Soccer Insider

Dilly Duka, the USA under-20 national team midfielder who left Rutgers this fall and has been exploring pro opportunities in Europe, has agreed to a four-year contract with MLS, the Insider has learned.

"It's done," a source close to the situation said.

Duka -- who scored on a long-distance shot against Cameroon at the U-20 World Cup on Sept. 29 -- will be available to all clubs in the league draft in January. However, the New Jersey native has been part of the Red Bulls youth system and, according to sources, adamant about playing for New York. With the second overall pick, the Red Bulls seem almost certain to select him. Expansion Philadelphia has the top choice.

Duka, who turned 20 in September, has Albanian and Belgian family ties, making it easier for him to sign in Europe. Multiple German clubs have been interested in him. My understanding is that, though Duka would receive a modest base salary, the first year of his MLS deal would guarantee him more than $150,000, which is in the neighborhood of the pact signed by 2009 first overall pick Steve Zakuani ($65,000/$163,000).

*Who will host Real Salt Lake in the Eastern Conference final next weekend? We'll find out tonight when New England takes a 2-1 advantage to Toyota Park for the second leg against the Chicago Fire (8:30 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel).

*D.C. United defender Dejan Jakovic was named to the Canadian national team for friendlies at Macedonia next Saturday and Poland on Nov. 18. The only other MLS player on the 17-man list is Toronto midfielder Julian de Guzman.

*Former DCU defender Ryan Nelsen discusses New Zealand's World Cup qualifying playoff finale against Bahrain. Meantime, ex-DCU forward Nick Addlery, who has done well for USL-1 Puerto Rico, has been loaned to Aguila in El Salvador.

*Did Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad deserve a red card (instead of a yellow) for knocking down Seattle's Fredy Montero in the first leg of their playoff match last weekend? In the USSF's opinion: No.

The referee makes the correct misconduct decision by cautioning both players for unsporting behavior. The goalkeeper's actions are not excessive force and he does not make "contact above the shoulder." The goalkeeper merely makes strong chest-to-chest contact with the opponent. The manner in which the contact was made and the fact that the chest-to-chest contact is in no way endangering the safety of the opponent, makes the contact reckless and, thus, a cautionable offense.

*Speaking of players subject to ejection, the University of New Mexico woman who, among other transgressions, yanked an opponent's ponytail, has been suspended indefinitely. "My actions were uncalled for," junior defender Elizabeth Lambert said. Ya think?

*Virginia Tech (14-7-0) lost to Florida State, 2-0, in the semifinals of the ACC women's tournament and will now await an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament Monday night. In the ACC final Sunday, top-seeded FSU will face No. 3 North Carolina, which edged Boston College on an own goal in overtime, 1-0.

*After the Maryland men completed the regular season with a 2-1 comeback victory over College of Charleston, the sixth-ranked Terrapins (12-4-2) learned that they will be the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament, which begins Tuesday in Cary, N.C. Wake Forest, North Carolina and Boston College all passed the Terps with victories in their league finales Friday night. Pairings won't be finalized until after the Virginia-North Carolina State match Saturday night in Charlottesville.

*With a victory against Colgate on Saturday afternoon, American will clinch the top seed in the Patriot League and host the conference tournament next weekend. Bucknell squandered a chance to lock up first place Friday night. The AU women are one victory from their second NCAA tournament appearance after defeating Bucknell, 1-0, in the Patriot semifinals. The second-seeded Eagles (12-9) will play top-seeded Colgate (11-6-3) on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton, N.Y.

Video from the BYU-New Mexico women's soccer match.....

*Read the accounts of Real Salt Lake's rare road victory and a Columbus Dispatch column about the champion's reign coming to an end. Watch the video highlight package here. In its second consecutive appearance in a conference final, RSL will play at Chicago or New England next Saturday.

*More importantly, the comely Jessica Alba was on Capitol Hill on Thursday to promote 1GOAL, a global initiative to provide education to 75 million impoverished children ahead of next year's World Cup.

*Sticking with a Hollywood theme, today marks the national release of "The Men Who Stare at Goats," starring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges. Finally, a Chivas documentary!

*Americans abroad:
Today
F Freddy Adu and Belenenses vs. Pacos
GK Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern vs. Oberhausen
GK David Yelldell and Koblenz at Paderborn
Yesterday
GK Tim Howard 90 minutes in Everton's 2-0 loss to Benfica
MF Clint Dempsey 90 in Fulham's 2-1 loss at Roma
GK Dom Cervi in 18, didn't play in Celtic's 0-0 tie at Hamburg

*Maryland wraps up the regular season tonight in College Park with a non-league match against College of Charleston. By the end of the night, the sixth-ranked Terps will know whether they'll be the first, second or third seed in next week's ACC tournament. To finish first, Maryland needs Wake Forest to lose at home to Duke and North Carolina to lose or tie at Clemson.

