All of the rumors became reality today as Julian de Guzman became Toronto’s first-ever Designated Player. Guzman, 28, arrives in his prime after passing on offers to continue his career in Europe. Becoming the face of the franchise and casing in on a big payday were surely of some motivaton. This move has been discussed for some time, even before the CONCACAF Gold Cup. FC Dallas made a splash of its own, signing defender Heath Pearce. Pearce has made 28 appearances
Congratulations to the Richmond Kickers, the new champions of USL’s 2nd Division. They defeated the Charlotte Eagles 3-1 in a fast and furious matchup. Richmond joins Ventura County Fusion (PDL) and Pali Blues Soccer Club (W-League) as the best teams in their respective divisions.
ESPN continues to expand its coverage of international soccer. The coming days will show us a whopping 14 live matches, including the debut of Spain’s La Liga. The first weekend of La Liga will be covered by multiple platforms in the ESPN family of programs, including ESPN, ESPN360.com, and ESPN Deportes. Spain’s top division includes some of the world’s biggest stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Rafael Marquez, and Sergio Aguerro. ESPN’s coverage doesn’t stop there. La Liga coverage is joined by the Barclays Premier
First, the Cleveland City Stars (USL-1) were put up for sale. Now their sister club, the Cascade Surge (PDL) is also on the market. The Salem-based club is owned by Surge International, a nonprofit organization that uses soccer as part of its sports ministry program. The Surge has produced a multitude of talent over the years, including soccer gurus Mark Geissbauer and Dr. Aaron Tredway. And don’t forget Martin Rennie, Terry Boss, and Darren Sawatzky. Rennie is the current Head Coach of the
Hotchkin and Gilstrap were named to Week 20 USL First Division Team of the Week. Both put in solid performances in Saturday’s victory over the Minnesota Thunder. Coach Rod Underwood said, “Getting two guys on the team is great news after a good result for us over the weekend.” We were surprised to see that striker Teteh Bangura was not given this honor after two weeks of spectacular play.
“Major League Soccer has had a relationship with the United Soccer Leagues since MLS’ inception in 1996. The USL’s size and longevity speaks to the sport’s widespread popularity and the need for multiple professional divisions in the United States and Canada.” “We recently evaluated the opportunity to purchase the USL but elected to not submit a bid for the league. We will continue to communicate with the USL as both organizations work to grow the sport of soccer in the region.” The
Congratulations to defender Chad Marshall of the Columbus Crew, who received the MLS Player of the Week for Week 22. Marshall came away with a game-winning goal on Saturday, but that wasn’t all. He anchored the defense and helped the Crew claim yet another shutout victory. The goal was his fourth of the season, not bad for a defender. Marshall was a key figure in the 2008 Crew that won the MLS Cup; he will be counted on again this year as the
Sources close to United Soccer League franchises report that the USL could be under new ownership in the coming weeks. Umbro, the league’s majority owner, was purchased by Nike in the fall of 2007. At that time there were some serious questions regarding whether Nike wanted to be in the business of running a soccer league. Therefore, it is not much of a surprise to see Nike looking into unloading the league onto another party. The deal would reportedly give money back to the
An article this week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer broke the news that the club was up for sale. Everyone knows that there has been struggles on and off the field this season, but this came as a surprise to many. No official statement has been given by the club; the topic was revealed to the reporter during an interview with Dr. Aaron Tredway, who serves as Executive Director of the City Stars. The article focused on the negative aspects of the situation,