Soccer By Ives

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:

MLS Notes: Crew get jersey sponsor, Dawkins returns to Earthquakes & more

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

After a one-year hiatus, the Columbus Crew will have a jersey sponsor once again.

The club announced a five-year sponsorship deal with shaving products company Barbasol, which is headquartered in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio. Financial terms of the agreement were not announced. 

The Crew's previous deal was with paint manufacturer Glidden, but the company withdrew its jersey sponsorship ahead of last season. With Columbus taken care of, just FC Dallas, Sporting Kansas City the Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquakes are the lone MLS teams without a kit sponsor. San Jose recently ended its deal with Amway.

Here are a couple of more items from around MLS:

MLS Preseason: Wondolowski stays hot; Beckerman, Pontius return and more

Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com

Chris Wondolowski made it three goals in three preseason games, as the San Jose Earthquakes played the Houston Dynamo to a 2-2 draw at Oxnard College in California in MLS preseason action on Tuesday.

Wondolowski headed home a cross from Ramiro Corrales to tie things in the 30th minute after new signing Mac Kandji had opened the scoring in the fifth off an assist from second-year forward Will Bruin.

Bruin scored one for himself in the 51st minute, but that was answered by Anthony Ampaipitakwong, who received a pass deep in the Houston box from Khari Stephenson and finished for the final tally of the match.

Here are a few more results from MLS preseason action:

MLS Preseason: Zusi, Saad lift Sporting KC, Gaven shines for Crew and more

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

By CALEB SONNELAND

In a prelude to their season-opening match that is less than a month away, Sporting Kansas City topped D.C. United, 2-1, in Casa Grande, Ariz., Saturday on the strength of goals from Graham Zusi and Soony Saad.

Zusi scored on a 34th-minute free kick, and Saad finished off a feed from newly acquired Jacob Peterson in the 62nd minute to account for the goals for the defending Eastern Conference regular season champions.

United did pull a goal back late through former Kansas City player and current guest player Jose Burciaga Jr., who finished off a Danny Cruz cross and powered home a volley into the roof of the net in the 78th minute.

Highlights from the match and more scores and goalscorers from the weekend's full slate of preseason action are after the jump:

Wondolowski signs extension with Earthquakes

photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com

For the second consecutive offseason, Chris Wondolowski has signed a contract extension with the San Jose Earthquakes.

A year to the day after signing a new deal with the San Jose Earthquakes, Wondolowski has again agreed to renew his contract with the club. The new extension will keep the 29-year-old Wondolowski in San Jose through the 2014 season.

Wondolowski, who had been linked with clubs in Europe this offseason, has been one of the best offensive players in MLS the past two years. In 2010, the U.S. international scored 19 goals en route to winning the Golden Boot award. He followed that up by finding the back of the net 16 times last season.

What do you make of Wondolowski's extension? Do you see him continuing to light it up in MLS?

Share your thoughts below.

Saturday Ticker: Sporting KC tops San Jose, Henry scores in Arsenal romp and more

Sporting Kansas City's quest to repeat as Eastern Conference regular season champions began today with a 2-1 pre-season victory against the San Jose Earthquakes in the pre-season opener for both clubs.

Kansas City midfielder Konrad Warzycha delivered the game-winning goal, converting a free kick to break a 1-1 deadlock. Chris Wondolowski and Kei Kamara exchanged first half goals in the match, played in Tucson, Arizona.

Warzycha, the son of Columbus Crew head coach Robert Warzycha, was forced to miss most of his rookie season in 2011 due to knee surgery, but has gotten his pre-season off to a flying start with his free kick finish.

Sporting Kansas City will return to pre-season action on Feb. 11th against D.C. United. San Jose takes on the Colorado Rapids on Friday in their next pre-season match.

Here are some other stories from Saturday to get wrap up your day:

Earthquakes add Colombian Moreno

photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

The San Jose Earthquakes have added some punch to their attack, and it comes in the form of Colombian midfielder Tressor Moreno.

