MLS News Briefs: From Net to Net

by Jason Endres - November 27, 2007

 
 

In this week's peek around the league: Galaxy jerseys go global, MLS youngsters go to Spain and Joseph Ngwenya goes on trial in Germany.

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A major announcement will occur on Thursday in Honolulu, Hawaii where representatives from Major League Soccer, Japan's J-League, and Australia’s Hyundai A-League will meet to introduce a new international tournament involving clubs from the three different countries. The tournament, set to take place solely in Honolulu, will be named, format introduced and have the dates it will take place revealed during Thursday's announcement.  

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The MLS Generation adidas team is in Spain this week as they face off against reserve teams from Spain's La Liga. In the team's first match, it defeated Rayo Vallecano's reserve team 1-0. The loan goal of the games came from Real Salt Lake's Nathan Sturgis, who fired home a shot from the top of the box off a pass from Colorado Rapids forward Jacob Peterson. New York Red Bulls defender Hunter Freeman was ejected from the match late in the first half.

Preston Burpo San Jose Earthquakes
Burpo becomes the first netminder for the (new) Quakes. (photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty)
 
▪ Quakes Claim First 10
▪ ASD Match Report: Dynamo Repeat
▪ MLS Best XI Named
 

The squad is now in Madrid to prepare for a match against the reserves of Real Madrid.

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New England Revolution midfielder Andy Dorman has decided to leave MLS and head to his native England. The Boston University graduate, drafted with the 58th pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, was a key part of the Revolution squad which has been the Eastern Conference's best team over his four years in New England. Dorman told MLSNet, "I would have loved to have stayed with the Revs. I was happy there, but financially it was never really an option. The numbers that were talked about were nowhere near what I thought I deserved. Once that developed, I realized I had to figure something else out."

Despite rumours linking him with Americans magnet club Fulham, one player apparently not set for a Gillette exit is Michael Parkhurst. His agent, Craig Sharon, told American Soccer Daily that there are no current talks going on with any European club. As it stands, the MLS Defender of the Year intends to play out the last year of his Revs contract in 2008.

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New England is not the only MLS Cup finalist who could be losing a player to a European club. Houston Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya is once again testing the waters overseas. Second Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen has given the Zimbabwe international a tryout with their club. Last year, Ngwenya had a tryout with Spanish top flight club Getafe, but was not offered a contract.

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The David Beckham offseason tour continues down under as the Los Angeles Galaxy fell to Sydney FC 5-3 in front of 80,295 people. Beckham gave the Aussie fans what they came to see, burying one of his trademark free kicks just before half time to give Los Angeles its only goal of the first half. The match set an Australian record for amount of tickets sold for a club match. The Galaxy also sold 20,000 jerseys during their time in Australia. Beckham & Co. next head to New Zealand for a game in Wellington on Saturday. 

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The Columbus Crew wasted no time making changes to their squad after the end of the 2007 season. On Monday, the Crew traded forward Kei Kamara to San Jose for defensive midfielder Brian Carroll. The former DC United destroyer is expected to take over the starting job from Danny O'Rourke. In addition, head coach Sigi Schmid did not pick up 2008 options for goalkeeper Bill Gaudette, defender Rusty Pierce, midfielder Jacob Thomas and forward Andy Herron. 

In other trade news, San Jose acquired their first goalkeeper as they picked up Chivas USA netminder Preston Burpo for a 2008 fourth round SuperDraft pick. With the trade for Burpo, the Earthquakes now have 11 players on their roster.

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