OUTGOING: De-Ro to FC-Co?

It seems as though Danish side FC Copenhagen have rekindled their interest in the Houston Dynamos former MLS MVP. Would De-Rosario be interested in a move to Europe? He has achieved pretty much all there is to achieve in US soccer, 4 MLS Cups and various all-star appearances and the 30 year old may be looking to challenge himself further in a European league. If he were to move to Copenhagen he would be joining a club who participated in the Champions League group stages just two years ago and who were unsuccesful in tackling the preliminary stages last season.

The news surrounding this story had appeared to die down, however in Scandinavia it is now being reported that FC Copenhagen and MLS are negotiating a transfer fee for the Canadian international, who would team up with fellow countryman Atiba Hutchinson if he were to make the move to Denmark.

S.Robertson

REPORT: Official Portland Expansion Website Launched

This came to our email today, sometimes we get it right:

"You ran a story from a guy who overheard Paulson and some guy talking in starbucks. The suggestion from the rumor was that two Portland websites would be launched, a grassroots one and an official bid. Now, both shoes have dropped. Congrats on getting that one right. See below:"

PAULSON, PORTLAND TO SUBMIT APPLICATION FOR MLS EXPANSION FRANCHISE

For immediate release: July 31, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. – Merritt Paulson, owner and president of the Portland Timbers and Portland Beavers, today announced plans to submit an application for a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise that would play at PGE Park in downtown Portland, Ore.

MLS today announced the timeline and application process for the league’s next two expansion teams, with plans to add two clubs by 2011 to bring the league to 18 teams. MLS, which will consider markets in the United States and Canada, has set an Oct. 15, 2008, deadline for applications.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Major League Soccer in Portland would both add a tremendous amount to the league and have a phenomenally positive impact on our community and state,” Paulson said. “We have the most ardent and authentic soccer fanbase in the United States, and Soccer City USA deserves a Major League Soccer team.

“In the coming months, we look forward to making an exceptionally strong case to both MLS and our community as to why Portland should be designated as one of the next two MLS expansion cities.”

MLS has indicated that an announcement regarding the next two expansion clubs will take place during the fourth quarter of 2008 or the first quarter of 2009.

About Major League SoccerHeadquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer is the top-flight professional soccer league in the United States and features many stars from the U.S. and around the world. Now in its 13th season, the 14 teams in MLS are: the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Chivas USA, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes and Toronto FC. Seattle Sounders FC will join the League in 2009 and a Philadelphia expansion team will debut in 2010.

-- visit www.portlandtimbers.com --

VIDEO: All MLS SuperLiga Final Music Video Face Off

In anticipation of the SuperLiga final we present to you two music videos. One for the New England Revolution, the other for Houston Dynamo.

We ask, if a SuperLiga Champion were decided based on these two videos, who would win?

New England Revolution:



Houston Dynamo:

TRADE: Ivan Guerrero to DC United

Is John Doyle the new Mo Johnston?

With all the wheelin' and dealin' the 'Quakes seem to be doing, it would appear so.

BehindTheBadge.com first broke this story earlier this morning. The Honduran left back/mid will come to DC and in exchange San Jose will get a small amount of allocation money. Guerrero will be available to play against Kansas City this weekend.

More here.

Video of DC United coach Tom Soehn on Washington Post Live discussing possible changes, also courtesy of BehindTheBadge.com.

VIDEO: Kedah Manager to Marlon Jones - "'Quakes Can Wait"

Courtesy of SportsCenter:



Reminds us of the tug of war over former Melbourne Victory player, Fred, with DC United.

In the end, Earthquakes get Jones, Kedah get an extremely small transfer fee and a bag of balls and everyone goes home happy.

REPORT: "Get Your Drink On!" - MLS Launches Pub Section on Web Site

Cue bad jokes about MLS being a "pub league"....


This however is much cooler. It looks like MLS has fully embraced footy culture by launching this section. Every week they plan to feature a different pub that supporters in different cities call home fo raway matches. The first choice is the excellent DC United pub, Finn MacCools.

Where do you and your friends watch your clubs away games? Want your pub featured?

REPORT: Cuauhtemoc Blanco Receives 6 Game/Two Year Ban from US Open Cup, May Still Be Fined by MLS

Read all about it here after the jump.


Here is an excerpt:

Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been suspended from U.S. Open Cup play for at least two years for his conduct during a quarterfinal game against D.C. United on July 8, a U.S. Soccer Federation panel ruled.

The panel listened to testimony from the three game officials, United employees and Blanco.

At age 35, Blanco will probably never play in the Open Cup again. (Somehow, I don't think he's heartbroken, though it is a blemish on his portfolio.) The question now is whether MLS will decide to review the incident as well. The league planned to wait for the USSF ruling before considering its own investigation.