The Earthquakes announced they signed Moreno on Thursday, adding a 33-year-old attacking midfielder with experience playing for clubs in Colombia, France, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Moreno has also represented the Colombian national team in his career, scoring seven goals in 32 games for the South Americans.

The 5-foot-8 Moreno most recently played for Chilean outfit Santiago Wanderers, where he scored once in 16 games in 2011.

What do you think of the Earthquakes landing Moreno? Do you see him being a starter this season?

Share your thoughts below.

MLS Notes: Alvarez signs in Portugal, Rapids add Cabrera to staff and more

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

As it turns out, Arturo Alvarez won't be suiting up for Chivas USA heading into the 2012 MLS season after all.

Alvarez, who was selected by Chivas in the first stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft but never came to terms with the club as he sought opportunities overseas, has reportedly signed with Portuguese top-flight club Pacos de Ferreira on a two-and-a-half-year contract. 

The 26-year-old El Salvador international will be called upon to help Pacos de Ferreira stave off relegation, as the club sits just a point clear of the drop zone in the Primeira Liga. In nine seasons in MLS, Alvarez scored 24 goals and had 19 assists while playing for the San Jose Earthquakes, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake.

Here are a few more items from around MLS:

Earthquakes add Güvenışık and re-sign Busch to extension

BY ADAM SERRANO

The San Jose Earthquakes believe that they have found another compliment to Chris Wondolowski with the signing of Turkish forward Sercan Güvenışık.

The 31-year-old German league veteran impressed the Earthquakes during a two month trial with the club last season, which included scoring two goals in a reserve match against the Los Angeles Galaxy. A former member of the Turkey Under-21 sides, the forward is the first Turkish player in MLS league history. 

"We believe that his experience and know-how will help the team, we've got a lot of young forwards and we wanted to add some experience to those ranks and Sercan does that," head coach Frank Yallop said during a conference call with reporters." He's also pretty good at getting behind defenses, which is something that we didn't have a lot of in years gone by. It's something that we've been trying to address because he's sharp and makes good runs."

MLS Notes: Toronto signs Eckersley permanently, Impact win big and more

photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

Richard Eckersley will be calling Toronto FC home for the foreseeable future.

Eckersley was signed to a permanent move with the Reds after joining the club on loan from Burnley last April, the club announced on Thursday. The 22-year-old English defender figures to be a key part in Toronto's defense after a good first year with the club.

In 2011, Eckerlsey started in 22 of the 23 games he appeared in and he also featured in all four matches for Toronto during its run to its third straight Voyageurs Cup win during the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

Per league and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Here are more notes from around MLS:

MLS Notes: Portland signs Colombian defender, 'Caps add Knighton and more

The Colombia-to-Portland pipeline is back in action.

The Portland Timbers announced the acquisition of 24-year-old defender Hanyer Mosquera, a 6-foot-1 centerback expected to come in and add a dominating presence along the Portland back line. Mosquera becomes the fourth Colombian on the Timbers, joining Designated Players Diego Chara and Jose Adolfo Valencia and forward Jorge Perlaza. He has played in his native Colombia for the last six years, including spending the last two at top-flight club La Equidad.

"Hanyer is a player we've had our eye on for 18 months," Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson said in a release. "He has all the attributes needed to become one of the top defenders in MLS."

With David Horst out for up to the next seven months after hip surgery, the club's centerback corps was thin beyond 2011 starters Futty Danso and Eric Brunner. With first-round SuperDraft pick Andrew Jean-Baptiste and now Mosquera brought into the fold, the Timbers have addressed that need head on.

Here are a couple of more items from around MLS:

Reports: Aarhus looking at Wondolowski, Davies as potential transfer targets

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

Two American strikers are drumming up some transfer buzz in Denmark.

According to multiple reports out of the country, Danish Superliga club AGF Aarhus is looking at Charlie Davies and Chris Wondolowski as potential targets during the transfer window, which opens Thursday and lasts through the end of the month. The club has been in need of reinforcements at striker after Peter Graulund suffered a ruptured Achilles' tendon back in October.

Davies recently returned to FC Sochaux in France to train with the club that currently owns his rights. He had been on loan with D.C. United, but the club passed on its option to purchase his full rights. 

