Recently in U.S. Men's National Team Category

I'm under a directive to burn some vacation hours so will take an extended break through next Tuesday.

That means no column next week, but one of this country's best soccer writers has stepped in with an apt Galaxy-centric column that breaks down the past and, hopefully, future sucess of the club.

In other local soccer news:

*No fewer than seven - yup, seven - MLS teams including the Portland Timbers, Houston Dynamo, Montreal Impact, Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire (I'll let you guess the other two) are training at Home Depot Center this week.

Want to see some upcoming scrimmages?

Here's a (partial) schedule:

*10:30 a.m. Friday HDC Portland-Montreal
*Noon Saturday Oxnard College Chivas USA-Chicago Fire.
*10:30 a.m. Sunday HDC Portland-Houston
*11 a.m. Wednesday HDC Portland-Chicago.

Games involving the Galaxy are open to the media, but remain closed to the general public, BTW (the Galaxy and Dynamo meet at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the HDC).

*Rolling Hills Etates' Robbie Rogers reflects on signing for Leeds - and then seeing the coach that signed him promptly getting fired.

*No, Aston Villa you don't get to keep the Galaxy's Robbie Keane until a couple of days before the March 7 CONCACAF CL quarterfinal season opener (which isn't mentioned in this story). Villains, indeed.

*Guess which Galaxy player just got picked for their national team?

*If you only watch one game this weekend...make it Manchester United-Liverpool (4:30 a.m. Saturday ESPN2).

Also of note:

Landon Donovan and Everton against Chelsea (6:30 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer)
Robbie Keane and Aston Villa against Manchester City ( 8 a.m. Sunday Fox Soccer)

*Finally, The U.S. exhibition game against Brazil will be played May 30 at Landover, Md., U.S. Soccer announced today.

*Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza and the U.S. plays Panama at 5:30 p.m. today live on Galavision.

*Mexico faces Chivas USA's Alejandro Moreno and Venezuela in Houston (live 6 p.m. KMEX). More here.

*FOX Soccer announced today it will air live the FA Cup showdown between Americans Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey when Everton and Fulham meet at noon Friday in the fourth-round game. JP Dellacamera and Eric Wynalda will commentate marking the first time Americans have called an FA Cup match on the channel.

*Individual tickets went on sale today for the Group B matches of 2012 men's Olympic qualifying in Carson.

Here's the details from the HDC: The group consists of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago. Doubleheader events involving these four teams will be held March 23, 25 and 27. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the elimination round in Kansas City.

Fans can order tickets online at ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at local Ticketmaster ticket centers in the venue cities, and at the respective stadium ticket offices during their local business hours.

*USMNT goalkeeper Hope Solo is a doubt for the crucial Olympics qualification decider _ and her "Dancing with the Stars" stint was a contributing factor in the injury. AP Sports Writer Joseph White has more:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Hope Solo has an ailing leg, the result of some extra work she was putting in to get back into playing shape after "Dancing With the Stars."

The timing isn't the greatest. The U.S. women's soccer team is about to play the game that determines whether it goes to the Olympics.

"We have to make a decision whether she is 100 percent to go or not," coach Pia Sundhage said Wednesday. "And if she isn't, we have a tremendous backup goalkeeper."

The United States plays Costa Rica on Friday in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. The winner goes to London; the loser stays home for the summer.

Solo was clutching her right leg during the Americans' 4-0 win over Mexico on Tuesday and was wearing on ice pack on the leg after the game. She said she had a "little quad pull," suffered a few days earlier in practice and aggravated during the first half against the Mexicans.

Cold as Ice: U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo adjusts an ice pack on her leg following a 4-0 win over Mexico Tuesday in Olympic qualifying (AP Photo).

"Toward the end of the game I was a little worried that I was going to have to come out, but being qualifying and only having three subs, you don't really want to sub the goalkeeper," Solo said after the game. "So I definitely knew I could maintain for another 15 minutes."

Solo has said she lost some of her muscle strength during her two-month run on "Dancing With the Stars," an appearance that capitalized on the U.S. team's popularity following last summer's World Cup. She finished in fourth place with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, but the moves involved in executing the perfect cha-cha aren't the same as the ones needed to stop a header at the far post.

