Soccer By Ives

MLS Notes: McBride has shoulder surgery, Harris traded to Dallas and more (UPDATED)

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The Chicago Fire is considered one of the deepest teams in Major League Soccer and will now have that depth tested as the Easter Conference power is forced to deal with the loss of star striker Brian McBride.

McBride is set to miss four to six weeks three to four months after undergoing shoulder surgery. Second-year forward Patrick Nyarko is expected to pick up the slack in McBride's absence. (UPDATE- McBride's initial prognosis was four to six weeks but the Fire announced on Friday evening that the damage to McBride's shoulder was worse than first thought.)

McBride leads the Fire in goals scored with six. He may now be out of action until September.

Here are some other MLS news items heading into the weekend:

Evening Ticker: Hill signs with Portuguese club, Reading loses and Sala is sidelined

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by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Kamani Hill has found a new home.

Hill has signed with Vitoria de Guimaraes after a two week trial with the Portuguese First Division club. The California native has agreed to a deal with the team but he cannot officially join the side until July, when his contract with German club VfL Wolfsburg expires.

"He will have to wait to play for us," team representative Carla Freitas told Yanks-Abroad.com. "He will only play for Vitoria next season. Right now, he has returned to Germany, and he'll be back in Portugal in July."

Vitoria de Guimaraes currently sits in ninth place of the Portuguese league and finished third during the 2007-2008 season.

Here are some other stories to close out your Tuesday:

D.C. United downs FC Dallas in U.S. Open Cup opener

 

Defending U.S. Open Cup champions D.C. United began defense of its title on Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory vs. FC Dallas at RFK Stadium. Fred and Brandon Barklage scored the goals for D.C., which move on to play the winner of the New York Red Bulls/San Jose Earthquakes play-in match (set for April 29th).

In case you missed the match (and chances are you did since fewer than 6,000 attended and there was no TV), You can see the highlights on DC United's website.

What did you think of D.C. United's performance? Impressed with United's rookies? Hoping for a D.C.-New York play-in game in May? Think D.C. can repeat as Open Cup champions?

Share your thoughts below.

Sala sidelined 4-6 weeks after knee surgery

 

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FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala is set to miss four to six weeks after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Sala made three saves in FC Dallas' 3-1 loss to the Chicago Fire in the season opener for both teams.

Ray Burse is expected to step in and start for FC Dallas. Burse made two starts in 2008 and six starts in 2007 (at the start of the season while Sala served a suspension), posting a 3-4-1 record in those starts. The 24-year-old Burse will be backed up by 18-year-old U.S. Under-20 goalkeeper Josh Lambo.

FC Dallas returns to action this Sunday at Pizza Hut Park against Chivas USA.

What do you think of Sala being sidelined? Think Burse will do well? Wonder if it matters which goalkeeper is in net as long if the back-line is shaky?

Share your thoughts below.

MLS Pre-season- A look around the Western Conference

The 2009 MLS Season is now just two weeks away so it's time to start making the rounds in MLS for a sense of the happenings in MLS pre-season.

Here is a look at what the teams in the Western Conference have been up to in the past week:

Houston Dynamo

The Dynamo received some awful news on Wednesday when veteran defender Eddie Robinson was sidelined indefinitely after having knee surgery. The injury, which could keep him out up six week, likely means that newly-acquired defender Julius James will have to be thrust into the starting lineup alongside Bobby Boswell.

FC Dallas set to sign Colombian playmaker

 

FC Dallas' search for a playmaker has led them to South America, where partner club Atletico Paranaense appears to have provided the Red Stripes with another player.

According to 3rd Degree, FC Dallas is set to sign Colombian playmaker David Ferreira. No word yet on details of the deal, but 3rd Degree is speculating that Ferreira will join FC Dallas on loan.

It will be interesting to see what the arrival of Ferreira does to the standing of midfielder Dax McCarty, who is enjoying a stellar pre-season after hammering out some differences with head coach Schellas Hyndman, differences that nearly led to McCarty being traded.

The Ferreira acquisition comes a day after FC Dallas shipped defender Adrian Serioux to Toronto FC for allocation money. Dallas had been approached by Houston and San Jose about Serioux, but ultimately dealt the Canadian-born defender to TFC.

What do you think of Ferreira as FC Dallas' playmaker? Disappointed the club didn't sign Walter Gaitan? Think Dax McCarty will stick around?

Share your thoughts below.

