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    Guest
    In a letter beginning “Dear Mario,” and concluding “I hope this will help the ASA,” Canadian Soccer Association president Dominique Maestracci today moved to quash hope that Mario Charpentier could be removed from office at this Friday’s Special General Meeting of the Alberta Soccer Association.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Quote:
    “During this meeting, the members can have a vote of non-confidence. No where within the By-laws of The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) or ASA is there any mention that Board of Directors may be removed from office due to the membership not having confidence in them.”
    The full document is on the Reform Alberta Soccer website.
    And if you’re a quarter as snarked off as I am right now, here are the e-mail addresses of the CSA Executive Committee.
    - Dominic Maestracci -- dmaestracci@soccercan.ca
    - Victor Montagliani -- vmontagliani@soccercan.ca
    - Mike Traficante -- mtraficante@soccercan.ca
    - Rob Newman -- robnewman31@hotmail.com
    - Steven Reed -- sreed@soccercan.ca
    - John Knox -- jknox@soccercan.ca
    - Clive Wilkinson -- cwilkinson@soccercan.ca
    Onward!
    Guest
    Canadian Soccer News has acquired a letter from CSA president Dominic Maestracci addressed to ASA 1st Vice-President Mario Charpentier.
    In it, essentially, Maestracci asserts that no election will take place this Friday at the ASA SGM and that even if a vote of no confidence were to occur, Charpentier will remain in control of the ASA.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    You can read the letter here.
    After reading it you'll probably be asking yourself this question - why is the CSA president showing such support for someone who is alleged to be working to disrail the CSA reform initiatives?
    Guest
    Author's note: Karl Jevne is past-president of the Central Alberta Soccer Association.
    He is one of several Alberta soccer officials who took legal action to try to oppose Mario Charpentier's ASA board of directors. For that, he faces a March 16 disciplinary hearing with the Canadian Soccer Association.
    His association faces imminent suspension, which could prevent them from casting votes at this Friday's court-ordered ASA Specal General Meeting.
    CASA's vote could ultimately be crucial in keeping the dream of Canadian soccer governance reform alive.
    He has agreed to share his perspectives on the ever-worsening Alberta mess with Canadian Soccer News:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    ---
    1) Who are you, and how did you get into this situation?
    Until stepping down at the end of November, I've been the President of the Central Alberta Soccer Association for nine years. We are a small rural member district of ASA located between Edmonton and Calgary, surrounding but not including the city of Red Deer. There are thirteen small cities and towns in our district with a player population around 4000. Like most other volunteer Board members in this province (with a few notable exceptions), I ended up with the job because no one else would do it and I happen to love the game and was willing to serve. We live in an extremely hockey-centric part of Canada so soccer life is not always the easiest to put it mildly.
    The biggest reason our district got to where we are in this dispute stems from the fact that the ASA has never served the rural areas well. The two biggest associations in Alberta, namely the Edmonton and Calgary Minor Soccer Associations, have controlled the ASA Board for a very long time and to be frank, have made a mess of it. In somewhat of a perfect storm at the 2009 ASA AGM, we were able to elect a President and Vice-President from ouside the two big cities. Although the Board was still split some good things did start happening at the ASA. Of course as probably everyone who has followed this knows by now, this situation ended abruptly at the 2010 AGM and with the suspension of the President less than a month later.
    The CASA district could not stand back without doing something, along with many others, to try to right the incredible wrongs that were perpetrated by Mario Charpentier and Colin Innes and their minions. At the time we could not have predicted the interference of the CSA. We were well aware that the new ASA Board had no respect for bylaws or justice, but did not fully realize the extent of the the ties between some of the Executive of the CSA and the ASA Board. The issue of governance reform is one that many Albertans were aware of prior to this, and in fact was one of the reasons that Chris Billings was such a popular choice of the rural districts, smaller cities and those associations that were not under the direct control of Mario Charpentier and Colin Innes.
    2) Is Mario Charpentier the rightful president of the Alberta Soccer Association?
    I know you mean 1st Vice-President as of course Mario has never been and never will be President of the ASA. Even his Calgary allies wouldn't vote for him as they proved at the 2009 ASA AGM. As far as the majority of the members of the ASA are concerned, he is definitely not the rightful VP, and if the court had not ruled that the April 24th Special General Meeting was procedurally incorrect, he would not be today.
    3) Why did you choose to risk suspension by taking the ASA situation to court?

