USSoccerPlayers

American Abroad: Spector Describes Injury

West Ham United and United States National Team defender Jonathan Spector spoke with his club's official site about the extent of his clash of heads three weeks ago that left him unconscious. 

"I suffered concussion before I hit the ground and then I landed awkwardly and got a little bit of a shoulder problem from that on top of the concussion. I also swallowed my tongue as I bit my tongue on the impact. I wasn't getting any oxygen so I started getting a little bit of a fit. (medical officer) Ges (Steinbergs) and George (Cooper) the physio did a really good job and helped me get some oxygen into my lungs.

US Soccer Announces Open Cup Setup

40 clubs will participate in the 2009 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.  With the teams that finished in the bottom half of the Major League Soccer standings in 2008 currently qualifying through a play-in, the United States Soccer Federation announced the rest of the schedule on Thursday.  This year's final will be on September 2nd. 

McBride Wins Player Of The Month

Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride was named Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for April.  McBride had Week Four's Goal of the Week and lead Chicago's improbable comeback against Columbus.

World Vs. Confederation

By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Apr 30, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- The United States National Team has a serious docket of matches lined up for the next couple of months. They'll mix in World Cup qualifiers with the Confederations Cup in South Africa and the Gold Cup right here at home. The debate will soon rage on regarding what sort of rosters manager Bob Bradley should assemble for these various competitions. 

The busy summer campaign kicks off in early June with World Cup qualifiers at Costa Rica on June 3rd and in Chicago three days later against Honduras. The team then heads to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. They begin play against Italy on the 15th before matches against Brazil and Egypt on the 18th and 21st. If the team manages to advance out of this difficult group, they could conceivably play games all the way up to June 28th.

Thursday's Daily: Playing The Markets

With J Hutcherson -- During Tuesday's Barcelona - Chelsea game, some of you might have noticed the scroll letting us know that the National Hockey League's leadership wasn't interested in a second Toronto club. Taking that a step further, a second Toronto club was way down the list in the unlikely event that the NHL wanted to relocate a club or expand their league.

Yesterday, the National Hockey League gave the Phoenix Coyotes a loan to insure they were able to continue operations. If that loan isn't repaid, the NHL takes the ownership stake and, in theory, could move the club.

American Abroad: Friedel Talks Place

Aston Villa keeper Brad Friedel is pushing his club to take fifth place in the Premier League, with four games left on the schedule.  

"Games against the top or bottom clubs in the league at the end of the season are always difficult because they have something to play for and they are really battling," Friedel said on Aston Villa TV.  "You'd prefer to play a team who have been in a relegation battle and have come out of it with three or four wins. You'd like a team that is already safe and has already achieved its targets for the season."

Villa are fighting Everton for fifth place and currently have a two point advantage.  They have no realistic chance of catching Arsenal ten points up in fourth.  

"We had a great chance at one stage to solidify our place in fourth," Friedel told The Telegraph.  "It wasn't to be and certainly doesn't mean this season is a throwaway. But if you handed me fifth at the start, I wouldn't have taken it, I would have played the season through and seen what happened."

US Soccer Opts Against Sanctioning Referee

After an appeal by the Columbus Crew, the United States Soccer Federation has opted against any formal disciplinary action against staff referee Jair Marrufo.  Earlier this week, Major League Soccer and the US Soccer Federation were informed that Marrufo was seen fraternizing with Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco before, during, and after the game with Coumbus as weel as being given Blanco's jersey.  According to The Columbus Dispatch's Shawn Mitchell, Marrufo will not be the match official for his next scheduled game.  

"An incident like this would never cause a suspension," US Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe told the Dispatch. "The referee made a mistake in judgment. Now that this has occurred, there is talk of putting a policy in the handbook so the next time you can point to that rule and now it means he's definitely suspended....  It's unfortunate how everything went down."  

Club America Beats Chicago

In friendly play on Wednesday, Club America defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 at Toyota Park.  Juan Carlos Silva scored for Club America in the 2nd minute and Enrique Esqueda doubled that lead in the 42nd.  Chicago made five substitutions to start the second half, including subbing backup keeper Nick Noble for Andrew Dykstra.  He was called into service in the 59th minute when Club America was awarded a penalty, saving Salvador Cabanas' shot. The Fire would get the only goal of the final 45, when Chris Rolfe scored in the 73rd minute.   

