U.S. Soccer Gets A Boost

Let's keep our heads here. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking Sunday's pulse-pounding soccer — the long-suffering U.S. nationals just one hard header from winning the Confederations Cup in South Africa — will dramatically change the game's fortunes on U.S. soil.

For most U.S. sports fans, come next week it'll back to the old standbys: fireworks and baseball, NASCAR and apple pie. Those fans I heard at Dodgers Stadium Sunday — the ones gushing about U.S. goalie Tim Howard as the Dodgers played the Mariners? — whole hosts of them will pay scant attention to the world's most popular game until next year's World Cup.

But fans of futbol, have no fear. You're game is going to be just fine on these shores. All the frenzied speculation over whether this latest run will finally vault soccer to big league status? Wasted frenzy. Big league, I mean really, truly, consistently big league in performance, hoopla and status? It's not going to happen. Not for a while. And that's absolutely OK.

For one thing, at the grassroots level of youth play, a level boosted and shaped by Latino immigration, the game continues its steady march. While this has yet to translate into mammoth increases in TV ratings and gate receipts, it's a groundswell. The world is a different place than it was even four years back. Just as it blindsided political observers in the last presidential election, the grassroots will eventually have a big effect on what sports we love.

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More Assertive Donovan Drives U.S. Dreams

At halftime of the Confederations Cup final Sunday, when the United States was stunningly ahead of Brazil by 2-0, midfielder Landon Donovan allowed himself a moment to dream.

“It wasn’t this moment of, Oh my God, we’re beating Brazil,” he said. “It was, O.K., we’re playing well, let’s keep going.”


But almost as soon as forward Luís Fabiano scored a minute into the second half to fuel Brazil’s ravenous comeback, the United States had lost an opportunity to elevate its international stature.

“We were talking in the locker room that if Italy or Spain or Brazil or Argentina are up, 2-0, at halftime, they’re not losing, period, maybe rarely,” Donovan said. “We need to get smarter and we need to be able to finish out a game like that, regardless of who we’re playing.”

Despite Sunday’s aching 3-2 defeat, the United States gained confidence here that it can challenge the world’s best teams, and in the case of No. 1-ranked Spain, sometimes beat them. Individually, Donovan demonstrated that he, too, belongs among the international elite.

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Confederations Cup Final

Ok, we’re not surprised to see Brazil in the Confederations Cup final but we didn’t think the United States had it in them to be in the soccer tournament’s championship game.
Brazil is listed as a -312 fave, the U.S. is a +637 underdog and a tie pays out at +321.
The Confedrations Cup final goes Sunday.

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Soccer-D.C.United And Goalie Crayton Part Ways

D.C. United will not exercise the option on goalie Louis Crayton's contract, ending his one-year stay with the club on June 30, the team announced Thursday.
Crayton played in six games, all starts, for the Black-and-Red this year with a 2-1-3 record with a 1.33 goals-against-average. He originally signed with the club as a senior international last August, making his MLS debut the following day against the Chicago Fire, where he made two saves in 1-0 shutout win.
Last season, Crayton played in 12 games, all starts, and put together a record of 3-6-3 in MLS, earning four shutouts and a goals-against-average of 1.58. He was between the pipes in United's 2-1 U.S. Open Cup championship win over the Charleston Battery as well.

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Soccer-TFC Adds To New York's woes

Toronto FC moved into second place in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field.

Pablo Vitti opened the scoring 28 minutes into the match, while Dwayne De Rosario added a second with 30 minutes to play, leaving Toronto (6-5-4) one point behind Eastern leaders D.C. United and one point clear of third-placed Chicago.

TFC has now won three of its last five games, while New York (2-11-4) is winless in its last eight and remains on the bottom of the Eastern Conference table.

It took until the 28th minute for the match to come to life, and it was defender Nana Attakora who got up the right flank and created the chance.