The Friday wrap-up

 

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Good afternoon folks. As the week draws to a close I wanted to tie up some loose ends and point to some stories we missed and you might have missed:

For those of you who didn't see it, here is my 2009 Chicago Fire season preview for ESPN.com. I know Columbus is the easy choice to repeat as champions, but I have a feeling something is brewing in the Windy City and the Fire could be poised to lift its second MLS Cup trophy come November.

Speaking of the Fire, Chicago will face Club America in a friendly on April 29th at Toyota Park. The match will be part of a home-and-home series between the clubs, with the rematch set for Estadio Azteca on a date yet to be determined. The matches will pit Cuauhtemoc Blanco against his former club.

D.C. United signed forward Ange N'Silu on Thursday. The Congalese/French striker impressed during training camp and joins an already potent strike force. No word yet on a central defender.

Danny Cepero recently joined Juan Pablo Angel and Dane Richards in the group of Red Bulls to sign contract extensions. The Red Bulls are serious about tying up their nucleus.

Red Bulls goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell has left the club to pursue other options. Those options are likely to include the USL.

Morning Ticker: Galaxy wins, Seattle signs defender and more MLS Notes

 

The Los Angeles Galaxy didn't have David Beckham or Landon Donovan for its first competitive match of the new year, but that didn't stop Bruce Arena's squad from getting off on a winning note.

Goals from Edson Buddle and Jovan Kirovski were enough to help LA post a 2-0 victory against Japanese club Oita Trinita in Pan-Pacific Championship action at Home Depot Center on Wednesday night. The victory moves the Galaxy to Saturday's Pan-Pacific final against Suwon Blue Wings, which downed Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, 1-0, on Wednesday.

Here are some other stories to get your day started:

MLS Ticker: McCarty deal nixed, Sounders land Cuban and league bosses meets Ottawa group

 

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The San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas had the framework in place for a trade involving out-of-favor FCD midfielder Dax McCarty but the deal fell apart after Dallas tried to extract more out of San Jose.

According to sources with knowledge of the discussions, FC Dallas attempted to sweeten its end of a proposed swap of McCarty for a draft pick, only to see the Earthquakes walk away from the negotiating table.

Both San Jose head coach Frank Yallop and FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman have denied that a trade was ever in the works but sources have informed SBI that trade talks did take place and an agreement was nearly reached before FC Dallas asked for a better deal, which lead to talks stalling.

So what now for McCarty? If FC Dallas is asking for too high a price you just might see McCarty in limbo for the foreseeable future. It will certainly be interesting to see if FC Dallas finds a better offer than the one it originally had from San Jose.

FC Dallas did get one deal done on Tuesday, signing Costa Rican defender and former Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake player Daniel Torres. The 31-year-old spent 2008 playing for Bryn of the Norwegian second division. He played for FCD assistant John Ellinger with RSL in 2007.

FC Dallas set to deal McCarty to San Jose

 

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U.S. Olympic team midfielder Dax McCarty has played his last game for FC Dallas.

The Hoops are set to deal McCarty to the San Jose Earthquakes, a source with knowledge of the deal told SBI on Thursday. When completed, the deal would end an uncomfortable situation that saw McCarty and FC Dallas head coach have a falling out that led to McCarty requesting a trade.

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2006 MLS Draft, McCarty never did quite settle in as a starter for the Hoops, playing 44 career matches in three seasons with FC Dallas. Still just 21, McCarty has been on the trade block all winter and will now join a San Jose squad that includes his former FC Dallas teammate Arturo Alvarez.

No word yet on the details of the trade, but San Jose is believed to be sending a conditional draft pick to FC Dallas for McCarty.

Greetings from St. Louis (MLS News & Notes)

 

Good evening folks. I am coming to you from St. Louis, which is experiencing downright Arctic conditions right now (at least it feels that way after four days in sunny Florida).

Tonight is the night when most of the big trades surrounding the MLS Draft will take place and there are few scenes more entertaining than the one at the league's hotel bar on the night before the draft. That is where team officials from throughout the league will gather to negotiate and, in some cases, finalize deals.

It sounds as though Sigi Schmid and Seattle are stealing Mo Johnston's thunder a bit heading into the draft. As you have known for a while, Toronto FC has been looking to shop the No. 2 and No. 4 picks in the draft, but now that Seattle appears to have decided to try and shop the No. 1 pick, the whole game has changed.

Why? Well, Seattle is different from Toronto because as an expansion team the Sounders can benefit from acquiring more picks in what almost every head coach and GM I spoke to last week is calling a storng draft. Toronto doesn't need picks and therefore had been limited to trying to acquire players and allocation money for its picks. Suddenly teams have become more interested in talking trade with the Sounders because now all those picks some teams have can go toward moving up.

