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American Soccer |OT| Life, liberty and the pursuit of the beautiful game

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xbhaskarx

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From MLS captain to being held at gunpoint in Ukraine: a must-read story

Darren O'Dea on his time at TFC:
After his release from Celtic in 2012, he was offered the chance to join the MLS revolution.

At 25, it was an early call to the States but he was immediately hooked.

He said: ‘There’s a big perception that it’s a retirement league or you go when you’re 30 so I wasn’t sure.

‘We went over for three days and I have never been treated like it in my life.

‘Four players and the manager took us out for a meal and a few beers, taking it in turns to persuade me to sign.

‘We stayed in an amazing hotel, met the franchise owner at the training ground and went to watch a game. I remember turning to my wife then and saying ‘I think I fancy this’.

‘It was the best decision I ever made. I loved every minute of it.’

He became captain, maintaining his Ireland place. O’Dea had his moanie moments in Canada too, pointing out improvements he would make before former Blackburn defender Ryan Nelson took over.

‘The facilities are incredible, the best I have been in but the younger players took it for granted and they were not learning properly. They hadn’t earned the right to use those facilities.

‘There was great support for the team in the city, a big build-up to every game as only the Americans and Canadians can do it and I loved that intensity.’

Once a States-sceptic, he quickly embraced the MLS and its increasing popularity in a sports-mad country.

O’Dea said: ‘Portland was the best. They get a giant chainsaw out and chop a tree trunk if they score. If you buy into it, it’s brilliant.

‘The media come into the dressing room after a game and you could have had three cameras in your face while you’re getting changed. I was in their place and played by their rules. I was constantly asked to do things, especially as captain but I actually enjoyed it.

‘There’s a great one on Youtube. We’d conceded a late goal and I can see in my face I was still raging. I’m playing with my belt, refusing to look at the camera, just ranting away.’

But under MLS wage rules, O’Dea was effectively Toronto’s marquee signing. Unusual for a centre-back. He knew what was coming.

He said: ‘My contract was done in haste. I was taking a bigger hit on the team’s wage cap than Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry.

‘I wanted the best for the team so I wanted to say ‘my contract’s a joke - you need to sort it’.

‘I was performing well and captain and they offered me a longer deal with half the wages. Every part of me wanted to sign but we really couldn’t have lived on it.’

He chose Ukraine next…
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X

xbhaskarx

Member
James Rodriguez signs Real Madrid shirt for Reading midfielder Danny Williams

Reading midfielder Danny Williams took to Instagram to reveal he was the lucky recipient of a signed James Rodriguez shirt.
Williams posted a picture of himself holding up a Rodriguez Real Madrid No 10 shirt alongside the Colombian superstar.
The duo would have come into contact on Friday night when the USA played Colombia at Fulham's Craven Cottage.

2TGSTqs.jpg
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Also at the game:

gedi34 Gedion Zelalem
What a great atmosphere tonight #USA v #COL, best atmosphere I've witnessed at a game!
10802401_371934462987397_725896209_a.jpg
 
M

Meier

Member
xbhaskarx said:
Still pretty infuriating that Nguen didn't come on until the 78th minute, or get called in before the World Cup (hell the Revs were the most entertaining team in MLS even last season)...
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It's possible that the Revs requested he only play 15 minutes. I think we'll see more of him with the team going forward.. he acquitted himself well in that little cameo and should be a difference maker. I actually wonder if he earned himself a move back to Europe with his season and whether he'd take it or not at this point. Certainly in line for a raise if he doesn't.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Various presser quotes from Ireland:
@SoccerByIves: Jurgen asked if Shane O’Neill is in his plans. “Yes, he’s in our plans.” When reminded O’Neill is Irish-born, JK “Yes, but he’ll go with us”

@kylejmccarthy: Klinsmann responds to a question about Shane O'Neill and his Irish passport: "Yup, but he will go with us." Laughs ensue. #USMNT

@SoccerByIves: Klinsmann has twice today mentioned having the team play games in South America in the near future. Good prep for 2016 Copa America #USMNT

@DougMacESPN: Klinsmann on Stanford’s Jordan Morris, who JK says suggests could make #usmnt debut tomorrow: “We see something really special in him.”

@SoccerByIves: Klinsmann- “It’s great to come to Europe and get tested.” “Ireland will give us another strong and demanding test.” #USMNT

@kylejmccarthy: Jurgen Klinsmann said DaMarcus Beasley was released from #USMNT camp to tend to personal matters in Mexico.

@SoccerByIves: Klinsmann reiterates his concerns about MLS not recognizing FIFA feature dates, not only for senior team, but youth national teams. #USMNT

@DougMacESPN: Am told Cherundolo, coaching Hannover’s U-15 squad this season, is close to completing UEFA A license. Future #usmnt coach?
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Also:

- Meet Tom King; One of USSF's most important people behind the scenes (interview with the USSF scheduler)
One of the leading practitioners of U.S. foreign diplomacy is a guy who schedules soccer games.

We’re not totally kidding, either. For the past 20 years, a genial Brit named Tom King, U.S. Soccer’s managing director of administration, has been the man in charge of arranging all the U.S. national team friendlies, including the men's one on Tuesday against Ireland in Dublin (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

It’s a job that requires all the skills of a top diplomat—extreme organization, smart relationship-building, shrewd negotiating acumen—with the exception that in soccer the U.S. isn’t a global superpower but rather an emerging regional heavyweight. In a complex, sometimes chaotic world of friendlies where not even FIFA keeps careful track of who’s playing whom, it’s King’s task (while consulting with U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann) to find the best possible opponent in the best possible location with the best possible commercial terms for U.S. Soccer.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- US U17 roster for upcoming trip to Chile:
U.S. U-17 MNT Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (2): William Pulisic (Richmond United; Mechanicsville, Va.), Kevin Silva (Players Development Academy; Bethlehem, Pa.)

DEFENDERS (7): Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls Academy; Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Hugo Arellano (LA Galaxy Academy; Norwalk, Calif.), Daniel Barbir (West Bromwich Albion; Allentown, Pa.), Tanner Dieterich (Real Salt Lake AZ; Nashville, Tenn.), John Nelson (Internationals; Medina, Ohio), Logan Panchot (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri; St. Louis, Mo.) Alexis Velela (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (6): George Braima (Crew Soccer Academy; Columbus, Ohio), Eric Calvillo (Real So Cal; Palmdale, Calif.), Keegan Kelly (Baltimore Celtic; Baltimore, Md.), Thomas McCabe (Players Development Academy; South Orange, N.J.), Christian Pulisic (Unattached; Hershey, Pa.), Alejandro Zendejas (FC Dallas, El Paso, Texas)

FORWARDS (5): Pierre Da Silva (New York Soccer Club; Port Chester, N.Y.), McKinze Gaines (Lonestar SC; Austin, Texas), Kai Koreniuk (Vitesse; Ormond Beach, Fla.), Josh Perez (Unattached; La Habra, Calif.), Haji Wright (Unattached; Los Angeles, Calif.)
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X

xbhaskarx

Member
NCAA Division I Tournament bracket announced

The NCAA announced on Monday the 48 teams that will compete in the 2014 Division I men's soccer tournament. Defending champion Notre Dame earned the top overall seed.

The first two rounds of the tournament will be held this weekend, with the Round of 16 slated for Nov. 28-30, the quarterfinals set for Dec. 5-7 and the College Cup to be played Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

The top 16 teams, which will host second-round games on Sunday, Nov. 23, are:

  1. Notre Dame
  2. UCLA
  3. Michigan State
  4. Maryland
  5. Indiana
  6. Stanford
  7. Clemson
  8. Georgetown
  9. Syracuse
  10. Charlotte
  11. Providence
  12. Creighton
  13. Louisville
  14. Washington
  15. Cal
  16. Virginia

Matchups for the first round (to be played on Thursday, Nov. 20) are as follows (home team listed first):

Ohio State vs. Akron (winner at No. 1 Notre Dame)
UNC Wilmington vs. Bucknell (winner at No. 16 Virginia)
Penn State vs. Hartwick (winner at No. 9 Syracuse)
Old Dominion vs. St. Francis (N.Y.) (winner at No. 8 Georgetown)
Xavier vs. Monmouth (winner at No. 5 Indiana)
Oregon State vs. Denver (winner at No. 12 Creighton)
St. Louis vs. Tulsa (winner at No. 13 Louisville)
Wake Forest vs. UMBC (winner at No. 4 Maryland)
Kentucky vs. Oakland (winner at No. 3 Michigan State)
UAB vs. Furman (winner at No. 14 Washington)
Dartmouth vs. Fordham (winner at No. 11 Providence)
UC Irvine vs. UNLV (winner at No. 6 Stanford)
Coastal Carolina vs. Florida Gulf Coast (winner at No. 7 Clemson)
North Carolina vs. James Madison (winner at No. 10 Charlotte)
Northwestern vs. SIU Edwardsville (winner at No. 15 Cal)
San Diego vs. Cal State Fullerton (winner at No. 2 UCLA)
Click to expand...