"I'm trying to get my quickness back, and my sharpness back, and my kicking back, so I've been focusing a lot on my kicking," she said. "And I think it just fatigued and it pulled a little bit."

Solo has played every minute of the Americans' three games at the tournament, but she hasn't had to do much. The U.S. team has outscored its opponents 31-0, and Solo didn't have to make a save against Mexico.

And, on paper at least, a less-than-100-percent Solo or backup Nicole Barnhart should be more than enough to hold off Costa Rica.

Las Ticas are ranked No. 41 in the world have never beaten the U.S., having been outscored 34-0 in seven meetings.

But the Americans are wary about the game because they slipped up in the semifinals of World Cup qualifying 14 months ago, losing to Mexico for the first time ever. The defeat forced the U.S. into a playoff to earn a trip to the World Cup in Germany.

There is no such playoff available in Olympic qualifying, so an upset on Friday would keep the world's top-ranked team out of the Summer Games.

Solo and her teammates got a needed day off Wednesday following a grueling stretch of three games in five days.

"Luckily going into the next game, the most important game, I'll have an extra day of rest,"
Solo said Tuesday night. "So I think things should be fine. I'm hoping things will be fine."

While Solo's dancing stint brought invaluable attention to women's soccer, Sundhage admits she was apprehensive after finding out that her goalkeeper was taking part.

"I was scared. High heels?" the coach said with a laugh. "It doesn't matter what I think.
Obviously she wanted to do it. Obviously it was fun for her, and a lot of attention to the
goalkeeper of the national team. But, honestly, I was scared. That outfit? It was so different from the soccer player Hope Solo I know."

So was the coach rooting against Solo, perhaps hoping for an early elimination?

"I didn't vote for her," said Sundhage, laughing again. "I'll tell you that."

And I'm about to make my first trip to Home Depot Center for the first time this year, but frankly it scarcely feels as if I've been away given the length of the shortest-ever off-season.

Just in the past four days or so we've seen David Beckham pledge his future to the Galaxy and MLS for the next two years, defender A.J. DeLaGarza make his U.S. national team debut in the 1-0 win over Venezuela and Robbie Keane making headlines in England with a two-goal outburst for Aston Villla.

And now the run-up to the MLS 2012 season begins.

Some of you have already asked questions I will seek answers for at what will largely be an inside training session today given the soggy and gloomy weather here in the South Bay.

Any others can be asked either in the comments section here, via Titter @LAsoccerblog or at the 100 Percent Soccer Facebook page.

Armed with a new iPad, I'll attempt to Tweet, post photos and tape interviews (depending on the HDC wifi in the bowels of the stadium and my level of skill with this new contraption).

And I'll have more in Tuesday's column.

*If, like me, you took advantage of the holiday break and headed for areas of the state less traveled this weekend, here's a quick look at local soccer happenings over the long weekend:

*First off, the MLS Supplemental Draft gets under way at 11 a.m. today.

*The Galaxy's Landon Donovan got an assist in an otherwise dreary 2-0 win Everton-Aston Villa 1-1 draw this weekend, in a game that also saw teammate Robbie Keane make his loan debut fo Villa as a sub. Former Galaxy striker Edson Buddle is also joining Donovan at Everton, albeit on a week-long trial.

*The Galaxy also confirmed Friday that defender Omar Gonzalez will miss seven to nine months after undergoing ACL surgery Friday in Santa Monica, an injury sustained in his first training session on loan in Germany.

*Meanwhile, fellow Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza is in camp with the U.S. National Team, which played the senior squqad in a Home Depot center scrimmage this weekend:

*USWNT Coach Pia Sundhage named 19 players from the World Cup squad to the 20-player Olympic qualifying roster announced this weekend, adding WPS top draft pick Sydney Leroux of UCLA to the mix.

*Chivas USA, which begain pre-season training Monday, announced the rest of their pre-season match schedule before heading to Portland for a previously announced tournament Feb. 27 through March 4:

*Friday, Jan. 27 vs. Ventura Fusion, Time TBD, Oxnard.

*Friday, Feb. 3 vs. FC Hasental, Time TBD, Home Depot Center.