Blanco was red-carded in overtime for his involvement in a scuffle with United players at Maryland SoccerPlex. D.C.'s Marc Burch was also ejected. Later, after declining to leave the field in a timely manner, Blanco allegedly headbutted a United operations official.

The USSF's five-member adjudication and discipline panel reviewed the incident this week. The game was not televised, but video taken on the sideline by a United film crew was provided to the panel.

VIDEO: Adios Mexico

LIVE: New England Revolution vs Atlante FC (VIDEO)

This live event has ended.

INCOMING: Marlon Alex James to San Jose Earthquakes (DONE DEAL) (VIDEO)

EDIT (BREAKING): We just received confirmation in the form of this ESPN video that James indeed is on his way to the Quakes in his own words:







San Jose seems to be burning up in the "wheelin' and dealin'" deaprtment.

Case in point: Today's most intriguing rumor comes courtesy of the Malaysian Star website.

It involves St. Vincent and the Grenadines striker, Marlon Alex James. James plays in the Malaysian Super League. Perhaps Kei Kamara was traded to Houston to make room for him?

The deal sounds pretty much like a lock for a variety of reasons according to the article. Many of those reasons have to do with new proposed foreign player restrictions in the Malaysian league and it appears his own manager supports it despite James receiving the 2006/2007 Most Valuable Foreign Player award.


Here is an excerpt from the article:

Hot-shot Marlon Alex James wants to quit Kedah immediately although his contract with the Canaries only ends on Aug 31.

He has two reasons for wanting out.

The two-time Golden Boot winner says that he and team-mate Bernard Huggins have received offers to play in the Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States.

“Huggins and I have received offers to play for San Jose Earthquakes in the MSL,” said James in a telephone interview from Alor Star yesterday.

“I have been offered a two-year contract and I have set my heart on a move and to take on a new challenge.”

The second reason for his decision to walk out on the Canaries is the FA of Malaysia’s (FAM) proposal to do away with foreign players next season.

James said this was disconcerting as their future was at stake.

“I am also disappointed that even my own coach (Mohd Azraai Khor) fully supports FAM’s proposal. I worry about my future and that of my family too.

“We (the foreigners) have made strong contributions to the Kedah team and it is disheartening to read such negative remarks by my coach in the local dailies,” said James, who is the top scorer in the Super League with 23 goals.

Here is video of James in action:

CARTOON: Tonights Mediotiempo SuperLiga Cartoon Translated

Dynamo: "Go Wild Horse!" "I do not want to have to walk for that million dollars."

Thanks for the correction.

INCOMING: Marco Paulo Pappa to Chicago Fire (OFFICIAL)

Chicago acquire a 20 year old midfielder.

Read all about it here.

Follow the stories that led up to it here.

Chicago Fire press release:


BRIDGEVIEW, ILL. -- The Chicago Fire announced Wednesday the club has acquired the services of midfielder Marco Pappa (full name: Marco Pablo Pappa Ponce) on a one and a half year loan from Guatemalan side CSD Municipal.

Pappa received his P1 Visa and ITC, and is eligible for selection in tonight's international friendly match versus Everton FC and Saturday's Major League Soccer match versus Chivas USA. The 20-year-old has been training with the team since last week.

"We're getting a young player who has excellent speed, defends well, and has been around a great soccer atmosphere with a very successful club," said Chicago Fire technical director Frank Klopas.

A native of Guatemala City, Pappa has spent his entire professional career with CSD Municipal joining them in 2004. CSD Municipal has won the domestic league a record 26 times; their most recent title came during the 2008 Clausura (spring) Tournament. Pappa made his professional debut in a domestic league match in August 2006 against Guatemalan club Pepata. Pappa netted his first professional goal against Nicaraguan side, Real Madriz during the 2006 UNCAF tournament.

Pappa has also represented Guatemala at the U17, U20, U21 and U23 levels. He recently suited up for Guatemala at the U23 level, helping them to first place during the group stage of Olympic qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Guatemala missed securing an Olympic birth, finishing in third place at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.

16 Marco Pappa
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5'10
Weight: 155
Born: November 15, 1987 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Hometown: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Citizenship: Guatemala
Last Club: CSD Municipal
How Acquired: Loaned from CSD Municipal
Roster Status: Senior Roster/International Player

TRADE: Ruiz Back to FC Dallas?

It is no secret that Galaxy gaffer, Ruud Gullit is not on good terms with Carlos "El Pescadito" Ruiz. And it is an open secret that LA has been shopping Ruiz around the league. There have even been some who suggest he may be headed back to play for a club in Guatemala. We may soon have an answer to the questions regarding Ruiz's future.

We're not sure what to make of this but it just dropped into our mailbag:

"I think you should know that I heard on a sports show on Guatemalan radio that El Pescadito is going back to Dallas."