bracket: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/soccer-men/d1
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
NYT: U.S. Soccer Plans Review of Youth Programs to Try to Close Development Gap

Conversations about the issue often come down to a singular question: Is it better for a young player to seek an opportunity abroad or stay at home? Yet as the debate has continued to roil within the soccer establishment, with frequently heated exchanges and occasional forays to the line of civility, the United States Soccer Federation has identified what it believes is the root of the matter, and it is on the verge of several major changes designed to address it.

To that end, U.S. Soccer is considering outside help. The federation plans to authorize a full audit and analysis of its development academies, covering everything from coaching and tactical approaches to what sort of residency model works best. To facilitate the evaluation, U.S. Soccer has engaged in discussions with a top international consulting firm that has done similar work with English Premier League clubs as well as Germany’s national soccer federation, according to multiple people who have been briefed on the talks.

A group of executives, led by Jay Berhalter, U.S. Soccer’s chief commercial officer, has already had preliminary conversations with representatives from Double PASS, a Belgium-based company which has a strong track record of evaluating and improving individual club academies as well as larger federations. In England, for example, Double PASS has spent the past three years measuring and standardizing the level of development across the 92 professional soccer clubs in the country’s top four divisions. In Germany, it is involved in a long-term maintenance program which has seen it continually evaluate each club’s academy, including the biggest teams such as Bayern Munich.

Hugo Schoukens, the founder and chief executive of Double PASS, confirmed that his group has had initial discussions with U.S. Soccer but said no arrangement has been finalized. “The ball is in their court now,” Schoukens said Monday in a telephone interview. “We would be very excited about working with them and think our philosophies could make a significant difference.”

...

U.S. Soccer is also considering a number of other changes to its development structure, including an expansion of its formal academy program to even younger age groups, but aligning itself with an outside agency – particularly one with success in Europe – would be a significant benchmark.
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X

xbhaskarx

Member
sazabirules said:
I thought Christian Pulisic was joining Dortmund.
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That's exactly what that means. Players under 18 without EU passports are listed as "unattached" if they're with a European team. They can't officially join them until they're adults, until then they go over and train on tourist visas and whatnot. Same thing happened with Rubio Rubin at Utrecht, Junior Flores at Dortmund, etc.

From that roster:
Daniel Barbir (West Bromwich Albion; Allentown, Pa.)
Christian Pulisic (Unattached; Hershey, Pa.) - Dortmund
Kai Koreniuk (Vitesse; Ormond Beach, Fla.)
Josh Perez (Unattached; La Habra, Calif.) - Fiorentina
Haji Wright (Unattached; Los Angeles, Calif.) - Shalke

Barbir and Koreniuk have EU passports, whereas the others don't.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Montreal Impact to Field USL PRO Team
FC Montreal becomes USL PRO’s 5th MLS-owned squad

USL PRO continued its unprecedented off-season growth with the announcement that FC Montreal, owned and operated by the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer, will be the 10th new team to join for the 2015 season. The Impact are led by Owner & President Joey Saputo.

FC Montreal is the fourth MLS-owned expansion club for 2015, following the Portland Timbers (T2), Real Salt Lake (Real Monarchs SLC) and Seattle Sounders FC (S2). The LA Galaxy II will compete in their second USL PRO season in 2015.
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11 new teams (with Orlando leaving to make it +10 overall) in Austin, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Louisville, Montreal, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tulsa... that might be the most rapid expansion in American soccer history, I doubt even the NASL was adding teams at that rate back in the 70s.
 
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xbhaskarx

Member
Cameron set to make NBC broadcasting debut on Nov. 23

Geoff Cameron is set to become the latest U.S. Men’s National Team’s star to try his hand in the field of broadcasting.

NBC announced Monday that Cameron will join veteran broadcaster Arlo White in the booth for the Nov. 23 meeting between Crystal Palace and Liverpool in a matchup that will serve as the Stoke City defender’s on-air debut.

The broadcast will come just one day after Cameron, who is currently in Dublin with the USMNT, Stoke City for a meeting with Burnley.

