Garber denies LanDo loan

MLS Commissioner Don Garber in his MLS State of the Union claimed that Landon Donovan has not been loaned to Bayern Munich, contrary to reports in the press to the contrary.

“We haven’t heard anything from Bayern Munich about Landon going on loan to that team,” the commissioner said in response to a question. “Let me remind everybody: contrary to what you might have read in the press, Landon Donovan is not on loan to Bayern Munich.”

LanDo recently completed a trial at the German giants, and according to reports in on ESPNsoccernet, a loan deal was completed.

YA: U-20 star Zizzo to Hannover

Yanks Abroad is reporting that USA U-20 star Salvatore "Sal" Zizzo has signed a three-year deal with Bundesliga club Hannover 96.

According to YA, fellow American Steve Cherundolo, also with Hannover, helped persuade the youngster to join him overseas, calling up Zizzo's parents in San Diego.

Zizzo turned down an offer to enter the 2007 MLS Superdraft and returned to UCLA for his sophomore season, scoring seven goals and adding 9 assists in 23 appearances. But it was his performance in this summer's U-20 World Cup that convinced Hannover to sign the California native.

But is Germany the right place for young American players to develop their skills?

Zizzo becomes the fourth American player signed by Hannover, and with the exception of Cherundolo, the other two players, Clint Mathis and Conor Casey, struggled to develop, returning to MLS after a few miserable seasons. Zizzo's signing continues the UCLA-to-Germany pipeline that delivered former Bruins Benny Feilhaber and Kamani Hill overseas. In addition, according to YA, there are also 10 Americans playing in 2.Bundesliga or lower divisions in Germany.

U.S. Copa victim wins spot with Bundesliga club

The good people at Yanks Abroad are reporting that 22-year-old defender Heath Pearce has signed a till 2009 for newly promoted Bundesliga club Hansa Rostock.

Pearce, a left back, was selected to Bradley's ill-fated 0-3 Copa America squad and started the final match against Colombia, a 1-0 loss and their most respectable scoreline of the tournament. He didn't factor much in the match, but few players distinguished themselves in Venezuela. He has a total of seven caps for the national team.

During Bruce Arena's time as coach of the national team, Pearce was considered behind both Frankie Hejduk and Todd Dunivant on the depth chart. He doesn't seem to be making much progress under Bradley, who clearly brought mainly bubble players to Copa America to determine U.S. depth.

Left back has been a troublesome position for the U.S. Arena used Bobby Convey, Eddie Lewis and John O'Brien, none of which were traditional left backs (except maybe O'Brien who didn't start his career there but played in that spot for Ajax often).

Click here for Yanks Abroad story.