*Chivas USA striker Justin Braun and former Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu have been released from the U.S. Men’s National Team in Carson because of injuries, officials announced today.

Braun sustained a laceration in the region of his left Achilles Tuesday during the morning training session. The injury required four stitches and will sideline the forward for seven days.

Ihemelu is bothered by hip and groin injuries he had rested following the 2010 MLS season.

U.S. Soccer doesn’t plan to add players to what is now a 23-player roster ahead of the Jan. 22 game against Chile at Home Depot Center.

*The over-hyped MLS not so SuperDraft is set for 9 a.m. Thursday. ESPN2 will air the first hour of the three-round, 54-pick event.

If past history is any guide fans shouldn’t expect teams to find players who will immediately have a huge impact in an ever-improving league like MLS, which, frankly, is how it should be.

*Rumored Galaxy target Ronaldinho was unveiled today as a new signing for Brazilian club Flamengo, as expected.

*The second stop on the Mexican National Team’s 2011 U.S. Tour will be in Oakland when it plays a March 26 game against Paraguay. Tickets go on sale to the general public Jan. 21.

*Josh Gatt, a former midfielder with the PDL Orange County Blue Star, has signed with Norway’s Molde, now coached by former Manchester United midfielder Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Michigan native and member of the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team previously played for Austrian club Rheindorf Altach.

*Galaxy youth striker Jack McBean of Newport Beach is one of eight new players selected to join the famed U.S. Under-17 residential academy in Bradenton, Fla., this spring. A total of 40 players will attend the academy, where players receive daily top-class training, while attending a local high school.

Local holdovers in the group include goalkeepers Wade Hamilton (Arsenal FC; Murietta) and Jake McGuire (Chivas USA Academy; Chino); defender Luis Martir (Chivas Guadalajara; Los Angeles); midfielders Marco Delgado (Cosmo Academy West; Glendora), Esteban Rodriguez (Cosmos Academy West; Palmdale); forwards Kevin De La Torre (Chivas USA Academy; Winchester, CA).

*The EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur hopes/believes/is trying to convince themselves (take your pick, one is as good as another at this point since the Galaxy never confirm any deal until every “i” is dotted) that David Beckham could be on loan to them by Sunday. Details here. And don’t you just love those vague comments from Spurs boss Harry Rednapp. Personally I’d rather hear what Landon Donovan has to say about Beckham’s loan.

*Meanwhile, with Beckham possibly off to what amounts to a (high-profile) London training camp, the Home Depot Center fields are getting busier and busier as various U.S. national teams crank up their activity another notch.

*Zenit St. Petersburg striker Eugene Starikov arrived in the South Bay Thursday, bringing to 25 the number of mostly young players in the U.S. Men’s National Team camp in Carson. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Starikov grew up in Florida and attended Stetson University.

*The U.S. women open a six-day camp in Carson Saturday with 26 players in attendance including UCLA’s Sydney Leroux, Diamond Bar’s Alex Morgan, USC product Amy Rodriguez and Rolling Hills Estates’ Whitney Engen.

*A 24-player women’s U-23 contingent starts practicing at the HDC Sunday and includes the likes of striker Christen Press of Palos Verdes Estates and midfielder Megan Jesolva of La Mirada.

Incidentally, I’m often asked whether practices are open to the public, what time they are, where players are staying, etc. The short answers are no, it varies and U.S. Soccer officials don’t want fans knowing.

But the USMNT usually practices around 10 a.m. daily (although there are unannounced off days) and fans can peer over a fence, while the team itself usually stays in hotels in either Manhattan Beach or Hermosa Beach (in truth I don’t know exactly where for this camp). And you didn’t read that here.

Finally, those of us disinclined to take afternoon/early evenings strolls along The Strand or staking out hotel lobbies in order to get a glimpse of players have plenty of footie to choose from on TV this weekend.

The Mexican league starts up again with Monterrey hosting San Luis (3 p.m. Saturday on KVEA) and Tigres at Queretaro at the same time on KFTR (although now former Chivas USA defender Jonny Bornstein is out injured and won’t play for UANL).

My pick of the weekend? Liverpool visiting Manchester United at 5:30 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel. Will the under-fire Roy Hodgson still be on Merseyside come Monday?

Click on the Live TV link at top right for a complete run-down of all games on TV and online and enjoy the weekend.

The boy from Brazil is out of Italy: Ronaldinho is heading home, he announced today at a news conference (AP Photo).

*Sounds like the Galaxy’s interest in Ronaldinho is pretty much done at least for the forseeable future:

SAO PAULO (AP) — Ronaldinho reached an agreement with AC Milan on Thursday to end his contract, clearing the way to return to Brazil soccer.

Three Brazilian clubs remain in contention to sign the 2004 and 2005 FIFA player of the year: Palmeiras, Flamengo and his former team, Gremio.

“We reached an agreement with Milan and now I’m free to continue my life here in Brazil,” Ronaldinho said.

The 30-year-old Ronaldinho wants to play in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and hopes that a successful return to Brazilian soccer will help him reach that goal. After leaving Barcelona to join AC Milan in 2008, Ronaldinho struggled to establish himself at the Italian club.

Ronaldinho has been playing in Europe since he joined France’s Paris-Saint Germain in 2001, where he stayed for two years before making the move to Barcelona.

*Which brings us to the Galaxy’s David Beckham and his on off, maybe maybe not loan move back to England.

I was on the radio in England Monday insisting the Galaxy aren’t stupid enough to pull this little move yet again, insulting their own fans. But, frankly, I don’t really care that much anyway and this blog post perfectly sums up why.

*U.S. Soccer has appointed former U.S. Women’s National Team Coach April Heinrichs as technical director and UCLA women’s coach Jill Ellis as development director for the U.S. Women’s National Teams. It’s the first time U.S. Soccer has appointed full-time staffers to oversee the women’s youth national team program and the programs’ overall development.

Ellis has also coached the U.S. U-20 and U-21 women’s teams. She spent a dozen years at UCLA including leading the program to the NCAA Tournament final four on eight occasions.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

Heinrichs will provide technical direction for women’s soccer in the United States as it relates to the U.S. Women’s National Teams with a focus on the Under-20s and younger, while overseeing the U.S. Under-20 and U.S. U-18 Women’s National Teams. Ellis will be taking the lead on interacting directly with key coaches within the youth club environment while also guiding and directing the U.S. U-17s, U-15s and U-14s.

Heinrichs and Ellis will work together to integrate all of the youth women’s and girls’ national teams, helping players and systems connect from one team to the next. They will also play major roles in leading the discussion on connecting the philosophies of the WNT head coach through all the youth national teams and especially to the massive amount of girls’ youth clubs in the United States. Ellis especially will focus on the grassroots within the youth club environment to convey the goals and philosophies of player development in order to help produce quality players for the national team level.

*UCLA responded to the appointment today by announcing assistant head coach B.J. Snow will replace Ellis in the top coaching job. Snow becomes the fourth head coach in program history, following Joy Fawcett (1993-97), Todd Saldana (1998) and Ellis (1999-2010).

Snow started at UCLA in 2006 as a volunteer assistant coach and won a paid position within a year.

*Lastly, The Blues Soccer Club, which includes the W-League Pali Blues and the recently launched Los Angeles Blues of USL Pro (which will play most of its games in the OC) will merge its youth club program with Corona United, the clubs announced today. The goal is to “establish a true pyramid structure for its teams from top to bottom across age groups.”

From the press release:

Corona United was established in 1992 and features anywhere from 21-25 teams each season and over 300 players from the Los Angeles area playing in the Coast Soccer League. The club is led by President & Director of Coaching Shayon Jalayer, who now has the title of Associate Head Coach & Director of Youth Operations, Blues Soccer Club. Jalayer is also an assistant with the Los Angeles Blues USL PRO team.

The American Youth Soccer Organization isn’t exactly moving back into the city of Torrance, where the group was founded in a garage in the mid-1960s.

But it’s pretty close.

Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto, a long-time AYSO coach and official, and A.Y. Olds pose with a municipal proclamation issued at a recent City Council meeting (Photo courtesy city of Torrance).

Here’s the text of the proclamation:

WHEREAS, the City of Torrance recognizes with great pride, A. Y. Olds, who was one of the first managers working in Torrance to build the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO); and

WHEREAS, in 1964, AYSO began operations with nine teams – four teams in Torrance and five teams in Culver City. Under the guidance and vision of A. Y. Olds, the second Region 12 Commissioner from 1970-1975, AYSO rapidly grew throughout Torrance and the South Bay; and

WHEREAS, A. Y. Olds was an assistant coach for his son’s team, the Riviera Vultures, coached by Jim Colby in 1969. They were the first Torrance team to win the AYSO State
Championship, after playing games at EI Camino College and the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum; and

WHEREAS, A.Y. worked for many years with Ron Littlefair and Hans Stierle, the founder of AYSO, enlisting the aid of local first-generation immigrant volunteers to help him in Region 12, all from countries with strong soccer heritages, including Larry Cook (England),
Paul Adamson (Germany), Andy Keir Sr. and Jr. (Scotland), and Paul Dietaker (Germany).
It is interesting to note that Andy Keir Jr. played on the U. S. Olympic soccer team in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. It must be remembered that back in the early to mid 1960′s soccer was an unknown sport and it took years to build its current reputation; and

WHEREAS, A. Y. Olds adopted regional budgets and worked tirelessly in public relations and development to obtain sponsorships to support the local teams and events. In 1970, he and his team raised $1,000, a large sum for those days. They also established game
schedules and started the coaches’ draft, much like those used in professional sports
today. A. Y. also established the Region 12 scholarship program to support local student
athletes going to college; and

WHEREAS, A. Y. Olds invited girls to also play AYSO soccer in the South Bay, and this spurred more growth in youth soccer. By 1975, Region 12 enrollment had climbed to 1,500 players, second only to Palos Verdes, the perennial #1 enrollment area. South and West Torrance competed for the best players and highest enrollments, as they still do today. In fact, AYSO provided the fertile training ground to develop young players in the community and the two High Schools played each other several times for the State championship. A. Y. is proud that his son, Jim, played for another State championship in 1978, this time for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) game between South High and West High; and

WHEREAS, the South Torrance Lions Club, of which A. Y. was a member, hosted one of the first exhibition soccer games between Torrance players and European players at EI Camino College in 1972. The Lions assembled an All-Star team of AYSO players to play the Hanover 96 semi-professional team from Germany. The stadium was filled to capacity with 12,000 people in attendance, who saw the Germans barely beat our local stars by a 5-3 score; and

WHEREAS, thanks to its Pioneers, AYSO has more than 50,000 teams, more than 650,000 players and is supported by more than 250,000 parents across the nation, who passionately dedicate their time and talents as coaches, referees, team parents, administrators and sponsors.

Now, therefore, I, Frank Scotto, as Mayor of the City of Torrance, California, do hereby
honor, commend and express sincere appreciation to A.Y. Olds for his outstanding contributions and dedicated service to the youth of the community. Mr. “A.Y.S.O.”, A. Y. Olds has made a positive and lasting impact on many lives and serves as an inspiration for all citizens.

*The nation’s leading scorer, South Bay native Christen Press, leads Stanford against Boston College (3:30 p.m. ESPNU), while the other NCAA semifinal, Ohio State-Notre Dame, precedes the game at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. The final is 9 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

More on the goal scoring exploits of Press from our sister newspaper the San Jose Mercury News is here.

*Meanwhile, the UCLA men’s team is preparing to face top-ranked and undefeated Louisville Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in a game the Bruins weren’t wasn’t expected to play in anyway in a supposed rebuilding year

*The Galaxy announced today that retired midfielder Chris Klein, 34, has been named the club’s senior director of its Academy Program and Special Projects.

The 12-year MLS veteran “will be responsible for overseeing the long-term financial and technical plan for the Academy, while building a strong presence in the local soccer community. Klein will also be in charge of developing and improving the Academy’s training facilities and programs, coaching staff and recruitment program,” the club said.

It’s an excellent move by the Galaxy, holding onto a classy player and person who sets an example for young players with his work rate and total professionalism.

“I am thankful and honored to be able to remain with the Galaxy and AEG in this new and exciting role,” Klein said. “With the league making great strides in the field of youth development, we all feel that it is essential to have a structure in place to help grow our Academy, not just in the present, but into the future as well. The long term strength of our club will be predicated by the success of our Academy and I am grateful to be able to be a part of that and to be able to help shape the future of this great club.”

*Lastly, plenty of big games this weekend including a U.S. Men’s Under-17 game at 4 p.m. today on Fox Soccer Channel against Brazil (there’s another at 4 p.m. Sunday against Turkey on FSC) and a Saturday morning lineup of Chelsea-Everton (6:55 a.m. ESPN2), Arsenal-Fulham (7 a.m. FSC) and Blackpool-Manchester United (9:30 a.m. FSC).

Click to top right for the complete, exhaustive, detailed, definitive roundup of all the weekend’s games I’m way too lazy to list.

It takes a lot of balls to learn how to do this do this (AP Photo).

Ten years, thousands of balls collected and donated because of readers like you.

Pick up a soccer ball or two while shopping this holiday season will ya?

Happy holidays.

Los Angeles-area parents and youngsters clad in soccer gear from the Anahuak Youth Soccer Association will hold a save our parks march in support of Proposition 21.

The association relies on the recreational space at Rio de Los Angeles State Park to host games and practices.

Local youth sports leagues nearly lost access to the fields last year because of proposed park closures. Supporters will hold a rally and press conference to highlight the funding problems in the state park system.

Those expected to attend include Raul Macias, president of the Anahuak Youth Soccer Association; Irma Munoz, President of Mujere de las Tierras; Alfredo Gonzalez, The Nature Conservancy; and Arturo Carmona, executive director of Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamerica.

The march beings at 10 a.m. and the rally at 10:30 a.m. at the park, 1900 San Fernando Road.

More information on the campaign is available by clicking here.

*Red Bull New York’s Rafael Marquez, who will play Friday against the Galaxy at Home Depot Center, was one of 13 Mexican internationals fined or suspended for a party they threw in the team hotel in Monterrey last month in violation of team rules after an exhibition match against Colombia, according to the Associated Press.

Suspended were Carlos Vela (Arsenal) and Efrain Juarez (Glasgow Celtic).

Also fined, like Marquez, were: Javier Hernandez, Giovanni dos Santos, Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido, Andres Guardado, Gerardo Torrado, Pablo Barrera, Hector Esqueda and Hector Moreno.

*Read about former Galaxy and Chivas USA striker Alecko Eskandarian and his continuing struggle with concussion-like symptoms here.

*More about blossoming Galaxy midfield star Juninho is here in words and in diagrams here (and yes, I know I’ve posted that latter link before – it seemed apt to do so again with the story).

*U.S. Soccer today announced the names of the 40 Under-17 players who will join the famed Bradenton Academy this fall and the locals (with club affiliation and hometown) include:

goalkeepers – Wade Hamilton (Arsenal FC; Murietta.), Jake McGuire (Chivas USA; Chino)

defender – Luis Martir (Chivas de Guadalajara; Los Angeles)

midfielders – Marco Delgado (Cosmos Academy West; Glendora), Esteban Rodriguez (Cosmos Academy West; Palmdale),

forwards – Kevin De La Torre (Chivas USA; Winchester), Mario Rodriguez (Central Aztecs; North Hollywood)