Cameron is the latest active U.S. star to make a move to the booth, as the defender joins Everton’s Tim Howard, who signed a multiyear deal with NBC in July.
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O

Osorio

Member
Kinda embarrassing it took this long but I think the club will announce that Sunday's game is a sell-out

I mean it sucks that it's on 1:30 on a Sunday but it shoulda been sold out a while ago.
 
A

ActStriker

Member
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...dium-boston/s7p5krvDeH1J7UgjlEIFtM/story.html

Planning is quietly underway for construction of a soccer stadium in Boston, one that would bring the resurgent New England Revolution closer to its urban fan base, according to people familiar with the Kraft family’s search for a site.

Among the sites under consideration is a strip of city-owned land off Interstate 93 on Frontage Road, where Boston has a large yard for towed cars and public works. The South Boston property offers easy access from major highways and is near the MBTA’s Red Line as well as rail lines at nearby South Station.

Numerous sources said the Kraft family has been meeting with state and city officials to discuss the stadium and possible locations over the past several months, with the team focusing on Frontage Road. It was not known Monday what additional sites the Krafts were considering.

Through a spokesman, the Krafts on Monday said:

“We are currently developing concepts for how a soccer stadium for the Revolution can benefit the greater Boston area. Once we have more developed plans, we will comment further.”

The Krafts, owners of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution, have tried several times to build a stadium in Boston, first for the Patriots in the mid-1990s and again more recently for the Revolution.

The Revolution has acknowledged that playing in the cavernous Gillette Stadium, located well outside of Boston’s urban core, is not an ideal setting for soccer. In October, the Revolution’s president told the Globe that a preferred size for a new soccer stadium would seat 18,000 to 22,000 fans.

The Frontage Road location is adjacent to an industrial area that the group organizing Boston’s efforts to host the 2024 Summer Olympics had identified as a potential location for the main Olympics stadium. Kraft is also a member of the Olympics group.

Although some people familiar with the discussions said the Kraft proposal could conflict with the Olympic group’s efforts for the bigger stadium, others said there is enough room in the area to accommodate both facilities. The Olympic committee is focusing on a site on Widett Circle, just to the south of the city property, that hosts a collection of food wholesalers.

Kraft’s timing differs from the Boston Olympics group’s. One source said the sports mogul is pushing to have the soccer stadium in place within five years.

The city yard is also a candidate for a new homeless shelter to replace a facility on Long Island that was abruptly shuttered last month after the harbor bridge was condemned.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh would only say that any proposal for the city-owned site would be subject to a bidding process and reviews by public agencies.

Though the Krafts have previously explored building a soccer stadium in Somerville or Revere, the new push comes as soccer is enjoying renewed popularity locally and throughout the United States.
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staidum.jpg
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This is the first I've heard of them looking at this site
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Boxi Yomba, 18, Scores Two In First Two U.S. Matches

Eighteen-year-old Boxi Yomba, an Atletico Madrid youth player, is off to a strong start to his U.S. under-20 career, scoring two goals in his first two matches for Tab Ramos' club.

Yomba can play either left wing or center forward and that is where the U.S. U-20 team is deepest. The players he is competing with are already professionals and have impressed in previous camps. Rubio Rubin, Paul Arriola, Tommy Thompson, Ben Specner, Romain Gall, Andrija Novakovich, Zach Pfeffer, Amando Moreno, and Lynden Gooch will compete with Yomba to make the U-20 team which is 4-0-2 in international play and 10-1-2 overall (including club opponents) in 2014.
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C

Cornballer

Member
xbhaskarx said:
Quakes to announce New Stadium naming rights partner
New Stadium naming rights partner will be unveiled on Wednesday

Already known it will be Avaya...
https://newballpark.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/avayastadium.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]I wonder if they were holding off on making the announcement until the video board was ready at the new stadium.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/YbFMXxO.jpg
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C

Cornballer

Member
So here's the remaining roster for tomorrow's friendly against Ireland:
#USMNT Roster:
GK - Guzan, Hamid, S. Johnson, Rimando
D - Besler, Brooks, Cameron, Chandler, Garza, F. Johnson
MF - Beckerman, Bedoya, Diskerud, Green, Morales
F - Altidore, Ibarra, Morris, Rubin, Wood, Wondolowski
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Note that Rimando is penciled in to start and Rubin sat out practice yesterday, so he probably won't play much.

Any thoughts on a lineup?

Also:
@BrianSciaretta said:
After wins vs. Russia & Ireland, US U20s look to finish the Marbella Cup with a perfect 3-0 record today vs. Canada. Kickoff at 10:30am EST
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