US Soccer Players

Monday's TV

Sunderland - Stoke City at 3pm on ESPN2.  All Times Eastern

Ralston Calls Time With Revs

Midfielder Steve Ralston has opted against re-signing with the Revolution, bringing an end to his run with the club that started in 2002.  “I had eight wonderful years here,” Ralston told the Boston Herald’s Kyle McCarthy. “I have one regret and that’s not winning MLS Cup…. But I’m proud of all of the things that we did.”

In a statement, the Revolution wrote: “Steve Ralston has been a tremendous player, leader and ambassador for the New England Revolution since he arrived in 2002. In eight years with us, Steve has been a central figure in lifting the team to new heights of success. While we wish we were welcoming him back on Monday when the rest of the team arrives for the start of preseason, we want to thank Steve for all of his contributions and effort on our behalf – both on the field and off the field – and wish him and his family nothing but the best in all of his future endeavors.”

Cooper Loaned To Plymouth Argyle

US National Team forward Kenny Cooper will be spending the rest of the season with Plymouth Argyle in England's Championship.  The deal was officially completed on Friday, after Cooper's club 1860 Munich announced yesterday that they were working on the deal.  According to Munich coach Ewald Lienen, the move was so Cooper could get more playing time in his persuit of a World Cup roster slot. 

Orozco Joins MLS

Michael Orozco has completed a move on loan from Mexican Liga team San Luis to the Philadelphia Union. The Union needed to trade the New York Red Bulls allocation money for the first slot in the allocation table to get the deal done.

Tierney’s Off-Season Volunteering For HIV/AIDS Outreach In South Africa

L.E. Eisenmenger -- BOSTON, MA (Jan 29, 2010) US Soccer Players -- Chris Tierney, a wide left midfielder for the New England Revolution, spent a month of his off season not vacationing with friends and family, but volunteering for HIV/AIDS outreach with Grassroots Soccer in South Africa.

Tierney is 24 and heading into his third season with the Revolution. The Massachusetts native graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in psychology and was spotted by the Revolution in the 2008 invitation-only tryout and drafted in the Supplemental Draft the following day.

He traveled to South Africa alone and joined a group of ten interns who had volunteered a year of their time, unpaid, to Grassroots Soccer. Grassroots has offices throughout Africa and Tierney was the only MLS player involved over the winter break.

Tierney spoke with me about how he helped educate African children and test them for Aids through soccer, crime in South Africa, and the challenges Africa faces with this disease.

Friday's TV

No games today.

10 Questions With... Vincenzo Bernardo

By Clemente Lisi - MORRISTOWN, NJ (Jan 28, 2009) US Soccer Players -- Although many Americans have found success in the English Premier League, very few have had a chance to play in Italy’s Serie A. In 2006, New Jersey-native Vincenzo Bernardo signed with Napoli’s youth team, putting himself in position to be the first American-born player in Serie A since Alexi Lalas donned a Padova jersey in 1994.

Since Bernardo moved to Italy, several other Americans - including Giuseppe Rossi, Gabriel Ferrari and Oguchi Onyewu – have signed contracts with Italian clubs, resulting in varying degrees of success. None of them, with the exception of Rossi (who then opted to play for Italy because he holds dual citizenship), got much playing time. At the same time, Bernardo continued to play on the Napoli reserve squad with little chance of breaking into the first team’s starting lineup.

Bernardo moved to Naples at age 16 after playing for the NY/NJ MetroStars’ Youth Academy. An attacking midfielder with wonderful dribbling skills and speed, Bernardo, 20, has played for the US Under-17 and U-20 sides. This past fall, Bernardo, 19, was offered a chance to go on loan to an Italian fourth division team, but declined and decided to move back to the US.

USSoccerPlayers.com caught up with Bernardo to discuss his career in Italy, his future plans to play in this country (he recently had a trial with the Kansas City Wizards) and continued commitment to someday play for the US National Team.

