Soccer Insider: January 11, 2009 - January 17, 2009
Freedom for Scurry
In the fifth round of today's Women's Professional Soccer draft, the Washington Freedom selected former USA goalkeeper Briana Scurry. Scurry, 37, is one of the most accomplished players in USA history, but was also drawn into a controversy at the 2007 World Cup in China when then coach Greg Ryan...
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Steve Goff
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January 16, 2009; 1:38 PM ET |
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Women
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Weekend TV Listings
SATURDAY England, Bolton-Manchester United 9:30 a.m. ET Setanta England, Chelsea-Stoke City 10 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel England, Bristol City-Wolverhampton 12:15 p.m. Setanta England, Hull City-Arsenal 12:30 p.m. FSC Spain, Barcelona-Deportivo de Coruna 2 p.m. GolTV Italy, AC Milan-Fiorentina 2:30 p.m. FSC France, Nantes-Bordeaux 3 p.m. Setanta Italy, Siena-Reggina 4:30 p.m....
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Steve Goff
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January 16, 2009; 1:16 PM ET |
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TV
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Future World Cups
The timeline is set for bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups: Feb. 2 is the deadline for potential hosts to register interest. Registration forms will be sent out two weeks later. Federations have until March 16 to submit a bid on one tournament or both. The winners...
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Steve Goff
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January 16, 2009; 8:35 AM ET |
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FIFA
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Obama the Uniter?
So Barack Obama stopped by The Washington Post today and toured the newsroom. According to media writer Howard Kurtz's blog, the Prez-Elect asked: "Where are the sportswriters? I want to ask about the Redskins, Nationals and Wizards." What?! No interest in D.C. United's draft performance? No discussion about Steve Zakuani...
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Steve Goff
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January 15, 2009; 10:43 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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Hall of Fame and WPS News
Longtime national team players Jeff Agoos and Joy Fawcett have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Candidates needed to be named on 66.7 percent of the ballots submitted to make the cut: Agoos was at 67.9, Fawcett 66.7. Preki was next at 60.4, Thomas Dooley at 53.5,...
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Steve Goff
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January 15, 2009; 9:19 PM ET |
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U.S. men's national team
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Draft Wrap
Before we take a final look at D.C. United's draft, you should know that Seattle is among two or three finalists to host MLS Cup in November. Sources tell the Insider that many factors are being weighed, including whether a West Coast site works for ABC's TV window (currently 12:30...
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Steve Goff
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January 15, 2009; 6:00 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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MLS
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Draft Day Mega-Thread
Greetings again from bone-chilling St. Louis. The MLS draft commences at 2 p.m. ET. ESPN2's live coverage is for the first hour only. Beyond that, there is no video available (on TV or online). So please join the Insider as well as the league's website all afternoon for pick-by-pick details...
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Steve Goff
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January 15, 2009; 10:45 AM ET |
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D.C. United
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Kovalenko to Galaxy
A deal we hinted at several weeks ago is about to be finalized: Veteran midfielder Dema Kovalenko from Real Salt Lake to Los Angeles for a draft pick and some allocation money. The Galaxy also acquired forward Mike Magee from New York earlier today for a draft pick....
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Steve Goff
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January 15, 2009; 1:54 AM ET |
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MLS
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The Spirit in St. Louis
My earlier report about Akron forward Steve Zakuani, who will be one of the top picks in tomorrow's MLS draft, earning around $150,000 was a bit off. He is actually in the $175,000-to-$200,000 range! And as a Generation Adidas signee, he is guarateed for three years and exempt from his...
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Steve Goff
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January 14, 2009; 5:51 PM ET |
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MLS
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Gomez to Dallas?
Greetings from St. Louis. One of Christian Gomez's contacts tells me that Dallas is the front-runner to acquire the former MLS most valuable player from Colorado. "It's not a done deal and other teams are interested," the contact said. But it's clear the Rapids and Coach Gary Smith, who barely...
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Steve Goff
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January 14, 2009; 12:49 PM ET |
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MLS
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DCU's Status and MLS Notes
With the Dungeons & Dragons portion of the MLS preseason over -- okay, I admit it, I love the combine -- we begin to turn our attention to Thursday's draft. I will be traveling to the Midwest today, so until I get settled in St. Louis and finish lingering college...
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Steve Goff
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January 14, 2009; 7:00 AM ET |
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D.C. United
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A Few Minutes With Dave Kasper
D.C. United's general manager says the club..... *Plans to participate in the Charleston Battery tournament in March. *Is in negotiations with Honduran forward Walter Martinez and, if a deal is worked out, he would come on loan from Marathon. A final determination might take a few weeks. *Has not offered...
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Steve Goff
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January 13, 2009; 3:29 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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Namoff, United Reach Deal
D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper has confirmed to the Insider that the club has re-signed veteran defender Bryan Namoff. The club will make a formal announcement soon. Namoff joins Marc Burch, Clyde Simms, Greg Janicki, Thabiso Khumalo and Santino Quaranta with new contracts and, as you know, Gonzalo Peralta...
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Steve Goff
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January 13, 2009; 2:40 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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USA-MEX Tickets
Tickets for the World Cup qualifier Feb. 11 in Columbus will go on sale to the general public Jan. 28 at noon, the USSF announced today. However, if you plan to pay with Visa, you can make purchases at the USSF Web site starting Jan. 27 at noon. Prices range...
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Steve Goff
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January 13, 2009; 1:17 PM ET |
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U.S. men's national team
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Soccer's Commercial Absence
Seeing this awful, low-budget Braylon Edwards commercial again the other day reminded me of how no American soccer players appear in mainstream TV ads. Years ago, Paul Caligiuri pitched shampoo and Mia Hamm endorsed a variety of products. More recently, Freddy Adu appeared in soup commercials. But these days, other...
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Steve Goff
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January 13, 2009; 12:10 PM ET |
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TV
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U.S. men's national team
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Tuesday Kickaround
*USA forward Landon Donovan , on loan in the Bundesliga, plays the second half of a Bayern Munich friendly and scores in the waning moments of a 3-1 victory. *We told you a couple weeks ago that Dallas was vigorously searching for a veteran left-side midfielder. It now looks as...
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Steve Goff
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January 13, 2009; 9:06 AM ET |
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Bundesliga
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France
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MLS
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TV
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USL
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Women
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Chavez, Martinez and USA-MEX
The Los Angeles Galaxy continues to express interest in Honduran defender Osman Chavez and the "chances of a deal are good. We'll see what happens in the next week or so," a source told the Insider today. Chavez, 24, is with Platense and would come to MLS on a one-year...
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Steve Goff
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January 12, 2009; 3:33 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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MLS
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U.S. men's national team
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FIFA Winners Are.....
Just announced at the Zurich Opera House, the 2008 world players of the year are Portugal/Manchester United midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil/Los Angeles Sol forward Marta, her third straight honor. The federations of Turkey and Armenia were given the Fair Play award for their efforts to bridge historical differences through...
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Steve Goff
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January 12, 2009; 3:02 PM ET |
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FIFA
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Video: Roma-Milan, Valencia-Villarreal
*Roma 2, AC Milan 2: *Valencia 3, Villarreal 3 (shut off audio):...
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Steve Goff
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January 12, 2009; 11:30 AM ET |
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Italy
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Spain
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MLS Kickaround
*I am not attending the Star Trek convention MLS scouting combine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but I hear that Wake Forest midfielders Sam Cronin and Michael Lahoud have surpassed expectations. Don't be surprised to see Cronin selected in the top five of Thursday's draft in St. Louis and Lahoud claimed...
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Steve Goff
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January 12, 2009; 9:48 AM ET |
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MLS
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Americans Abroad
Many U.S. players remain on winter break, but before we get to those whose clubs were in action, you should know that MLSer David Beckham played 89 minutes in his AC Milan loan debut , a 2-2 tie at Roma. GOALKEEPERS Brad Friedel 90 minutes in Aston Villa's 2-1 win...
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Steve Goff
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January 12, 2009; 9:03 AM ET |
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U.S. men's national team
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He's a Player
poll by twiigs.com...
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Steve Goff
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January 11, 2009; 12:37 PM ET |
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FIFA
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Peralta's Exit
D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper has confirmed Argentine media reports that central defender Gonzalo Peralta has left MLS and returned home to continue his career with second-division Union de Santa Fe. United did not exercise the option on Peralta's contract, which guaranteed him $199,000 last season. DCU had expressed...
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Steve Goff
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January 11, 2009; 12:03 PM ET |
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D.C. United
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