Daily news roundups

All quiet on the Union front, at least we’re not in Vancouver, more news

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

We’ve been getting a lot of questions from readers about when the MLS transfer window opens (the info on league site is for 2013). A Union spokesperson has confirmed that the primary MLS transfer window is Feb. 18-May 12 and the secondary window is July 8-Aug. 6.

The Brotherly Game has a review of the Union’s past draft picks.

The Union has extended its partnership with the Pennsylvania 529 College Savings Program through 2015. A press release from the club says, “The program will continue community efforts held both at the stadium and throughout the area in addition to staying involved in Philadelphia Union and EPYS soccer camps.”

Nick Sakiewicz, “founder of the successful Philadelphia Union MLS team,” will be the featured speaker at the “January Signature Event” of the Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Jan. 21.

Local

Ahead of next week’s convention in Philadelphia, the NSCAA has launched a “Gay, Lesbian and Ally” page on their website. Well done, NSCAA, well done.

We noted last week that Steve Neumann — the New Hope native, former Reading United captain, and two-time Hermann Trophy semifinalist — had signed a pre-SuperDraft senior contract with MLS. Neumann says on the Georgetown men’s soccer website, “It is quite an honor to sign an MLS contract and an especially great honor to be one of the few players selected to sign before the combine and draft. There was a lot of hard work that went into achieving this dream over the years and I am ecstatic about the opportunity to play as a professional soccer player.”

La Salle seniors and Reading United alumni John McCarthy and Jason Plumhoff have been named Eastern College Athletic Conference All-Stars.

Newsworks profiles Penn Charter varsity girls’ soccer coach Darci Borski.

MLS

Union fans who have been frustrated by the offseason thus far might take some solace from the fact they’re not sitting on the sidelines in Vancouver watching the evolving Camilo Sanvezzo story. While the Michael Farfan departure was disappointing, much of the frustration surrounding it had to do with how the news was relayed: news leaked out of Mexico before the final deal had been approved by MLS, leaving the Union to take a public relations hit while it complied with league communication rules. The Camilo story is of a different order.

Rumors last week that Camilo was signing with Liga MX side Querétaro had at first appeared to be quashed after statements from Vancouver indicated that the 2013 MLS Golden Boot winner was still under contract with the Whitecaps. Then, on Monday, photos appeared on the the Mexican club’s website and Twitter stream of the Brazilian wearing a Querétaro jersey (since removed but you can see photos here).

Emphasizing that both the team and MLS had repeatedly informed Querétaro that Camilo was still under contract, Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said, “He is our player,” and described seeing the photos as being “like a kick in the midsection” and “Unacceptable and inappropriate.” Lenarduzzi suggested that the player’s agent was to blame and said,

What we’ll do now is let the dust settle and then over the next few days we’ll be in touch with Camilo. How it got to this is something that we’ll probably need to ask Camilo’s agent and Camilo because they were well aware of the fact that he is contracted to the Whitecaps…We can’t have done much more as club and and as a league to advise the player, the agent and the club that are looking to sign him that he is under contract. It’s a situation that is a very frustrating one because none of it really was necessary.

At the Vancouver Sun, Scott Brown reports, Camilo, his agent, and Querétaro “appear to be challenging the league’s unilateral option policy.” Sports lawyer Mike Jarosi says in the report, “In the FIFA world, they don’t look on unilateral options favorably. You can’t do them (in other leagues) but there is a giant exception that has been given to the MLS because MLS rules are the byproduct of U.S. labor law, specifically the collective bargaining process…The MLS players union and the league have agreed that unilateral options are part of our process … and because of the collective bargaining process (Camilo’s contract) is pretty much Teflon.”

More on this still developing story from MLSsoccer.com, SI, and Soccer Newsday.

In other player transactions,

  • DC have signed 19-year-old defender Jalen Robinson to a Homegrown player contract.
  • Seattle have signed Lamar Neagle to a contract extension.
  • In pending news, a San Jose Earthquakes spokesperson has confirmed that the club have agreed to terms with French midfielder Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi, although the deal has not been finalized. The move fills the need left after Rafael Baca’s move to Cruz Azul, who joined the club along with former Union midfielder Michael Farfan and Jose Villareal.
  • According to TSN’s Luke Wileman, Dwayne De Rosario and Toronto FC have agreed to terms. While there has been no confirmation from Toronto, TSN reports a new contract will be signed later this week.

At ProSoccerTalk, Steve Davis on why Jermaine Jones will not end up in MLS. Also, Davis wonders if any MLS teams will “take a flier” on Oguchi Onyewu, who is about to be out of contract at QPR.

The dates for the first and second legs of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals have been set.

Capital New York on why the “prospects for a Bloomberg-era deal to build a soccer arena near Yankee Stadium are looking dicier.”

