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Klinsmann Calls 26 Players To USMNT Camp

By on May 16, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Hang on to your hats folks, this one is about to get interesting.

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has called in 26 players to begin training camp in Cleveland in advance of the five-game stretch in May and June that includes three FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the Centennial Celebration Match against Germany.

A total of 29 players will participate, including four MLS goalkeepers that will rotate through camp.

Yes, in total there are six, count them SIX keepers in camp.

GOALKEEPERS (6) :Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (8) : DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg)

MIDFIELDERS (10) : Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (5) : Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

Whatcha think folks? Surprised to see names like Shea out there given his injury status? Are you laughing at the number of keepers like I am? Any players lacking (outside Landon Donovan) in this?

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Full List of MLS Players Called Up

By on March 19, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

With the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on the horizon, many MLS players have been called into duty for this week. In all 29 players have been called up by their respective countries.

Out of those 38, 17 teams are affected by this with Real Salt Lake taking the biggest hit with five players called up. Their weekend opponent FC Dallas has three of their own to deal with being gone as well. Only Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids are left without players getting called up.

Chicago Fire
G – Sean Johnson (USA)
M – Joel Lindpere (Estonia)

Columbus Crew
F – Jairo Arrieta (Costa Rica)

FC Dallas
M – Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica)
F – Blas Perez (Panama)
G – Raul Fernandez (Peru)

D.C. United
D – Dejan Jakovic (Canada)
M – Marcos Sanchez (Panama)

Houston Dynamo
M – Oscar Boniek Garcia (Honduras)
M – Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica)

LA Galaxy
D – Omar Gonzalez (USA)
F – Robbie Keane (Ireland)

Montreal Impact
M – Sanna Nyassi (Gambia)

New England Revolution
F – Jerry Bengtson (Honduras)

New York Red Bulls
D – Roy Miller (Costa Rica)
M – Tim Cahill (Australia)

Philadelphia Union
M – Keon Daniel (Trinidad & Tobago)
D – Bakary Soumare (Mali)

Portland Timbers
M – Will Johnson (Canada)
G – Donovan Ricketts (Jamaica)
F – Ryan Johnson (Jamaica)
D – Mamadou “Futty” Danso (Gambia)

Real Salt Lake
G – Nick Rimando (USA)
D – Tony Beltran (USA)
M – Kyle Beckerman (USA)
F – Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica)
F – Abdoulie Mansally (Gambia)

San Jose Earthquakes
D – Justin Morrow (USA)
D – Victor Bernardez (Honduras)

Seattle Sounders
F – Eddie Johnson (USA)
M – Mario Martinez (Honduras)
F – Obafemi Martins (Nigeria)

Sporting Kansas City
D – Matt Besler (USA)
M – Graham Zusi (USA)

Toronto FC
M – Kyle Bekker (Canada)
D – Ashtone Morgan (Canada)
D – Darren O’Dea (Ireland)

Vancouver Whitecaps
F – Kenny Miller (Scotland)

 

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Video

Alexi Lalas On The Colbert Report

By on February 21, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Good on Alexi to be able to handle the silliness of Stephen Colbert. I thought he handled the interview on match-fixing very well.

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Gulati Discusses World Cup Qualifying Venues

By on February 7, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Yeah...this could easily work for the USMNT. (Getty Images)

Yeah…this could easily work for the USMNT. (Getty Images)

Yes, this is from yesterday but it is still a worthy discussion point.

Yesterday, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati shared a few bits of information to reporters in Honduras about upcoming plans for the year for the US National team.

Kansas City (Sporting Park), Columbus (Crew Stadium) and Salt Lake City (Rio Tinto Stadium) are among venues that seem likely to hold qualifiers this year. The non-SSS mentioned by Gulati has to indeed be Seattle. Though as I’ve mentioned on here and Twitter, I’ll believe it when I see it.  Continue Reading →

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Klinsmann Names 24 To First World Cup Qualifier Match

By on February 4, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has called 24 players into training camp to prepare for its opening match against Honduras in the Final Round of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying.

The game against Honduras kicks off February 6 in San Pedro Sula at 3 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast live on beIN SPORT.

Of the 24 called up, seven make their trade in MLS.

GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa – 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton – 22/9 SO), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire – 0/0)
DEFENDERS (9) : Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City – 0/0), Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander – 31/5), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City – 5/0), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana – 0/0), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg – 0/0), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders – 0/0), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy – 0/0), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim – 3/0), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg – 3/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8) : Michael Bradley (Roma – 19/5), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo – 0/0), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor – 9/0), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04 – 5/0), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – 12/0), Jose Torres (Tigres – 9/0), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim – 4/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City – 3/0)
FORWARDS (4 ): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar – 17/6), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur – 26/10), Herculez Gomez (Santos – 6/2), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders – 11/10)

The United States holds a 12-3-3 lifetime record against Honduras in a series dating back to 1965.

What do you all think?

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European Execs Warming Up To MLS Calendar

By on January 31, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

The whole MLS calendar issue has been a horse that has been beaten to death so many times I don’t even know where to begin.

Thankfully it could be a thing of the past. More and more clubs overseas are beginning to warm up to how MLS does things not just in a financial sense but in how they do their calendar. Yes, you read that correctly, some folks in Europe actually like the MLS calendar.

So maybe we’re on to something here right?

According to Sports Illustrated, the German executive, who is also chairman of the European Club Association which represents over 200 clubs in Europe, has publicly stated that it makes no sense for European soccer to play through the winter, citing weather issues as a prime concern.

“Everywhere, be it Germany, France or England, summer is the best period of the year. And that is the season we don’t play,” Rummenigge said. “In deepest winter, when it is very cold and snowing, we play nearly all the time in conditions that are disagreeable for both players and spectators. It is not logical.”

Logical. That is the word I’ve used a dozen or so times in arguing for the current schedule that MLS uses. Most players do not like the cold months, especially the bitter cold months.

Given how more than half of the league is located in the northern half of the country (draw a simple horizontal line in the middle of the country to get the idea here), it makes little sense to play games from December through February.

This Rummenigge guy believes that Europe could be headed in the same calendar direction as MLS. That would be huge for MLS in the long run if it were true.

We’ll see if it actually happens though but the thought that a large number of clubs in Europe are potentially on board with a calendar shift like this is positive from a MLS standpoint.

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Three Cities In Running For Costa Rica Game

By on January 7, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

The announcement of the US national team’s first home 2014 World Cup qualifier in the CONCACAF Hexagonal stage is only a few days away.

SI.com’s Grant Wahl reported over the weekend that three cities are in the running for the March 22 game against Costa Rica.

“A high-ranking US Soccer [Federation] source is telling me that the three finalists are Salt Lake City, Denver and Kansas City,” Wahl said on Fox Soccer’s Goals on Sunday. “The first two are at altitude which would be helpful for preparation for atltitude against Mexico a few days later in Mexico City [on March 26].”

The altitude of Denver and Salt Lake City are clearly a big advantage for those two cities. Back in November, I predicted that Rio Tinto Stadium would host this game, so maybe I’ll get that one right.

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Garber Makes Right Call, Skips Ballon d’Or

By on January 3, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Sometimes there are things that are just more important than going to Switzerland and sitting through a FIFA award ceremony that has nothing to do with your league.  MLS Commissioner Don Garber said he would be skipping the Ballon d’Or ceremony for the Soccer in Newtown night – a move that makes way more sense.

Garber sets the priority here and goes with the right call with a night in Connecticut.

All of this comes just a day or so after FIFA boss Sepp Blatter blasted MLS for it’s lack of progress.

Garber told SI.com’s Grant Wahl yesterday that he has invited Blatter to a MLS season opener later this year.

“Even against that backdrop, we have made tremendous progress over the last 17 years,” Garber said. “Interestingly, we’re probably recognized as being more significant in many ways here in the U.S. than we are in other parts of the football world because of some of those developments: three broadcast partners, every game televised in HD, amazingly strong corporate support, lots of new stadiums and a great fan base that has us now in the U.S. and Canada ranked third [in average attendance] among all of the major leagues after the NFL and Major League Baseball. Those are pretty remarkable developments and ones that we’re very proud of.”

The Soccer Night in Newtown was an idea that quickly came to fruition thanks to Houston Dynamo president Chris Canetti. It is a special event taking place on January 7 and is open only to Newtown residents and members of the Newtown Youth Soccer Club. Local families and children will be able to meet MLS and US national team stars, play in small-sided games, and spend an afternoon thinking about the beautiful game rather than the ugliness of recent events.

Participating players:

Columbus Crew
Ethan Finlay

FC Dallas
Zach Loyd, Bobby Warshaw

Houston Dynamo
Corey Ashe, Brad Davis, Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark, Tally Hall

LA Galaxy
Landon Donovan, Sean Franklin, Rafael Garcia,

New England Revolution
Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Hunter Freeman, Ryan Guy, Matt Reis, Clyde Simms, Chris Tierney, Bobby Shuttleworth

New York Red Bulls
Kenny Cooper, Heath Pearce, Ryan Meara

Philadelphia Union
Chris Albright, Ray Gaddis

Real Salt Lake
Kwame Watson-Siriboe

San Jose Earthquakes
Marcus Tracy

Seattle Sounders
David Estrada, Josh Ford

Vancouver Whitecaps
Brad Knighton , Omar Salgado

US Men’s Legends
Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Mike Burns, Tony Meola

US Women’s Legends
Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Christie Rampone

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FIFA Boss (Still) Critical Of MLS

By on December 31, 2012 | Follow @WVHooligan |

sepp_blatter

It seems like every once and a while FIFA boss Sepp Blatter loves to come out and comment on the state of the game in the US. This time around he’s gone and really made some comments that have put a little fire in the minds of MLS fans all around.

He still wants MLS on the FIFA calendar. He doesn’t think regular folks in the country know of the league or even like it. He thought that by now MLS would be competing with the likes of the EPL and La Liga.

All of which sounds like he is smoking something, right?  Continue Reading →

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MLS International Recap

By on October 17, 2012 | Follow @WVHooligan |

MLS players were busy over the last couple of days in international games (2014 World Cup qualifiers). We know about the US win and I’ve joked about the Canada blowout on Twitter (8-1, seriously?).

Anyways, here is how everyone did these last couple of days in their respective games.

Albania – Won 1-0 vs. Slovenia, World Cup qualifier
F – Hamdi Salihi (DC) – Entered as a 46th-minute substitute

Australia – Won 2-1 at Iraq, World Cup qualifier
F – Tim Cahill (NY) – Started, played 90 minutes, scored 1 goal

Canada – Lost 8-1 at Honduras, World Cup qualifier
Andre Hainault (Houston) – Stated, played 90 mintues
Julian de Guzman (FC Dallas) – started, played 90 minutes
Will Johnson (RSL) – Started, played 90 minutes
Terry Dunfield (Toronto) – dressed, did not play
Ante Jazic (Chivas) – Dressed, did not play
Dejan Javokic (DC) – Dressed, did not play
Ashtone Morgan (Toronto) – Dressed, did not play
Patrice Briener (Montreal) – Dressed, did not play

Costa Rica – Won 7-0 vs. Guyana, World Cup qualifier
D – Roy Miller (NY) – Started, played 90 minutes
M/D – Rodney Wallace (Portland) – Dressed, did not play
F – Álvaro Saborío (RSL) – Started, played 90 minutes, scored 2 goals

Ecuador – Drew 1-1 at Venezuela, World Cup qualifier
M – Oswaldo Minda (Chivas) – Entered as a 70th-minute substitutue

El Salvador – Lost 2-0 at Mexico, World Cup qualifier
D – Steve Purdy (Portland) – Started, played 90 minutes

Estonia – Won 1-0 at Andorra, World Cup qualifier
M – Joel Lindpere (NY) – Started, played full 69 minutes

Honduras – Won 8-1 vs. Canada, World Cup qualifier
Jerry Bengston (New England) – Started, played 90 minutes, scored three goals, two assists
Oscar Boniek Garcia (Houston) – Started, played 78 minutes
Mario Martinez (Seattle) – Started, played 90 minutes, scored two goals, one assist
Victor Bernardez (San Jose) – started, played 90 minutes
Marvin Chavez (San Jose) – Dressed, did not play

Ireland – Won 4-1 vs. Faroe Islands, World Cup qualifier
F- Robbie Keane (LA) – Started, played 80 minutes
D – Darren O’Dea (Toronto) – Started, played full 90 minutes, scored 1 goal

Jamaica – Won 4-1 vs. Antigua & Barbuda, World Cup qualifier
F – Omar Cummings (Colorado) – Entered as a 68th-minute sub
D – Jermaine Taylor (Houston) – Started, played full 90 minutes
D – Shavar Thomas (Montreal) – Dressed, did not play
M/D – Lovel Palmer (Portland) – Started, played full 90 minutes
M – Je-Vaughn Watson (Houston) – Entered as an 83rd-minute sub
F – Ryan Johnson (Toronto) – Started, played 68 minutes
M – Dane Richards (Vancouver) – Started, played full 90 minutes, scored 2 goals
F – Dicoy Williams (Toronto) – Dressed, did not play

New Zealand – Won 3-0 vs. Tahiti, World Cup qualifier
M – Dan Keat (LA) – Entered as 66th-minute substitute

Panama – Drew 1-1 at Cuba, World Cup qualifier
M – Gabriel Gómez (Philadelphia) – Started, played 76 minutes
F – Blas Pérez (FC Dallas) – Started, played full 90 minutes

Scotland – Lost 2-0 at Belgium, World Cup qualifier
F – Kenny Miller (Vancouver) – Entered as 76th-minute substitute

Sweden – Drew 4-4 at Germany, World Cup qualifier
D – Adam Johansson (Seattle) – Dressed, did not play
M – Christian Wilhelmsson (LA) – Dressed, did not play

United States – Won 3-1 vs. Guatemala, World Cup qualifier
Graham Zusi (SKC) – Started, played 78 minutes
Eddie Johnson (Seattle) – Started, played 89 minutes
Kyle Beckerman (RSL) – Dressed, did not play
Nick Rimando (RSL) – Dressed, did not play
Alan Gordon (San Jose) – Dressed, did not play

Uruguay – Lost 4-1 at Bolivia, World Cup qualifier
M – Álvaro Fernández (Chicago Fire) – Entered as a 65th-minute substitute

Continue Reading · · in CONCACAF, FIFA, UEFA, US National Team, World Cup