With the overwhelming majority of the players likely to represent the United States at the 2010 World Cup playing in Europe, there is one final chance for Major League Soccer players to break into the squad.

The U.S. will play El Salvador in a Feb. 24 friendly in Tampa, Fla., and on Thursday Coach Bob Bradleyinvited 23 players into camp at the Home Depot Center, starting Feb. 10, to prepare for that match.

All of the players are from MLS and include Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton, defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Sacha Kljestan, as well as Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez.

The roster includes 21 of the players who were in the January camp in Carson that preceded the U.S. team’s 3-1 loss to Honduras at the Home Depot Center.

“This camp and the game against El Salvador provide a chance for the coaching staff to get one more long look at this group,” Bradley said in a statement released by U.S. Soccer. “El Salvador demonstrated during World Cup qualifying that they are a difficult team to beat, so we expect a good match.”

Originally written by Grahame L. Jones at LA Times

Will the Major League Soccer players make it to the US squad? Only time can tell.

The Philadelphia Daily News writes about that as we take a look around the league today.
The team’s new stadium won’t be ready until the end of June.

The Union, MLS’ newest entrant, will have a rough road to start its inaugural season with 10 of its first 12 games away from home. The April 10 game against D.C. United and the May 15 game against FC Dallas will be at Lincoln Financial Field.

“It’s a challenge, but we have a team manager that knows all about how to handle challenges,” Union president Tom Veit said of team boss Peter Nowak. “When we were in talks with Peter [about joining our team] we informed him about the ongoing construction and how that may make many of our initial games on the road. His reply to us was, ‘We’ve got to win all the games anyway, so who cares if it’s home or away?’”

Conversely, the back end of the season is loaded with home games, including five of the team’s last seven.

Preki, new coach of Toronto FC, told the Toronto Star there could be more changes to the Reds before the season starts.

But Preki also made it clear that the team he has today will not necessarily be the one that takes to the field in Columbus on March 27 in the season opener, especially with spots open on the roster.

The New York Times reports that the Red Bull are very interested in hosting the MLS Cup at its new park, Red Bull Arena, in November.

The Chicago Fire are off to Phoenix today to train at Arizona State University for two weeks.

Its going to be a busy year for the Columbus Crew, the Columbus Dispatch writes.

The Crew will play at least 39 games. If it advances as far as it can in all competitions, including the U.S. Open Cup tournament and the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Champions Leagues, it will have played 52 games through the MLS Cup final on Nov. 21. The Crew played 37 games last year and has never played more than 41.

Down I-5, the Portland City Council cleared the way for renovation of the Timbers’ MLS home, the Oregonian reports. I’m happy about that but really hope a home can be found for the Beavers of AAA baseball, the team I grew up watching.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a $31 million agreement with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson to renovate PGE Park for Major League Soccer, clearing the way for Portland to become a two-major-league-sports city in 2011.

Found at seattletimes.com

How will Philadelphia Union make it on the way to the top? Stay tuned for more news!

NEW YORK — Today MLS and its national broadcast partners announced the entire 2010 regular season schedule. For the first time in League history, every team will play each of the other 15 clubs once at home, once away, for a balanced, 30-game season and a total of 240 matches League-wide.

First Kick, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, encompasses the opening weekend of Major League Soccer’s season — March 25-27 – and all 16 club home openers. It all begins Thursday, March 25 with the inaugural game of Philadelphia Union, the League’s 16th team, against Seattle Sounders FC. The vibrant fans at Qwest Field in Seattle will provide a noisy setting for this historic opener to the League’s 15th season, aired live in high definition on ESPN2 and simulcast on ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com.

On Saturday, March 27, Fox Soccer Channel will launch its 2010 match coverage – this year in high definition — with a California doubleheader: The San Jose Earthquakes host defending MLS Cup Champion Real Salt Lake at 9 p.m. ET before the 2009 Western Conference Champion LA Galaxy face the New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center at 11 p.m. ET. With 30-minute pre- and post-game shows, this five-hour window will provide a thorough primer for the 2010 season to fans nationwide.

TeleFutura’s MLS season starts with the bang of the Texas rivalry between Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas on March 27 and continues primarily on Saturdays at 4 p.m. throughout the 2010 season. MLS and TeleFutura jointly believe that this time slot will be best for fans of MLS clubs.

Some highlights of this year’s schedule include:

• All 240 games will be televised.

