Soccer By Ives

Red Bulls at Houston Dynamo: Matchday

Good evening folks. The New York Red Bulls travel to Houston tonight to take on the defending champion Houston Dynamo.

A road win won't be easy this time around for the Red Bulls. As if missing injured captain Claudio Reyna and expectant father Dave Van Den Bergh wasn't enough, now comes word from Houston that Juan Pablo Angel will not play because of a virus. Also, Colombian striker Oscar Echeverry was left home despite making good progress with his injured knee.

Tonight's match is being shown exclusively on HDNet, which means unless you are lucky enough to have HDNet you will be trekking to a bar to watch the game (I'm probably heading to Mulligan's in Hoboken).

If you are watching the game, and will be online, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play on the match in the comments section below.

So what lineup should we see tonight? Here is what it will probably look like:

Hyndman denies meeting with FC Dallas

                                                                                  Photo by ISIPhotos.com

Diego Aparicio of Al Dia spoke to SMU coach Schellas Hyndman and Hyndman insists that he has not spoken to FC Dallas about becoming the team's new head coach or technical director.

"I have a good relationship with the Hunt family, and have for a long time, so for that reason I am always connect with FC Dallas every time they are looking for a head coach," Hyndman told Al Dia. "But I have not met with anybody."

The report contradicts a report from 3rddegree.net, which stated that FC Dallas was set to may Hyndman the club's head coach and technical director.

Toronto FC vs. Los Angeles Galaxy: Matchday

Good afternoon all. Toronto FC plays host to the Los Angeles Galaxy today (3:30pm) in a game featuring two teams missing several key players.

David Beckham, Amado Guevara, Laurent Robert and Carl Robinson are some of the headliners set to miss the match, with Landon Donovan a question mark due to injury.

For your preview on the match, turn to Friend of SBI Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star, who details all the players missing from today's match.

If you will be watching the match, or if you want to know what's going on in the match, please feel free to follow along here. Share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match.

FC Dallas to hire Schellas Hyndman?

FC Dallas is preparing to hire SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman as head coach and technical director, Buzz Carrick at 3rddegree.net reported on Saturday.

According to Carrick, Hunt Sports Group, owners of FC Dallas, is set to hire Hyndman, who the club had considered a favorite for the position back when it hired Steve Morrow as head coach following the 2006 season.

Van Den Bergh misses Houston trip

Red Bulls midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh did not travel with the Red Bulls to Texas for the team's match against the Houston Dynamo. He will miss Saturday night's in order to stay with his wife, who is set to give birth to the family's second child.

Pareja, Sarachan to interview for FC Dallas job

Former Dallas Burn standout Oscar Pareja and former Chicago Fire head coach Dave Sarachan are set to interview for the FC Dallas head coaching job, Tobias Lopez at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reported on Friday.

A third unidentified candidate is also set to interview for the position vacated when Steve Morrow was fired last week.

What's my take. I think Pareja is an excellent candidate. Someone who understands the league, can relate to the latino players and has the reputation to earn instant respect from the players.

I also think Sarachan is a good candidate. I know his time before he was fired by Chicago didn't go well but it is easily forgotten that he is responsible for building essentially the entire Chicago Fire team that is the best team in MLS right now. With the exception of Cuauhtemoc Blanco (which Sarachan was actually head coach when he signed to join Chicago) and Wilman Conde are key players who weren't around for Sarachan's tenure. Sarachan is a player's coach who definitely knows the game and is as sharp as they come.

What do you think of this news? Who would you like to see coach FC Dallas? Pareja? Sarachan? Hugo Sanchez? Share your thoughts below.

Is Altidore losing focus?

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is my story on Jozy Altidore today on ESPN.com. It focuses on the growing sentiments that Altidore is losing focus and is developing poor training habits, perhaps as a result of being distracted by all the transfer speculation surrounding him, or as a result of him starting to buy into the hype.

European transfer updates

Good afternoon folks. The European transfer window is still a month away but that hasn't stopped a flurry of transfers from taking place, at least unofficially.

Here is a rundown of some of the bigger transfers of the past week or so:

• Amauri to Juventus from Palermo
• Lautaro Acosta to Sevilla from Lanus
• Patrik Berger to Sparta Prague from Aston Villa
• Omar Bravo to Deportivo La Coruna from Chivas de Guadalajara
• Antonio Cassano to Sampdoria from Real Madrid (loan made permanent)
• Mikael Forsell to Hannover 96 from Birmingham
• Alberto Gilardino to Fiorentina from AC Milan
• Seydou Keita to Barcelona from Sevilla
• Marcelo Martins to Shakhtar Donetsk from Cruzeiro
• Gerard Pique to Barcelona from Manchester United

The biggest of this bunch is Amauri, who was a top forward target for several teams. Gilardino departed from Milan to make way for what should be one or two new Milan strikers. It's good to see Omar Bravo finally make the jump to Europe. It will be interesting to see how he adapts after spending so many years in Mexico.

