Okay, let’s get caught up with D.C. United and other soccer tidbits:
*First, Charlie Davies is expected to arrive in Florida for his evaluation/trial later today so there won’t be any immediate updates on how he looks or what he’s capable of doing just yet.
*You may have already seen that former Maryland forward Abe Thompson didn’t make it past United’s first week and wasn’t invited to Florida. Colombian 21-year-old Yessy Mena has joined on trial, along with Chinese forward Yang Men.
*Goalkeeper Bill Hamid was also back in training Wednesday morning after a stopover in Alabama to get his surgically repaired shoulder checked out. He’s still limited in his participation.
*D.C. United will play a pair of matches on Monday to open its preseason slate. The afternoon slot features Florida International as the opponent.
*As for Andy Najar, despite reports out of Honduras, his agent says there has been no official contact from Honduras requesting him for the CONCACAF Under-20 championships in Guatemala in April. Something to keep in mind, this isn’t a FIFA sanctioned tournament, so teams don’t have to release their players. That could conceivably include Najar and any American who finds himself in a contributing role early this season, such as Perry Kitchen with D.C. United or Zarek Valentin at Chivas USA. Yes, Honduras wants Najar, badly. But there are no new developments here.
*Any thoughts on D.C. United’s new third kit? One might make the argument that they should wear it over the somewhat bland whites on the road all the time.
Meanwhile, the MLS All-Star Game is headed back to the Big Apple for the first time in 14 years. Major League Soccer announced that it will take place at Red Bull Arena outside New York City on July 27, 2011.
In terms of sheer attendance alone, the All-Star game has never been bigger than it was last summer, attracting more than 70,000 fans to Reliant Stadium in Houston last year, where the MLS All-Stars got pummeled by Manchester United, 5-2.
With that out of the way, MLS has picked its showcase venue (capacity 25,000) for this year’s midsummer showcase. The question is, who will the MLS All-Stars play this year, and does that format still work with 18 teams now a part of the league? According to Eddie Pope at the MLS Players Union, there will still be 32 total all-stars selected.
(Speaking of Pope, he had no idea that Kitchen was going to wear his No. 23. “If it was a conscious decision, that’s a heck of a compliment,” said Pope. “I hope he has as much success in it as I did.”)
A history of the MLS vs. foreign opponent format:
2010 (Reliant Stadium, Houston) – Manchester United 5, MLS All-Stars 2
2009 (Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake City) – Everton 1, MLS All-Stars 1 (Everton won on penalties, 4-3)
2008 (BMO Field, Toronto) – MLS All-Stars 3, West Ham 2
2007 (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.) – MLS All-Stars 2, Celtic 0
2006 (Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.) – MLS All-Stars 1, Chelsea 0
2005 (Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) – MLS All-Stars 4, Fulham 1
2003 (Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.) – MLS All-Stars 3, Chivas Guadalajara 1
*The MLS conference realignment was nearly as big a story last week as the change that allows American players to be designated the domestic for Canadian-based MLS teams. With three teams in the league by next season, this had to happen eventually.
*ESPN announced that it has acquired the rights to the 2012 and 2016 European Championships.
*USWNT Coach Pia Sundhage has called in 32 players for a camp in Florida ahead of next month’s Algarve Cup in Portugal. The group includes Abby Wambach and Becky Sauerbrunn from whatever the Washington Freedom is or might be going forward this year.
*I got Michael Bradley‘s transfer to Aston Villa – and Freddy Adu‘s switch to Turkey – into today’s print edition.
*No surprise now then or now that the U.S./Egypt match was cancelled. Too bad.