Here are some other news tidbits from the evening:

The lowdown on the Van Den Bergh trade

So why exactly did the New York Red Bulls trade away Dave Van Den Berg, arguably their most valuable player of 2008?

They traded him because he asked to be traded.

According to sources, Van Den Bergh approached the Red Bulls soon after MLS Cup and asked to be traded to FC Dallas, with one of the key reasons being Van Den Bergh's wife has family in Dallas which could help them with the care of their oldest son, who has been battling an undisclosed illness. The Red Bulls weighed the request, along with Van Den Bergh's own demands for a new contract, and decided the best thing to do for all parties involved was to trade the 32-year-old winger away.

Red Bulls deal Van Den Bergh to FC Dallas

 

Dave Van Den Bergh is on his way to Dallas.

The trade that first came to light over the weekend became reality late last night as the New York Red Bulls traded Van Den Bergh and the No. 14 overall pick in the MLS Draft to FC Dallas for forward Dominic Oduro, the No. 11 and the No. 18 picks in the draft.

Dallas-based website 3rd Degree, which reported months ago that FC Dallas was search for a veteran left winger, first uncovered the main pieces of the trade last night, and sources confirmed the details of the trade to SBI on Tuesday.

The trade will send the fan-favorite Van Den Bergh to Dallas and gives the Red Bulls the type of speedy forward they have been looking for as well as two draft picks in a draft widely-regarded as being a deep one. The Red Bulls also stand to save close to $240,000 in salary cap space they would have used if they had re-signed Van Den Bergh for the $270,000 he was looking to sign for.

Sources have also told SBI that the trade of Mike Magee to Los Angeles is close to being completed, with one sources saying Tuesday morning the deal has been made. No word yet on the details of what the Galaxy traded the Red Bulls.

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

Red Bulls eyeing deals

 

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The New York Red Bulls have been among the busier teams this weekend, trying to secure some deals before the MLS Draft and now two of their midfielders could be on the move.

According to multiple sources, the Red Bulls could be set to deal both Dutch winger Dave Van Den Bergh and midfielder Mike Magee in seperate trades. No official word has surfaced yet but signs point to Van Den Bergh potentially being involved in a deal to FC Dallas. The Hoops have reportedly been in search of a veteran left winger and Red Bulls director Jeff Agoos and FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock were seen having discussions on Sunday night .

So why would the Red Bulls deal Van Den Bergh when he is coming off a stellar season?

Hyndman: Cooper staying put for 2009

 

Those of you wondering just where Kenny Cooper might transfer to this winter might want to find another American to follow this transfer window.

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman recently revealed that he has been told Cooper will be staying in MLS for the 2009 season, a major positive for a club that missed the playoffs in 2008.

“I believe we will have Kenny for this year,” Hyndman told DallasSoccerNews.com. "All I know, we got an okay to count on Kenny for the season.”

If true, then FC Dallas will be able to head into the upcoming MLS Draft focused on bolstering its shaky defense. Sources tell SBI that the Hoops are working hard to trade up to the No. 2 slot to grab Maryland central defender and Dallas-area product Omar Gonzalez. FC Dallas currently holds the No. 5 and No. 11 picks and one possibility could see the Hoops packaging defender Adrian Serioux with one of its first-round picks for Toronto FC's No. 2 overall pick.

What do you think of Cooper staying in MLS another year? Happy to see him stay put, or disappointed that he isn't getting the chance to play in Europe? Think FC Dallas can turn things around in 2009?

Share your thoughts below.

MLS News & Notes: Cooper transfer looking inevitable, Donovan's loan done (or not) and more

   

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U.S. national team fans weren't the only ones who caught a glimpse of Kenny Cooper's performance against Guatemala on Saturday. Scouts from several European clubs, including German club Eintracht Frankfurt, were also in attendance at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the interest in Cooper should only continue to grow as it becomes increasingly unlikely that Cooper will be signing a new deal with FC Dallas.

Cooper is preparing to head into the final year of his current contract and negotations over a new deal with FC Dallas have stalled, sources with knowledge of the talks told SBI on Thursday. With Cooper seeking designated player money, and FC Dallas offering in the $325K to $375K range, look for MLS to do it's best to sell Cooper in January in order to avoid losing him for nothing after the 2009 season.

Here are some other tidbits to go over in the MLS scene: