I stopped blogging about high school soccer last year and I don’t think any readers noticed (or at least said anything). All the newspapers this bog is affiliated with have prep sports blogs now and I didn’t want to be redundant.

But what about youth soccer?

Do you care? Let me know.

U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team
The U.S. beat Bolivia 2-1 today and faces Argentina Wednesday and Uruguay Friday in Buenos Aires as part of a three-game trip in South America ahead of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Tijuana.

Southern Californians on the squad include midfielders Luis Gil (Pateadores; Garden Grove) and Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Juniors; San Pedro).

U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team
The team holds a 24-player camp from April 5-11 as part of early preparations for the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Among the locals called in are midfielder Katie Speidel (Real So Cal/Oak Park) and striker Courtney Proctor (Santa Clarita United Blazers/Santa Clarita).

U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team
The U.S. will hold its first training camp of the year April 4-11 at Home Depot Center with Southern Californians on the roster including forwards Michelle Cruz (Slammers/Thousand Oaks) and Samantha Johnson (Real So Cal/Palmdale).

U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team
UCLA Coach Jillian Ellis has been named coach of the U.S. U-20 team as it begins a new cycle that will hopefully culminate in Germany with a spot in the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup; she had previously served as coach of the team, but had stepped down in January 2008 after she was named assistant coach with the national team. Now she will continue in that post and add the U-20 team (again). Got that?

2009 U.S. Youth Soccer ODP Champions
*Crowned as champions Sunday were the 1993 Girls from California South who beat North Texas 1-0 in Frisco, Texas. Locals on the roster included Marie Mackenzie of Simi Valley, Monique Pendleberry of Newbury Park, Courtney Proctor of Santa Clarita and Haley Rosen of Rolling Hills.

*The 1993 California South Boys beat Oklahoma 4-3 in OT with such locals as Christopher Lopez, Reseda; Eduardo Quezada, South Gate; Henry Rios, Norwalk; Cody Thompson, Westlake Village; and Andrew Trejo, Santa Clarita on the roster.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USAEduardo Lillingston, Chivas USA’s newest signing in action against the Dynamo tonight.

Chivas USA drew 2-2 with the Houston Dynamo Friday night at Home Depot Center with Atiba Harris and Shavar Thomas scoring. (Full disclosure: I was stuck at work with a project and missed the game).

Lawndale’s Kei Kamara went 80 minutes for Houston, but didn’t score. Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark was sent off in the 77th minute for a foul on Paulo Nagamura that cleared both benches. It was Chivas USA final game before next Saturday’s season opener against the Colorado Rapids at Home Depot Center.

Lineups:
Chivas USA – Zach Thornton, Jonathan Bornstein, Shavar Thomas, Carey Talley, Mariano Trujillo, Sacha Kljestan, Paulo Nagamura, Jesse Marsch (Diego Scotti 85), Atiba Harris (Bojan Stepanovic 66), Eduardo Lillingston (Maykel Galindo 56), Justin Braun.

Houston Dynamo – Pat Onstad, Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Julius James (Chris Wondolowski 46), Wade Barrett, Geoff Cameron, Ricardo Clark (Corey Ashe 80), Stuart Holden, Brad Davis, Brian Ching (Kei Kamara 80), Brian Mullan.

Scoring Summary:
CHV – Atiba Harris (Justin Braun) 43′
HOU – Chris Wondolowski (unassisted) 46′
CHV – Shavar Thomas (Carey Talley ) 63′
HOU – Brad Davis (unassisted) 76′

Meanwhile in Galaxyland, tickets for the club’s friendly against AC Milan July 19 go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. The catch? You must also buy a ticket to the season opener March 22 against D.C. United (think they’re having trouble selling tix?).

Prices start at $50. Call 1-877-3GALAXY.

Updated: UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk stopped two penalties as the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team played to a scoreless draw Friday with Trinidad & Tobago, but advanced to the title match after winning 4-3 on penalty kicks. The U.S. plays Costa Rica Sunday for the championship.

Briefly:

*Could Inter Milan also play in Carson this fall? Don’t bet on it.

*The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Team plays Trinidad & Tobago tonight, but Chivas USA’s Jorge Flores will not be there after getting a late red in his first start for the team against El Salvador. Here’s what he had to say after his ejection.

*Thanks to all who participated in the Beckham poll. I’d say the results were fairly conclusive. Will Beckham get booed when he returns?