*The ACC women's tournament semifinals are tonight in Cary, N.C., with No. 4 seed Virginia Tech facing top seed Florida State and No. 2 Boston College playing No. 3 North Carolina.

With kickoff of the Columbus-Real Salt Lake playoff match a few hours away, a few items to share.....

*Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno have been told by Coach Robert Warzycha that they will start tonight after sitting out for tactical reasons in the first leg last weekend. One contact told me that Schelotto, the 2008 MLS most valuable player, was "upset and disappointed" about being held out, but after meeting with Warzycha early this week, the matter was quickly resolved and the Argentine is focused on helping the defending champions overcome a one-goal deficit in the total-goals series.

I'm also hearing that Emmanuel Ekpo will start in place of Robbie Rogers. In the opener, Ekpo replaced Rogers in the 85th minute.

*The Crew's Chad Marshall was named MLS defender of the year for the second straight season, the first repeat winner since Carlos Bocanegra at Chicago in 2002-03. Marshall beat out Seattle's Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Houston's Geoff Cameron despite missing 12 of 30 regular season matches because of injuries, a red card and U.S. national team duty.

Alex Prus was honored as the top referee for the first time.

*With a one-goal lead, how will RSL approach the second leg? "We're going to go in and defend like crazy," veteran Clint Mathis said in the Ogden Standard-Examiner. "We go through no matter if we score or not, so that's what we've got to focus on."

We'll see about that tactic. I figure RSL to attack aggressively at the start in pursuit of a killer second goal and then settle back and defend the lead in hopes of reversing its notoriously bad form on the road (2-11-2, nine goals). The wins came at Los Angeles and Kansas City, the draws at D.C. and Houston.

TV coverage on ESPN2 begins at 8 p.m. ET.

What are you going to watch?
FRIDAY
Germany, Bayer Leverkusen-Eintracht Frankfurt 2:30 p.m. ET, GolTV
England, Derby County-Coventry City 2:40 p.m. Setanta
NCAA women, Portland-San Diego 11 p.m. ESPNU
NCAA men, Santa Clara-San Francisco 11 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel
SATURDAY
Australia, Melbourne-Central Coast 3 a.m. FSC
England, Swansea City-Cardiff City 7:40 a.m. Setanta
Germany, Hoffenheim-Wolfsburg 9:30 a.m. GolTV
Germany, Bayern Munich-Schalke 9:30 a.m. ESPN Deportes
England, Spurs-Sunderland 9:55 a.m. ESPN2
England, Manchester City-Burnley 9:55 a.m. Setanta
England, Aston Villa-Bolton 10 a.m. FSC
Spain, Deportivo de Coruna-Getafe noon ESPN Deportes

*A look at tonight's MLS playoff match between the Crew and RSL from a Columbus angle and a Salt Lake perspective. TV coverage begins at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. The defending champion Crew faces a one-goal deficit in the two-leg series.

*In a column about MLS fining DCU President Kevin Payne for critical comments he made concerning playing styles, Soccer America's Paul Gardner says:

"You could argue that he was wrong to single out New England, Colorado and Real Salt Lake as being dourly defensive teams -- maybe he should have chosen other examples. But by drawing attention to the fact that there is too much tritely defensive soccer in MLS, and that this is highly damaging to the league, Payne is spot on. Which makes Garber's response over-sensitive. He's doing what is never a good idea -- shooting the messenger who brings the bad news, instead of facing up to the bad news."

*Americans abroad:
Today
GK Tim Howard and Everton vs. Benfica
MF Clint Dempsey, F Eddie Johnson and Fulham at Roma
GK Dom Cervi and Celtic at Hamburg
Yesterday
D Jonathan Spector 82 minutes in West Ham's 2-1 win over Aston Villa
GK Brad Friedel 90 for Aston Villa
MF DaMarcus Beasley in 18, didn't play in Rangers' 1-1 tie at Unirea Urziceni
MF Jose Francisco Torres 66 in Pachuca's 3-1 loss to Cruz Azul
D Edgar Castillo not in 18 in Tigres' 1-0 loss at Queretaro
D Michael Orozco 90 in San Luis' 1-1 tie at Tecos
D Marco Vidal 90 in Indios' 2-2 tie at Chivas

*While Virginia Tech advanced to the semifinals of the ACC women's tournament, Virginia (9-5-5) and Maryland (12-5-2) were eliminated and will now await the NCAA tournament announcement Monday night. ... The Georgetown men lost at home in the first round of the Big East tournament, falling to DePaul on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie. The Hoyas (9-8-2) went 1-5-1 in their final seven games to fall out of NCAA contention.