Interesting. Dallas did trade for more foreign player slots but the assumption is they would be for whoever assistant coach, Ellinger brought back from Argentina. Could it be that Ruiz is "Plan B" in the event that they can not land Ariel Ortega?

We wonder what LA would get in return?

What would you think about this deal if it happened?

LIVE: USA vs Ivory Coast Pre-Olympic Warm Up Match (VIDEO)

This live event has ended.

OUTGOING: Alexi Lalas as GM of LA Galaxy?

Remember way back in March when we told you that Alexi Lalas was in the hot seat and that if things did not change drastically for the LA Galaxy his head would roll? Well it appears that the real powers behind the Galaxy namely, the men who orchestrated the Beckham deal namely, Phil Anshutz and Tim Leweke are not happy according to Steve Goff.

He says:

"*Rumblings out of L.A. (besides the earthquake that shook SoCal yesterday) are that MLS godfather Phil Anschutz is none too pleased with the Galaxy and that he and AEG boss Tim Leiweke have been discussing the club's grim situation."

MLSR Flashback - OUTGOING: Alexi Lalas To Get the Boot By July?


The other boot seems to be falling in LA. Or rather, with LA. According to today's World Soccer Daily (click here for audio of the show), new Galaxy manager , Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas are at odds. Apparently it has come out that one of the things that lead to Frank Yallop leaving was Lalas hand picking players.

Our view: He may be gone before the weekend.

BRIGHT SIDE: He always has his music career to fall back on.

REPORT: Who Are You? (Who Who, Who Who) - A Look At MLSR Readers

We just took a look at who reads MLSR. (Some would have you believe no one, haha!)

As it turns out, alot of you are a fairly affluent, highly educated bunch of lads according to this report from our partner, Quantcast.


You also helped us break into the Quantcast Top 100,000 apparently. So um, thanks!

It is all the more remarkable when you compare our stats to other soccer sites:


To get a closer look at all this data click here.

Advertisers: If you want to reach a highly educated, main male demographic with disposable income, via a highly sticky site feel free to email us to inquire about advertising opportunities. Any space you like, can be yours.

HUMOUR: Two Rumours Are Better Than One

Success brings its imitators. It also brings satire. We love a good joke, especially one as well done as this, even if we're the punchline. So with that in mind we point you to one of our newest favourite sites: MLS Rumors Rumors.

Whilst looking around for the secret list of tradeable players DC United boss Tommy Sohen has we came across their highly entertaining sight. It's a great send up of the one you are reading.

Now, it is highly unlikely any of their rumors will pan out the way some of ours have however, it is still a fun to read piece of work.

Kudos to whoever dreamt it all up. If you ever want to do it all for real drop us a line, we are always looking for new contributors (provided you have real stories to contribute).

Anyway, we reckon they need the hits, so we're adding them to our blog roll under Friends of MLSR.

We realise they probably don't like us much, never mind that, it's still pretty funny.

MLSR One Year Anniversary

One year on...



Piece of cake.


They say that one year in the blogging world is equivalent to 5 in the real world, or something like that.

It was just over a year ago that all this chaos kicked off with this post about a rumor that Freddy Adu might be headed to Spurs.


Yes we know we're writing this 1 year plus 13 days since that post but to be honest, things didn't really get rollin' until this post about Juan Sebastain Veron.

Little did we know what a tease saga that the Veron will-he-or-won't-he rollercoaster ride would become in the weeks and months following that.

Since then MLSR has passed its millionth viewer, stirred up some controversy, gotten some mentions in the mainstream media, and exposed at least two or three god aweful proposed names for an expansion club.

We grew from two people who posted the occasional story on a blog to 8 writers and 4 editors who contribute to this site and we continue to grow.

It shows. The July we launched, we had 16 stories posted. This July we have over 160.

All the while you have given us good leads and some of you have given us a lot to think about.

You make it all go.

They say if you get this far in blogging you're likely in it for the long haul. We'll see.

We have some big, dare we say, massive, plans ahead for the 2008/2009 off-season and beyond but we need you guys to support our site even more to make that happen.

We are constantly looking for new stuff to make this site even better.

We'll save the pledge drive stuff for PBS but you know what to do. If this site entertains you, passes your time or makes you laugh then feel free to tip us in the form you see fit.

Our guess is that 2009 and 2010 will be red hot with fights, rumors of fights and all sorts of goings on with the CBA up for renegotiation, new stadiums opening, travelling supporters becoming more organized, etc. So keep it supporting us and we will keep the rumors coming your way.


Thank you,
All at MLSR

INCOMING: Jared Borghetti to Real Salt Lake?

We're not sure what to make of this photo. We posted it before but the post disappeared along with the photo....


It is supposed to show Borghetti training with Real Salt Lake

Anyway it came to use via our email along with the following text:

"Rumors that Jared Borgetti is about to sign with ReAL Salt Lake. Here is a shot of him from behind. As you can see he is just shorter than David Horst who is 6'3 and Jared is 6'1"

Is that Borghetti? We aren't weren't sure.

But now we are thanks to a reader who pointed us to this post on the RCB supporters website. Good job.

LIVE: Houston Dynamo vs CF Pachuca (VIDEO)

This live event has ended.

COMPETITIONS: 2009 Superliga Locations to Be Split Between USA and Mexico?

Superliga is back! The semifinals kick off tonight at 10pm eastern and you can watch the games here in English. And view the Semifinals scoreboard here.

How appropriate that we'd receive a pretty good Superliga rumor. We call this good due to the fact that we like it and hope that it happens, not that we think it is probable. Indeed by the submitter's own admission he rates it a 1.5 on a 10 point scale.

This comes to us from a frequent MLSR contributor:


Could this year's SuperLiga be the last to held exclusively in the USA?

Information has reached MLS-RUMORS that next year's SuperLiga possibly could be split between Mexico and the US, with one group playing their games in the US, and the other group playing in Mexico. The two semifinals would also be split 1-1 between Mexico and the US, with the 2009 final being held in the US.

This potential move is positioned to increase the tournaments visibility in Mexico (the tournament takes place during the Mexican pre-season), and to see if they can get better attendance then some of the games in the US (3 of the Group B games did not reach 10,000 in attendance (Pachuca at New England (9,614), Santos-Pachuca (Played at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas, 6,157 attendance), and Chivas USA-New England (played at Titan Stadium due to the X-Games being booked at HDC, 4,738 attendance)

Do you think the SuperLiga should be played in the US AND Mexico? Would that give it more legitimacy? Do you even care about it? If not why not?

Time again for this video:

NOTGOING: Kenny Cooper Not Leaving MLS?

Our take: Don't bet on it.

There have been multiple reports today saying that Kenny Cooper is staying. Perhaps he is is staying for the time being but as anyone who follows football transfers knows, the price is always negotiable. Could this be FC Dallas's way of saying, "Give us another 2M and it's a deal?". Possibly. There's also the possibility that he sticks around just long enough for his value to go up before the end of the season and goes during the winter transfer window.

Cooper is a player who was rumored previously to be unhappy with his situation in Dallas He is also a player with European aspirations. It is highly likely that this story isn't over just yet.


What do you think? Should he stay or should he go now?

INCOMING: Assan Jatta to FC Dallas?

This report comes to us courtesy of a loyal MLSR Reader. We will prepare for the jokes that are likely to come from you guys about Dallas bringing in a forward whose last club's name began with "KFC".

It looks like FC Dallas is trying to tap the newest hotspot for MLS talent, The Gambia.

According to this report in the Gambia Daily Observer the 24 year old Gambian national team striker is headed to Pizza Hut Park. Here is an excerpt:

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Gambia and SK Lierse striker, Assan Jatta, commonly known as Bierhoff, is currently on a 10-day trial with the American Major League Soccer club, FC Dallas, Observer Sports can reveal.

The 24-year-old forward joined SK Lierse in 2007 alongside his comrade Mustapha Jarju from Steve Biko, but his failure to adapt to life at the Belgian club saw him spent the better part of his two-year contract with another second division side, K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel.

His one-year loan spell with Geel expired last season and it seems SK Lierse are in no mood of keeping the injury-plagued forward who has 12 caps to his name.

FC Dallas is a North American professional soccer team based in Frisco, Texas, United States.

Founded in 1996 as the Dallas Burn, the team plays in Major League Soccer (MLS). From 1996-2002 the team played in the Cotton Bowl. In an effort to save money due to the club's unfavorable lease with the Cotton Bowl, the club played its 2003 home games at Dragon Stadium, a high school stadium in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb.

After listening to its fans, the Dallas Burn, as the team was called from 1996-2004, moved back to the Cotton Bowl for the 2004 season.

In August 2005, the club moved into Pizza Hut Park, a soccer-specific stadium in the northern suburb of Frisco. To celebrate this move, the club rebranded itself with a more soccer-fitting name, FC Dallas.

by Nanama Keita

Here is video of him in action (0:49)

VIDEO: Dynamo's Waibel to the NFL?

We've all seen shots taken by MLS players from far out which, while well driven, sailed way high of the goal. Sometimes we joke that certain players would do better in the NFL as a result. Well today, the Houston Dynamo's Craig Waibel was playing around with the funny shaped kind of football and apparently was so impressive some keen NFL observers may take interest. In MLS we are used to losing players to better paying leagues abroad, but wouldn't be interesting to lose a player to another code of football here in America that pays much better? It wouldn't be the first time. Tony Meola anyone?

Enjoy this video and read way more about it over here on the Soccer y Futbol blog: