Soccer Insider

D Carlos Bocanegra 90 in Rennes' 1-0 French Cup loss at fourth-division US Quevilly
D Jay DeMerit 90 in Watford's 2-0 win over Bristol City
F Kenny Cooper last 45 in Plymouth's 2-1 loss at Reading
D Frank Simek 90 in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-0 win over Blackpool
MF Stuart Holden not in 18 for Bolton in 2-0 loss at Manchester City

F Mike Grella enters in the 79th minute for Leeds, scores in the 86th for a 3-2 victory to force added time against Carlisle in JP Trophy section finals. he later converts a penalty kick but club falls (4-4 aggregate, 6-5 PKs)

I stumbled upon this on Youtube this morning.....

Every international goal scored by Landon Donovan, starting with his finish against Mexico in a 2000 friendly. His totals each year:

2000 -- 1 (one appearance)
2001 -- 0 (8)
2002 -- 6 (20)
2003 -- 7 (15)
2004 -- 5 (14)
2005 -- 6 (15)
2006 -- 0 (11)
2007 -- 9 (12)
2008 -- 3 (9)
2009 -- 5 (15)
Totals -- 42 (120)

Which goal is your favorite?

*Another blizzard bearing down on the mid-Atlantic today? No worries. The WAGs of international soccer will warm your hearts in Sports Illustrated's "swimsuit" issue.

*Ruud Gullit will head the Netherlands-Belgium World Cup bid, while Indonesia's slim hopes continue to fade.

*UEFA has a new online look.

*The league schedule for the 12-team USL-NASL second division is set, with matches beginning April 10 and Crystal Palace Baltimore getting underway April 16 at UMBC Stadium against Tampa Bay. To limit travel expenses, clubs were divided into three geographical pods. Within its pod, each team will play the other three teams twice at home and twice away. Each team will also compete against the eight teams from the other two pods twice overall. And each club was paired with a team from a different pod for an additional home-and-away series.

*Americans abroad:
D Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes at Quevilly in French Cup
MF Stuart Holden and Bolton at Manchester City
D Jay DeMerit and Watford vs. Bristol City
F Kenny Cooper and Plymouth at Reading
D Frank Simek and Sheffield Wednesday vs. Blackpool
F Mike Grella and Leeds at Carlisle in Johnstone's Paint Trophy

For the TV listings.....

D.C. United has invited center defenders Quiarol Arzu of Honduras and Jermaine Taylor of Jamaica to the second phase of training camp, which will begin a day earlier than scheduled in Florida because of another snowstorm bearing down on Washington.

The club will skip town Tuesday instead of Wednesday and set up camp in Bradenton for a 2 1/2-week stay that will include at least four friendlies, starting Saturday against the Columbus Crew.

Trialists tentatively scheduled to join the club are Arzu, 24, from Platense and the Honduran Olympic squad; Taylor, 25, who started five World Cup qualifiers for Jamaica in 2008; and goalkeeper Andrew Quinn, a DeMatha High graduate who played collegiately at Notre Dame and recently completed two weeks of workouts with Glasgow Rangers. Quinn will provide depth with Josh Wicks recovering from a shoulder injury and Troy Perkins at U.S. national team camp in California.

After addressing goalkeeper and frontline issues in recent weeks, United is seeking reinforcement in central defense. At the moment, Dejan Jakovic and Julius James are the primary candidates, with defender-midfielder Devon McTavish (right back/midfield), left back Marc Burch and midfielder-defender Floribert N'Galula as options.

Forward Adam Cristman, acquired in a trade with Kansas City last week, will join the club in Florida and Australian forward Danny Allsopp is expected to have his visa approved soon.

Midfielder Otto Lowey and defender Nigel White, who were in camp last week, were dropped from consideration.

Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert has been always fascinated by the Super Bowl, an American sporting spectacle that is as much about entertainment and promotion -- the pregame hype, the in-game commercialism, the halftime mock-rock concert, the postgame party -- as it is about end zones and punts. He remembers, at age 19, staying up until 2 in the morning in Germany to watch the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals play for the title in 1989.

On Sunday, Seifert was at Sun Life Stadium in Miami attending his first Super Bowl -- not so much as a fan but as businessman observing the NFL spectacle. He watched from a private box behind an end zone, and met NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and was introduced to college star Tim Tebow, with whom he was unfamiliar until this weekend.

Lionel Messi excels, Barca survives two red cards in a 2-1 victory over Getafe:

Ray Hudson provides colorful description of Real Madrid's 3-0 victory against Espanyol:

Injured list: Onyewu, Davies, Dempsey, Torres, Cherundolo, Clark, Beasley, Edu.