Attakora picked up a poor clearance and floated the ball into the box, where Vitti was left open at the back post. The ball took a big bounce off the turf, but goalkeeper Danny Cepero hesitated, allowing Vitti to loop a header over his head and into the back of the net.

The goal was a boost to the home side, and they controlled play over the remainder of the opening half and nearly added to their lead.

Amado Guevara was left open in front of goal but his header from eight yards was straight at the keeper, while De Rosario's through ball to Vitti almost handed the striker a second goal, but he stabbed his shot wide.

De Rosario could have put his name on the scoresheet right before the break, but his effort was cleared off the line by Andrew Boyens with Cepero out of position.

The Red Bulls were able to generate a chance in the 47th minute as Nick Zimmerman fired over the net from 20 yards, while Chad Barrett had the ball in the net for Toronto minutes later, but was ruled offsides.

The home side did extend its lead in the 59th minute, with Barrett playing provider as he took a pass on the right wing and lobbed a ball over the top to De Rosario, who took the ball down off his chest and chipped it over the keeper.

Toronto could have added to its lead in the final 10 minutes, but Cepero produced a great save on Sam Cronin's long-range effort, while a few minutes later, De Rosario had his shot stopped by Cepero at the near post

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soccer-Toronto Ready For Another Battle With New York

Toronto FC has been off since beating Red Bull New York on June 13, and gets a chance to build on the victory when the teams clash again Wednesday at BMO Field.

Toronto (5-5-4) snapped a two-game losing streak with the 2-1 win over New York and coach Chris Cummins was pleased the team escaped the battle with all three points.

"We've been questioning ourselves to see if we can grind out results, and we showed ... that we can do it," Cummins said. "It wasn't a pretty game but we ground a result out and the most important thing today was the three points." Toronto, which has four wins and two ties in 10 home matches, will try to build on the victory and jump into second place in the Eastern Conference.

TFC is in a three-way tie for third place with the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew, and are just two points behind the second-place Chicago Fire.

With first-place D.C. United off this week, Toronto has a chance to jump to the top of the standings when it plays at Real Salt Lake on Saturday in the second of two games this week.

Toronto has some concerns this week, though, with midfielder Amado Guevara and defender Andrian Serioux both questionable with injuries. In addition, defender Marvell Wynne - another usual starter - is with the United States.

Guevara did play in the last meeting with New York, missing a penalty kick in the third minute that Sam Cronin followed up for the opening goal. Danny Dichio added the game-winner before half.

While Toronto was off from league play, New York (2-10-4) did manage to end its five-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders FC last week.

Juan Pablo Angel scored in the 40th minute, but the Red Bulls allowed a late extra-time goal to Fredy Montero and the 1-all score held. In the second half, didn't manage a single shot on goal.

"It was very difficult to come back from that dramatic goal against but at the end, it's a point and I think we played for our pride in the second half and I think it was worth it," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said.

The Red Bulls will have to change a season-long trend this weekend to build on the tie. New York is 0-7-1 on the road and has scored just one goal in those eight games.

Added to those woes, Angel and fellow forward Macoumba Kandji are both on the injury list with leg problems. New York is also without Andrew Boyens due to international duty with New Zealand, and Kevin Goldwaite and Mike Petke are suspended.

New York has the fewest points in MLS, but with D.C. just 13 points away, the defending Western Conference champions could still factor into the playoff race over their final 14 matches if they can start a win streak against Toronto.

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Rapids' Cummings Wins MLS Player Of The Week

Colorado Rapids forward Omar Cummings was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 14, it was announced on Monday.

The Jamaican internation notched two goals and added an assist in the Rapids' 3-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday.

"Just a normal game I guess, I got my chances and I put them away," Cummings said.

"The first [goal] I think we took it real well. It was a good pass by Pablo [Mastroeni], I got a quick turn and a drive to the goal and put it in the back of the net." "He had an opportunity to use his athleticism and he did it to a great degree," Rapids' coach Gary Smith said of Cummings.

"He has improved enormously.

He's not just great on the ball and when were attacking, but he's got a much better understanding of what's required of him when we don't have the ball.

His movement's better.

He tries to keep play on one side of the pitch better." This is Cummings' first MLS Player of the Week Award. Together with teammate and strike partner Conor Casey, the Rapids have earned three player of the week awards this season. The two have combined for 14 goals and seven assists this season.

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters. The group consists of members of online, print, television and radio media.

2009 MLS Player of the Week winners: Week 1: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) Week 2: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC) Week 3: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) Week 4: Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles Galaxy) Week 5: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards) Week 6: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake) Week 7: Jaime Moreno (D.C. United) Week 8: Macoumba Kandji (New York Red Bulls) Week 9: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards) Week 10: Amado Guevara (Toronto FC) Week 11: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) Week 12: Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution) Week 13: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew) Week 14: Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids)

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US Soccer Team Squeaks Into Confederations Cup Semi Finals

US Soccer Team The U.S. Soccer betting team has overcome long odds to reach the Confederations Cup semifinals in South Africa. The U.S. defeated Egypt, 3-0, and got help from Brazil, which beat World Cup champion Italy by an identical 3-0 score.

Counted out by just about everyone after lopsided losses to Italy and Brazil at this Confederations Cup, the U.S. Soccer team is surprisingly moving on to the semifinals by the narrowest of margins.

The second group tiebreaker had to be used after the USA, Italy and Egypt all finished with three points from one win and two losses. Brazil won all three of its matches to top Group B with nine points.

The Americans and Italians finished with goal differences of minus two, while Egypt had minus three. The next tiebreaker was goals scored, and the USA won out over Italy - four goals to three.

The U.S. held a 1-0 halftime lead over Egypt on a goal by Charlie Davies in the 21st minute. Into Confederations Cup Semifinals.

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U.S. Soccer Squad in FIFA Confederations Cup Match

Brazil breezes past gave the U.S. National Team a lesson in international online soccer in its FIFA Confederations Cup match Thursday.

The Brazilians dominated the match from start to finish as Felipe Melo, Robinho and Maicon connected for brilliant goals in a 3-0 victory over the outclassed Americans at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.


The U.S. (0-2-0) needed at least a tie to keep its slim hopes of reaching the semifinals alive. Brazil improved to 2-0-0 with a highly anticipated meeting with Italy on Sunday.

For the second consecutive match, the U.S. had a central midfielder red-carded as Sacha Kljestan was given his marching orders in the 56th minute on a reckless tackle on Ramires. Ricardo Clark was dismissed from the Americans' 3-1 loss to Italy on Monday.

There was little question as to which team was the superior side from the opening whistle as the game quickly became a showcase of the Brazilians' speed, technique and flair.

The Americans, who made more than their share of unforced errors, barely could retain possession of the ball in the early going and Brazil took advantage after midfielder Michael Bradley fouled Ramires 27 yards out on the right side. Right fullback Maicon sent in a perfect ball into the penalty area as Melo beat his man, Jonathan Spector, and headed a point-blank shot past goalkeeper Tim Howard in the seventh minute.

A devastating error on a U.S. corner kick led to Brazil's second goal. Landon Donovan took a short corner with a pass to DaMarcus Beasley. Beasley, however, allowed the ball to go off his foot and the Brazilians quickly cleared the ball. Kaka sprung Ramires, who raced down the field on a 2-on-1 break with the U.S. team chasing. Ramires fed Robinho, who converted from 12 yards past a defenseless Howard.

The halftime margin could have been as much as four or five goals had the Brazilians not misfired on many of their attempts and Howard's solid goalkeeping.

The Brazilians added a third goal in the 62nd minute as Maicon ran onto a short pass from Kaka on the right side of the penalty area and fired a shot into the roof of the net.

The Americans' best opportunities came in the waning minutes with shots off the crossbar - by second-half subs Benny Feilhaber (83rd minute) and Conor Casey (89th minute).

The U.S. will play Egypt in its final group match in Rustenburg on Sunday.

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Columbus On U.S. Radar To Host World Cup Soccer

Columbus has made the cut of 37 American cities that will bid to host soccer’s World Cup matches in 2018 or 2022.

The USA Bid Committee this week said it issued requests for proposals to officials representing 37 U.S. cities, including Columbus, that currently qualify as potential host cities to FIFA World Cup. The proposals ask for information from city officials about tourism, climate, security, transportation and promotion.

The United States’ application is due to FIFA in May 2010. FIFA’s 24-member executive committee will study the bids, conduct site visits and name the two host nations for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in December 2010, completing a 21-month bid and review process.

The committee also released a list of 45 stadiums associated with the 37 candidate host cities. Ohio Stadium, home to the Buckeyes, is among the venues under consideration.

The United States, Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia have formally declared their desire to host to the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain each have submitted joint bids for the 2018 and 2022 Soccer tournaments, while Qatar and South Korea have applied as candidates to play host only to the tournament in 2022.

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AC Milan-Chelsea FC Soccer Ticket Sales Surpass 60,000 In Baltimore

The Baltimore Ravens have sold more than 60,000 tickets to the AC Milan vs. Chelsea Football Club online soccer match that will be held at M&T Bank Stadium on July 24.

The match in Baltimore is part of the World Football Challenge, a six-city round-robin tournament being played in the United States this summer, when both European clubs are preparing for their new season.

As the first soccer event to ever be hosted at M&T Bank Stadium, Ravens officials have been encouraged by the strong fan interest.

“We could not be more pleased with the reaction our community has had to bringing an international soccer picks match to Baltimore,” said Ravens vice president of ticket sales and operations Baker Koppelman. “Reaching 60,000 tickets sold is a significant milestone, but we have more work to do. To reach a sellout would be a tremendous statement for Baltimore and put us in a strong position to host future high-profile events.”

Capacity at the stadium is 70,000.

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Time to lay down some soccer ground rules

Soccer is a global game, but the world is a big place with differing cultures and standards of behaviour.

With that in mind — and given the punchup during Friday’s United Soccer picks Leagues game between Vancouver Whitecap teammates Charles Gbeke and Wesley Charles — we offer 15 arbitrary rules about soccer culture as it should be here.

DO NOT celebrate goals by waving away teammates so the spotlight and glory are yours alone.

DO NOT dive unless there is a pool.

DO NOT get on a stretcher unless you plan to ride it to hospital where an organ donor is waiting.

DO NOT give away penalties.

DO NOT take beer from the cooler without paying.

DO NOT hack, then whine to the referee when you are hacked back.

DO NOT whine about anything else.

DO NOT ball watch.

DO NOT lobby to have opponents sent off.

DO NOT do anything but proceed directly and respectfully off when substituted.

DO NOT show up teammates.

DO NOT wear socks above the knee unless you are a Victoria’s Secret model.

DO NOT wear pantyhose when it is cold.

DO NOT hog all the free kicks.

DO NOT fight a teammate, at home, in front of paying fans, while your team is winning.

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Australia kicks off bid to host soccer World Cup

AUSTRALIA'S bid for soccer's World Cup is officially under way after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday invited the world to "come play" in the nation's backyard.

This was a day to make round-ball purists mist over, the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull both paying tribute to "the greatest game in the world" and vowing to co-operate in the nation's bid to bring the world's biggest sporting event to Australia in 2018 or 2022.

The Great Hall of Parliament House was covered in synthetic turf and turned into a soccer pitch, bleachers were erected to house hundreds of guests, including political and business heavyweights. Christine Anu sang the national anthem. There were tap dogs and a didgeridoo player.

Socceroo stars Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer and coach Pim Verbeek could scarcely believe the pomp of it. This was a day when soccer flexed its newly discovered muscles. The men at AFL headquarters can scarcely have felt more worried.

Mr Rudd called it "the beautiful game" and "the greatest game of all". Mr Turnbull waxed lyrical. "This bid is of vital national importance," he said. "Here is a world game that unites us all."

The man who started it all, 79-year-old billionaire and Australian online soccer bet chief Frank Lowy, talked of his dream to land the 2018 or 2022 World Cup for his long-adopted country, saying it would provide infrastructure and jobs: a soccer stimulus.

Rale Rasic, migrant, football fan and coach of Australia's 1974 team — the first to qualify for a World Cup tournament — struggled to find the right words. "I hoped the game could grow bigger but I never thought this was possible," he said. "It was emotional for me and unbelievable to see these things, the politicians, the money and all the support."

Australia faces powerful rivals among the nine competing bids, led by England, Russia and the USA, when the 24 FIFA delegates vote in December next year.

Although important, it has not been just Mr Lowy's persuasiveness that has the round ball in fashion. The cumulative TV audience for the 2006 World Cup was 26 billion, Mr Turnbull noted, while Mr Rudd focused on the economic benefit promised by hosting, calculated at $5 billion.

The Socceroos, who play Japan at the MCG on Wednesday night, have already qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa. Next stop the world.

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Fluminense beats Nicaragua's national team in soccer friendly

Hosting the national online soccer betting team from Nicaragua, Fluminense scored an impressive 3-0 win in a friendly on Thursday in Teresopolis where the Brazilian national team had their practices.

Fluminense head cocah Carlos Alberto Parreira agreed to the friendly in order to better prepare his players in hope of turning around their disappointing performance in the Brazilian Championship.

Parreira used his normal starters during the first half as both Thiago Neves and Carlos Eduardo scored for the home side. During the second half, subsititutes were fielded in. When Kieza was taken down, Leandro Amaral stepped in to convert the penalty kick, leading to a 3-0 score.


However, Fluminense goalkeeper Fernando Henrique was injured during the friendly. A contusion in his right thigh took him out of the game, and he is not expected to play in this Sunday's match against Gremio in the sixth round of the Brazilian Championship.

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Lions soccer team loses 3-0 in U.S. Open Cup

The St. Louis Lions soccer squad fell 3-0 to the host Cleveland City Stars on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

"They scored off a corner about 25 minutes in and got another one before halftime. We made some mistakes, and (Cleveland) took advantage, but I guess that's to be expected when you're playing a team that plays a couple of levels up.

A professional squad that competes in USL-1, the second level of soccer tournament in America, the City Stars advance to play at the Rochester (N.Y.) Rhinos of USL-1 in the second round Tuesday.

The Lions, who were without injured starters Steven Beattie (ankle) and Stuart Wark (groin) for the game in Cleveland, are an amateur team of college-age players. St. Louis is the only Premier Development team to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup in 2008 and 2009; a year ago, the Lions lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Thunder of USL-1.

For more details check out online soccer betting.

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Houston puts unbeaten streak on line vs. Chivas

The Houston Dynamo are undefeated in eight in a row, including six wins, and will continue to try and chase down Chivas USA on Wednesday night when the Western Conference rivals clash at Robertson Stadium.
The Dynamo have closed to within six points of the MLS-leading Goats and with a pair of games in hand, can take control of the Western Conference with a win.
Houston (6-2-3) once again features one of the MLS's top defenses, with veteran goalie Pat Onstad leading the league with a 0.64 goals against average. He also has six shutouts, second in MLS to Chivas goalie Zach Thornton.
The Dynamo haven't allowed more than one goal in any of their last nine matches and have allowed a total of just seven goals the entire season - the fewest in MLS.

Houston extended its unbeaten streak with its third straight win last week, 1-0 at the Chicago Fire.
"We were under a lot of pressure and I think we kind of defended with our lives today. The guys are playing well," said Onstad. "Defensively, we played very well." Houston holds the MLS record for fewest goals allowed in one season with 23 in 2007, when it won the second of two straight MLS Cups. Last season, the Dynamo allowed just over a goal a football betting lines game.

