U.S. Youth Teams: January 2012 Archives

*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.

Clearing up a few odds and ends before the weekend (that would have posted hours sooner had our soon-to-be-replaced blogging software not freaked out):

*Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens, Chivas USA's Jorge Villafaña (formerly Flores) and UCLA midfielder Kelyn Rowe were named today to the U-23 camp set for Sunday through Jan. 25 at Carson's Home Depot Center and in Costa Rica. All but four of the 22-player roster, including Rowe, were in the December U-23 camp in Florida. Full roster, camp details here.

*The increasingly unimportant MLS Combine, a precursor to the increasingly unimportant MLS Draft, is under way in Florida.

There are several Southern California-based players involved from the likes of UCLA and Cal State Northridge. The complete roster of combine participants is here. You can watch the combine here.

*Chivas USA President Jose Domene tweeted this morning that a new player signing was imminent.

The club has also released four players who won't be missed: starting midfielder midfielder Marcos Mondaini; defender Michael Umana, a second time wash-out in MLS after featuring for Steve Sampson's Galaxy back in 2005; striker and noted braggart Victor Estupiñán, who boasted he would score 25-plus MLS goals and ended up with one; and third choice goalkeeper Sergio Arias.

*Former Chivas USA coach Thomas Rongen has joined Toronto as Academy director, the club announced today.

*Toronto also announced today that tickets for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against the Galaxy will go on sale next Friday. Tickets start at $29. Anyone making the trek from LA?

*Hermosa Beach native Dan Tobias has joined the South Bay Force as director of coaching for the club's girls program. The Mira Costa High grad and was a two-time PAC-10 Coach of the Year at the University of Arizona during a seven-year tenure at the school.

*Glasgow Rangers manager Ally McCoist said the club turned down an inadequate offer from French club Sochaux for midfielder Maurice Edu of Fontana.

McCoist was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the bid, which he didn't disclose, "was so far away that I would be very surprised if they came back in."

Sochaux is already home to American forward Charlie Davies, who spent last year on loan with D.C. United.

"I can tell you that I want Maurice Edu to sign a new contract rather than go anywhere," McCoist said.

*There's yet more on the scandals involving FIFA and CONCACAF today:

ZURICH (AP) -- FIFA says former vice president Jack Warner peddled "inaccuracies and falsehoods" when he claimed last month that he got World Cup television rights for $1 in exchange for supporting Sepp Blatter's presidential campaigns.

FIFA confirms that Warner received Caribbean broadcasting rights for $1, though from 1986 and not -- as Warner claimed -- from 1998 when Blatter was first electe d.

FIFA says the deals had "nothing to do" with Blatter's election campaigns.

FIFA says World Cup rights were often sold until 1998 for nominal sums to maximize coverage in developing nations, and provide soccer bodies with extra revenue from selling on rights to broadcasters.

The governing body says Warner was expected to raise money for the Caribbean Football Union.

*Finally, if you only watch one game this weekend, I recommend the Manchester derby in the FA Cup third round that's set to air locally at 5 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer.

Enjoy what is shaping up to be another stunning winter weekend in Southern California.

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?