• Fans can watch live via the national broadcast partners, regional telecasts, the Direct Kick television package (available via select satellite and digital cable providers) or on MLSnet.com. Regional broadcast schedules will be announced by the teams as they are finalized.

• One third of the games will be broadcast live by a national TV network:

• 25 games will air live in high definition on ESPN2, and all of those, plus one game on ESPN, will be simulcast on ESPN360 and in Spanish ESPN Deportes. This is the fourth year of an eight-year partnership between MLS and ESPN.

• 31 games will be televised live in high definition on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) and feature 30-minute pre- and post-game shows for a three-hour programming window. Most games on FSC will be simulcast in Spanish on Fox Sports en Español (FSE) in a two-hour broadcast window. Fox’s MLS schedule includes four Sunday matches from July 18 to Aug. 8.

• 23 games will be broadcast live on TeleFutura, most on Saturdays starting at 4 p.m. ET.

• 75 percent of games will be played on Saturdays; 85 percent of games will be played on weekends.

• A two-week break in the MLS season aligns with the group phase of the FIFA World Cup. The last match before this break is D.C. United at Seattle Sounders FC at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

• Red Bull Arena will host its first League match March 27 when the New York Red Bulls face the Chicago Fire at 7 p.m. ET (live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).

• The first MLS game to be played on natural grass at BMO Field in Toronto will be Toronto FC’s April 15 match against Philadelphia Union at 7 p.m. ET (live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).

• On Sunday, June 27, Philadelphia Union will open the ninth stadium built specifically for an MLS club. The grand opening of the venue in Chester, Pa., will be a match against Seattle Sounders FC at 5 p.m. ET (live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).

• SuperLiga 2010 will take place this summer with the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Houston Dynamo, and the New England Revolution representing MLS alongside four clubs from Mexico’s Primera A. Full details of the tournament will be announced in the coming weeks.

• The 2010 MLS All-Star Game will showcase top players from both conferences against a popular international club at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas in late July or early August. The date and opponent for the game will be announced at a later date, but it will be broadcast live by ESPN2 and TeleFutura.

The 2010 regular season concludes Sunday, Oct. 24 with a pair of games. Eight teams will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which begin the following weekend, Oct. 28-30. The championship match, MLS Cup 2010, will be held Sunday, Nov. 21 at a venue to be announced later, live on ESPN and TeleFutura.

Throughout the year, the most up-to-date version and the team-by-team schedules are available at

Found at mlsnet.com

Looks like a hell of a season, right? Stay tuned for the latest news of Major League soccer!

Found at mlsnet.com

Washington, D.C. — D.C. United announced today the club has signed 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year finalist Chris Pontius to a new contract. United originally selected the promising young star with the seventh overall pick of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Per team and League policy, terms of the new agreement were not released.

“Chris had a terrific rookie season and we are pleased to have completed a new deal with him,” said United General Manager Dave Kasper. “We believe that his best soccer is still ahead and we will challenge him in every way to ensure he reaches his full potential. We are excited about his future, and we look forward to his contributions this season and beyond.”

“I’m very excited to have reached a new deal with United,” said Pontius. “I had a great time last year and we have big plans for the future of this club. I’m looking forward to contributing even more to the team and I’m excited for the 2010 season.”

Pontius made his presence felt immediately on the pitch in 2009, as the first-year player scored a stunning goal against the LA Galaxy in the opening match of the season. Since that opening day strike, Pontius has consistently impacted United’s fortunes. His versatility has allowed the California native to play in nearly every offensive position on the pitch. Pontius played in all but two of the team’s 30 League matches (23 starts), registering four goals and three assists. In all competitions, Pontius played in 40 of 44 possible matches, scoring eight total goals to accompany his six assists.

For his diligent play Pontius was voted as 2009 Volkswagon Fans’ Choice at the conclusion of his rookie campaign. Additionally, the young forward was selected as one of three finalists for the 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year Award alongside Los Angeles’ Omar Gonzalez and Toronto’s Stefan Frei.

Pontius’ ascendancy in Major League Soccer follows a stellar collegiate career in Santa Barbara. During his senior year, Pontius led UCSB with 14 goals as he started each of the team’s 22 games. In 2008 the United forward was named as a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, a member of the College Soccer News All-American Second Team, to the NSCAA All-American Third Tram, and the All-Far West First Team.

Here you can find all the latest news, updates and info about MLS and the teams. All in one place!