Orlando City have a team, now they need a stadium design.

Looks like the Minnesota Vikings have some local competition in landing a MLS franchise. KSTP reports that NASL side Minnesota United are working with the Minnesota Twins to explore the possibility of building a new soccer stadium next to the Twins’ Target Field.

NWSL

The NWSL Expansion Draft will take place via conference call on Friday with Houston able to select up to ten players.

At SBI, Caitlin Murray talks to former Philadelphia Independence forward Amy Rodriguez about joining Kansas City FC and returning to the USWNT after having her first child.

US

The USWNT will host Russia at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla. on Feb. 8. It’ll be the first meeting between the two clubs since 2002, when the US won, 5-1.

You will recall reports last year that the centennial 2016 Copa América could be hosted by the US and Mexico. Marca reports that CONMEBOL is finalizing plans with CONCACAF to make this happen although “no specific dates have yet been agreed upon, as an agreement still needs to be made with the company that owns the TV rights.” Marca identifies six host stadiums: the Rose Bowl, Stanford Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Florida Citrus Bowl, RFK Stadium and Reliant Stadium. Remember the days when the Linc used to be in conversations like this?

A CONCACAF source tells ESPN that the Marca report is “premature.”

Longtime PSP readers will recall our posts on Philadelphia’s involvement in the first professional soccer league in the US, the Philadelphia Phillies-backed team that played in the very short lived American League of Professional Football in 1894. Grant Czubinski has the first part of a fine piece on one of the team’s opponents, the Washington Senators.

Elsewhere

Reuters reports, “Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem are to take up the refusal of the United Arab Emirates to allow Israeli defender Dan Mori entry to the country for a training camp with world governing body FIFA.”

Responding to criticism from Sepp Blatter about preparations for the 2014 World Cup, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff tweeted, “Brazilians start 2014 confident that they are going to host the World Cup of World Cups. In Brazil, the World Cup is going to be at home because this is the home of football.”

This headline from CBSNews says it all: “Bionic exoskeleton will allow paralyzed teen to deliver first kick at World Cup.”

An op-ed piece at the New York Times says there is still time to bring pressure on Qatar to reform its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are engaged in preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

It’s okay, everyone, Cristiano Ronaldo says he will attend the Ballon d’Or award ceremony on Jan. 13.

14 Comments

  1. ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZ.

  2. While the 2016 Copa America tournament isn’t set in stone yet, why would they want to use a falling apart stadium like RFK over the Linc?

    • Or, even if the Linc is out for some reason… why not the Redskins stadium if you want games in DC? (OK, yes, they aren’t actually in DC…)

  3. Ed, you may need to change the name of the website until the Union actually do something noteworthy, just not enough to write about. This killed me;

    Nick Sakiewicz, “founder of the successful Philadelphia Union MLS team,”

    This isn’t Harrisburg. This is a big fucking city with a ton of fans who like to spend cash on sports and who keep giving this new team the benefit of the doubt. This team’s FO has been an absolute disaster. If the theme of his talk is find a huge untapped sports market and then just sit back and count cash, then I’m fine with it. But to pretend that this team is successful due to any reason other than a fan base willing to spend money on anything soccer related is disingenuous. Based on his illustrious record with the Mutiny and MetroStars though it looks like Nick’s time should be up in a year or two, assuming the team doesn’t fold.

  4. OneManWolfpack says:

    “Also, Davis wonders if any MLS teams will “take a flier” on Oguchi Onyewu, who is about to be out of contract at QPR.” — I know this won’t happen but, but does anyone else think the Union should show interest?

    • Sorry Onyewu 5 years ago maybe, Onyewu now no way. Him and Parke at the back would be among the slowest pairings in the league. With the way our backs bomb up the field we would get killed on the counter attack. Plus I think The U would have to trade up in the allocation order to get him as well as get Hackworth to remove his sweetheart Carrol from CDM which will never happen anyway.

  5. “founder of the successful Philadelphia Union MLS team,” Dog and pony show. Wonder how ticket sales are going. I mean will fans be paying to see skilled entertaining soccer or watch Danny Cruz pin-ball and flop all over the pitch?

  6. OneManWolfpack says:

    Anyone ever think why we had to be the team to “build a youth academy” and “invest in all this youth” and not pay anyone, anything? Why can’t we just sign a few guys, spend a few bucks, and go for it? I fear it’s gonna take a real revolt by us fans (and by revolt, I mean lack of money) to send a message

  7. So much vitriol for a team that was a few late goals away from the playoffs, all with a roster full of nobodies…

  8. Damn, I wish I could think of something smart like that!

  9. Glad I’ve finally found something I agree with!

  10. You’ve really helped me understand the issues. Thanks.

Leave a Reply to OneManWolfpack Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*