    Mario's Board had decided that our district, along with several others, would be banned from participating in provincial youth championships last summer. As the ASA bank accounts had been frozen, several districts set up a trust fund to pay their player registration fees into – a move which was bitterly opposed by the Mario Board. That fund was used to help the office staff pay salaries and bills. Although at the time we had two Boards claiming to represent the ASA, Mario's Board had the unconditional backing of their CSA cohorts and were intimidating the staff into semi-co-operating with them. We went to court specifically to get a ruling to protect our youth and adults from being banned by that board from playing, and to protect the ASA staff from their abuses, which by the way have been partially documented (check reformalbertasoccer website).
    4) How has the Central Alberta Soccer Association been affected?

    Both negatively and positively. The negative part of course is financial and emotional distress. The uncertainty of the situation is hard on everyone. The positive part is the coming together of the vast majority of our members. Right now in Central Alberta, you could easily get a few thousand "sack the CSA" votes with no trouble. Another good thing is how many people are now aware of the both the Voyageurs and Canadian Soccer News websites. So I would consider the increased awareness of the average volunteer, players, parents, etc. is the one big positive to come out of this. An informed membership is the worst possible scenario for both the present ASA and the CSA Boards. Of course I'm referring only to those board members who have been so determined to undermine reform.
    5) Do you believe soccer governance reform is threatened by the current ASA board's actions?

    Unquestionably. Without that card, the whole deck would have collapsed by now. Mario and Colin have nothing to offer the CSA other than their support for Mike Traficante, Dominic Maestracci and their supporters.
    6) What is the best possible solution to the current crisis?

    A ruling by Alberta Court of Queen's bench that the SGM called for this Friday go ahead with all members in attendance, under the control of an independent chair with open attendance. After that, an AGM where the members can vote for the board of their choice. Long-term, a way has to be found to change the ASA Bylaws to achieve governance reform in Alberta.
    7) Do you think that your district and the others who signed the SGM petition have enough votes to pass the SGM resolutions?

    I believe we do. I think people have had enough of this board, and are looking for leadership from a board that has the best interests of the sport and it's participants at heart – and not the selfish ambitions of power hungry professional "volunteers." I believe there are individuals out there who would be more than happy to step forward if they knew they wouldn't have to face the kind of mean, petty nastiness that has prevailed for so long at the ASA.
    Guest
    As a Canadian soccer supporter, it's hard not to have a soft sport for David Edgar. It was just a few years ago that he was the great hope, the next big Canuck who would crack the EPL and drive Canada towards glory.
    But that hasn't panned out as we'd all hoped for the former U-20 captain. Edgar struggled to find regular playing time at Newcastle – despite his game-saving goal against Manchester United – and fared little better after decamping for Burnley in July 2009 (including a lengthy spell of ineligibility for his new club because of transfer red tape). His best run, a brief spell covering in the Clarets' injury-hit defence last year, saw some noteworthy performances from Edgar but he couldn't win a permanent spot in the starting XI, and by season's end, he was loaned out to second-tier Swansea.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    This season hasn't seen much more of Edgar, with just six first-team appearances so far for the Kitchener, Ont., native. His only notable return for those minutes has been a red card – not the kind of impression you want to make with the time you're given.
    But changes are afoot at Turf Moor. Burnley's big move of the transfer window so far has been to oust manager Brian Laws and bring in ex-Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe. It could be just what David Edgar has been waiting for. Howe seems to be exactly the kind of manager that Edgar needs: young, ambitious and keen to make the most of what he's got. Best of all, Howe's first order of business is to cast a fresh eye on Burnley's current roster.
    "We are going to give everyone a chance to impress and then we will have to make pretty quick decisions and try to move forward," Howe said in his first press conference as Burnley manager. It's music, I'm sure, to David Edgar's ears. The story of Edgar's career has been about waiting for his shot. Fingers crossed this is the one that finally takes.
    But before we get too carried away, it's worth nothing that Edgar has seen this before: Brian Laws was a patron of Edgar's early on, giving him a start against Man U in the new manager's first game. And Laws did make some effort to fit Edgar into the squad, even finding an unexpected preseason spot for him at holding midfielder. But that role evaporated, and Edgar has languished on the bench all year.
    <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3KJkzRB-MM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3KJkzRB-MM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
    The biggest stumbling block in Edgar's career has been the managerial tendency to play him out of position. It's vital for the Canadian that Howe see Edgar for what he is – a solid, stay-at-home centre back – and not what he isn't – the midfield shield or fullback that previous managers have tried to make him.
    Most of all, it's incumbent upon Edgar to fully seize this chance – a player can only live on the cusp of the first team for so long. And while he's got some work to do – he'll have stiff competition from Northern Irish international Michael Duff, who impressed in the Clarets' 0-0 draw to QPR, winning a place in the Championship team of the week – there are glimmers of hope. For starters, at 23, Edgar's still got youth on his side. Howe is a young manager (33, although he looks like a 12-year-old) and his eyes are on the long term, which could afford Edgar a decent run and that little bit of room to develop that he's sorely needed. Duff will be hard to beat out for a spot, but he's 32 years old – perhaps not the ideal choice for a team looking to build a new future.
    A little long-awaited success for Edgar at the club level would be a boon to Canada, too. Stephen Hart has waited patiently as Edgar turned down international call-ups, saying (as far as we know) that he wanted to establish himself in England first. That phase has dragged on, but Edgar's inclusion in the squad against Ukraine in October of last year showed that there's a spot there for the taking – Canada's defence can't exactly boast an embarrassment of riches. Canada sorely needs players of Edgar's potential to grasp the opportunities they get.
    So it's worth keeping a keen eye on Edgar's situation at Burnley, starting with the new manager's first test this Saturday away to Scunthorpe. Here's hoping the new dawn at Turf Moor marks the beginning of bigger things for the kid from Kitchener.
    Guest