Wondolowski, who has scored the most goals in MLS over the last two years, is currently in camp with the U.S. national team in Phoenix. He signed a new contract with the San Jose Earthquakes last February, though, and has hardy had his name touted on the European rumor mill despite his emergence.

Aarhus, which is on its winter break until March, is no stranger to Americans, with both Benny Feilhaber and Jeremiah White suiting up for the club within the last three years.

What do you think of this development? Could you see either player winding up at Aarhus? Do you think it would be a good move for either Davies or Wondolowski?

Share your thoughts below.

Rounding up the MLS comings and goings: Western Conference

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

For a team coming off of a championship run, the Los Angeles Galaxy have had plenty of major moving parts over recent weeks.

Between Landon Donovan going back to Everton on a short-term loan, Juninho returning to Sao Paulo, Donovan Ricketts being dealt to the Montreal Impact, Sean Franklin re-signing and David Beckham, well, still making a decision, the Galaxy remain the talk of MLS deep into the offseason.

Other teams in the Western Conference are positioning themselves for improvement while trying to catch Los Angeles, though, as teams that missed out on the postseason last year -- specifically San Jose, Vancouver and Portland -- have all added integral pieces ahead of their early selections in next month's SuperDraft.

Here is a look at the comings and goings in the entire Western Conference to date (and for a look at the Eastern Conference, read on here):

Earthquakes sign Honduran Bernardez

The San Jose Earthquakes took a step toward fortifying their back line Wednesday by agreeing to a deal with Honduran centerback Victor Bernardez.

Bernardez, 29, has 52 caps for Honduras. He started in all of Honduras' games during this past summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup and was also a member of the country's World Cup team in 2010. He was most recently property of Anderlecht for the last three years, but he was on loan during 2011 with Lierse in Belgium and Indios in Mexico.

The 6-foot-2 Bernardez is the second Honduran international to join San Jose this offseason after the club traded for FC Dallas' Marvin Chavez a couple of weeks ago. He joins a defensive corps that includes the likes of Ike Opara, Nana Attakora, Steve Beitashour, Tim Ward and Jason Hernandez, and he fills the void left behind by Bobby Burling, who was scooped up by Montreal in the expansion draft.

What do you think of the signing? Think San Jose is headed in the right direction?

Share your thoughts below.

Evening Ticker: Kean under fire, referee admits fixing United friendly and more

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Things are looking worse and worse for Steve Kean as Blackburn manager as his club slumped to a 2-1 loss to Bolton on Tuesday, intensifying calls for him to be fired.

Blackburn is now rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League and is four points away from safety having played a game more than its competitors. Despite the win, things aren't looking much better for a Bolton side still in the relegation zone. Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker scored in the first half for the Wanderers, while Yakubu provided the only goal for the Rovers.

Fans were heard booing throughout most of the second half and many unfurled "Kean out" banners.

Wolves equalized twice against Norwich City to earn a vital point in Tuesday's other Premier League game.

Here's some more news to wrap up your Tuesday evening:

FC Dallas deals Chavez to San Jose for allocation

FC Dallas traded Honduran winger Marvin Chavez to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday, securing an allocation in the process.

The deal sent Chavez, who enjoyed a standout season in Dallas, to San Jose, where he should slot right in as the team's starting right winger.

Chavez delivered six goals and four assists for FC Dallas, providing a perfect complement on the right wing to Brek Shea's forays from the left flank. Chavez's speed and finishing ability made him a constant threat.

“Marvin was always an outstanding player and we certainly will miss him, but this move allows us to better balance our team,” FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said in a statement released by the club. “We are losing a solid player, but it’s for the overall benefit of the team. We can strengthen our team in both our back line as well as up front where we really missed having that player who could finish the plays we generated up front last season.”

Dallas is reportedly preparing to lineup some major moves in the off-season, and the allocation money secured by trading Chavez will be put toward those acquisitions.

What do you think of this development? Surprised to see Dallas part with Chavez? Think he can help San Jose return to the playoffs?

Share your thoughts below.