Archive: May 06, 2007 - May 12, 2007
Before the Weekend Arrives.....
.....a few things to pass along: *For those who understand Polish, here is a follow-up story about DCU's pursuit of Bortosz Bosacki. As we reported, Soehn and Kasper were in attendance at his game the other night. They had planned to meet with Bosacki, but he left the game early...
By Steve Goff | May 11, 2007; 11:58 AM ET | Comments (41)
Coaching Search Over?
Several of you have e-mailed me in recent days wondering about the status of the U.S. national team coaching search and whether Bob Bradley is going to have the interim tag removed from his title. One very reliable source tells me that Sunil Gulati has decided to retain Bradley and...
By Steve Goff | May 11, 2007; 9:08 AM ET | Comments (56)
Players Union Responds
The MLS players union isn't pleased with comments made by league officials this week concerning salaries. (Can't wait for the strike in 2010!) The union calls those comments "insulting and disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising." Here is their full response: Ivan Gazidis's "suggestion that developmental players work 'perhaps three hours...
By Steve Goff | May 10, 2007; 5:21 PM ET | Comments (54)
Freddy to D.C.!
Scared you, didn't I? Mr. Adu will play for Real Salt Lake tonight at Colorado, then fly to D.C. tomorrow to run a soccer clinic and help dedicate a new turf field donated by Nike and the U.S. Soccer Foundation at a Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington complex...
By Steve Goff | May 10, 2007; 3:40 PM ET | Comments (14)
Trial Ends
Assistant coach Mark Simpson tells me that United has decided not to offer a developmental contract to Edwin Twesigomwe, a 19-year-old defender from the Fulham youth academy in London who had been training with the club this week....
By Steve Goff | May 10, 2007; 1:57 PM ET | Comments (9)
Moreno Called Up
United captain Jaime Moreno has been named to Bolivia's national team roster for the May 26 friendly against Ireland at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Consequently, he will miss United's match against defending champion Houston that evening at RFK Stadium. If he performs well under coach Erwin "Platini" Sanchez (Moreno's...
By Steve Goff | May 10, 2007; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (29)
Phenomenal Goal
As first spotted by Soccer America magazine, we give you Peruvian-born Andres Vasquez, 19, scoring for Gothenburg....
By Steve Goff | May 10, 2007; 8:51 AM ET | Comments (31)
Polish Connection
After a day's worth of research (Internet, phones, wild guesses), I've narrowed D.C. United's pursuit of a Polish defender to..... Bartosz Bosacki, 31 years old, 6 feet 2, Lech Poznan, last-minute call-up to the Polish 2006 World Cup team, scored twice against Costa Rica. Lech Poznan defeated Widzew Lodz, 6-1,...
By Steve Goff | May 9, 2007; 6:01 PM ET | Comments (28)
United News and Notes
*Coach Tom Soehn was conspiculously absent from this morning's training session. Technical director Dave Kasper wasn't there either. That's because they both flew to Poland last night to scout a player. Team officials declined to reveal the purpose of the trip, but sources have told the Insider that United has...
By Steve Goff | May 9, 2007; 12:49 PM ET | Comments (50)
Yeah, That Hurts
Man City's Michael Ball is in a bit of trouble for stomping on Man U's Cristiano Ronaldo. Come on, admit it, you wanted to do the same thing to the sneaky one, didn't ya?...
By Steve Goff | May 8, 2007; 7:33 PM ET | Comments (21)
Things I've Heard.....
Just rumors, take them for what they are..... -- Dallas, Columbus and New York showed some degree of interest in Amado Guevara after Chivas USA dumped him. Guevara, at the moment, is in the Los Angeles area. He could end up back in MLS, or more likely in Honduras. --...
By Steve Goff | May 8, 2007; 5:26 PM ET | Comments (16)
United Contributes
D.C. United has contributed $20,570 to the Hokie Memorial Spirit Fund, the Virginia Tech charity created to assist victims and their families of the campus shooting. The money was raised through the club's online auction of autographed, maroon game jerseys -- the goalies had orange -- worn during United's April...
By Steve Goff | May 8, 2007; 3:26 PM ET | Comments (8)
Crystal Clear
Greetings from Baltimore, where I spent the morning with Crystal Palace USA, a USL second division team affiliated with the famed London club. I am working on a big feature story about the team and decided to take in training at Johns Hopkins. CPUSA plays its home matches at Navy-Marine...
By Steve Goff | May 8, 2007; 1:16 PM ET | Comments (19)
Robot Dogs Playing Soccer
Check out this interview from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart last night during which author Lee Gutkind talks about robot dogs playing in the 2050 World Cup. Find the show here and clink on Gutkind's video segment. Watch the first two minutes. Funny stuff. Then watch these match highlights....
By Steve Goff | May 8, 2007; 7:34 AM ET | Comments (14)
Polska Prospect
I've been poking around today to see if D.C. United's interest in a Polish player is, indeed, real. The consensus: yes. "They're very serious," one person told me. "Far from a done deal, but there is one guy on the radar." We know for a fact that Dave Kasper is...
By Steve Goff | May 7, 2007; 5:10 PM ET | Comments (41)
Next Stop: China
United investor Will Chang tells me that he and technical director Dave Kasper will be in Beijing next week to attend an international football symposium and to meet with representatives from Chinese clubs. The purpose of those meetings is to build relationships and perhaps enter into formal partnerships like the...
By Steve Goff | May 7, 2007; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (27)
Deuce Delivers
Fulham is going to stay up in the Premiership, thanks in part to Texas lad Clint Dempsey. Check out his goal to beat Liverpool on Saturday and a flasback to his 2006 rap video. (The goal is much better than the rapping.)...
By Steve Goff | May 6, 2007; 11:44 PM ET | Comments (14)
The Aftermath
Let's cut to the chase. Why? Because y'all saw the game and I've got the Sopranos to watch. PLAYER RATINGS Perkins 8 Namoff 6 Boswell 7 Erpen 5.5 Gros 4 Carroll 6 Gomez 6 Moose 4 Olsen 6 Moreno 6 Kpene 6 Subs: Casal 6.5, Emilio 5, deRoux 6. My...
By Steve Goff | May 6, 2007; 8:46 PM ET | Comments (41)
Matchday 5: Chivas USA at D.C. United
[updated!] Greetings from Estadio RFK..... Cool, breezy afternoon at the ballpark. Very quiet, other than the lawn mower creating a striped pattern on the pitch. For those of you coming out for the match, bring a jacket. For those watching at home, you've got the choice of Comcast SportsNet in...
By Steve Goff | May 6, 2007; 1:00 PM ET | Comments (43)
