Soccer By Ives

De Rosario signs extension with D.C.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

The reigning MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner is going to be remaining in the nation's capital for the foreseeable future.

Dwyane De Rosario and D.C. United agreed to a contract extension on Monday, ending a long bout of negotiations that have been going on for the duration of the offseason. D.C. had maintained an option on De Rosario for this year, but both parties had made it clear that they wished to have a long-term agreement in place.

De Rosario, 33, is having his salary bought down with allocation money, so he will not count as a Designated Player on the team's roster, and the club will not be forced to pay the luxury tax for employing three DPs. Nevertheless, he will be D.C. United's highest-paid player, as his salary will top that of DPs Branko Boskovic and Hamdi Salihi. Length and exact figures of the deal were not disclosed by the club.

After joining D.C. late last June, De Rosario went on a tear, scoring 13 goals and adding seven assists. He finished with 16 goals for Toronto FC, the New York Red Bulls and D.C. last year to tie Chris Wondolowski for most goals in the league, but he won the Golden Boot by virtue of the assists tiebreaker.

What do you think of this development? Think DeRo can replicate his 2011 success with DCU? Think DCU will be a contender in the Eastern Conference this season?

Share your thoughts below.

UEFA Champions League Preview: Chelsea, Real Madrid face tough road games

 

If Real Madrid and Chelsea are to end Champions League heartbreak this season, getting off to a good start in difficult environments is crucial.

Real Madrid travel east to face off with CSKA Moscow in freezing temperatures. Jose Mourinho's men have been dominant in the Champions League this season but the weather combined with Moscow's infamous plastic pitch and a few key injuries makes the result far from predetermined. Real Madrid enjoy a 10-point lead in La Liga and can afford to go all-out for a difficult road game.

Chelsea, England's last real hope for a deep run in the Champions League, face the daunting task of getting a result in the San Paolo against Napoli. Manchester City, who are currently 17 points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table, were unable to get a result at the raucous ground and Chelsea are slumping at precisely the wrong time.

Here's a closer look at Tuesday's UCL matches:

MLS unveils Reserve League Schedule

Major League Soccer revealed its 95-match Reserve League schedule for the 2012 season on Monday.

The league's 19 teams will each play a ten-match reserve league schedule, giving young players and bench players more opportunities to play and develop their game over the course of the 2012 MLS season.

The MLS Reserve League is broken up into three divisions, with the team finishing with the most points among all 19 teams being declared champions.

Here are the divisional breakdowns:

Eastern: Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Toronto FC

Central: Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake

Western: Chivas USA, LA Galaxy, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

The existence of the MLS Reserve League will not prevent teams from continuing to schedule reserve team friendlies throughout the year.

 

Barcelona 5, Valencia 1: Match Highlights

Mid-Day Ticker: Torres faces drop against Napoli, FA Cup draw set, and more

Fernando Torres' time may have finally run out.

The big-money striker has been largely unimpressive in Didier Drogba's absence and was taken off at halftime of Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Birmingham in the FA Cup. Now manager Andres Villas-Boas is rumored to drop the Spaniard to the bench for Tuesday's massive Champions League trip to Napoli.

Torres has scored just three goals in 34 appearances for Chelsea. Drogba is likely to make the start in his place and even 18-year-old Romelu Lukaku has an opportunity to see some playing time over Torres.

Chelsea is still fighting for fourth place in the Premier League and will likely be the last English team left in the Champions League. The future of Andres Villas Boas will largely depend on his performances in Europe.

Here are some more stories to keep you going this afternoon.

Gonzalez remains upbeat about injury recovery

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. -- It is impossible not to notice the smile on Omar Gonzalez as he watches the Los Angeles Galaxy on the training field.

Gonzlez's sunny demeanour is surprising because one would think that he has very little to smile about.

On January 5th, Gonzalez joined FC Nuremberg on an offseason loan, but before he could finish his first training session for the Bundesliga club, disaster struck. After his first training session with Nuremberg, Gonzalez collided with fellow U.S. international Timmy Chandler, resulting in a torn ACL that will sideline the regining MLS defender of the year for six to nine months.  

While an extended injury lay off might have depressed other players, Gonzalez has remained upbeat throughout the recovery process.  

“I really wasn't sad about it for too long I think maybe the German guys thought I was a little weird, because they were telling me, like, something is really wrong, and I was still smiling," Gonzalez told reporters earlier this week. "I'm keeping my spirits up and just thinking of it as it happened for a reason, and I'm taking this time just to take a mental break from the sport and just enjoy my time and really just take the time to appreciate actually playing and getting ready to come back."