*Tuesday, Feb. 7 vs. Colorado Rapids, Time TBD, Location TBD

*Saturday, Feb. 11 vs. Chicago Fire, Time TBD, Location TBD

*Thursday, Feb.16 vs. Galaxy, Time TBD, HDC.

*Wednesday, Feb. 22 vs. Club Tijuana Xolos, Time TBD, San Diego.

*Lastly, apologies to those of you who follow me at Twitter.com@LAsoccerblog and were subjected to spam this weekend after my account was hacked. Hopefully that has now subsided.

It's not, you understand, that I resent my regular Tuesday column being held to an as yet unspecified day.

It's that, if it is held, it's for a better reason than that obscene excuse of a game of pointy-ball college football I had the misfortune to catch in a desolate Torrance pub last night. That was the culmination to the season?

No wonder I stopped regularly watching American football (well, that and the fact the UW Huskies and Seattle Seahawks went through years of being only slightly better than Chivas USA).

And talking about nonsensical time-wasting, check out the over-wrought ad from MLS below hyping the increasingly irrelevent less than SuperDraft set for later this week:

Good grief. And if you want people to take this event seriously do you really want to remind them about Freddy Adu, especially given the massive role he's played in MLS and U.S. Soccer in general (ahem).

In other more worthwhile news, the U.S. will play Italy Feb. 29.

And before anyone asks, no, I've seen no update from the Galaxy yet regarding the injury to Omar Gonzalez.

University of Redlands Coach Ralph Perez, a former Galaxy assistant coach, is a class act.

He (gently) coached me when I participated in a Galaxy fantasy camp for a column.

He is often an analyst on Galaxy radio broadcasts with Joe Tutino.

And he has assumed numerous coaching roles - arguably at more levels than anyone else - over decades of service to the sport.

Now he will receive the 2012 Walt Chyzowych Memorial Fund Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America Foundation-Walt Chyzowych Awards Ceremony Jan. 14 at the 2012 NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

I've known Perez for a long time now dating back to his tenure with the Galaxy as an assistant coach.

He's one of the good guys of American soccer: Selfless, dedicated and an ambassador for the sport.

Sister paper the Redlands Daily Facts has more.

*Post updated

That's the word from the Galaxy's Facebook page, which posted in the wake of U.S. Soccer's brief announcement that Omar Gonzalez had received permission to leave camp in Arizona.

"The Galaxy defender is currently out of the country having conversations about a potential off-season loan opportunity," the Galaxy statement said. "We should have more information in the next day or two."

Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza remains with the U.S. team, which opened camp earlier this week switches to Home Depot Center for a week from Jan. 13-20, then heads back to Arizona for the Jan. 21st game against Venezuela before the team heads to Panama for a Jan. 25 encounter with that nation.

Dallas' George John has also left camp,apparently for the same reason, while U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann has added Seattle Sounders midfielder Brad Evans and defender Jeff Parke to the camp roster.

Update

Well, we now know where Gonzalez has headed on loan. And look who his central defensive partner will be at the club - and is that a precursor for the country, too?

What was that about the U.S. Men's National Team becoming too German?

Update

Here's more on the Galaxy defenders' German team, courtesy of the Galaxy:

FC Nürnberg are currently in 15th place with 18 points at the halfway point of the German Bundesliga season with a 5-9-3 record. Currently on their winter break, Nürnberg will hold a training camp next week in Turkey before returning to Bundesliga action on Saturday, January 21 when they host Hertha Berlin. That will be the first of four league games that Nürnberg has scheduled during Gonzalez's loan, which will conclude following the club's trip to face FC Augsburg on Sunday, February 12. In between those two games, Gonzalez is also scheduled to face Hannover 96 on the road on January 27 and host the reigning Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund, on February 3.

Update II

I thought you were joking, Studs, about Omar's injury. Apparently not!

Happy 2012 folks.

Hope you enjoyed the holiday break; I know I enjoyed the respite from what can be a blogging grind. Let's bring ourselves up to date with what's been going on over the holiday break:

*While David Beckham has reportedly decided against signing for French side PSG, (before we feel flattered it has everything to do with his four kids and nothing to do with MLS) fellow Galaxy designated player Robbie Keane has joined former club Tottenham Hotspur - but only to train.

