A Thin 23
The big news of the day Monday was the release of the 23-man roster for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Costa Rica (home) and Mexico (away). A slew of injuries of late (not to mention Landon Donovan's hiatus) has left the team rather thin in player availability, resulting in what long-time national soccer writer Michael Lewis is calling the weakest list of players he has seen in quite some time.
With Tim Howard among the missing, Brad Guzan has been put into the spotlight, fair or not, for the imminent qualifiers. Jeff Carlisle features Guzan's career for ESPN.com. In my opinion, I don't think Guzan is a liability. Unfortunately, there is a decent chance he may look bad in the upcoming contests, and it will all be mostly out of his hands as the US defensive unit brought into camp is quite suspect and could leave him horribly exposed.
Global League
Meanwhile, MLS released a lengthy list of all it's players being called in for the international competition window this week around the globe.
Bradley Speaks From Egypt
FIFA.com did an extensive feature interview with former Egyptian National Team coach Bob Bradley, previously of the US MNT and MLS. They discuss how things have gone for him and the team both on and off the field as they not only faced the challenge of attempting attempting to qualify for the World Cup, but the ongoing turmoil off the field in a nation embroiled in strife and violence over both politics and, of late, soccer. Part 1 - Part 2 - Photo Gallery
Resignation Not Accepted
Here is an odd story out of Bulgaria where the coach of one of the nation's powerhouse teams tendered his resignation under fan pressure after his second-place club - yes second-place - had a run of poor results. Ownership, however, did not accept and are expecting him to continue leading the team.
Riches to Rags
You hear all the time in the US about American star athletes going broke. Well, it's not just an American thing as this BBC story points out. Rajeev Gupta looks at the alarming rate of 10% to 20% of EPL players that go thought bankruptcy within five years of retiring - according to Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers' Association. One player he features is Lee Hendrie, a second generation star who thought he invested wisely, but still ended up broke and actually attempted suicide twice before rebounding.
Who Are the Cheaters?
In response to the initial story out of the Texas derby in which Dominic Kinnear of Houston cried foul of the persistent problem of diving in MLS, Peter Welpton answers back. The writer points out (with supporting video) that the initial foul the coach complained was, indeed, a foul. And not only that, the foul is part of another larger problem in the league: persistent professional fouling that goes uncalled and unpunished, which is what is leading to the rash of diving around the league.
'Stories of the Day' is a quick recap of interesting, underreported, or top soccer news items - sometimes accompanied by some commentary - to give readers in the Inland Northwest area (or beyond) a brief look around the North American news scene.
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