Which transfers of the past week have caught your attention? Also, feel free to add any other completed transfers to the list (and I mean completed, not the rumored ones that haven't been done yet like Alonso to Juve or Hleb anywhere).

Barcelona officially announces U.S. Tour (Chicago and New York)

Major League Soccer and Spanish giants FC Barcelona officially announced its tour of the United States on Friday, with dates in Chicago (Aug. 3 vs. CD Chivas de Guadalajara at Soldier Field) and New York (Aug. 6 vs. New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium).

Now that the matches are finally official, you can start making your plans. Tickets go on sale on June 2 (for the Chicago game) and June 3 (for the Red Bulls game) to the general public, with special pre-sales for Fire and Red Bulls fans before that.

What do you think of the news? Share your thoughts below.

The battle for the 2018 World Cup

It is still 10 years away, but the battle to become host of the 2018 World Cup is well under way.

Yahoo soccer guru Martin Rogers laid out a very thorough story on what should be a potentially great battle between the United States and England for the right to host the 2018 World Cup.

US Soccer president Sunil Gulati wowed English press with the particulars of what could be a USA bid for the 2018 World Cup. I'm sure it was impressive, having heard a similar presentation from Gulati before February's match between the United States and Mexico in Houston. In short, the USA bid for the World Cup will be as strong as any other bid placed and any thoughts that England was going to run away with the bid were premature.

What do you think about the United States hosting the 2018 World Cup? Share your thoughts below.

Bradley names U.S. roster vs. Spain

U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley named his 24-man roster for the United States' friendly against Spain on Wednesday.

Pablo Mastroeni was the new name on the Spain roster, with all 17 European-based players who played against England also being recalled.

Here is the list:

GOALKEEPERS- Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC) ]

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

FORWARDS- Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)

So what do I see the starting lineup being vs. Spain? Here's one possibility:

D.C. United at New England: Running Commentary

Good evening folks. Tonight is the big Eastern Conference clash between I-95 rivals D.C. United and the New England Revolution. The Revs will be looking to move into sole possession of first place while D.C. will try to take a step closer to escaping the Eastern Conference basement.

Tonight's match is on ESPN2. If you will be watching, and will be online, please feel free to follow the match here and share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

I will be doing a running commentary on the match so feel free to follow along.

My prediction? New England 2, D.C. United 1.

Enjoy the match.

Galaxy 3, Wizards 1: A Supporter's View

Call Ruud Gullit the magic man.

How else can you explain how the Dutch coach has pieced together a useful Galaxy defense out of the tattered corpse of a defense wearing LA colors just a month ago.

Yes, David Beckham and Landon Donovan are schooling opponents with regularity, but it is the improved defense that has the Galaxy rolling.

The Kansas City Wizards found that out the hard way. The league's road warriors continued the league's longest road trip with yet another failed attempt at a win and more questions about an offense that just can't score many goals.

SBI Correspondent Nathan Henderson-James was at the Galaxy-Wizards match (after a harrowing trip) and provides us with his perspective on the match (KC correspondent Mike Cross was out of town and could not file a report, which is probably just as well for Wizards fans.)

The state of D.C. United: A Supporter's View

D.C. United is a mess.

Yes, we know, D.C. is coming off a 3-2 home win against Toronto FC, so things should be looking up for the underachiving club. Right? Maybe not.

SBI Correspondent Joel Sanderson sees plenty of problems in the nation's capital and they haven't disappeared thanks to one home win.

Here is his take on the current state of D.C. United:

Red Bulls Update: Reyna out, Van Den Bergh Questionable for Houston

The Red Bulls could be without two key starters for Saturday's match vs. Houston, but will be welcoming another player back from the injured list.

Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna is expected to miss the Red Bulls match vs. Houston on Saturday with a hamstring injury. It will mark his third missed match in the team's past four.

Red Bulls midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh may also miss the match. Van Den Bergh's wife is due to give birth to the couple's second child and Van Den Bergh will likely miss the Houston trip unless his wife give's birth tonight.

One player the Red Bulls should have back is Colombian striker Oscar Echeverry, who has been out for a month with a knee injury.

Seth Stammler is healthy andy looks set to start on Saturday.

Share your thoughts (and complaints) on the news below.

SBI MLS Best XI: Week 9

After thrashing the New York Red Bulls 5-1, the Chicago Fire figured to have a few selections on this week's MLS Best XI. How many? Try a season-high four selections, with two more Fire players earning honorable mention.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco led the way after the MLS and SBI player of the week recorded a goal and three assists.

Chivas USA midfielder and Sueno MLS winner Jorge Flores also made the cut after his performance in Chivas USA's 2-1 win vs. Colorado. Flores scored in his second straight game to give the Goats their second straight win.

Here is the rest of this week's SBI MLS Best XI: