Last year here in Dallas we all knew it would come before long, the Juan Toja wig night. It came with plenty of press and hype and in a way it didn’t disappoint all that much.

Flip forward a year later and we expected another wig night with Toja still on board this season but a transfer to Romania put a stop to that possibility of improving on last year’s promotion. So what does FC Dallas do with all of those wigs that they ordered in honor of Toja? Change the player on the promotion, that’s what.

I received this update in my inbox earlier this week for the Dallas-DC game at the end of September. (thanks to a couple readers for pointing it out because I actually deleted the email!)

First 5,000 fans through the gates receive a Duilio Davino Wig courtesy of Telefutura.

Davino? Are you kidding me? Sure Davino has some nice hair (?) but certainly not the flowing mane that Toja had. Plus Davino wears a head band on his head. You should never have a wig promo centered around a dude that wears a head band. At least put a head band with the wig to make it legitimate. Its a lame attempt to recreate a good promotion from a year ago.

Why not a SuperCooper night (which I think they are doing?). Or a Jeff Cunningham night were the first 100 get a free jersey style t-shirt with Cunningham’s famed 101 number on the back?

Nice try Dallas, I think its a lame attempt to salvage some money that you spent on someone else.

A deal that we’ve been talking about for a couple weeks now. FC Dallas has announced that they have officially sold Colombian midfielder Juan Toja to Romanian side Steaua Bucuresti today.

No immediate details on the transfer were given but my sources tell me the Romanian side is set to pay a transfer fee between $1 million and $2 million.

Once I get more on this deal I will pass it along to you all.

Hello, hello from Frisco, TX, time once again for another live commentary of FC Dallas. Today the Hoops host David Beckham and the LA Galaxy.

I will try to do some play-by-play commentary on here for today’s game that looks to be an interesting one for a few reasons. If you have any comments on the game feel free to pipe them in below.

FULL TIME: FC DALLAS 4 – 0 LA Galaxy

Great game by Dallas from end to end really. They deserved the victory and LA easily deserved that loss.

90th min: Just one minute of extra time…I’m gonna wrap this up later, time for the press conference downstairs!

89th min: GOAL FC DALLAS!!! What a bender by Abe Thompson! May be the best goal of the night! 4-0 Dallas.

87th min: 21,020 in the house tonight…too bad the next home game it won’t be half of that.

85th min: COOPER OFF THE CROSSBAR…that makes three of the woodwork. Gosh what a shot.

84th min: Haha, Cooper tries to beat Cronin from distance…solid effort but Cronin is able to keep it in.

84th min: AVILA WITH A CRACK…OFF THE POST! This kid has some serious talent folks.

83rd min: Almost another chance for Cooper but his header is well high and wide of the goal.

81st min: Donovan with a crack at goal but another timely save by Sala.

80th min: Another Galaxy corner is cleared out by Dallas. They’ve been strong today on defending set pieces.

79th min: Looks like Alan Gordon will come on for LA soon…could they possibly play with four strikers? Wouldn’t shock me if they did…oh and he comes on for Vanney too.

77th min: COOPER! Almost gets his hat trick…damn. Great ball by Thompson though.

76th min: Some nice play out of Dello-Russo…I will admit I’ve never seen him play but so far I am impressed.

75th min: Okay, Wileman is on now for Alvarez. First MLS game for the kid. The Galaxy are finally getting subs ready here. Too little too late if you ask me.

73th min: Three straight corners for the Galaxy…all close but Dallas is able to get them all away. I wonder what happened to that Wileman sub, I guess they had to get Oduro out first.

72nd min: Abe Thompson coming on for probably Oduro who has been cramping up like no other here in the last few…

69th min: Chase Wileman coming on soon…another debut. Wow, gutsy subs by Hyndman if you ask me.

67th min: Way wrong, Dello-Russo on for Rocha. Wow, debut for the kid.

64th min: Dello-Russo coming on for Dallas…my bet its either Avila or Alvarez coming off.

63rd min: A lot of back and forth action here folks…getting very interesting.

61th min: BUDDLE HEADER ON GOAL….SAVE SALA!! Great save on the header!

61th min: COOPER TO ROCHA! Ah, Rocha puts a little too much on it after Cooper serves one up on a silver platter to him.

60th min: Hour mark…Dallas has all their subs up and getting ready, LA bench is quiet…just a bunch of guys sitting around. Then again Gullit has very little attacking options left on there. What bring on Ely Allen or Mike Randolph?

59th min: Things are getting a bit chippy here…the ref is starting to call a lot against Dallas, that’s what happens when you have a three goal lead.

56th min: Another Sir David freebie…goes nowhere…wasted really.

52nd min: More Galaxy possession earns them a free kick…Sir David takes it, but it is cleared out easily by Dallas.

51st min: Beckham with a chance…and wide again. Galaxy only had 4 shots total in the first half to Dallas’s 10…oh yeah and none of those were on goal for the Galaxy. That has to change here in this half. So far its remaining the same.

47th min: ODURO HITS THE POST! AH! And Cooper comes close on the follow header. Good to see Dallas not take the foot off the pedal.

47th min: Good possession by Dallas early on, Rocha gets a nice chance on net but punched out by Cronin.

45th min: Second half is underway….let’s see how the Galaxy respond to this beating. Franklin is on for Pires for LA. Good sun, Pires was a total waste in the first half for LA. Continue Reading…

I feel as though the day after the MLS All-Star game I need to start announcing clean ups in aisle nine or something. So many stories from the game and the surrounding festivities this week. I kind of think we all underestimated just how big of an event this really truly was this year.

First off, I usually hate this current format for the All-Star game. A ’select’ side of MLS players against a club in preseason form. But last night’s game just looked and felt better than some of the previous ones I’ve watched in this format. I don’t know if it was just the overall level of play out of the MLS side, or the quality game (3-2 scorelines are always entertaining), or if it was just because Toronto was one hell of a host.

But getting back to reality for second, it was a good win, not a great one for the league. Beating a club that typically finishes in the middle of the EPL won’t raise too many eyebrows about how the league is coming along in other parts of the world. It will look good for a day or two and then everyone will go about their merry way come Sunday when the week 18 games kickoff.

I loved the starting lineup for the league, even though the first 20 minutes were largely a total bore. But that is expect in a friendly of this nature. But once the goals started and things got moving in the second half with all the subs, the game kind of got this electric feel to it. It didn’t hurt to see three Canadians out there and have the home crowd got absolutely bananas for Dwayne de Rosario’s game winning penalty kick.

In all I think this game was a success and this week was a success for the league. So let’s look back on some more thoughts and news from the week and try to finish up that clean up that I first mentioned. Continue Reading…

The last 48 hours or so have been an absolute mess in the Juan Toja transfer to Romanian side Steaua Bucharest. Some reports say a deal is done, some now say the deal has hit a wall and some reports are apparently totally fake.

SO what really is going on here?

Apparently the second of those three things seems to be the one that is actually taking place. FC Dallas has Toja under contract for another two years at a nice price of $150,000. Apparently the offers from Steaua haven’t been enough for the club’s liking. It makes sense for the club to stall on this deal over money because they will want to get the most bang for their buck out of the two-time All-Star.

Late last night, Toja said he is still very interested in the move but confirmed to Ives Galarcep that the deal was not yet final.

“People talk a lot and I’ve tried to make it clear that while it is a great opportunity and we’re trying to get it done, nothing is certain yet,” Toja told SBI after the MLS All-Star Game. “The truth is nothing has happened and nothing has been signed so until something is signed then we don’t know what will happen.”

Continue Reading…

Some news on the eve of the All-Star game in Toronto. Pretty much just a follow up to last night’s topic on the possible sale of FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja. It appears that a deal is now done.

According to Buzz Carrick at 3rdDegree.net, league sources say that Toja has been sold to Steaua Bucharest.

3rd Degree has learned from a league level source in Toronto at the All-Star game that Juan Toja has indeed been sold to Steaua Bucharest. As of this morning, Schellas Hyndman had said Toja was still a member of FC Dallas, but now our source says the deal is done and Toja will not be returning to Dallas. No word yet on the dollar amount of the transfer, but Hyndman did say that FCD placed a high value on the midfielder.

No word yet if Toja will still play in the All-Star game.

Stay tuned as we try to learn more and seek out additional confirmation.

From what I’ve heard, the transfer should come in somewhere in the $1 million mark, if not a little higher.

We all pretty much expected this to take place since the Romanian side upped their original offer for Toja. Honestly I wish him the best in Europe and hope to see him excel over there.

First year head coach Schellas Hyndman has a lot of work cut out for him here as the club really needs to act fast on this and get some new players in to improve this club. Its a tough blow for Dallas but let’s be real honest, Toja barely made an impact for the club this season. Where they go next is obvious, find an attacking midfielder along with their on-going striker search. The club will now have three open international roster spots (Toja’s old spot and the two they  trade for a week ago). I’d still like to see the club go after another defender here too.

As much as it sucks to say the league is still a feeder league. But by saying that I believe we are all going to see the better end of it before long. Younger talent like Toja will continue to see MLS as that stepping stone and will continue to want to come play in the league. That kind of attraction won’t go unnoticed here by other South American players that want to go to Europe.

It is still tough to see another quality player go during the transfer window but that is the nature of the business.

Talk in the Big D today centers around All-Star midfielder Juan Toja and his possible transfer to FC Steaua Bucure?ti in Romania. Diego Aparicio of Al Dia here in Dallas reports today that the Romanian side upped their offer from $500,00 to between $1 million and $1.5 million.

**Translation from the Aparicio article that was originally in Spanish**
Valeriu Argeasala, president of Steaua, said via telephone yesterday that sent its latest bid by Toja on Friday and that only lack of acceptance of the directive from FC Dallas to close the deal.

“I hope that (Toja) comes to Romania this week,” said Argeasala, who argued that the amount of your offer was confidential.

The possible transfer of former River Plate of Argentina and Santa Fe de Bogota has caused a stir in the Romanian media, which occurs as a redemption.

Michael Hitchcock, general manager of Dallas, acknowledged that negotiations with the Romanian club still ongoing and that sent a counteroffer to Steaua.

“We want what is best for the club and for Toja,” said Hitchcock, nor the amount confirmed by the club’s policy of reserving the contractual terms of his players.

To me those sound like words of a sale by Dallas. They know Toja is long gone here. His coach Schellas Hyndman told Buzz Carrick this little number today at practice on the transfer:

That’s a deserving number. He’s a great player and we would definitely miss one of our all-stars. I want what he wants and it might undermine my career. But I really believe that relationships between players and coaches are the same. It’s what can you do for the team? What can I do for the team? What can you do for yourself and what can I do for myself and maybe we can go the same direction. If it’s the best for Juan, I have always said I’ll support you. But there’s also a sense of obligation to this team and to the city to do well. It’s a fine line there but as always, I’ m very supportive.

If that doesn’t sound like they are selling Toja then I don’t know what does. The club isn’t really talking about it right now but from the looks of things Thursday night’s All-Star game may be the last time we see Toja in a MLS uniform. I still have my theory that he was selected for the All-Star game so the league could get a higher offer from the Romanian side. Who knows how much that is true but it sounds pretty good to me.

What does Dallas do without Toja? What they are doing now. A slight fire sale if you will that will continue into the winter. Sad to see Dallas expend so much talent over a short amount of time if you ask me. They’ve gone through the likes of Ronnie O’Brien, Carlos Ruiz, Clarence Goodson, and now possibly Toja.

Most here in Dallas hope the club does the right thing with some of this transfer money and give Kenny Cooper a big fat raise.