    Make your voice heard, soccer fans

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    Tonight, on It’s Called Football, this reporter dropped any pretense of neutrality in the Alberta Soccer Association disaster.
    The overwhelming evidence – corroborated both on and off the record from many directions – is that ASA 1st VP Mario Charpentier allegedly stole the board, and his continuing presence at its head is paralyzing soccer in Alberta, and allegedly posing a serious threat to proposed and sweeping reforms at the Canadian Soccer Association.
    All this comes to a head in Edmonton on Friday, when the ASA holds a court-ordered Special General Meeting. Charpentier can be ousted – but only if enough opponents can get to Edmonton on short notice, not be suspended, and can get past all the security guards.
    Here are the e-mail addresses of Charpentier’s inner circle:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    - Mario Charpentier -- marioc@albertasoccer.com
    - Colin Innes -- colin.innes@shaw.ca
    - Chris Jossy -- jossyc@shaw.ca
    - Christine Chater -- Christine.Chater@arc.ab.ca
    - Fred Kern -- fredkern@shaw.ca
    - Jeff du Berger -- jduberger@shaw.ca
    - Robert Hayne -- robert.hayne@vqt2000.com
    You’re a Canadian soccer fan. You know what you’ve been through.
    It’s time to let these people know you’ve had enough, and it is time for “professional volunteers” to give way to seasoned, neutral professionals.
    Tell them any way you like – or just cut and paste the following:
    ---
    To the members of the Charpentier board:
    I, as a concerned Canadian soccer fan, do not recognize your right to lead the Alberta Soccer Association.
    Further, I resent the obstacles you people are allegedly placing in the way of Canadian soccer governance reform.
    Provincial soccer association presidents have no place in the future CSA structure, because the compromises required to serve two masters (provincial and national) render them ineffective.
    Please, stand aside now. Leave the future of soccer to people who love the game more than their own ambitions.
    Sincerely yours:
    ---
    Thanks for taking the time to do this, folks. The reformers need every bit of help and support they can get right now.
    Onward!
    Guest
    Tonight, we're talking all about CSA reform. As we enter the most critical period in Canadian soccer history - and let's face it, it will be another generation without a World Cup if we don't win some reforms now - we'll be talking about what's at stake, who is standing in the way and what the issues are.
    We'll be joined by the CBC's Jason de Vos to break down some of the problems and talk about what's holding us back.
    And we'll also get into Jonathan DeGuzman, CONCACAF lobbying for another World Cup spot and the value of academy and the draft in MLS.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:%27http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/21553/jan17.2010final.mp3%27,initialScale:%27scale%27,controlBarBackgroundColor:%270x778899%27,autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
    Guest