*Fox Soccer Channel will provide live coverage of the USA friendly at Slovakia on Nov. 14, starting at 10 a.m. ET.

For today's TV offerings.....

*Tom Soehn talks about his departure from D.C. United:

*DCU defender Bryan Namoff, who missed the final month of the season after suffering a concussion, tells the Insider that, if all goes well, he should be able to resume workouts in December. Namoff recently visited a specialist in Boston.

*New York Red Bulls midfielder Luke Sassano has begun a three-week training stint with Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.

*The USA under-17s face Italy at 10 a.m. today in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Nigeria. Sorry, no TV coverage, but the match is available via ESPN online video.

*Americans abroad:
D Jonathan Spector and West Ham vs. GKs Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan for Aston Villa
MF DaMarcus Beasley and Rangers at Unirea Urziceni
MF Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca vs. Cruz Azul
D Edgar Castillo and Tigres at Queretaro
D Michael Orozco and San Luis at Tecos
D Marco Vidal and Indios at Chivas

*Kaoru Forbess scored from 20 yards in the 10th minute of sixth-ranked Maryland's 1-0 victory over Navy. The Terps (11-4-2) will conclude the regular season Friday at home against Charleston. ... No. 10 Virginia (11-3-2) extended its unbeaten streak to seven with a 3-0 win over American (9-5-1). ... Georgetown (9-8-1) will host DePaul (8-9-1) at 2 p.m. today in the first round of the Big East tournament. The winner will play at seventh-ranked Louisville (13-2-2) on Saturday. ... The ACC women's tournament begins today in Cary, N.C., with the four quarterfinals.

*You can't start the match if the referee doesn't show up, a frequent problem in the D.C. high school league.

For today's TV offerings.....

With four openings and perhaps two more on the way, here's where things stand on the MLS coaching front.....

[Read the full story behind Tom Soehn's departure from D.C. United.]

EASTERN CONFERENCE
COLUMBUS: Robert Warzycha won the Supporters' Shield in his first season but is in danger of first-round elimination after leaving Guillermo Barros Schelotto on the bench in the playoff opener at RSL.
CHICAGO: Rumblings in league circles are that, unless the Fire makes a substantial playoff run, Denis Hamlett will not return next season. Preki en route?
NEW ENGLAND: Steve Nicol, the foundation of the Revs' success, has two years left on his contract and seems set to stay much longer.
D.C. UNITED: With Tom Soehn out, Richie Williams and Curt Onalfo are early front-runners. How's this for a longshot candidate: former USA defender Thomas Dooley, who coached in his native Germany years ago and lives/works in the States.
TORONTO: Chris Cummins is gone, John Carver is long gone. Perhaps a Scottish power play with Mo Johnston hiring John Spencer?
KANSAS CITY: Peter Vermes hired himself as interim coach after Onalfo's departure. From what we hear, he likes the job so much, he plans on keeping it.
NEW YORK: Williams is already in-house, but the Red Bulls apparently won't hire a coach until they find a sporting director. With a new stadium to fill and a big market to satisfy, a foreign coach might be in the works.
PHILADELPHIA: Peter Nowak passed up a chance to serve on the USA World Cup staff to lead the expansion Union. With success, will a European opportunity be far behind?

D.C. United midfielder-forward Santino Quaranta, on the departure of Coach Tom Soehn: "I will always have a special place for Tommy because he helped me so much when I came back to the team. I've got a lot of respect for him. ... Late in the season, you could tell what this year was doing to him. He had been through so such and he was tired. ... In the end, it wasn't Tommy that was playing. You could see how inconsistent we were. We had so many chances to get it right and we couldn't do it. How much of that was Tommy? I'm not sure. Everyone on our team can put their hand up and say that they let him down."

Defender Bryan Namoff: "I was under the impression that he was coming back. I'm a little surprised. ... It's a difficult transition for the players when you bring in a new coach. You have to re-prove yourself. You're on trial in a way and you don't know whether you fit into the new coach's plans. I hope they don't try to break up this team."

So what now for DCU?

The list of potential candidates is likely to include.....