The Soccer Thread

[shnsajax]

good for adu, seems like a good scenario and a good opportunity.

 

and hopefully Champions League appearances.

[MPC]

good for adu, seems like a good scenario and a good opportunity.

 

and hopefully Champions League appearances.

 

well, benfica is qualified for the third round, which is august 14/15 and august 28/29. hopefully this transfer is finished and adu has found his way into a first team spot.

[KaiserCesar]

Superliga tonight

 

FC Dallas v Chivas (Mex) 8pm

LA Galaxy v Pachuca 10pm

 

You can watch it in Spanish if you got Telefutura (Ch 60 in Chicago)

[KaiserCesar]

FC Dallas and Chivas tie 1-1 with a no-call handball on Chivas' equalizer

 

Galaxy beat Pachuca 2-1 (!)

[Jon]

Zizzo to Hannover.

 

The Fire are close to signing Paulo Wanchope. That could make for an interesting offensive attack.

[shnsajax]

Zizzo to Hannover.

 

The Fire are close to signing Paulo Wanchope. That could make for an interesting offensive attack.

 

Very nice for Zizzo.

[wolf stansson]

BTW - I didn't watch the Celtic/Fire friendly today, but on the FSC highlights he looked like the best player on the field. Shockingly not a stiff as I thought he'd be, but were the highlights misleading?

i take it we're talking about Blanco?

Yeah that's what I was talking about. My bad.

 

Any other u-20's playing internationally other than Bradley, Zizzo and Ferrari?

[sethuel1]

BTW - I didn't watch the Celtic/Fire friendly today, but on the FSC highlights he looked like the best player on the field. Shockingly not a stiff as I thought he'd be, but were the highlights misleading?

i take it we're talking about Blanco?

Yeah that's what I was talking about. My bad.

 

Any other u-20's playing internationally other than Bradley, Zizzo and Ferrari?

Preston Zimmermann, who didn't play at all in the U-20 I don't think, but was on the roster, is signed by Hamburg and plays for their developmental team

 

Also Johann Smith, who was originally on the roster but got injured before the tournament, is on Bolton, although he was loaned to a 3rd division side last year.

[wvcbxl]

Benefica plz. He'd be just as stunted with Celtic as MLS. Too physical of a league. Portugal or Holland would be perfect.

 

Forget about Holland.

Outside of Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord/AZ things get very physical in the 'Eredivisie'.

[USSoccer]

Benefica plz. He'd be just as stunted with Celtic as MLS. Too physical of a league. Portugal or Holland would be perfect.

 

Forget about Holland.

Outside of Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord/AZ things get very physical in the 'Eredivisie'.

 

The SPL would be the worst place for Adu. Worst.

[wolf stansson]

Benefica plz. He'd be just as stunted with Celtic as MLS. Too physical of a league. Portugal or Holland would be perfect.

 

Forget about Holland.

Outside of Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord/AZ things get very physical in the 'Eredivisie'.

 

The SPL would be the worst place for Adu. Worst.

Surely not worse than Salt Lake City.

[sethuel1]

Here's an interesting Adu rumor:

 

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jul28e.html

 

P.S. Calcio Italia blatantly makes crap up sometimes.

[wolf stansson]

Here's an interesting Adu rumor:

 

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jul28e.html

 

P.S. Calcio Italia blatantly makes crap up sometimes.

The latest from ESPN Soccernet mentions only Benefica, although I would not be surprised if they were completely clueless as that seems to be about par for the ESPN soccer coverage course.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=448251&root=mls&cc=5901

[USSoccer]

Benefica plz. He'd be just as stunted with Celtic as MLS. Too physical of a league. Portugal or Holland would be perfect.

 

Forget about Holland.

Outside of Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord/AZ things get very physical in the 'Eredivisie'.

 

The SPL would be the worst place for Adu. Worst.

Surely not worse than Salt Lake City.

 

Well, yeah, but if you got a prized prospect like Adu, you need to put him in a league like the Erdevisie or in Spain or Portugal, so that he can develop the necessary technical skills to elevate his game.

 

The SPL or EPL would be a really poor fit. Aside from not being very technically advanced, they're really physical leagues, and Adu's game isn't about sprinting and muscling other mids.

 

I saw the Serie A rumor about Adu. Not sure how I feel about that.

[USSoccer]

Adu to Benfica is a done deal.

 

Now we just need to get him cap-tied.

[MPC]

is there still any question that adu will play for the usmnt? i remember in the past we've discussed his possible playing for ghana, has he come clear about what he wants to do?

[USSoccer]

is there still any question that adu will play for the usmnt? i remember in the past we've discussed his possible playing for ghana, has he come clear about what he wants to do?

 

I've never been clear about if his appearance against Canada in early 2006 counted as a cap. Adu himself has always said his first choice is to play for the US, but would consider playing for Ghana.

 

I'd feel a lot better if he got capped for the 8/22 game against Sweden. I'm sure if the U-20 WC hadn't been upcoming, Adu would have been on the Copa America roster.

[wvcbxl]

Adu to Benfica is a done deal.

 

My Portuguese colleague is a Benfica fan. I think I'll send him an e-mail when i go back to work on monday to find out how he feels about this. 8-)

[shnsajax]

is there still any question that adu will play for the usmnt? i remember in the past we've discussed his possible playing for ghana, has he come clear about what he wants to do?

 

I've never been clear about if his appearance against Canada in early 2006 counted as a cap. Adu himself has always said his first choice is to play for the US, but would consider playing for Ghana.

 

I'd feel a lot better if he got capped for the 8/22 game against Sweden. I'm sure if the U-20 WC hadn't been upcoming, Adu would have been on the Copa America roster.

 

Without question this needs to get done ASAP. With his success at the U-20 level and going through the entire youth system I am really not worried, however just get it done.

 

Besides I would much rather watch him and Altidore playing than Twellman and Ching. They need to be capped and begin playing before the 1st round of Concacaf qualifing ever happens next year.

[MPC]

what is scheduled for the national team for the next few years? i'd imagine '10 world cup qualifying starts next year, is there any competition before then that will have matches that have meaning?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

what is scheduled for the national team for the next few years? i'd imagine '10 world cup qualifying starts next year, is there any competition before then that will have matches that have meaning?

 

Probably not, since most foreign leagues will be in full swing during that time frame. That's why the World Cup, Gold Cup, Euro '08, etc. are all in the summer.

[wolf stansson]

Besides I would much rather watch him and Altidore playing than Twellman and Ching. They need to be capped and begin playing before the 1st round of Concacaf qualifing ever happens next year.

Completely agree. So far Bradley hasn't been afraid to play young guys, hopefully that continues.

 

Altidore turns 18 in November. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up.

[MPC]

what is scheduled for the national team for the next few years? i'd imagine '10 world cup qualifying starts next year, is there any competition before then that will have matches that have meaning?

 

Probably not, since most foreign leagues will be in full swing during that time frame. That's why the World Cup, Gold Cup, Euro '08, etc. are all in the summer.

I was more referring to any cups next summer or any meaningful qualifying games before world cup qualifying starts in a year. one calendar year of friendlies seems pointless, space out the world cup and gold cup a bit more.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

what is scheduled for the national team for the next few years? i'd imagine '10 world cup qualifying starts next year, is there any competition before then that will have matches that have meaning?

 

Probably not, since most foreign leagues will be in full swing during that time frame. That's why the World Cup, Gold Cup, Euro '08, etc. are all in the summer.

I was more referring to any cups next summer or any meaningful qualifying games before world cup qualifying starts in a year. one calendar year of friendlies seems pointless, space out the world cup and gold cup a bit more.

 

Well, we've got the Confederations Cup in '09, but I think it'd be hard to have a real competitive tournament in '08. We'd only be a year removed from having the Gold Cup and Copa America against the entire western hemisphere, and Euro '08 knocks out most everyone else save the likes of Australia, Korea, or Japan.

[Jon]

AP[/url]"]SALT LAKE CITY -- Freddy Adu was given permission by Real Salt Lake to go to Portugal in an attempt to complete transfer negotiations with Benfica.

 

Real gave permission Saturday, team spokesman Trey Fitz-Gerald said.

 

"It's my understanding Freddy wants to go and visit and meet with their management, see their facilities, before making his final decision," MLS spokesman Dan Courtmanche said.

 

MLS and Benfica already have agreed to a $2 million transfer fee for the 18-year-old forward and midfielder, who captained the U.S. team at this year's FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Under FIFA's rules, the sides have until Aug. 31 to work out a contract and complete a transfer.

 

"To my knowledge, they're still continuing their discussions," Courtmanche said.

Only $2 million?