Open Cup: Red Bulls Advance To Face DC

The New York Red Bulls eliminated the San Jose Earthquakes to setup a match with DC United as the MLS Play-In portion of the US Open Cup continued on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California.  Mike Petke gave RBNY the early lead in the second minute, and that held until second half substitute Pablo Campos scored for San Jose in the 71st.  John Wolyniec hit the winner in the 80th.  

"It was a good game on both ends although the refereeing wasn’t great for both sides," Petke said. "It was a hard fought battle, we were able to score a fortunate goal early which set the tone for us and we finished with a great game winner."

American Abroad: France And Sweden

Two Americans abroad in action on Tuesday, with Carlos Bocanegra's Rennes unable to take advantage a man up and Charlie Davies' Hammarby drawing in the Swedish Allsvenskanliga.

Toronto Names Interim

Less than a week after former coach John Carver gave his resignation, Toronto FC have an interim coach.  Carver assistant and UEFA A license holder Chris Cummins will lead the club.  No timeframe was given for a permanent hire. Before joining Carver's coaching staff at Toronto, Cummins was director of football at Luton Town.

"I don't see it as a major step up because John Carver allowed me to come in here and do my job and take a lot of responsibility with the coaching," Cummins said. "Obviously now I will have the final say on the team but I will listen to the other coaches and take their opinions on board. I will be pushing the players hard because reputations are on the line. They know the standards that I expect and it's important that they keep achieving those standards."

Tuesday's Daily: Draws And Goals

With J Hutcherson -- I tend to nod along with those that have Arsenal at least a season away from seeing the rewards from their youth movement. It's an odd angle, considering they're already in the Champions League semifinals. Then again, most fans of the EPL get the difference between the twelve points separating first and Arsenal in fourth.

Arsenal has an advantage, because it looks like they won't have to buy the two or three players that could get them the six or seven league wins while pushing for multiple titles. That doesn't mean they won't be spending, just not as much.

American Abroad: San Luis Advance

Michael Orozco got the start for San Luis in the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday night at the Defensores del Chaco in Asunción, Paraguay.  San Luis beat Libertad 2-0 and that last goal gave them the differential advantage for second place in Group Eight.  Jairo Patino got the opener in the 58th and Jose Rodolfo Reyes scored the goal that put San Luis through in the 90th minute.  San Luis return to Mexican League action on Sunday, away to Santos.

US Open Cup: Seattle Advances

The Seattle Sounders relied on their reserves to see them through to the next round of the MLS play-in bracket on Tuesday night, beating Real Salt Lake 4-1 in Tukwila, Washington. 

MLS - Everton At Rio Tinto

The 2009 MLS All-Star game finally has an opponent.  Tim Howard's Everton will be making the trip to play Major League Soccer's All-Stars on July 29th at Real Salt Lake's Rio Tinto Stadium.  MLS had previously been linked with Spanish clubs as All-Star opposition.

“I can’t wait to play the MLS All-Stars," Howard said in a press statement. "I will doubtless know a few of the guys in the US team and I know full well that it will be a real test for us at that stage of our pre-season. The fans over there always enjoy watching English teams in action and I’m sure there will be a terrific atmosphere in the stadium. We played in Salt Lake a couple of years ago but it will be nice to go to the new one.”

Crew's Appeal Turns Into Investigation

An appeal by the Columbus Crew over the red card shown to defender Gino Padula during Saturday's Columbus - Chicago game has turned into an investigation of the match official by the United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the Crew have evidence that referee Jair Marrufo was fraternizing with Chicago midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco before the game, at halftime, and reportedly Blanco gave him a jersey after the game. 

Pitchkolan Moves To San Jose

Defender Aaron Pitchkolan is now a member of the San Jose Earthquakes, as FC Dallas makes roster space for new signing Kyle Davies.  In return, Dallas picks up a 2011 SuperDraft pick.

“We are happy to bring Aaron to San Jose,” Earthquakes general manager of soccer operations John Doyle said. “He is an experienced MLS player who has great versatility. We think he will be a solid addition to our squad.”

Champions League Semifinal

poll by twiigs.com

Kyle Davies Traded To Dallas

United States Under-20 National Team captain Kyle Davies is now a member of FC Dallas, after completing a move from Real Salt Lake.  In exchange, RSL gets Dallas' lowest second round pick in next year's SuperDraft. 

American Abroad: Reading In Position

At worst, Marcus Hahnemann's Reading extends their season and Danny Califf's FC Midtjylland had more problems than expected from Sonderjyske.