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Revolution embarrass Red Bulls, 4-0

The New England Revolution used an offensive explosion vs. the struggling New York Red Bulls to earn their second straight victory, 4-0, on Sunday evening at Gillette Stadium.

New England, which had scored just 10 goals in 10 previous soccer tournament games this season, got two goals from Taylor Twellman and a goal apiece from Jay Heaps and Steve Ralston in the victory.

Twellman's first goal was his 100th career Major League Soccer goal .



The game started with the Red Bulls holding their own for most of the first half, but a late tally by Heaps ensured the hosts would go into the break up 1-0.

Revs midfielder Shalrie Joseph out-muscled a number of Red Bulls defenders in the New York penalty area before passing to Heaps, who fired home in the closing seconds of the first half.

Seven minutes after the break the Revolution doubled their lead when Heaps battled New York defender Nick Zimmerman in the left corner to keep the ball alive.

He then crossed into the box to Ralston, who headed off the post and in.

Twellman scored his 100th career goal less than five minutes later when Joseph crossed from the right side to the striker, who was wide open at the back post.

Twellman made no mistake, heading past New York goalkeeper Jon Conway to make it 3-0.

Twellman added another goal in the 64th minute to complete the scoring.

New England (5-3-4) will be gunning for its third straight win when it plays at Kansas City next Saturday, while New York (2-10-3) will try to recover from its fourth straight loss when it hosts Seattle on June 20 in its next MLS fixture.

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soccer looks troubled heading to '10 World Cup

No nation has benefited more from World Cup expansion than the United States, since it's basically impossible not to qualify now that 32 teams are invited. But after another head-scratcher of a Soccer game Saturday, there's more reason than ever to think the regression from the 2002 quarterfinal run will continue.

The U.S. lost 3-1 in Costa Rica on Wednesday night. More problematic was falling behind to Honduras in Chicago on Saturday before eking out a 2-1 victory. After the match, U.S. Coach Bob Bradley discussed one big problem: the fact that the players he needs the most can't get off the bench with their European clubs and therefore aren't properly conditioned or sharp enough for the national team.

Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, who should be in the prime of his career at age 27, barely played and didn't score all season for Scotland's Glasgow Rangers. Jozy Altidore, the 19-year-old who was purchased from Major League Soccer by Spanish team Villareal, was lent to a second-division team but still can't get any playing time. And Freddy Adu, who was supposed to revolutionize the game here when he joined MLS at age 14, is a non-factor six years later in Portugal.

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NFL Football Odds: NFL Rookies

In my last article, I pointed out a handful of rookies I felt could be considered “under the radar” types, but will have opportunities for a big impact. Today I’m going to follow up with another group of rookies who are worth paying attention to as we head to our fantasy drafts.

I’ve mentioned in other columns that I love sports betting as much as I do fantasy football. I was checking some notes from last year regarding NFL Future Odds on “Rookie of the Year” betting and saw that QB Matt Ryan was at 25-1 at SPORTSBETTING.com early in the summer, but after being announced as the starter, the sports betting community jumped on him and brought his odds down to the 10-1 NFL odds range. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and cash in for all those who bet on him.

As we get closer to the season starting, I’ll have a column on who I think offer some value for sports bettors when looking over the NFL Odds for Rookie of the Year.

Let’s look at today’s list:

The Jury’s Out

Yes, these next guys were properly hyped. But I’m not convinced the situation they find themselves in will reward Fantasy owners this season.

Michael Crabtree

WR – San Francisco 49ers

Skinny: Crabtree is regarded by most as the best wideouts in the draft (hey Al, I’ll give that scouting tip to you gratis) but the 49er offensive identity is in transition this year. They just don’t have a QB or a secondary pass-catcher to give Crabtree much chance for success. I predict 50 Catches, 600 yards, 4 TDs.


Darrius Heyward-Bey

WR – Oakland Raiders

Skinny: HeyBey plays for the Raiders. ‘Nuff said. JaMarcus has a cannon, that’s for sure but I see Jeff Garcia starting by mid-season and HeyBey’s speed won’t help that much on 12-yard outs.


Hakeem Nicks

WR – NY Giants

Skinny: I haven’t seen much of Nicks in action, but he ostensibly comes into a situation where he’s expected to replace Plaxico Burress, and I simply don’t see him doing that year one, if ever. Teams figured out the Giants offense with Plax gone, and now that they are minus Derrick Ward, I don’t see much success for them this year. Eli will go back to looking like Eli.


Shonn Green

RB – NY Jets

Skinny: I am basing this recommendation on two things only: Thomas Jones’ age and contract status. Jones is 31 and in the final year of his contract, and the Jets desperately don’t want to pay an aging RB the kind of money he’s expecting. They are better off spending it on a free agent WR next year (or mid season, right Plax?). I fully expect them to give Shonn Green a healthy workload to see if he can fill Jones’ role in the offense in front of speedy Leon Washington.

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L.A. begins life without Donovan

Landon Donovan has gotten used to missing a chunk of the MLS season due to his international duties. And once again, at the same time that David Beckham is absent stateside while on loan to AC Milan, Donovan is taking his own considerable star appeal away from league competition.
Donovan navigated the first 11 MLS games this year without missing a minute, but the Americans' all-time leading scorer has joined the U.S. for a stretch that could overlap with as few as four MLS games - or as many as eight.
L.A. is off to a surprising yet odd start, with just one loss, but also just one win through 11 games. The Galaxy are 1-1-9, including a current undefeated streak of nine matches that is the fourth-longest in club history.

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Rapids' Casey wins MLS Player of the Month

Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey was named Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for May on Tuesday, one day after he won the MLS Player of the Week award.

Casey scored four goals and added one assist in four MLS games during the month and led the Rapids to an undefeated record (2-0-2).

Casey battled back from a major knee injury to become one of the premier target forwards in the league. Casey leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals in 10 games and is three goals shy of his career best 11 goals in 21 games, which he achieved in 2008.


In the Rapids' Week 8 match against the New England Revolution, Casey put the club up in the third minute, taking a Jordan Harvey cross and heading it past the outstretched arms of Revolution goalkeeper Brad Knighton.

In Week 9 against Seattle, Casey put his team ahead early in the second half. In the 47th minute he dribbled the ball into the penalty area and blasted a left-footed shot that deflected off of Sounders FC defender Peter Vagenas and past Sounders FC goalie Kasey Keller.

Casey's sixth of the season earned the Rapids a 2-2 draw against the visiting Sounders FC.

Casey struck again in Week 10 in the Rapids' 3-2 win against the New York Red Bulls, scoring two headed goals to complete a month that saw him score in three consecutive matches and contribute a goal or an assist in every match for his club.

This is Casey's first career MLS Player of the Month award. He has notched 23 goals in 48 career appearances for the Rapids. He has nine caps for the U.S. men's national team.

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Rapids' Casey earns 2nd MLS Player

Conor Casey was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 11, it was announced on Monday.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound forward had two goals in a 3-2 victory at the New York Red Bulls this past Saturday to raise his league-leading total to eight.
"He's been absolutely terrific," Colorado Rapids coach Gary Smith said. "He's been carrying a sore foot and he's had a difficult year after a broken bone in the summer in his foot. To a degree, we've been nursing him through the week, but when he counts like that, I'd play him in a concrete boot just to get him out there.

He's in one of those veins of form right now and I don't want to put the markers on him, but he looks very sharp in front of the goal. He's obviously ultra confident and we hope he continues." Casey, who scored both goals on headers, takes home his second player of the week award of the season after also earning it after Week 3.

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