Where do we start? FIFA 09 was a such great game; it was hard to imagine that it could get any better. Well it did, in just about every possible way. The improvements are too numerous to mention each one. The Virtual Pro feature was not only innovative, but entertaining as well. You can now download your customized game face, play in a 10 v 10 Pro Club Championship, and work your way into legendary status. Online play was tweaked in
As we reported, a major announcement was expected this week and to our surprise we received two important press releases. Both can be seen below. Yet another press release is expected from the TOA as a whole within the next few weeks.
United Soccer Leagues issued the following elaboration regarding Wednesday morning’s CKAC Sports radio interview with USL CEO Alec Papadakis concerning the status of USL-1 teams. “While the statements made in the earlier interview are accurate in that we have ceased negotiations with the Team Owner’s Association (TOA) as a group, we remain in dialogue with certain individual TOA teams about their possible participation in USL-1 for 2010. We are open to the return of the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps to
“Following the press release issued earlier by the USL, I would also like to confirm there are still ongoing talks between ongoing talks between the Montreal Impact and the USL,” declared Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo. “The negotiations are not over. We continue to work on various options, including the possibilitiy of seeing the Impact in the USL-1 in 2010.”
Former Blackpool and Accrington Stanley winger Rory Prendergast will be providing our visitors weekly news from the home of the beautiful game. “In His Own Words” will follow Rory as he begins a new journey to join the ranks of professional soccer players here in the U.S. It will literally be in his own words as the name suggests. Prendergast has drawn interest from numerous USL clubs and even a few MLS teams. There is no doubt that he has the skills to
We have been told by a source close to the USL/TOA situation that an important press release is expected on Tuesday. This is much sooner than expected as we were not anticipating much news before November 20.
A spokesman for U.S. Soccer declined to comment on the situation surrounding the USL and a possible TOA breakaway league. Apparently the federation was holding meetings with the two groups, hoping to come to an amicable agreement. There is not much information out there regarding this issue. However, several of our sources believe that there should be some resolution by November 20th. We were told by one TOA member that Fleischman-Hilliard (St. Louis) has been hired by the association to handle their public relations and marketing
In the final week of the MLS season, seven teams will contend for three playoff berths. Only three clubs have been eliminated from the playoffs (New York, San Jose, Kansas City), while five have clinched passage to the playoffs (Columbus, Houston, Los Angeles, Chivas USA, Seattle). There are several scenarios for the remaining clubs and it is complicated to say the least. All of this is discussed in detail in the 2009 Rules of Competition.
The Montreal Impact were crowned USL-1 Champions as they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. Goals for Montreal came from Donatelli, Gjertsen, and Brown while Toure was the lone scorer for Vancouver. Marc Dos Santos deserves a great deal of credit as he did wonders with the team since taking the reins this spring.