*Updated – Here’s the Galaxy travel roster from the club’s official blog for the game Saturday in Arizona against the Chicago Fire:

Goalkeepers: Donovan Ricketts and Josh Saunders

Defenders: A.J. DeLaGarza, Sean Franklin, Dan Gargan, Omar Gonzalez, Yohance Marshall, Tony Sanneh and Julian Valentin.

Midfielders: Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Patterson and Josh Tudela.

Forwards: Tristan Bowen, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, Bryan Jordan, Jovan Kirovski and Mike Magee.

That means that Edson Buddle, Todd Dunivant, Leonard Griffin, Eddie Lewis, Stefani Miglioranzi and Israel Sesay remain behind in Los Angeles.

Briefly:

*David Beckham said the ankle he twisted Tuesday should be fine by the weekend, although it appears worse than he’s letting on (sound familiar?).

*The U.S. moved up three spots to 17th in the latest (always suspect) FIFA rankings released today.

The top seven spots remained unchanged with Spain atop the pile and Croatia seventh; Mexico, BTW, moved up one spot to 23rd. Hmmm.

*UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk got his third shutout in as many games and Chivas USA’s Jorge Flores got his first start of the tournament as the U.S.Under-20 Men’s National Team defeated El Salvador 2-0 Tuesday night to clinch a spot in the FIFA World Cup for the age bracket set for Egypt this fall.

*As I write this the U.S. women are trailing Sweden 1-0 in the Algarve Cup final. Heather Mitts is making her 100th U.S. appearance. Updated: Torrance’s Shannon Boxx equalized in second half stoppage time, but the U.S. lost on penalties.

FYI, busy day today attending to other matters, so minimal blogging.

Updated 10 a.m. – No surprise here: MLS just awarded the 2009 MLS Cup to Seattle where more than 20,000 fans have scooped up season tickets to see the Sounders.

Catching up after a Beckham-centric couple of days it’s worth noting that:

*Veteran Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez announced his retirement Saturday and chatted on ESPN Deportes Radio live in Lynwood. The Rancho Palos Verdes resident plans to stay in the area, playing soccer in a semi-professional league and starting youth soccer clinics with Ramn Ramirez and Robert Zuiga.

Chivas USA failed to mention the retirement of one of the greatest Mexican internationals ever in its weekly update today and it doesn’t sound like the parting of the ways with the club was particularly amicable, according to local blogger Luis Bueno with a translation from La Opinion.

Not a good reflection on the club, by the sound of it. Suarez is one of the classiest and most thoughtful players players out there (despite the fact his English and my Spanish are both inadequate) and I for one will miss his astute observations after games. Gracias, Claudio.

*Landon Donovan returns to Galaxy training Tuesday and will hold a press conference afterward. I’ll blog so stay tuned, but Donovan (exhaustively) answered questions from fans about his stay at Bayern on his Web site the other day. A sample:

“Q: Landon, In early January, coach Klinsmann was quoted as saying about you, “He has unbelievable pace and dribbling skill, he looks for the one-on-one situations. … Having closely followed your career throughout the years (including what I’d consider your best performances at the 2002 WC and 2005 MLS playoffs), I’d agree that your most outstanding moments come through dribbling and one-on-ones — but I didn’t see you searching out opportunities to take over games in this way while at Bayern. (Instead, I saw a lot of one-touch passing and trying to position yourself for headers or rebounds; Ribery played as I’d hoped you would.) Did the coaching staff instruct you to play in a more limited capacity? Did you have different instructions for different games (and could you share some of them?) Thanks a lot, and best of luck — we all believe in you (even to take on and beat John Terry)

A: This is a great question and hopefully I can help people understand some things about coming into a new environment. With the U.S. team and the Galaxy, I feel more comfortable because I usually have 90 minutes to make an impact and my teammates will forgive mistakes because they know what I’m capable of. Coming into an unfamiliar environment, it’s difficult to balance, 1.) Being selfish and trying to make an impression with, 2.) Trying to fit into the team and do what is needed in a given situation. It’s one of the trickiest parts of being a new player on a team.”

You can read the entire Q&A here.

*The Galaxy reported Monday that “Edson Buddle (quad), Todd Dunivant (ankle), and Eddie Lewis (hamstring) all missed training late last week and on Monday and are unlikely to join the club in Arizona for Saturday night’s game against Chicago. Lewis was injured during the Pan-Pacific Championship, while Buddle suffered his injury in training early last week. However, both are expected to be ready for the season opener against D.C. United on March 22.”

Dunivant is out of the season opener though; Bryan Jordan returned to training today after missing the last two weeks with a foot injury and is expected to be available for the game in Tempe.

*Joe Tutino will have the call for the game starting at 6:45 p.m. on www.galaxy.com.

*Also, the Galaxy is one of three teams participating in the nationally-televised player search Sueo MLS, which gave us Jorge Flores at Chivas USA. The Galaxy will host the finals at Home Depot Center later in the season. More than 800 signed up Sunday for the Galaxy tryouts March 28-29 in San Bernadino.

*Over in Spain, the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team opened the 10 Nations Tournament with a 3-2 victory over Norway on Monday, with Sydney Leroux of UCLA among the goalscorers. The U.S. faces France Wednesday as it prepares for qualifying for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany.

CONCACAF announced today that it will use a record number of U.S. venues – 13 – for the Gold Cup set for July 3-26, including the opening doubleheader of the tournament July 3 in Carson at Home Depot Center.

What teams will play where will be announced at a later date.

“While 13 cities create logistical challenges, we think the benefits of reaching out to more venues are clearly worthwhile,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said. “The ability of so many people to see national teams play we feel is well worth the effort.”

Allow me to translate: “Playing in 13 cities will allow us to extract even more money from a tournament that clogs up the soccer calender and is diminished even further in importance because it is not played every four years in the manner of such legitimate events such as the European Championship.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. women are playing Norway as I write this in a meaningless Algarve Cup game (the U.S. is already in the final).

The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team played to a scoreless draw with Honduras Sunday and now needs at least a tie with El Salvador Tuesday to advance to the next round of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk recorded the shutout, while Chivas USA’s Jorge Flores did not get off the bench.

The Galaxy’s Landon Donovan is apparently too old for Germany’s Bayern Munich:

MUNICH (AP) — Landon Donovan is unlikely to stay with Bayern Munich on a longer contract once his loan expires in mid-March, according to the club’s chairman.

Donovan practiced with Bayern in December and then joined the German champions during the Bundesliga’s winter break in a loan deal similar to the one his Los Angeles Galaxy teammate David Beckham has with AC Milan. Donovan’s loan expires March 15.

“Donovan is an interesting player,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the Munich newspaper TZ in an interview published Tuesday. “But when you have Klose, Toni and Olic already under contract, we think the fourth player (striker) should really be a young player with perspective.”

Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni are Bayern’s starting strikers, while Hamburg’s Ivica Olic has been signed as a free agent for next season. Backup striker Lukas Podolski is returning to FC Cologne at the end of the season.

After arriving at Bayern, Donovan said he would be interested in a longer contract. He scored four goals in practice games and has made four appearances, all as a substitute, in the Bundesliga and the German Cup, without scoring.

Donovan failed to break through in two earlier Bundesliga stints, both with Bayer
Leverkusen.

Donovan, BTW, is all of 26 years old.

So where now for Donovan if Jurgen agrees with his chairman? Does he try somewhere else? And why aren’t European clubs lining up to buy America’s best-ever player? Thoughts?

In other soccer news today:

*The U.S. Women’s National Team squad for the annual Algarve Cup in Portugal in March was named today and included Torrance’s Shannon Boxx and Kendall Fletcher of the Sol.

The squad (in parenthesis are the number of Algarve Cups the player has participated in):

Goalkeepers – Nicole Barnhart (3) (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (6) (St. Louis Athletica)

Defenders – Rachel Buehler (2) (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (6) (St. Louis Athletica), Kendall Fletcher (1) (Los Angeles Sol), Heather Mitts (5) (Boston Breakers), Christie Rampone (9) (Sky Blue FC)

Midfielders – Shannon Boxx (6) (Los Angeles Sol), Tina DiMartino (1) (FC Gold Pride), Carli Lloyd (4) (Chicago Red Stars), Heather O’Reilly (7) (Sky Blue FC), Lindsay Tarpley (7) (Chicago Red Stars), Kacey White (1) (Sky Blue FC), Angie Woznuk (2) (St. Louis Athletica)

Forwards – Angela Hucles (5) (Boston Breakers), Natasha Kai (4) (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (1) (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (4) (Boston Breakers).

*Eight players were signed to letters of intent at the UCLA women’s program it was announced today including U.S. Youth National Team players Zakiya Bywaters (Las Vegas) and Chelsea Cline (Des Moines, Iowa).

Others include defender-midfielder Sierra Mack (Anaheim/ Fullerton High) and national team pool players Lucretia Lee (Bothell, Wash.) and Ahsha Smith (Oakland).

*in the first Pepperdine’s women’s soccer game of the year, the program lost 2-1 to UC San Diego and then returned home to defeat UC Riverside by the same score. The Waves return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday against UC Irvine and at 1:30 p.m. against Westmont. Admission is free to all three games.

*The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team is in Madrid, Spain, for a week-long training camp through Sunday, that includes matches against Spain, a Real Madrid youth team and Rayo Majadahonda.

Included on the squad is Carlos Martinez of San Pedro.

The WPS released the schedule for its first season today, including games for the Los Angeles Sol, which becomes the third (!) professional soccer team at Carson’s Home Depot Center.

Here are the basics from the league’s (edited) press release:

The previously announced home openers that begin Sunday, March 29 with the WPS inaugural match between the Los Angeles Sol and the Washington Freedom and continue during WPS Kick-Off Week with a full slate of league games on April 5 will be followed by regular weekly action over the next five months for a total of 70 league match-ups, three post-season contests and one WPS All-Star Game.

Teams will play a 20-game regular season schedule with 10 home games and 10 away games. Each team will play the other teams in the league three times with a fourth game against two regional rivals to round out the 20-game schedule. Games will be played primarily on weekends with 14 games scheduled for weeknights, primarily on Wednesdays. Weeknight games will not begin until midway through the season on June 3.

Every week, Fox Soccer Channel will broadcast “WPS Sunday on FSC” nationally to over 34 million homes with appointment television. The season culminates with the WPS Playoffs including the First Round, Super Semifinal and WPS Final. The WPS Final on August 22 will reach up to 80 million homes nationally on Fox Sports Net’s owned and affiliated regional sports networks.

The WPS regular season culminates the weekend of August 8/9 with three league games. The first round of the playoffs will be played August 15, the WPS Super Semifinal is set for August 18/19 with the WPS Final scheduled for August 22 at the home field of the 2009 WPS Regular Season Champion. The All-Star Game will be played following the conclusion of the season.

The complete WPS schedule is here.

The Sol schedule is here.

In other women’s soccer news, U.S. Women’s National Team Coach Pia Sundhage today announced an 18-player roster for the annual 12-team Algarve Cup scheduled for March in Portugal.

Striker Abby Wambachis not included; she’s not yet considered match-fit, while continuing her comeback from a broken leg.

Here’s the roster:
Goalkeepers – Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)

Defenders – Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Kendall Fletcher (Los Angeles Sol), Heather Mitts (Boston Breakers), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC)

Midfielders – Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tina DiMartino (FC Gold Pride), Carli Lloyd (Chicago Red Stars), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Lindsay Tarpley (Chicago Red Stars), Kacey White (Sky Blue FC), Angie Woznuk (St. Louis Athletica).

Forwards – Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Natasha Kai (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (Boston Breakers).

Here’s a roster breakdown from U.S. Soccer:

The U.S. roster features 13 players from the 2008 Olympic gold medal champions, including three-fourths of the starting back line in captain Christie Rampone and flank defenders Heather Mitts and Lori Chalupny. With Kate Markgraf pregnant, Olympian Rachel Buehler and uncapped Kendall Fletcher will compete for playing time, although Torrance’s Shannon Boxx also trained at center back during the recently completed camp. Boxx has twice been named the MVP of the Algarve Cup (2004 and 2006).

Sundhage named three relatively inexperienced midfielders to go along with Olympians Boxx, Lindsay Tarpley, Heather O’Reilly and Lloyd. Among midfielders Angie Woznuk (6 caps, 1 goal), Tina DiMartino (1/0) and Kacey White (15/0), only Woznuk has attended the Algarve Cup before, playing in two matches last year.

The U.S. plays Demark, Iceland and Norway in the opening round of the Algarve Cup.

Lastly, Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores and UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk are among a 26-player group that will train in Bradenton, Fla., until Feb. 15 as part of final preparations for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, which takes place in Trinidad and Tobago from March 6-15.

After the camp, U.S. Coach Thomas Rongen will name a 20-player squad for the championship.

Noted:
*The Galaxy play their final preseason game (otherwise known as the “Will David Beckham return from AC Milan lottery?) March 14 in Tempe, Ariz., against the Chicago Fire, the club announced today. The Galaxy opens their season in Carson March 22 against D. C. United.

The game is part of an effort to locate an MLS team in the area, according to the press release:

The PHX Soccer Clasico is the first major event for Phoenix Soccer Development. Founded in 2007, PHX Soccer Development seeks to promote professional soccer in the Valley with the ultimate goal of having an MLS club based locally.

* Landon Donovan has scored two more goals for Bayern Munich.

*Three members of the Los Angeles Sol, the local franchise in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league, have been selected as members of the USA’s Under-23 Women’s National Team when it travels to Europe for matches against Norway Feb. 4 and England two days later in La Manga, Spain.

From the Sol press release:

Sol goalkeeper Val Henderson, selected in the fifth round of last week’s 2009 WPS Draft from UCLA, enters the trip with 14 caps at the U-23 level, the most of any of the 18 players on the U.S. roster. She will be joined by two recent draftees, forward Katie Larkin, taken by the Sol in the third round from BYU, who is currently on seven caps and first-round selection, midfielder Brittany Bock (Notre Dame), in search of her first cap with the U-23’s.

Also on the roster: uncapped Stanford forward Christen Press of Palos Verdes Estates and Portland goalkeeper Kelsey Davis of Thousand Oaks..

Eleven of the 18-player roster are with pro clubs, a record.

The Sol begins its season noon March 29 at the HDC against the Washington Freedom.

*My apologies to Cal State Dominguez Hills Coach Joe Flanagan for neglecting to mention earlier as I caught up that he had been named on Monday the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division II Coach of the Year.

He coached CSUDH to its second national title this year.

“It’s not only a tribute to our team that performed well on the field, but also a tremendous honor for our staff,” Flanagan said.. “It’s definitely a ‘we’ award. It’s not about me, it’s about us.

“In 2000, I was along for the ride, but now, after 8 years of battling and trying to get back to this promised land, I appreciate it a lot more knowing what it takes to get here.”

*Lastly, Fontana’s Maurice Edu provides a little perspective on what he and fellow American DaMarcus Beasley face at Glasgow Rangers here.

Cal State Dominguez Hills junior defender Kevin Gallaugher was today named the Division II National Player of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

He led the Toro defense to 14 shutouts on the year, including three in five games in the NCAA postseason. The defense gave up just 19 goals on the season.

It’s the first such honor for the program in eight years, when Juan Carlos “JC” Bolanos led CSUDH to its 2000 NCAA Title.

“Throughout the year in our 27 games, I don’t think Kevin had one bad game,” reflects head coach Joe Flanagan, who also coached Bolanos during the 2000 run. “This award shows how complete and prepared of a player he is in every game, and the level he played at. As a great defender, he truly deserves the opportunity to be player of the year.”

In other news that filtered out over the holidays:
*Two Galaxy players – David Beckham and Landon Donovan – are in Dubai training with two different European teams.

*HDC press box colleague Luis Bueno brings us up to date on Chivas USA midfielder Panchito Mendoza, who played over the weekend in CD Guadalajara’s 2-1 win over Necaxa. Bueno translates what Mendoza had to say about the Mexican league in comparison to MLS.

*The New York Times Goal blog follows the lead of England’s FourFourTwo magazine and asks famous players to name their best all-time team. Chivas USA’s Claudio Suarez names his here.

*The U.S. men’s Under-18 National Team on Sunday began a week-long 72-player camp at Home Depot Center. Among the locals being evaluated by former Chivas USA assistant coach and newly-appointed U-18 Coach Mike Matkovich are: defender Jesus Gonzales (Chino Hills, Calif.; FC Barcelona); midfielders Eder Arreola (Chino Hills; UCLA), Antonio Benitez (Azusa; LAFC Chelsea), Miles Byass (San Bernardino; Arsenal FC), Alejandro Cobarubias (Cudahy; Galaxy), Pablo Cruz (Azusa; LAFC Chelsea), Chris Ortega (Chula Vista; Arsenal FC), Patrick Otte (Thousand Oaks; Middlesborough Academy); Giovanni Rollie (Los Angeles; LAFC Chelsea), Michael Roman (Oxnard; Real So Cal); forwards Orr Baroush (Reseda; Chivas USA Academy), Marquis Brooks (Chula Vista; Galaxy),

*Celebrities confirmed for the second annual Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, a Jan. 17 charity soccer match benefiting Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation at Home Depot Center include: skateboarding pros Tony Hawk and Ryan Sheckler, U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh, former NFL running back Marcus Allen, Zachary Levi of Chuck, Jimmy Jean Louis of Heroes and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Tickets are $20 through the HDC box office or via TicketMaster.

Finally, a reminder that $50 gets you a tryout Jan. 17-18 with PDL team Ventura County Fusion. Details here.

Sporadic posting will continue through the new year. But check back tomorrow for my regular weekly column and a poll.