I can comprehend) and both MLSU and Soccer by Ives' have confirmed as well. This is a great move and quite a loss for the MLS (although due to Zizzo's apparent Italian/EU Passport, his intentions all along screamed Europe). The UCLA product will join a team that started the 2006/07 season terribly but rebounded and excelled with a young line-up to finish 11th, led by Steve Cherundolo's grit and influence. The team certainly plans to improve and have picked up some especially potent strikers in Mike Hanke from VfL Wolfsburg and Benjamin Lauth from fellow Yank Abroad Benny Feilhaber's squad Hamburg (HSV). It will be interesting to see whether or not Zizzo can make a first-team impression, but it would hardpressed - considering Hannover's lack of speed and aggression on the wing - that he wouldn't get a look right away.

The contract is three years and I think this is just the beginning for American youth heading abroad. We've got one whole month left in this summer's transfer window and I'd be surprised if we don't have closure on some other rumors.

Welcome to Ibrox Damarcus Beasley

The news has been out for a while, but I wanted to express my excitement at the prospect of Beasley in the SPL. A league not terribly known for speed on the wings, DMB has found a home - a place I truly think he can shine. The $1.5 million spent to snap him up from PSV will one day be seen as a steal as Beasley, if healthy, will run fullbacks ragged on the wings in the Scottish Premier League. His deal is for three years and he is Walter Smith's fifth signing of the summer as he has also sprung for Scottish prospects Krik Broadfoot, Graeme Smith, Alan Dow and a veteran in Jean-Claude Darcheville.

American fans are undoubtedly happy about this move (although some might rather want to see him in the EPL or La Liga), but no one's discontent could match Atletico Madrid's faithful. They are protesting and rioting due the potential exit of young'un Fernando "El Nino" Torres to any one of the Big Five in England and other suitors. I think you'd have to trade away the whole of an MLS team for that to happen. But wait...hasn't Mo Johnston done that?

Good luck Damarcus.

USA vs. Argentina tomorrow on GolTV at 8:45pm. No doubt, between the Copa America and the U-20 World Cup in Canada, we will certainly be seeing some Yanks moving abroad sometime soon.

Sorry people. Day off.

No time for a post. I will certainly have double duty for you tomorrow.

CASA Select vs. PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine)
Saturday 10am at PCOM Monument Field off of City Avenue

Coming up:

1. CASA Season Preview/South Jersey FC Preview
2. UEFA Cup Review
3. Check out www.phillysoccer.org
4. MLS Season preview! Roster break-down, recap of trades/transactions, the whole nine yards.

So stay tuned...the next two weeks should be big ones. Especially since there apparently is a rumor spreading about at least 2 more DP slots being filled before the season begins.

Also, Robbie Rogers landed in Columbus. Fitting. Sigi Schmid should do good with him.

Weekend of Fun

English Premiership



Saturday, March 3rd 2007

Liverpool 0, Man Utd 1

John O'Shea, who let's be honest, doesn't score much, sealed the victory for the Red Devils today. He did in a great fashion too - waiting til the 90th minute. The win was not expected after Paul Scholes 86th minute red card. This win has proven to me that this team will win the Premiership. Sir Alex Ferguson reaaally wants to rub it in Jose Mourinho's face. The Devils were outshot and basically outplayed all game, but Liverpool couldn't do what they had to do to win.
MVP: John O'Shea, cause he'll probably never get it again.

Portsmouth 0, Chelsea 2

Didier Drogba does it again, scoring his 29th goal of the season and 18th of the Premiership in the 28th minute. Salomon Kalou came on as a substitute and put the game away in the 82nd minute. Petr Cech was the hero as P'smouth actually had most of the chances and put a good amount on Cech's net.
MVP: Drogba, no explanation necessary.

Newcastle 0, Middlesbrough 0

Oguchi Onyewu quarterbacked an effective Newcastle defense as M'bro didn't really threaten much. That's saying a lot as physical Aussie Mark Viduka normally eats the Magpies alive. Unfortunately, Newcastle's offense played like Portsmouth, with 8 shots on goal and nothing to show for it. Thoughts of European competition next year could be in jeopardy. Therefore, they must make the best of their European ambitions this year by beating the hell out of AZ Alkmaar this Thursday night.
MVP: Titus Bramble, as he controlled Yakubu somehow - all 90 minutes.

Arsenal 2, Reading 1

Reading somehow didn't lose by more. Arsenal had 17 shots and Julio Baptista had one of his best games in a Gunners' uniform. Reading hung in there, however, but couldn't put the ball in the net. Instead, they needed a Cesc Fabregas' own goal to stay in it. Gilbero Silva and Julio Baptista both scored to put Arsenal ahead in 51st and 62nd minute respectively. Big win for Arsenal with PSV coming up in the middle of the week. Still gotta love that Reading is this far up in the table, I hope they get a European slot so Bobby Convey can come back next year to European play.
MVP The three Brazilians, Julio Baptista, Neves Denilson, and Gilberto Silva. All pretty solid games.

Fulham 1, Aston Villa 1

American legend Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra both started for Fulham. The game was actually marred by a controversial goal by former-OL striker John Carew in the 21st minute. It wasn't really controversial - just another non-agile ref not being able to get out of Chelsea cast-off Alexei Smertin's way. I guess flat-footed refs just plain follow the Yanks everywhere they go. Carlos Bocanegra said no to Aston Villa through a beautiful backpost header. Clint 'Don't Tread on Me' Dempsey sat this one on the bench.
MVP: Antti Niemi and Thomas Sorenson

Watford 2, Charlton 2

Yep, both teams going down. Watford go up 2-0 only to give it all back. Jay Demerit had a so-so game and it seems like that has become a trend for him. I don't really have much to say about this game, except that in a couple years Hameur Bouazza will be a star.
MVP: The viewer, anyone who watched this deserves the MVP.

Wigan 1, Manchester City 0

Why did Citeh let this slip through their fingers? DaMarcus Beasley started the match and went all 90, but even his presence didn't give any redeeming qualities to the play of Manchester. If they didn't have that decent run of form at the beginning of the season, Citeh could have been in the position that West Ham is right now.
MVP: Caleb Folan, grabs the game winner for the Latics.

Sheffield United 1, Everton 1

Terrible news for the Toffees as Tim Cahill is out the rest of the season with a damn broken foot. He's one of my favorite guys to watch on that team, so that's a shame. Tim Howard was pretty solid but Sheff Utd used its' home-field advantage and hard-nosed defending to grab a point from Everton. Cahill has been an injury magnet this season and one can only hope he gets healthy soon. Everton didn't have a terrible run of form without him earlier in the year, so here's to hoping they can produce the same results as before.
MVP: Tim Cahill, for being the world's best fragile person.

West Ham United 3, Tottenham 4


Yikes. This game was reaaalllly fun to watch, but it was sad to see the Hammers give up every damn lead they had. Spector sat on the bench and must of had a conniption watching his team give up everything they worked for. Tevez scored one. Young'un Mark Noble scored one earlier to put WHU up 2-0, but Tottenham fought back to 2-2 thanks to Defoe and Finnish Teemu Tainio. Super-sub Bobby Zamora and former Tottenham cast-off put a nice header home in the 85th seemingly putting the game out of the Hotspur's reach. Nope, the type of season West Ham was having it felt so obvious that the Hotspur was going to respond. And they did, with two goals in the last 2-3 minutes from Dimitar Berbatov and Canadian Paul Stalteri (only his 3rd goal in 4-5 years with the team). Exciting and painful to watch at the same time. Alan Curbishley looked as if he was going to cry. I would have.
MVP: Berbatov - the guys a rock and makes things happen. Also, Adel Taarabt - the 17 y.o. former Lens U-19 potential star, who got his first chance at the first team with T-ham. He came in and actually made a difference.

Here's a link to the English Premiership standings with about 10 games to go.

German Bundesliga

Vfl Wolfsburg 1, Borussia M'gladbach 0

Kamani Hill sat on the bench for Wolfsburg's win over Kasey Keller's Borussia Monchengladbach. The key is though VFL Wolfsburg has been winning as of late, whereas Keller's boys aren't having as much luck.

Dutch Eredivisie

Ajax 0, Heerenveen 1

Michael Bradley got on the pitch late in this upset. Heerenveen in no way dominated, but they got the job done which seems to be the underlying theme of this weekend in world soccer. The team that didn't dominate, got the win for the most part. If any team needed it, it was Heerenveen, breaking a 4-game winless streak. Give Bradley more time. This week, we should also find out the fate of Mr. Rogers.


Italian Serie A

Lazio 1, Sampdoria 0

Gabriel Ferrari didn't even make the squad and Sampdoria succumbed to a Tommaso Rocchi goal late in the game. Sampdoria was lucky they didn't give up more.

French Ligue 1

Lyon 3, Saint Etienne 1

Les Lyonnais dispatched Les Verts, according to Brittany, with somewhat sloppy play but took the chances they could. Read the first half recap from our March 4th post.

Other notes:

* Colorado waived GK Matt Jordan due to injuries and his semi-oldness. The guy is still really good so now there are two quality GKs on the market right now in Jordan and Jon Busch. Also, Fabrice Noel is gone too.

* The United States U-20 Men's National Team was drawn with pretty stiff competition for the U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. They have Brazil, South Korea, and Poland. Not exactly the group of death, but certainly capable of being one. This take place from June 30th to July 22nd. Should be exciting.


* On top of West Ham's heart-breaking loss today, there will be a FA probe into the transfer of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to the team. Apparently, even though everyone knew this before, the Premiership doesn't allow third party 'ownership' of players. I'll keep you updated.

Arsenal give way to Brad Friedel.

Blackburn 1, Arsenal 0 (FA Cup Fifth Round replay)

An 87th minute goal by late sub Benny McCarthy sunk Arsenal. Ahem - I said B'burn would win - cough. I still don't know why McCarthy was benched in favor of young striker Matt Derbyshire, but either way he made his presence known. Arsenal dominated possession and had the most chances but that's where finishing comes in. Brad Friedel was solid, as usual. Blackburn will move on to face Damarcus Beasley and Man City (hopefully Beasley plays) on March 11th. Rovers - welcome to the FA Cup Quarterfinals.



Other news:

* The Sevilla game vs. Real Betis (the one I recommended) was stopped prematurely due to Juande Ramos, Sevilla's coach, getting hit by a unidentified object (most likely a bottle) from the crowd. I'm sorry, but what the F*** is wrong with people. Tell me. Somebody. Stupid f***s. I'll keep you updated once punishments are handed out.

* Despite my desire to see Robbie Fowler in the MLS and his rumored talks with New England Revolution, here is an article quoting his agent that Qatar is a more likely destination. Other than money, what is the appeal of Qatar?? Liverpool, however, has signed Andriy Voronin putting Fowler 4th down on the pecking order.

* Ex-RBNY young'un Gabriel Ferrari didn't get into Sampdoria's 2-1 win against Atalanta.

* U.S. Soccer Federation has backed the preparation and efforts towards a 2018 World Cup Bid. This came even before Sepp Blatter, FIFA's president, said that it is very likely that 2018 might not be going to England or Europe in general. Instead, it's gonna stay over in the New World or possibly even Asia. Here is the article.

*Olympique Lyonnais has announced plans to build a new stadium by 2010. I have been to their current stadium, Stade de Gerland, and it gets the job done but it is pretty damn old.

So much to cover.

First comes first...

Man Utd 3, Reading 2 (FA CUP 5th Round Replay)

Hard-fought game and I was right Leroy Lita scored. Whoopdy-doo. Reading really should have actually won this game the way Man U played in the second half. Three goals in the first 6 minutes will make any team go silly though, even Man U. Leroy Lita had a pretty damn good game coming on as super-sub. The Royals made Alex Ferguson's life a living a hell. So much so that he eventually had to put Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch. They essentially had been playing a 'B' squad before then. Man Utd will advance to play Middlesbrough in the 6th round.

Man U - G. Heinze (2'), L. Saha (4'), O. Solskjaer (6')
Readg - D. Kitson (23'), L. Lita (84')

Other result: Middlesbrough 1, West Bromwich Albion 1 (PK SO 5-4)

Now on to some quick news - any headlines missed can be found at Du Nord. Just visit the link on the right-hand side.

* Good young'un (19 years old) Robbie Rogers is having his contract mutually terminated by the Heerenveen Frisians. It's a shame as I think he could have done well over there given the time to progress. Regardless, he will be most likely coming back to the States to sign with an MLS team. This kid is a pacy, skilled attacking winger but no word as to who he might be signing with.


* Thomas Gravesen, the bald-headed midfield bull that quarterbacked Everton, Real Madrid, and Celtic in his days, could be on his way to the MLS according to Eurosport. He has been put on the backburner recently by Celtic manager Gordon Strachan. He is linked with the Los Angeles Galaxy but that would require a move for another DP slot or a completely reworked, cheap-ass contract coming from Alexi Lalas. Otherwise, we could see him negotiating with another MLS team or staying in Europe. Oh yea, and he's Danish.
TAKE: I like this move as Gravesen is only 30 and has several years left. I think however this might be too good to be true, just like Robbie Fowler who is now possibly resigning with his home team, Liverpool. I hope I'm wrong, but I think we'll see Gravesen back in the Premiership. Only time can tell.

*Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy were rightfully elected to the Soccer Hall of Fame. Joy Fawcett, however, did not and Kristine Lilly is about..hmm....53 and still playing. When she's done, however, she will most likely join Mia and Julie. There are five other women in the Hall of Fame? Who are they????
This comes on the heels of the announcement that a new women's soccer league will begin operation in April 2008. It will be loosely partnered with the MLS. Check it out here.

*By the way, the current player on Olympique Lyonnais who was actually born and raised in Lyon is: Eric Abidal, a French international left back. Strong, composed and very good. Nobody got this as nobody writes comments - come on now, do I have to completely make something up to get you people to respond?!??!

Yanks Premiership Games

Sunday, February 25th 2007

Blackburn 3, Portsmouth 0 (Premiership)

Internationally-retired Yank Brad Friedel was tested in this game and proved up to the challenge as he pretty much always is. Shabani Nonda had his way with the Portsmouth defense and barely missing a hat-trick by missing a PK near the end of the game. This is a good result to preserve the Premiership form after suffering a heart-breaking exit from the UEFA cup. Next up for the Rovers is Arsenal on Wednesday 2/28 in the FA cup. Rovers win is my guess.

Wigan 1, Newcastle 0 (Premiership)

A really physical game which is right up Oguchi Onyewu's alley. However, a missed penalty from Nolberto Solano and a foul committed by the Gooch led to a 1-0 Wigan win off of Ryan Taylor's free kick strike. MVP of the game however was the Latics reserve GK John Filan. He was a brick wall. Next up for the Magpies is Middlesbrough at the end of the week and then AZ in the UEFA Cup.

Chelsea 2, Arsenal 1 (Carling Cup Final)

Chelsea gets their first piece of hardware this season with a tough-played 2-1 victory over the Gunners. Drogba was unstoppable scoring two goals even after a Theo Walcott goal put the Gunners ahead in the first 20 minutes. All of this was nothing compared to the drama that ended up with 3 people being sent off. John Terry, injured and miraculously healthy again, proceeded to keep his string of bad luck running. Poor guy. He received a vicious kick to the head from Abou Diaby (albeit unintentional) which knocked him unconscious. According to soccernet.com, Terry swallowed his tongue and had to be stretchered off with an oxygen mask to support his breathing. The landscape of the game changed dramatically and near the end, a mass brawl ensued. Jon Obi Mikel, Kolo Toure, and Emmanuel Adebayor were all sent off. 7 others received yellows. This game will surely looked into, but the biggest thing is that we all hope John Terry is okay and can return quickly again.



Saturday, February 24th 2007

Manchester United 2, Fulham 1, Premiership

McBride loves to score against big teams. He did, putting Fulham up 1-0. Manchester United, however, with the form they're in would definitely find a way back in. In all honesty, though, Fulham should have won but they couldn't find the net again. Giggs equalized about 10 minutes later and Cristiano Ronaldo put the winner away in the 87th minute. Fulham has Aston Villa next Saturday.

Watford 0, Everton 3, Premiership

There were plenty of shots in this one, but none of them really bothered Timmy Howard. Watford's shots were either went awry, were blocked, shanked, or dribbled to a stop. Howard made a couple reflex saves but not too much of an effort to grab yet another clean sheet. Demerit's "bad tackle" led to an Andy Johnson penalty conversion. All in all, it seemed Demerit was always just a step behind. In that sense, we all have to remember how far he has come. The Championship however is definitely calling Watford's name. Johnson, Fernandes, and Leon Osman did the damage for the Toffees. MVP to Manuel Fernandes, agile, skilled, and fun to watch. Everton has an away match at Sheffield United next weekend. Could be another Howard shutout.

Middlesbrough 2, Reading 1, Premiership

In a relatively boring game, Reading broke their stretch of good form by dropping one to M'Bro. Hahnemann was tested and responded well, but the onslaught of shots was relentless. Reading had several attempts that should have finished, but as they're outperforming to date, I will not complain too much. Yakubu and Viduka scored the two for Boro and John Oster for Reading. Reading next has Man Utd in their FA Cup 5th replay this Tuesday.

IN OTHER GAMES I RANDOMLY COVERED:

Lyon 3, Sochaux 3, Ligue 1

All in all, Sochaux should have won this. Spirit and determination always seems to prevail though. Lyon in the 90th minute onwards was down 3-1. Wiltord scored on the 90th minute mark to make it 3-2 and then Juninho slotted home the penalty to tie it up one minute before time. That is pretty damn impressive. And you wonder why they have 5 Ligue 1 championships in their trophy case. Lyon will have rivals Saint Etienne next Saturday.

Injured Cory Gibbs' Charlton squad manhandled Jonathan Spector's troubled West Ham United, 4-0. Neither Americans played - Spector due to yellow-card accumulation. West Ham seems to be on their way down with that loss. In fact, it seems that 3 Americans will be relegated barring an amazing string of victories. In 2007-08, it very well maybe Gibbs, Spector, and Demerit in the Championship. Who knows where the hell Carlos Tevez will be though.