Quakes coach may exit - Monterey Herald Africa fails the test - BBC At A Glance - the Oregonian Alberts '04 is headed to MLS Combine - Yalely Daily Boumsong’s agent talks up Ibrox move - The Herald (UK) (short bit reported elsewhere regarding Nelsen's chance to move to Rangers The pros must wait on Shriver - St Petersburg Times Williams on trial with Coventry City - Jamaica Gleaner
No kidding. Here's this kid, paying his way to Valencia to preserve eligibility, that's at least decent (although you wonder how he'd get a work permit). I think it shows that there still are some impediments to skilled young players finding a place to play at their level. And then there's this: WUSA aiming at modest program in '04, full revival in '05 - USA Today A few doubleheaders would be an interesting way to work this out in the interim that would help MLS make a little extra dosh. Sounds good (and realistic) to me.
What sort of permit is needed to play in Spain? Anecdotally, through my endless (and mostly fruitless) web searches for Yanks Abroad I've come across, as Buff suggests, quite a lot of kids who go on trial, do decently well, and then turn around for one reason or another. More common are deals like the one you've found, where players are offered training stints with no promise of a contract. Some DCU youth players have been offered such opportunities in England recently, but turned them down because the expense wasn't really worth it given the training they were already receiving over here.
Its amazing that sponsors havent learned their lesson from the first time with the WUSA. It seems like they are confusing the success of a one off, international event with the potential for a week to week domestic league. Some dumb people in some high places in corporate America.
Well not exactly-- as a former "illegal alien" in Spain, I can assure you that any American would need a work permit. What I think you're saying, though, is that they don't have a special "footballers" work permit with a cap requirement like the UK?
Agreed about the dumb people bit, but I think the scaled down plans mean that they have learned a lesson or two...
Or that the scale is only limited by the amount of money that dumb people are giving them, and that if given more money, the scale would be larger. (Just playing Devil's Advocate)
The pull of college and home is very strong in the US. A friend of mine toured England with his U-17 team back close to 9-10 years ago. He was so impressive that Liverpool put a contract on the table for him to sign. He decided to return to the US and play collegiately since he had a scholarship offer and he would be closer to his girlfriend. When I speak to him today about his decision he regrets it a lot.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast coach Mama Ouattara blamed his team's second-round exit on the refusal of Belgian club Beveren to release several key players, particularly in defence. The west Africans were beaten 2-0 by America, who fielded 14-year-old Ghanaian-born Freddy Adu in their line-up, in Dubai. "We were bad in defence because we did not have our first choice player," Ouattara explained. "But we were beaten by a much better team." "This US side is going to be hard to beat at the tournament." First of all, you normally only see Americans refer to us as America, not the foreign press. Second, I wonder how much the foreign press will keep mentioning Freddy was born in Ghana, as in that must be why he is so good. Third, it's nice to see the Ivory Coast coach compliment the U.S. team. I guess I have just come to expect other teams coaches to break out any excuse they can find for losing to Americans.
Goalie Haefner may be MLS Bound - Daily Pennsylvanian (written by a BS guy... forget his screen name) Soccer in Chicago - Chicago Daily Southtown Part of the Suburbs coming to City with Indoor Soccer Facility - Chicago Sun-Times