Kick Off: Summer transfer rumors pick up pace, plus Tim Howard is primed to be a star...off the field

News  |  Videos  |  Schedule & Stats  |  Clubs  |  Fantasy  |  Shop Forward To A Friend Kick Off: Summer transfer rumors pick up pace, plus Tim Howard is primed to be a star...off the field Here are the top 15 soccer stories we're following today and don't forget this is your last week to cast your MLS All-Star votes via Twitter! 1. HOWARD'S NEXT MOVE NBCSN is eager to grow Tim Howard's role further in the coming season, Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch revealed in his latest media column, suggesting that the MLS product has a TV career ready and waiting whenever he decides it's time to hang up his gloves. 2. SKC'S SIGNINGS AND RETENTION Robb Heineman is a busy man right now, but the Sporting Kansas City CEO took some time out on Monday to answer questions in the club's first fan forum, in which he confirmed the Kansas City will be unveiling a new signing in the "next 10 days to two weeks." 3. RUMOR MILL KEEPS CHURNING Take these all with a grain of salt as we're getting deeper and deeper into silly season, but reports suggest that both New York MLS sides are looking at Florent Malouda, the Philadelphia Union want Algeria captain Madjid Bougherra, D.C. United are apparently close to signing an Argentine midfielder and Olivier Occean is once again linked with the Montreal Impact. 4. GOING ON LOAN While David Villa waits for New York City FC's first season to get underway, he'll be playing his soccer down under with the sister side Melbourne City FC. As for Jeb Brovsky, currently NYCFC's only other player, he'll be heading to Norwegian side Strømsgodset. 5. OPEN CUP RETURNS The Philadelphia Union take on the New England Revolution on Tuesday evening (7pm ET) for a place in the US Open Cup semifinal. Sebastian Le Toux will likely start for the Union and the fan favorite reflected on the end of his no-card streak at the weekend. Meanwhile, can the Revolution use the game to stop their current slide? 6. WARM UPS AND INJURIES The Carolina Railhawks are one of two NASL teams remaining in the US Open Cup, and they prepared for Wednesday's game against FC Dallas by beating Mexican side Puebla 2-1. Dallas may be forced to call upon Raul Fernandez in goal for that game as Oscar Pareja suggested Chris Seitz may have torn his right quad. Either way, only one team will march on to the semis. 7. WHERE NEXT? Whoever advances to the US Open Cup semis, the remaining teams now know exactly where the path to the final will lead them as U.S. Soccer completed the coin flips to determine the semifinal hosts on Monday afternoon. 8. TRADE SECRETS What can the NBA, currently embroiled in the LeBron James will-he-won't-he saga, take from MLS? Well, the Designated Player rule for one, says Andy Glockner. 9. FARFAN'S FORTUNES It's a tale of mixed fortunes for the Farfan brothers. After being cut by Cruz Azul, Michael has found himself training with the Philadelphia Union, his former club, while brother Gabriel completed a permanent move to Mexican side Chiapas FC. 10. MEXICO MOVES It's not just US national team players drawing plenty of attention following a strong World Cup, as a number of Mexican stars, including Guillermo Ochoa and Javier Hernandez are being linked with moves to new clubs. 11. THE EXPERIENCE Kyle Beckerman made such a good impression during his three games at the World Cup that it caused plenty of heated discussion when he was left out in the Round of 16 against Belgium. Now that he's back in Salt Lake City, the dreadlocked hero reflected on his experiences in Brazil. 12. US' BUSY FOUR YEARS With the World Cup behind them, what comes next for the US national team? There's plenty of speculation as to how Klinsmann will line up his side in the coming tournaments, but one things for certain: it's going to be a busy four years. 13. GEIGER IN THE SEMIS Germany take on Brazil today in the first of the World Cup semifinals, and while the US has long since departed, there will still be a familiar face along the touchline as American referee Mark Geiger will be the fourth official for the game. 14. SEARCHING FOR A GOAL Darlington Nagbe is, once again, proving to be one of the Portland's most important players this year, but with almost half of the season gone, the Timbers midfielder is still searching for his first goal. 15. R.I.P DI STEFANO The soccer world lost one of its all-time greats on Monday after Alfredo Di Stefano passed away just two days after turning 88. Di Stefano won five European championships back to back, scoring in each of the finals, and is rightly mentioned in the same breath as Pele and Maradona. MLSsoccer.com Musts Goal of the Week & Save of the week, Vote now! Building the Spine, Portland Timbers explain their DP strategy Instant Replay: Did Dwyer deserve a yellow for his selfie celebration?