    Transfer Talk: Villa Gets Bent

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    If you thought Darren Bent's transfer fee of £18 million was crazy, you must think Sunderland holding out for an even bigger payday is downright insanity.
    You would be correct, but not for the reason you'd think.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Bent has been nothing short of spectacular for Sunderland in his time there. In fact, the only other strikers who have been more dangerous in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons are named Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba, and both of those players have been marginally superior to Bent (on the scoresheet) despite benefitting from world class supporting casts.
    In short, Bent is absolutely worth what Sunderland is asking for him in the open market.
    What's crazy is not the fee that The Black Cats will inevitably collect for Bent. Rather, it's that Bent seems willing to go an Aston Villa side that has been downright awful in the league this season.
    Sure, the striker's relationship has soured with his current club to the point that he requested a transfer out. What is hard to believe is that he's so disillusioned at Sunderland that he's willing to go just about anywhere else.
    Sunderland are currently in sixth place in the EPL and are very much a contender for European football next year. Aston Villa, on the other hand, are sitting just outside the relegation zone at the moment and are a team in flux under new manager Gerard Houllier.
    Bent's goalscoring prowess will undoubtedly be an immense help to the struggling side, and should even keep them clear from relegation. It just seems that a poor side in transition shouldn't be the destination for one of the leagues most prolific attackers, especially when he seems to hold most of the power.
    Perhaps it speaks to the relatively soft (to this point) transfer market out there right now, than Bent's biggest suitor is a team that is significantly weaker than the one he's keen on leaving. Outside of Manchester City's usual nuttiness (and even that seems to be muted, relatively), the big teams aren't spending much so far, and thus Villa seems to be the only team willing to part with big money for Bent.
    Consider that the other big transfer story in England today is the "bidding war" between Chelsea and Spurs for South African captain Steven Pienaar, who seems to be moving to Tottenham for a decidedly un-princely sum of £2.5-3 million.
    That a solid EPL veteran with World Cup experience - who would have commanded £8-10 million in transfer windows past - is likely to be sold for such a small fee could speak to an overall reeling in of expenses that has softened the current window, and severely limited Bent's options.
    Only time will tell.

    Some other transfer talk from around Europe over the weekend and on Monday:
    England

    Tottenham has joined Liverpool in the chase to sign Uruguay World Cup star Luis Suarez from Ajax.
    Chelsea set to make an improved bid for Benfica's David Luiz.
    Ashley Young is among Kenny Dalgish's transfer targets for Liverpool.
    Notts Country reject improved Derby bid for Ben Davies.
    Birmingham City turn down chance to sign Robbie Keane.
    Nottingham Forest to trial South African midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala.
    American midfielder Jermaine Jones close to loan deal with Blackburn Rovers.
    Demba Ba's move to Stoke collapses after failing medical.
    Cameroon midfielder Jean Il Makoun joined Aston Villa from Lyon, pending a work permit.

    Denmark

    Celtic defender Jos Hooiveld heads for Copenhagen loan.

    Turkey

    Bursaspor are expected to make a bid for Rangers' Kenny Miller.

    Guest

    CONCACAF Olympic qualifying back to US

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The United States will once again host men's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying it was announced this weekend.
    The tournament is expected to take place in March 2012. Canada is hosting the women's tournament.
    The time of year this takes place makes it a difficult event for Canada to bid for. Although the format has yet to be announced it's likely it will be similar to 2008 qualifying. Then, eight teams played in two groups of four. The top two teams in each group advanced to the semi-finals where they played a one off game to go to Beijing.
    Canada lost to the United States in one of the semi-finals.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    FIFA -- lovely, transparent FIFA -- announced today that there will only be two bidders for the 2015 Women's World Cup: Canada and Zimbabwe.
    Awesome news, right? After concerns that Australia might also be a serious contender, we should be celebrating! We're pretty much one rubber stamp away from hosting a senior FIFA tournament!
    So why the hell does this make me so worried?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Well, it makes me worried because FIFA seems intent on casting itself as a sporting equivalent of (or perhaps, outright replacement for) the United Nations these days. To hear Sepp Blatter and company talk about it, upcoming men's World Cups will not only alleviate one nation's history of isolation and corruption (Russia 2018), but bring peace to the freakin' Middle East (Qatar 2022).
    The success of South Africa 2010, after so many worries about safety and logistics, also makes me think FIFA may want to entrench its reputation as a champion of Africa by awarding the women's tournament to Zimbabwe.
    ...
    Sorry, I just realized how out-of-touch-with-reality FIFA has made us, because we're now seriously wondering whether Canada will be able to overcome the challenge of Zimbabwe, for fuck's sakes. Zimbabwe, a country with the 165th highest GDP in the world, a dollar so worthless that 10 billion dollars was converted to one dollar in 2008, a year before it was removed as the nation's official currency, and a president whose officials allegedly beat his rival in the 2007 election to a bloody pulp.
    So suffice to say, Zimbabwe has some problems.
    And that, sickeningly enough, may actually make the country more appealing to FIFA.
    The awarding of the men's tournament to Qatar substantively proved that FIFA couldn't care less about a host nation's current or historical performance in the international game, so there's no point citing the fact that Zimbabwe is ranked 103rd in the world (13th among African countries) in the most recent women's world rankings.
    You can also disregard the fact that Zimbabwe is, according to the CIA Factbook, "a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation", something the government is "not making significant efforts to" deal with.
    In Blatter's world, the fact that Zimbabwe is a troubled nation isn't a liability, or a caution sign -- it's an opportunity to, as he said, bring the game of soccer to new places.
    Robert Mugabe is no stranger to FIFA: his nephew was awarded a no-bid contract at last year's World Cup by one of FIFA's partner companies. Brazil also played a friendly in Zimbabwe in the run-up to the South African World Cup, which surely would have had FIFA's approval and blessing. And journalist Grant Wahl tweeted earlier today that Mugabe himself was a VIP at last summer's World Cup final.
    All of this is why I'm very, very worried.
    Let me make a few things clear: I'm not averse to the idea of an African nation hosting the Women's World Cup. But not Zimbabwe in 2015. If you're gonna try to "strike while the iron's hot" with a country that might be poised to benefit, how about Equatorial Guinea, who've gone from a #119 ranking five years ago to #62 in the most recent rankings, and will be competing in this summer's tournament in Germany?
    Also, I cite all of these things not to impugn the people of Zimbabwe, or to make anyone feel ashamed of their Zimbabwean heritage. I have no doubt that there are honest, hard-working people who earnestly believe that bringing the Women's World Cup to that nation would assist the country in alleviating some of its pressing issues.
    But FIFA's role is not to alleviate those social and political problems. It is a governing body for the sport of soccer. Its role, theoretically, is to look out for the best interests of the global game, its players and fans.
    Canada has successfully hosted FIFA tournaments in the past, in addition to hosting the Olympics on three occasions. Our country is ranked in the top 10 worldwide on the women's side, with a young, exciting team heading in the right direction under a new coach. Hundreds of thousands of young girls play the game in this country, and interest in the game is at an all-time high. We have plenty of established infrastructure and transportation, with the wealth necessary to ensure that any logistical concerns could be allayed ahead of time.
    This tournament, as Rollins said earlier today, "really is Canada's to lose".
    From a sporting, promotional and financial standpoint, of course it is. Of course Canada is the logical, "best" choice to host this major FIFA tournament.
    But then, that's what the fans in England and the United States thought too.
    .
    Guest
    It really is Canada's to lose. After hearing noise from several countries -- including serious potential challenger Australia -- only minnow Zimbabwe emerged as a challenger to Canada's hopes at landing the 2015 Women's World Cup.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Zimbabwe was the only other country where the FA had publically announced it was bidding prior to today. In the other cases a bid had been suggested, but not confirmed.
    Could Zimbabwe win? It's possible, but it would likely be an even greater stretch than awarding Qatar the 2022 World Cup. Zimbabwe is less stable than Qatar, is very poor and its women's program is almost non-existent.
    In comparison, Canada has established infrastructure (it may need improvements, but is far more advanced than what you would find in Zimbabwe), is a top 10 women's team in the world, has ample hosting experience and, most importantly, can actually afford to hold it.
    The only argument Zimbabwe can make is one of legacy. Women's football is not at the point where it can afford to go to countries for legacy purposes. It needs its marquee event to be successful and it's unclear whether Zimbabwe could promise FIFA that.
    It's likely that the other nations backed away from the bid because they realized that it was Canada's to lose.
    It is FIFA so we shouldn't be surprised if there is a surprise yet to come, but it sure looks like the WWC is coming to Canada in 2015.
    Guest

    Gold Cup line-up fills out

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    After two match days of the 2011 Copa Centroamericana there are only two spots left for next summer's Gold Cup.
    Both El Salvador and Panama won their first two games of group A and have clinched berths in the semi-final. With a semi-final berth, teams advance to the Gold Cup. After a win and a draw in group B play, Costa Rica also advances to the semi-final and.
    Honduras and Guatemala play tomorrow, with the winner advancing to the Gold Cup. Honduras will advance with a draw.
    The loser will play for fifth place at Copa Centroamericana. The top five teams go to the Gold Cup.
    Also tomorrow, Belize and Nicaragua play with the winner advancing to the fifth place game. The loser is eliminated.
    There are seven other countries qualified for the Gold Cup: Canada, Mexico, United States, Jamaica, Guadalupe, Cuba and Grenada
    The Gold Cup starts June 5 and runs through June 25.
    TV coverage in Canada will be on GolTV and Rogers Sportsnet. The Copa Centroamericana can be seen on GolTV.
    Guest
    It's been a long-running source of confusion and consternation for die-hard Canadian fans, but finally, the Canadian Soccer Association has announced they've struck a four-year deal with Umbro to provide kits for our national teams. The new partnership comes after the CSA's previous deal with Adidas fell apart.
    The new Umbro-made kits will make their on-field debut on February 9, when the men's national team plays a friendly in Greece, and will go on sale to the public on June 1, just in time for the Women's World Cup and men's Gold Cup.
    What does this mean? It means if you have the time and wherewithal to go scrounging through the discount bin buried at the back of your local sporting goods store, there could be some sweet deals to be had on old Canada jerseys! Buy now!
    Guest

    The Rest of the Story: Jan-10-16

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The MLS transfer window opened Saturday. Let the (salary capped) silliness begin! In our second weekly Rest of the Story, we look at MLS in-migration from Jan 10 to Jan 16.
    This week’s moves:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The most notable signing of the week was likely former PSG, Newcastle, Espanyol, Olympiacos and Leeds defender Didier Domi joining New England. He’s just 32, so you would hope for the Revs sake that he has a few miles left.
    Loan agreements with South America continue to be all the rage in MLS (partly because a player’s contract situation in South America can be complicated and a loan agreement is easier than just buying the player outright). DC United brought in Uruguay’s Rodrigo Brasesco. The defender played 79 games for Racing Club de Montevideo since 2008.
    Chicago made a couple of moves. They went domestic in midfielder Daniel Paladini, who played D2 last year for Carolina. He was a D2 all-star and Carolina’s MVP in 2009. They also grabbed Croatian Josip Mikulić on a free. The centreback most recently played for NK Zagreb
    It has yet to be made official, but it appears that young keeper Sergio Arias will be sent from Chivas Mexico to Chivas USA in one of those quasi farm team moves that are hard to define.
    The Red Bulls brought in a 20-year old Brazilian. Midfielder Marcos Paullo played youth football at Atletico Paranaense and had been on trial with the club for a long stretch last year. He played for the Red Bulls in a friendly against Manchester City last July.
    There was also another home-grown signing last week. Jonathan Top joins Dallas.
    Guest
    The easy answer comes in the oft-cited allegation that in FIFA, what you "deserve" is determined by nothing more than your ability to stuff a brown manila envelope with unmarked, non-sequential Euro notes.
    But using the real world's definition of "deserving", is there any possible merit to CONCACAF's push to have a fourth guaranteed qualifying spot in the men's World Cup, up from its current 3.5 spots?
    Based on the numbers... maybe.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Now, the most glaring numbers -- recent World Cup results -- suggest that the North and Central American and Caribbean zone is fairly represented (or perhaps over-represented) at the big tournament.
    It brings me great delight to say that CONCACAF's lowest qualifier, Honduras, went through South Africa 2010 without scoring a single goal; meanwhile, the lowest qualifier from CONMEBOL (South America) was Uruguay, who made it all the way to the semifinal, and featured the tournament's Golden Ball winner, Diego Forlan.
    Trinidad was a fun little underdog in 2006, but also went home without having scored a World Cup goal, whereas 10 of the 14 qualified UEFA teams made the knockout stages, and Europe had six of eight teams in the quarters and a clean sweep of the final four.
    The U.S. was CONCACAF's final representative in 2002, and did pretty well, making it to the quarters. But then, Senegal also made that round (losing an extra-time heartbreaker) and, of course, the co-host South Koreans ended up winning third place.
    Hell, in 2010, there was only one undefeated team in the entire tournament, and they were the ones expected to be thoroughly and humiliatingly decimated: New Zealand.
    The point is, every confederation could probably point to some aspect of recent World Cup history as justification for giving them more spots, at the expense of someone else. So does CONCACAF have any other numbers that may aid in its fight?

