Soccer Insider

*D.C. United declined to exercise the option on Luciano Emilio's contract and is likely to enter negotiations for a new salary at a lower rate, sources told the Insider. Given Emilio's production this year, the move was not unexpected.

Emilio's base salary was $720,000, by far the highest on the club's payroll and well above the designated player threshold of $415,000. He was slated to make a similar amount in 2010. United, I'm told, has yet to make a formal offer to Emilio, who turns 31 Saturday and has attracted preliminary interest from foreign clubs. He could leave on a free transfer outside of MLS next month. His scoring in league play has dropped from 20 in 2007 to 11 last year and 10 this past season. What would be a reasonable salary to retain him?

*Edwin Tenorio, a defensive midfielder who played in the past two World Cups for Ecuador, has inquired about opportunities in MLS, the Insider has learned. Tenorio, 33, is married to an American and has played in Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia.

*New Red Bulls sporting director Erik Soler, a native of Norway who has served as an agent and executive: "I am not going to claim I'm an MLS expert. I've become a generalist in football, I'm an expert in European soccer, but I have a sensible ability to learn things quite quickly."

On the coaching search, he said: "We are very open-minded, looking at different names, different places with the U.S., outside of the U.S. That is going to go on for while." As for interim coach Richie Williams: "I spent some time with him. I saw what he did last year. ... Hopefully, we're going to include him in one of the positions, and in what position, it's not finalized."

*The University of Maryland's program is not only close to losing assistant Rob Vartughian to Philadelphia in MLS, but assistant Russell Payne has been approached about the head coaching job at Army, which dismissed Kurt Swanbeck after eight seasons.

For Americans Abroad and the big TV schedule .....

USA defender Jay DeMerit, who has been sidelined for months with an eye infection that required surgery, made his return for Watford today. He played the entire second half in the 3-1 league victory over visiting Queens Park Rangers.

An in-form DeMerit is critical to the national team as World Cup preparations begin in early 2010. With Oguchi Onyewu sidelined for months after rupturing a knee tendon, central defense has become an issue for Coach Bob Bradley. The other options are Carlos Bocanegra, Chad Marshall, Jimmy Conrad and Clarence Goodson.

Meantime in Denmark, midfielder Benny Feilhaber played all 90 minutes in Aarhus' 1-1 draw at home against Esbjerg.

All five finalists announced today are from two clubs in La Liga: Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), Xavi (Spain/Barcelona), 2007 winner Kaka (Brazil/Real Madrid), reigning holder Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid) and Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona). The winner will be announced Dec. 21.

Awfully hard not to vote for Messi. Will Insider voters make him a unanimous choice?

D.C. United's search for a head coach has entered the final stages, and although club officials are not speaking publicly about the process, tidbits of information have been circulating in coaching circles.

The word is that the club has narrowed its list to two, and although the secret mission has considered a wide range of candidates, the names I have heard mentioned most frequently in recent days are Caleb Porter from the University of Akron and Curt Onalfo, the former U.S. national team assistant and Kansas City head coach.

Is there someone else out there, perhaps from overseas, flying under our radar? It's possible. United has been patient, open-minded and meticulous in its search to replace Tom Soehn. Club president Kevin Payne did say he planned to speak with foreign coaches. Domestic candidates have included Red Bulls interim coach Richie Williams, DCU assistant Chad Ashton and Real Salt Lake assistant Robin Fraser. Given his success and local ties, Maryland's Sasho Cirovski would seem to be in the mix, though I haven't received any indication that he has been approached or will talk to the club now that the Terrapins' season is over.

Keep reading.....

*The long-awaited introduction of Erik Soler as New York Red Bulls' sporting director will occur today. Next task: naming a coach. With a European overseeing the search, does interim Richie Williams have a chance?

*In the build-up to the World Cup, how about a USA-Northern Ireland friendly?

*Wayne Rooney's reaction to USA vs. England? Zzzzz. Well, not really. But he was asleep when the pairing was announced.

*North Carolina upends previously unbeaten Stanford, 1-0, for the NCAA women's championship.