GOALKEEPERS
Tim Howard 90 minutes in Everton's 1-0 loss at Liverpool
Brad Friedel 90 in Aston Villa's 0-0 tie at Spurs
Brad Guzan in 18, didn't play for Villa
Marcus Hahnemann 90 in Wolves' 2-1 loss at Birmingham
Luis Robles in 18, didn't play in Kaiserslautern's 3-0 win over Paderborn

*For the second time in recent weeks, D.C. United has been linked with Quiarol Arzu, a 24-year-old Platense defender who started in the 2008 Olympics.

*With the training grounds buried by snow, D.C. United will conduct indoor workouts before heading to Bradenton, Fla., this week. The club will focus on strength training and conditioning, and might end up practicing on a field covered by a bubble at the University of Maryland. After watching two feet fall, do you think midfielder Christian Castillo of El Salvador is reconsidering his decision to play in Washington?

*FIFA has chosen the officiating trios for the World Cup, and the group includes referees from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Uzbekistan, Seychelles, as well as Martin Hansson, who missed the infamous Thierry Henry handball. But no Americans made the cut.

On Hansson's inclusion, UEFA chief Michel Platini says: "He couldn't see the handball and it was not a question for the referee. We could see it quite clearly on television but we wouldn't if we had been in his position."

*American forward Kenny Cooper began his 1860 Munich loan to English second-tier Plymouth Argyle, playing 32 minutes in a 1-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion.

*Sunil Gulati was re-elected as president of the U.S. Soccer Federation -- an unpaid position -- at the organization's annual meeting in New Orleans.

Not the best quality and who knows how long it will be available. Nevertheless, Jozy Altidore's first league goal for Hull City during a 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Saturday:

*Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch, one of three players to appear in matches in each of MLS's 14 seasons, announced his retirement to become an assistant coach under Bob Bradley with the U.S. national team.

The only others to play at least once in every year of MLS are Steve Ralston, who signed with second-division St. Louis this week; and D.C. United's Jaime Moreno, the league's all-time leading scorer, who is set to play in Washington in 2010.

Marsch, 36, began his career with United in 1996 and had four league goals in two seasons before being claimed by Bradley, then the coach of the Chicago Fire, in the expansion draft.

"I remember my first day as a pro soccer player, 22 years old, jumping into a van at United training camp in Del Mar [Calif.]," he told the Insider today. "John Harkes was driving, Jeff Agoos was in the front passenger's seat and I slid in next to Marco Etcheverry. I'm thinking: 'What am I doing here?' But once I got on the field and got comfortable around those guys, I was confident I would fit in."

Overall, he appeared in 321 regular season and 37 playoff matches, won three MLS Cup and four U.S. Open Cup titles. This offseason, he interviewed for the Chicago head coaching vacancy, which was given to Carlos de los Cobos. Marsch will join the U.S. squad next week.

*As we suspected this morning, the Columbus Crew has acquired Colombian Sergio Herrera, a 28-year-old forward from Deportivo Cali who has four goals in 11 national team appearances. He scored 26 goals in 92 matches for Cali.

For more.....

*Amid scandal, John Terry is out as England's captain.

*Adding to the U.S. national team injury woes, Mexican-based midfielder Jose Francisco Torres is out for a few weeks with a hamstring ailment.

*Already sidelined for an extended period with a shoulder injury, New England goalkeeper Matt Reis underwent knee surgery. He will miss three to four months. Preston Burpo, acquired in a trade with Colorado last month, is the starter.

*Who is Columbus' mystery signing that we hinted at last week? According to Crew defender Jed Zayner's blog, it's a Colombian forward named Sergio. If you google "Sergio Colombia futbol," the first name to appear is Sergio Herrera, 28, from Deportivo Cali. Hmmm. Or it could be these guys. Awaiting word from Crew officials.

*USA vs. Mexico! Under-17s, that is. As first seen on the Insider's Twitter page, the youth squads will face one another Feb. 24 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa as the first game of a doubleheader with the USA-El Salvador senior friendly. Kickoff for the U-17s is 4:15 p.m. and USA-ES ticket holders will be allowed entry for no additional charge.

*Defender Julian Valentin, the former USA under-20 captain from Wake Forest, has signed with second-division Tampa Bay. He was under contract with Los Angeles for two injury-plagued seasons, making just one league appearance, and was on loan with second-division Cleveland last year.

*USL-2, the third division, has been approved for a 16th season by the USSF's board of directors but with only six clubs: Charleston Battery, Richmond Kickers, Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Charlotte Eagles and Real Maryland.