    The important number to remember is that CONCACAF currently has 3.5 of 32 places in the World Cup, or 10.9% of available spots.
    CONCACAF has 35 member nations out of FIFA's total of 203, for 17.2%. Sure, the vast majority of CONCACAF countries are absolute non-contenders, but on a strictly egalitarian basis, CONCACAF is grossly under-represented. (A fourth World Cup spot would still only bring our representation up to 12.5%).
    As of mid-2010, the world's population was about 6.89 billion, while North and Central America and the Caribbean were home to about 538.8 million people (source), for about 7.8% of the world's population. Then again, if you're going strictly by population, then Asia "deserves" 20 of the 32 World Cup spots (and having watched some of the ongoing Asian Cup... holy smokes, that's not in anyone's best interests.)
    Currently (January 2011), CONCACAF has 4% representation in the global top 50 in the FIFA Ranking. But if we look at the year-beginning rankings of the past 10 years, we see the following: 8%, 8%, 4%, 6%, 12%, 8%, 8%, 10%, 10%, 10%. Of course, the FIFA rankings are flawed, and my numbers are kinda arbitrary (on some occasions, a few CONCACAF nations just missed out on the top 50). But if one were to stupidly extrapolate meaning from these meaningless figures, one could conclude that CONCACAF is trending towards less representation, not more.

    Combine those randomly-chosen statistics with CONCACAF's World Cup history, and even the biased observer (self included) has to conclude that there's no overwhelmingly compelling impetus for FIFA to gift CONCACAF with a fourth automatic qualifying spot -- especially because it means some other confederation would be deprived of that spot.
    Which confederation is currently deserving of losing half a qualifying spot? You could say CONMEBOL, since it has 4.5 spots for only 10 member nations; but as I said before, their fifth-place finisher got all the way to the semi-finals this year. Oceania only has 0.5 to begin with. UEFA would surely kick up a mighty ruckus if any move was made to lessen their presence at the tournament. Africa? Maybe, but is Sepp Blatter willing to give up the goodwill he believes he earned from the South African tournament?
    Maybe Asia. Not a particularly good World Cup (though even North Korea gave Brazil a scare) and -- the 2002 anomaly notwithstanding -- not exactly a World Cup powerhouse, traditionally. But taking half a qualifying spot away from the AFC would slightly harm China's chances of making it back to the tournament -- and considering that's where the 2026 tournament will be held (just watch), you know FIFA would love to see some hype built up there beforehand.
    So when you really get down to it, it seems the "give CONCACAF another guaranteed spot" argument is based upon the same thing that most of CONCACAF's activities are focused on: Increasing the chances that Trinidad (homeland of the confederation's hideously corrupt president, Jack Warner) will qualify for the World Cup.
    It's cynical, it's devious and could be horribly unfair to a worthy nation in some other confederation that could see itself deprived of a World Cup spot so that some CONCACAF quasi-minnow could make it.
    But then again, Canada is a CONCACAF quasi-minnow, aren't we?
    ...
    Go get 'em, Jack!
    .
    Update: A few colleagues (Dave Clark, in the comments below, and Jono at Out of Touch) have stats suggesting CONCACAF as a whole has statistically outperformed the Asian and African confederations as of late. I assume their calculations are solid, and that lends a bit of credence to CONCACAF's argument... though the cynic in me will always presume it's largely driven by self-interest on Warner's part.
    Guest

    For Ur Love: Demitrius Omphroy

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Everyone that I have spoken to regarding TFC draft pick Demitrius Omphroy says the same thing -- he's an eternally positive person that likes to have fun with life. He also should give Rohan Ricketts lessons on how to use social media properly.
    Along with college teammate Davis Paul, Omphroy uploaded this tribute to Chris Brown's
    last fall. It's received a quarter of a million views.Watch it here:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


    TFC didn't draft a videographer, of course, but after a few years of buzzkill football a little positive energy might not be a bad thing.
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