*Video from Real Madrid's 4-2 victory over Almeria in which Real scored three times in the final 17-plus minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo drew a penalty kick, missed the PK (only to watch Karim Benzema convert the rebound) and was later red-carded:

GOALKEEPERS
Tim Howard 90 minutes in Everton's 2-2 tie with Spurs
(Howard stops PK in final moments)
Brad Friedel 90 in Aston Villa's 3-0 win over Hull City
Brad Guzan in 18, didn't play for Aston Villa
Marcus Hahnemann 90 in Wolves' 2-1 win over Bolton
David Yelldell 90 in Koblenz's 5-1 loss to St. Pauli
Luis Robles in 18, didn't play in Kaiserslautern's 1-0 win at Rostock

*D.C. United has narrowed its list of head coaching candidates and, from I've been told, former Kansas City boss Curt Onalfo remains in contention but Richie Williams, the Red Bulls' interim coach, is out. United has approached numerous individuals, ranging from the college ranks to Europe and is apparently hoping to make a decision this week.

*The men's College Cup is set:
Friday's Semifinals in Cary, N.C.
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Wake Forest, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 1 Akron vs. No. 5 North Carolina, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

For the second straight year, three ACC teams are represented. Appropriately, the semifinals and final will be played in the heart of ACC country. (Last year, they were held in Frisco, Tex.; next year, UC Santa Barbara will host.) Despite the heavy ACC presence, the favorite is Akron (23-0), which will attempt to become the first program since Howard in 1974 to win the national title with a perfect record. The Zips last reached the final four in 1986 and lost to Duke in the final. Virginia, which has registered 11 straight shutouts and is unbeaten in 14 straight after the 3-0 victory over Maryland on Friday, won at Wake during the regular season and beat the Demon Deacons on penalty kicks in the ACC semifinals.

*With Maryland eliminated, goalkeepers coach Rob Vartughian will resume negotiations to join the Philadelphia Union coaching staff. Vartughian, who has spent seven seasons with the Terrapins, worked with Union Coach Peter Nowak on the USA under-23 national team in the build-up to the 2008 Olympics and served as a U-15 national team assistant. Philadelphia's interest in Vartughian has been well known in college circles for several weeks, but when reached to comment last month, he declined to discuss the opportunity publicly until Maryland's season ended.

*The women's championship will be decided today with North Carolina facing unbeaten Stanford (1 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Update: USA will face England in its World Cup opener on June 12 in Rustenberg, South Africa. The Americans' other matches in Group C will be against Algeria and Slovenia -- a very favorable draw for the U.S. team.

USA SCHEDULE
June 12: England in Rustenberg
June 18: Slovenia in Johannesburg
June 23: Algeria in Pretoria

Selections should begin around 12:45 p.m. ET.

TV: ESPN2, Univision.

I will update the field as the names are announced in Cape Town. Your comments are encouraged. I will post an Insider poll shortly after the draw concludes.

GROUP A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France.
GROUP B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece.
GROUP C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia.
GROUP D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia.
GROUP E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark.
GROUP F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia.
GROUP G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal.
GROUP H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland.

*The World Cup draw is upon us. The festivities begin at noon ET (ESPN2, Univision), but the actual selections probably won't start until 12:45. Join me here on the Insider and on my Twitter feed for constant updates as the teams are placed into groups.

*FIFA has outlined the prize money, conspiracy theories re-surface and the USA weighs its best- and worse-case scenarios.

*Japan considers dropping its 2018 World Cup hosting bid to concentrate on 2022 and FIFA rejects a proposal to change the Olympic guidelines.

*Philadelphia's roster-building for its debut season in MLS continues with the acquisition of defender Danny Califf.

*Americans abroad:
Today
MF Michael Bradley and Moenchengladbach at Bayern Munich
Yesterday
MF Clint Dempsey 20 in Fulham's 1-0 win over CSKA Sofia

*In the NCAA men's quarterfinals tonight, defending champion Maryland visits second-seeded Virginia, which hasn't conceded a goal since mid-October.

*Introduding Jabulani, the official World Cup ball by Adidas:

What are you going to watch?
FRIDAY
World Cup draw noon ESPN2, Univision
Germany, Bayern Munich-Moenchengladbach 2:30 p.m. GolTV; 9 p.m. ESPN Deportes
The 2006 World Cup film: Grand Finale 5:30 p.m. ESPN Classic
Women's College Cup, Stanford-UCLA 5:30 p.m. ESPN2, ESPNU
Women's College Cup, North Carolina-Notre Dame 8 p.m. ESPNU
U-17 friendly, USA-Portugal 9 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel
SATURDAY
England, Portsmouth-Burnley 7:30 a.m. ESPN2
Germany, Hamburg-Hoffenheim 9:30 a.m. GolTV
England, West Ham-Manchester United 9:30 a.m. Setanta