Kick Off: Back with a bang, USMNT stars help MLS clubs on busy weekend as transfer rumors abound

News  |  Videos  |  Schedule & Stats  |  Clubs  |  Fantasy  |  Shop Forward To A Friend Kick Off: Back with a bang, USMNT stars help MLS clubs on busy weekend as transfer rumors abound Here are the top 15 soccer stories we're following today 1. DAVIS HELPS DYNAMO TO DRAW The Houston Dynamo welcomed Brad Davis (and some others) back just in time, with the midfielder playing a big part in his side's 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls (watch highlights here). Yet the Red Bulls feel they should have taken all three points and would have if not for what they deemed a questionable penalty. 2. DIAZ RETURNS, DALLAS WIN FC Dallas overcame a resurgent Philadelphia Union to secure a 2-1 victory (watch highlights here) and hand Jim Curtin his first loss as Union interim coach. The result was highlighted by the return of Mauro Diaz, but the Union feel the game's decisive goal should have been ruled offside. 3. SCORE DRAW FOR RAPIDS AND CREW Gregg Berhalter was happy with his side's performance after the Columbus Crew managed  a 1-1 tie against the Colorado Rapids (watch highlights here), their fourth draw in a row. Rapids boss Pablo Mastroeni, on the other hand, was less than happy with his own team but refused to pass the blame. 4. RSL STARS RETURN JUST IN TIME Despite returning from the World Cup just one day prior to the match, Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando jumped straight in to play their part in Real Salt Lake's 2-1 win over the New England Revolution (watch highlights here), consigning the Massachusetts team to their fourth straight defeat thanks to a pair of penalty kicks. 5. TIMBERS TAKE A POINT The Portland Timbers came from behind to lead the match, then gave up that lead in a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy (watch highlights here). While Galaxy coach Bruce Arena criticized his own team's overall effort, the Timbers see the point on the road as a positive result. 6. DeLEON FINDING HIS FORM Nick DeLeon hopes he can rekindle his form from 2012 after his goal on Saturday helped D.C. United to a 2-1 win over Michael Bradley and Toronto FC (watch highlights here). The result also ended TFC's six-game unbeaten run and, to add insult to injury, they saw defender Nick Hagglund sent off in the dying minutes on a play that was initially ruled only a yellow card. 7. SHORT-HANDED SOUNDERS FALL TO THE CAPS The Seattle Sounders may have been missing half of their lineup during their 1-0 loss to Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps (watch highlights here), but head coach Sigi Schmid refused to use that as an excuse, instead stating, "We had enough quality on the field to get a result and to play." Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson, on the other hand, was pleased by his own side's determined effort. 8. VISIONARY CUBO For the second time in four days, Erick Torres proved the difference in a 1-0 Chivas USA win, this time against the Montreal Impact (watch highlights here). After a spectacular goal in second-half stoppage time, Torres claimed he had been inspired by visualizing celebrating with the home fans, but Montreal head coach Frank Klopas certainly wasn't a fan of the Torres goal. 9. FIRE RISING Sporting Kansas City, with Graham Zusi coming on as a substitute, had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire (watch highlights here) on Sunday afternoon despite running the show for much of the match. Regardless, the Fire dug in, and Frank Yallop believes the result shows his side is making progress. 10. COSTA RICA NARROWLY MISS OUT Costa Rica's World Cup came to a valiant end on Saturday when, after taking the Netherlands all the way through extra time with the score at 0-0, they were knocked out in a penalty shootout. Costa Rica were, of course, the final CONCACAF team in the tournament, but the general consensus is that they should be extremely proud of their accomplishments in Brazil. 11. DEPARTURE GATE A number of MLS players in the US World Cup squad made a name for themselves in Brazil, and we are  now seeing the fall-out from that, with reports suggesting that DeAndre Yedlin is on his way to AS Roma and Matt Besler is set to make a decision on his own future in the next few days, although his current head coach Peter Vermes believes he can keep hold of his stars. 12. ONE FOR THE FUTURE It looks like the US could add another name to the list of potential future stars, as Arsenal youngster Gedion Zelalem is reportedly getting his US citizenship. Meanwhile, former next big thing Freddy Adu may finally be closing in on a new club after going on trial with AZ Alkmaar. 13. WONDO'S BIG MISS While the majority of MLS' US stars returned to action over the weekend, there was no game for the San Jose Earthquakes, meaning Chris Wondolowski has to wait an extra week before he can move on from his pivotal miss against Belgium. However, the Quakes forward isn't hiding from it, instead suggesting, "That miss is going to help me." 14. UP THE TEMPO There was plenty of celebrating over how well the US did at this World Cup, but there were also a fair number of detractors questioning whether, for all Jurgen Klinsmann's promises, the German coach actually delivered. Either way, he certainly has plenty of ideas on how to improve the side going forward. 15. BECKHAM LOOKING ELSEWHERE? With David Beckham's search for a stadium site in Miami seemingly having hit a brick wall, the former Galaxy star is said to be considering a different location all together. Could this really be the case or is it just clever political maneuvering? MLSsoccer.com Musts Armchair Analyst: Where MLS is now and the path forward CONCACAF Champions League group stage schedule revealed Check out how San Jose 'keeper Jon Busch helps Navy SEAL families

This Week in MLS: Take Your World Cup Passion to the Next Level

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Forward To A Friend Got World Cup fever? Now take it up a notch Seattle's DeAndre Yedlin & the USA's next generation: "No ceiling" Struggling RSL thrilled for return of World Cup stars Beckerman & Rimando Brazilian star Kaká on his decision to join Orlando City: "I'm here to win" HOU v NY NBCSN Friday 8:30 PM EST

LA v POR
NBCSN
Friday 11:00 PM EST
SKC v CHI
ESPN2 / ESPN DEPORTES
Sunday 3:00 PM EST

DAL v PHI	Friday 9:00 PM EST
COL v CLB	Friday 9:30 PM EST
RSL v NE	Friday 10:00 PM EST
TOR v DC	Saturday 7:00 PM EST
VAN v SEA	Saturday 10:00 PM EST
CHV v MTL	Saturday 10:30 PM EST