Thursday's Daily: Big Game League

With J Hutcherson -- Let's take a look at the attendances from yesterday's games in England's Premier League. 32,126 at Goodison Park. 39,601 at Villa Park. 22,190 at Ewood Park. 41,293 at Stamford Bridge.

The listed capacities of those stadiums are 40,157, 42,783, 31,367, and 42,055.

Yes, it's Chelsea - the biggest club on this list - coming closest to playing to capacity. For those of you looking at the Aston Villa number, it's worth noting they were pushing game of day ticket offers on their website's splash page.

More often than not this season, a big draw requires the involvement of one of the big clubs. If you're Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, or Liverpool, you're doing fine home and away. Any combination of the other clubs, and things are complicated.

American Abroad: Donovan Scores

Landon Donovan got his first goal for Everton on Wednesday, scoring in the 19th-minute to make it 2-0 against Sunderland. That score held up. Tim Cahill scored Everton's opener in the 6th-minute. Tim Howard needed three saves for the shutout.

"The games he's started have been Arsenal and Man City, who are two of the better teams in the country really, and I thought he played really well in those games," Everton manager David Moyes said of Donovan's performance. "He's got a great goal-scoring record in America if you look at it. He's got a great record for his national team.

Thursday's TV

In a press release on Wednesday, Setanta confirmed that they will be shutting down Setanta USA at the end of February. As previously reported, Fox Soccer Channel will be taking over the bulk of Setanta USA's programming and will launch a second Fox Soccer Channel. 

CONCACAF U-20 Women's semifinals at 2:30pm and 5:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel.  Coppa Italia on GolTV: Inter Milan - Juventus at 2:45pm.  All Times Eastern

Revisiting Project 2010

By Michael Lewis - NEW YORK, NY (Jan 27, 2010) US Soccer Players -- Like it or not, there are no quick cures or fixes in international soccer. You can't make a trade with another country, sending two top-flight defenders for an attacking midfielder. You can't pick up a high-scoring forward on the free-agent market.

Sure, you might be able to find a naturalized citizen from the Netherlands or Germany to shore up your midfield or defense. But that type of acquisition is for the short term, not for the long term. Like it or not, it comes down to evolution, not revolution.

If you want to achieve something great, make sure you and the people around you, especially the soccer fans of your country are patient and have some time, lots of time, sometimes several decades. It also takes money, passion, talent, desire, hard work, and qualified people.

Which brings us to Project 2010, a 1998 report that looked at what the United States had to build and accomplish to win the World Cup by this year.

Always Be True

With J Hutcherson -- I feel like Charlie Brown writing to his baseball hero who has just been sent to the minors. As of 5pm London time yesterday, Crystal Palace are now officially in administration, and a once promising season could end up in a points-deducted relegation.

Everybody follows at least one team more than others. Palace has been my one since that Liverpool game in 1990. I remember the Bright/Wright years and how stupidity brought that to a quick end.

The relative wonder of internet radio brought that almost relegation at Stockport County streaming through my computer. I've watched as my club became the club of every other Yanks Abroad-enthusiast courtesy of Jovan Kirovski and Gregg Berhalter spending time there.

American Abroad: Wolves and West Ham

Marcus Hahnemann needed one save to split the points with Liverpool. Both teams ended with a single shot on goal. Liverpool had the edge on shots, eight to six, and dominated seven to nothing on corners, but it wasn't enough to get a goal.

"We got a 0-0 draw against Liverpool and I don't think Marcus has had a save to make," Wolves manager Mick McCarthy said. "From the very first corner they had a free header which went wide of the post and apart from that I don't think they had much of a run. I do believe that's because of the way we played."

Jonathan Spector went the full-ninety for West Ham United, drawing 1-1 with Portsmouth at Fratton Park. West Ham took the lead in the 52nd-minute when Matthew Upson scored, but couldn't hold on with Danny Webber equalizing for Pompey in the 76th.

"I think it feels like two points dropped," West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola said. "We had control of the game and I didn't see them coming back, we also had two chances to score again."

Injured: Clint Dempsey (Fulham 0 - Spurs 2)

Wednesday's TV

EPL on Fox Soccer Channel: Chelsea - Birmingham City at 2:30pm and Blackburn - Wigan at 5pm. On Setanta: Aston Villa - Arsenal at 5pm and Everton - Sunderland at 6:45pm. Carling Cup semifinal on Setanta: Manchester United - Manchester City at 3pm. Copa Del Rey on GolTV: Sevilla - Deportivo at 2pm. Coppa Italia on GolTV: Milan - Udinese at 4pm.  All Times Eastern

Official: Holden Joins Bolton

Stuart Holden has completed his move to Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League, signing a deal through the end of the season.  "I'm really excited having been amongst the guys over the last two weeks,” Holden told the club’s official site.  "There's a really good environment playing-wise and the coaches help to keep everybody motivated, and having watched two matches at the Reebok already then the fans really get behind the team and the atmosphere inside the Stadium is something special.

Tuesday's Daily: Media Management

With J Hutcherson -- We're going to go slightly of topic today, and follow along with everybody else waiting to see what Apple has planned tomorrow. The tablet that's supposed to allow traditional media outlets to look like a modified web page and websites to look a little more like traditional media? That's a lot to expect from any device, and I'm beginning to feel a lot like I did after a couple of months with a pda in the early 2000's. Basically, what am I supposed to do with it?

Cell phones give us easy access to what have become the basics. Reading anything lengthy on a small device is still a drag. I know there are true believers out there, convinced it's a format that works. Personally, I can't really deal with scrolling through a 250-page book on a handheld device, and I don't know that many people reading at length on their laptops.

Bradley On ESPN

Tuesday's TV

EPL on Setanta: Wolves - Liverpool at 2:40pm and Portsmouth - West Ham United at 5pm. On Fox Soccer Channel: Spurs - Fulham at 3pm and Bolton - Burnley at 5pm. Coppa Italia on GolTV: Roma - Catania at 3pm. Copa Libertadores on Fox Sports en Espanol: Colon - Universidad Católica at 6pm and Deportivo Táchira - Libertad at 8:30pm.  All Times Eastern

Soccernet: Davies Recovering Quickly

United States National Team forward Charlie Davies told Soccernet's Ives Galarcep that he is well on his way to recovering from injuries sustained in an October automobile accident.  Davies expects to be able to play again some time in April. 

"The World Cup is easy for me to be back for.  I want to get back to France, and I don't want to just get back -- I want to be good.  I don't want to be that guy just to make the [World Cup] team and just sit there. I want to be back and starting and scoring, playing well and doing the things I know I can do.  People haven't seen the progress I've made, and maybe they don't know the kind of person I am and the motivation and new appreciation for being able to play that I have."

Sports Facilities And The Pro Connection

By L.E. Eisenmenger - BOSTON, MA (Jan 25, 2010) US Soccer Players -- Frozen, snowy conditions force northern MLS clubs into indoor facilities in preseason and early spring. Without indoor fields of their own, the New England Revolution rent fields in nearby Forekicks, a large sports facility with full size turf fields booked solid with youth and amateur soccer, lacrosse, and other sports November to spring.

The Revolution train at Forekicks Norfolk for the month of February, then take a southern training trip in March and return to train in a bubble at Gillette stadium until spring. The New England Patriots and the Boston Cannons lacrosse team also book time at Forekicks. Separate from the team, Revolution players themselves rent fields for off-season scrimmages at Forekicks.

Recently, Forekicks owner Tom Teager was advised that the Revolution might not use the facility this year if union negotiations are not successful. Teager says he would be relatively unaffected because “the daytime use of the facility is not a major contributor to our bottom line and we cut a very good rate for the Revolution.”