MLS Preseason recap: TFC's Silva shines, Johnson scores in Seattle debut, & more

By CALEB SONNELAND

Toronto FC rookie Luis Silva drew raves heading into the 2012 MLS Draft, and is beginning to show why as he establishes himself as a real threat for TFC, which posted a 5-1 victory against South Florida in pre-season MLS action.

The dynamic playmaker found himself on the score sheet early in the fifth minute as he slotted home a 1-on-1 opportunity with the USF keeper to make it 1-0. Just 10 minute later, Joao Plata, who would end the match with a goal himself, teed up Silva in the box for the latter to calmly stroke home to double his tally and Toronto's advantage.

Silva turned provider later in the half as he assisted on goals from Nick Soolsma and Terry Dunfield to wrap up a productive half for the former UC Santa Barbara man with two goals and two assists.

USF grabbed a consolation goal in the 78th minute and the final score rested at 5-1. Toronto will be in action again this Saturday at 6pm with Orlando City of the USL.

Here are some other preseason scores to get you thinking about MLS Opening Weekend:

European Rewind: Inter, Arsenal and Chelsea struggle, Barcelona run rampant

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Out of Arsenal, Chelsea and Inter Milan, who is having the worst season? It is easy to make a case for all three but what is certain is that these traditional powerhouses are experiencing terrible runs of forms and all three managers are facing increasing pressure.

Inter Milan extended their league winless streak to five games with a humiliating 3-0 home loss to Bologna. Marco Di Vaio scored a first-half brace and Robert Acquafresca added a third in the dying minutes to move the visitors four points clear of the relegation zone. Inter Milan find themselves in seventh place, 14 points off the Serie A lead and six points off third place.

Arsenal will likely have to wait another year for silverware as the Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup. Martin O'Neill continues to impress as Sunderland manager and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win. Kieran Richardson scored the first while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bungled the ball into his own net. The loss comes after Arsenal's 4-0 thumping at AC Milan effectively knocked them out of the Champions League.

Chelsea's FA Cup hopes are still alive but a despondent 1-1 draw with Birmingham leaves questions over the Blues' motivation. David Murphy capitalized on woeful Chelsea defending to take the lead and Juan Mata failed to convert a penalty before halftime. Daniel Sturridge powered a header home in the second half to salvage a replay on March 6.

Here is a look back at the other weekend results around Europe.

Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

By FRANCO PANIZO

If there were fears and concerns from fans and pundits over Tim Ream's move to Bolton Wanderers, you would have been hard-pressed to identify why this weekend.

Three weeks after completing his move to Bolton, Ream made his debut for the club by earning a start and going the distance in a 2-0 FA Cup win over Millwall. According to various reports, Ream had a steady outing, demonstrating his passing ability and defending capably as Bolton recorded a cleansheet to advance out of the fifth round of the tournament.

Another player to make his debut this weekend was Mikkel Diskerud. The U.S. Under-23 men's national team midfielder started and played 76 minutes in KAA Gent's 1-1 draw with KSC Lokeren. The performance should serve as a boost in confidence for Diskerud, who is looking to win a permanent starting spot with the club after spending the past few weeks on the bench.

It was not all good news this weekend. Landon Donovan was unable to play in his final Everton match because of the flu, Robbie Rogers suffered a concussion in his Leeds United debut, and Oguchi Onyewu had to be removed from Sporting CP's clash with Pacos de Ferreira after 27 minutes because of an injury.

Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:

Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

Promotion candidates across the second, third and fourth tiers of English soccer will look to spring some surprises on Sunday, as the fifth round of the FA Cup continues. 

League Two side Crawley Town gets a crack at Stoke City; League One club Stevenage, coached by former Colorado Rapids manager Gary Smith, will look to topple Tottenham; and League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion gets a crack at bringing down Liverpool with places in the quarterfinals on the line. 

Sunday's match with perhaps the most on the line, though, takes place in Paris, where PSG and Montpellier do battle with first place in Ligue 1 up for grabs. Big-spending PSG is nursing a one-point edge over Montpellier and will look to put some distance between the two, who are both comfortably in front of third-place Lille.

For those in search of their Barcelona fix, the Spanish giants clash with Valencia in a meeting of two top-three teams in Spain. Both are well behind league leaders Real Madrid, but maintaining their positions for a place in next year's UEFA Champions League group stage is still on the docket. 

If you will be watching any of Sunday's matches, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. Enjoy the action (TV schedule is after the jump):