Players on the U.S. Futsal National Team scrimmage Thursday at South Coast Soccer City in Torrance (Photo by Staff Photographer Brad Graverson).

When it comes to U.S. national outdoor soccer teams, the South Bay is already home to all but the Under-17 boys national team program (that has its HQ in Bradenton, Fla.), based at the National Training Center at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Now the U.S. Futsal National Team has relocated from Milwaukee, Wisc., to Torrance all because of the presence of what is believed to be the finest indoor soccer facility in the nation, two-year-old South Coast Soccer City.

The futsal team just opened its first camp in two years in preparation for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

Here’s more in a story I wrote today for the Daily Breeze.

*As regular readers of this blog learned here exclusively on Tuesday, Riverside Poly High product Sammy Ochoa has signed with MLS and Chivas USA is in pole position to sign him.

*Galaxy midfielder Chris Birchall has been called up to the Trinidad & Tobago National Team for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Barbados and Bermuda. The Galaxy, already without Irish international Robbie Keane for the Labor Day contest against Sporting Kansas City, won’t have Birchall for that game either.

He has 36 caps for his national team. Here’s more from the Galaxy press release:

Trinidad and Tobago will open their 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign on Friday, Sept. 2 when they host Bermuda at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. They will be back in action again four days later on Tuesday, Sept. 6 when they take on Barbados in Bridgetown. These are the first of six games that the Soca Warriors will play in Group B of the Second Round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying with future games against Barbados and Bermuda to be played in October as well as two games against Guyana in November.

*Los Angeles-based Fox Soccer Channel, already in in negotiations with Glasgow Rangers to televise the club’s games in the U.S now the club employs three Americans, has snatched up the broadcast rights to the Europa League:

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA says Fox Sports has purchased the U.S. broadcast rights for the Europa League in the 2012-15 seasons, replacing DirecTV.

UEFA did not disclose what Fox paid for the three-year deal. Fox recently lost the rights to MLS to NBC.

UEFA says Fox Soccer Channel will broadcast at least two matches live each week that games are scheduled. Fox Soccer Plus will show live matches up the quarterfinals stage.

Fox Sports recently acquired rights to show UEFA’s marquee club competition, the Champions League, in a three-season deal through 2015.

*Finally, are you bored with all the ties in MLS this season? You are not alone.

Personally, I like the idea of awarding teams zero points for scoring zero goals in 0-0 draws as a partial solution.

What say you?

FIFA took down Jack Warner and are now taking aim at his cronies in CONCACAF. AP Writer Graham Dunbar has the details:

ZURICH (AP) — Delving further into a scandal that shook the sport, FIFA will investigate 16 Caribbean soccer leaders about a bribery scandal involving former presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam.

The officials are suspected of being offered or taking $40,000 in cash to back Bin Hammam against FIFA President Sepp Blatter, then denying their actions to investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

FIFA said Thursday the suspects from 11 countries include Colin Klass of Guyana, a
long-standing ally of former Caribbean soccer boss Jack Warner. FIFA said Klass has been provisionally suspended.

The governing body added that the 16 will be invited for new interviews by Freeh’s team as part of an investigation led by Robert Torres, a judge from Guam.

“It is important to note that the investigations are still ongoing, and that it is therefore
possible that further proceedings could be opened in the future,” FIFA said in a
statement.

The list also includes Mark Bob Forde from Barbados, who was a FIFA-approved international referee for almost 20 years.

Haiti federation president Yves Jean-Bart is also under investigation. He made a speech at the FIFA Congress on June 1 criticizing English officials who wanted Blatter’s election delayed while corruption allegations were fully investigated.

Dominican soccer federation president Osiris Guzman and vice president Felix Ledesma are also being investigated.

Ledesema denied being offered bribes to vote for bin Hammam.

“I never received any offers. I think this is all a political case,” he told the AP.

The second wave of cases follows bin Hammam’s life ban last month.

FIFA’s ethics panel also suspended two Caribbean Football Union staffers for one year for their part in distributing the cash-stuffed brown envelopes in a Trinidad hotel.

FIFA invited officials from CFU member countries for “truthful and complete reporting” of what happened during the Qatari candidate’s May 10 campaign visit to Trinidad.

FIFA’s legal process typically means accused officials are called before the ethics panel,
which decides if the evidence demands more investigation and a full hearing weeks later. Those under suspicion face being provisionally suspended from any soccer duty, including contacting other officials and attending national team games.