*The Galaxy's newly-signed Jose Villarreall and teammate Jack McBean are among 36 players called into the U.S. U-20 squad that began training Monday in Florida.

*At the same time 24 Development Academy youngsters including the Galaxy's Justin Dhillon, William Raygoza and Jaime Villarreal (younger brother of Jose) and Chivas USA's Marco Delgado and Ben Spencer are training at the same time and place as the U-20 squad. The roster.

*The USWNT will open camp Saturday at Home Depot Center with 29 players called into the squad ahead of Olympic qualifying later this month.

*Bruins Kelyn Rowe and Chandler Hoffman signed Generation Adidas contracts with MLS, while the league also signed UCSB striker Luis Silva ahead of the MLS Combine that starts Friday in Florida.

Lastly, this is a little over the top, but hey, how much hype does MLS usually get?

More than half the 20-players on the roster have two caps or less for the full national team, and five will be seeking their first appearance including A.J. DeLaGarza, whose fine 2011 season with the MLS Cup-winning Galaxy was fully deserving of a call-up.

The central defender was also part of last year's January camp, but didn't see action in a game.

Only two players on the roster feature for foreign clubs.

The camp opens Jan. 3 in Phoenix, switches to Home Depot Center for a week from Jan. 13-20, then heads back to Arizona for the Jan. 21st game against Venezuela before the team heads to Panama for a Jan. 25 encounter with that nation.

"This is a very important opportunity for these players," said Coach Jurgen Klinsmann. "They are the next in line behind the established players, and this is a chance to prove themselves. We will spend the next few weeks introducing them to our ideas on how we want to play and what it means to be a part of the national team. Ultimately, it will create more depth for us, which you need at this level. I'm very curious and excited to see this group."

The roster:
goalkeepers: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

defenders: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), A.J. DeLaGarza (Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (Galaxy), George John (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA)

midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

forwards: Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), C.J. Sapong (Sporting Kansas City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Bouncing Brazilian: The Galaxy will have two holes to fill in midfield next season if the dual reports of both David Beckham and Juninho, seen here playing in Indonesia in one of his last times in a LA jersey, moving on are accurate. Which begs the question, which is the bigger loss? (AP Photo).

And this time both reports seem to have a degree of finality to them and a distinct lack of rumors (*see update at bottom of post).

Here's the David Beckham piece from the Associated Press:

PARIS (AP) -- David Beckham is set to sign an 18-month deal with French club Paris Saint-Germain, according to the local news media.

After months of negotiations, Beckham will sign his contract with PSG in the beginning of
January according to French daily L'Equipe.

The 36-year-old former England captain would earn 800,000 euros ($1.05 million) per month, French daily Le Parisien claimed.

If agreed, the deal would end Beckham's time in Major League Soccer, having led the
Galaxy to the title in the season just past. He still has ambitions of playing for Britain in
the Olympics in London next year.

Backed by wealthy Qatari investors, PSG has spent more than 85 million euros ($111 million) this summer to sign nine players.

*Juninho, according to Brazilian reports, has agreed a three-year contract extension with Sao Paulo, who had loaned him to the Galaxy.

Here's the Google translation from Globo Esporte's original piece in Portuguese:

At just 22 years, the steering wheel worked two seasons in the United States, and in 2011, was one of the main parts of the team of David Beckham to win the Major League Soccer, the main soccer tournament in the country. He served as a starter 33 times and scored four goals.

This is not the first time the board of St. Paul lends a young athlete to gain experience at another club and then reuses the main cast. With Hernanes, now in Lazio-ITA, the policy adopted was the same.

Despite the new opportunity, Juninho will not have it easy in 2012. Currently, the Sao Paulo against with Carlinhos Paraiba, Denilson, Jean Casimir, Wellington and Caio Rodrigo in the position of the wheel. Not to mention the former Cruzeiro Fabricio, who hit with the club in 2012.

*Finally, former Galaxy midfielder Andreas Herzog has joined Jurgen Klinsmann's national team training staff.

*Update

Can't we get this over with already?

By the way, I thought this was a good piece by Soccer America that puts in context exactly why PSG is prepared to give Beckham so much money. Hint: it ain't for playing soccer.