The scandal threatens to remove some of the Caribbean’s most influential soccer leaders during a busy period of 2014 World Cup qualification matches.

Goooaaal! U.S. Soccer finally scored the man many had long wanted to mold the future of American soccer, Juergen Klinnsmann, albeit almost 20 years on from this goal he scored against Spain at the 1994 World Cup (AP Photo).

Juergen Klinsmann was officially introduced Monday as the new coach of the USMNT a move many observers, including this one, believe gives the U.S. the best of both the European and American perspectives.

Read the column here.

What’s your take on the appointment?

Updated

Listen to the new U.S. coach in his own words from Monday’s press conference:

*Chivas USA wilted in the Texas heat today and lost to FC Dallas for their first loss in their last five games. Dallas play the Galaxy next weekend in Carson.

Quotable:

“It was possibly the hottest game I have been a part of in MLS, so it was difficult for both teams,” Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser said. “That type of game out there tonight, the team that capitalizes on their opportunities is going to be the team that wins the game. Dallas capitalized on a chance really early and it was tough to chase the game after that. We fought hard and in the end we came up a bit short.”

Chivas USA lineup: Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin, Michael Umana, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Michael Lahoud (Alejandro Moreno 59), Simon Elliott (Paulo Nagamura 64), Blair Gavin, Jorge Flores (Ben Zemanski 81), Justin Braun, Nick LaBrocca

Next for Chivas USA: the Revolution in New England Saturday

*What’s the difference between the first-place team in MLS and the last place team? Four goals.

Watch the Galaxy turn it on and win in style – as requested:

Here’s Donovan’s reaction:

Next for the Galaxy: in Portland Wednesday against the Timbers.

MLS Standings

*Just in time for a new USMNT coach and to underline how little time there is before the next World Cup, the preliminary draw for the 2014 tournament was held this weekend.

*David Beckham’s affection for Manchester United won’t allow him to play for Tottenham Hotspur or any other EPL team once his MLS contract ends.

*Chivas USA fans are still waiting for the club to make any sort of movement in the transfer market, but Saturday night’s opponent in Carson, the Houston Dynamo, have been busy and could showcase a new face at Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (live on FSN)

*Speaking of Chivas USA, former coach Martin Vasquez has resurfaced with Real Salt Lake (so-to-speak).

*Will Brazil be ready for the 2014 World Cup? Yes, insists the government:

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s sports minister says the construction and renovation work on the 12 stadiums scheduled to host matches at the World Cup will be concluded by late
2013.

Orlando Silva said Thursday in a conference call that 10 of the stadiums will host matches for the 2013 Confederations Cup, a test event for soccer’s showcase tournament.

Silva says Brazil will invest $14 billion in airports, urban transportation, ports and stadiums for the World Cup.

*Los Angeles native and former Galaxy striker Herculez Gomez makes his Tecos debut at Toluca as the new Mexican league season kicks off tonight at 6 o’clock on Galavision.

*In other games of note this weekend:

Manchester United plays the Chicago Fire at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2 fresh from putting seven goals past the Seattle Sounders in a game that will be played in wilting heat:

“We’ve come from the nice, cool atmosphere in Seattle to a furnace,” United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the Associated Press today. “I think I’ll just stay in the hotel.”

Dallas is at New York at 3 p.m. Saturday on Galavision

Everton takes on D.C. United at 4:30 p.m. Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel

At noon Sunday Monarcas visits Tijuana as the Xolos make their top division debut on KAZA.

At 1 p.m. Sunday Manchester City plays the Galaxy at Home Depot Center on ESPN.

Stars of the future make their mark now: Mexico’s Luis Guzman and Arturo Gonzalez hold the FIFA U-17 World Cup trophy in Mexico City Sunday after defeating Uruguay in the final (AP Photo).

This is what summer soccer weekends are about.

I can’t remember a weekend packed with as many dramatic games as those we saw over the last couple of days.

With interest in the U.S. National Women’s Team at its lowest ebb for years, this crop of players evoked memories of the glory days of 1999 with the sort of game of a lifetime – for players and fans alike – that will always make you remember exactly where you were on July 10, 2011.

But that wasn’t all:

*An English national team choked when it came to penalty kicks – yet again.

*Japan shocked heavy favorites and World Cup hosts Germany.

*The Mexican U-17 team reminded fans that the nation’s potential in the years ahead is virtually unlimited.

*And the atmosphere Sunday at the first-ever Timbers-Sounders game in Portland was something to behold, even on television, during a five-goal thriller that lived up to its billing on the field, too.

Somewhere in the middle of all that the Galaxy and Chivas USA played, too, with David Beckham scoring direct from a corner kick and Sporting’s Omar Bravo popping up for a second successive game against Chivas USA to remind the team that they really should have made a bigger effort to sign him.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy had four players – midfielders Beckham and Landon Donovan and defenders Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez – named Sunday to the starting XI of the MLS All-Star team. The game is set for July 27 against Manchester United

(Pant, pant).

And there’s no let-up in sight.

United’s rivals, Manchester City, are now in Southern California to open preseason training ahead of the July 24 game against the Galaxy at Home Depot Center and on Sunday the club attempted to boost the Dodgers’ lack-luster attendance by sending much of its squad to the game.

Real Madrid, I believe, fly in to LAX sometime today ahead of Saturday’s game against the Galaxy at the Coliseum part of the World Football Challenge that begins Wednesday in Boston.

But first the Galaxy must face the Sounders in Seattle Tuesday in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal and I must head out to practice to chat with the team.

I’ll have more on the Galaxy, Real Madrid and their contribution to Carmegeddon this Saturday in Tuesday’s column.

Former Galaxy player Leonard Griffin out jumps Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez in a U.S. Open Cup game Tuesday between the LA Blues and the MLS club at Cal State Fullerton (Photo courtesy LA Blues).

*Staff Writer Phil Collin made the trek to Orange County for the U.S. Open Cup game between the Galaxy and the minor league LA Blues and filed this game story.

*Earlier in the day the U.S. Women’s National Team opened their World Cup campaign against North Korea with Torrance’s Shannon Boxx going the full 90 and looking dominant in midfield.

Nice logo, but not much else it turns out has either been completed or is on schedule it seems (still, and I yes, I know we’ve heard this before). Associated Press writer David Nowak has more:

MOSCOW (AP) — FIFA remains concerned at the slow pace of Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup, saying soccer officials in South America appear to have invested more energy in winning the tournament than organizing it.

“We don’t have stadiums, we don’t have airports,” secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Friday at the Inside World Football forum in Moscow.

He added it looked increasingly likely that some facilities, including Rio de Janeiro’s iconic
Maracana, would be ready with only a few weeks to spare.

“The Maracana is not a World Cup stadium” yet, Valcke said, adding that in Brazil “the main issue is not to organize the World Cup but to win the World Cup.”

Brazil, which won hosting rights by default after other South American nations withdrew, has been mired in organizational and bureaucratic problems since it was announced as host in 2007.

Builders working on one of the stadiums only this week returned to work after going on strike over pay and conditions. About 160 of the nearly 400 workers helping to upgrade Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte stopped working this month. The agreement includes a 4 percent wage hike, a health plan and more overtime pay.

Belo Horizonte is one of the cities vying to host the opening match. Others include the
capital, Brasilia, and Sao Paulo, South America’s biggest city.

Brazilian lawmakers this month were forced to approve a raft of measures aimed at reducing the paperwork needed to clear various infrastructure projects. The changes reduce the time to conclude the bidding processes on tenders, eliminating some stages and need for approval.

Saint-Clair Milesi, a spokesman for the local World Cup organizing committee, said from Brazil that with the exception of Sao Paulo, the construction of new stadiums and renovation of existing ones is “continuing according to schedule.” He declined to comment further.

Ricardo Leyser, a top official with Brazil’s Sports Ministry, told the Estado de S. Paulo
newspaper Friday that “it is obvious that Brazil will be ready on time to host the World
Cup.

“We have no doubt that all the work being done to prepare the country to host the games will be concluded on time,” Leyser said.

Valcke urged Russia, which is hosting the event for the first time in 2018, to have the
required 12 stadiums ready two years in advance to allow time for test events.

Russia is building most of the facilities from scratch in a $10 billion project, a budget that
doesn’t include the massive infrastructure improvements needed such as rail networks, new roads and airport upgrades.

It was Valcke’s first public appearance since FIFA exonerated him of wrongdoing for saying Qatar had “bought” the 2022 World Cup hosting rights.

Valcke alluded to the maelstrom of corruption allegations surrounding FIFA in recent months, beginning his keynote speech by saying, “It’s good to talk about football. I mean, we need it at FIFA sometimes.”

Associated Press writer Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.

And let’s face it, since the U.S. has no chance of winning the tournament, the nation may as well organize it