Seattle tapped for '09 expansion

I guess the paltry USL.1 crowds didn't make a difference after all. Joe Roth (director of Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise) and the Seattle Sounder group will be getting a team in 2009.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber will be in Seattle on Tuesday, to announce that city will receive an expansion franchise to begin play potentially in the 2009 season. The Seattle team will be owned by Hollywood movie studio executive Joe Roth, Seattle Sounders managing partner Adrian Hanauer and Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

Oh, and I guess Drew Carey is no longer a Galaxy fan: Carey signs on to invest in Seattle expansion team

Click here for the entire article

MLS Cup: Revs, Dynamo Redux

Nate Jaqua and Dwayne DeRosario scored on either side of halftime, as the Houston Dynamo beat the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 to reach consecutive MLS Cup finals, where they will face last year's foe New England on November 18th at 12pmET at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

A DeRosario shot saved by KC keeper Kevin Hartman resulted in a 35th minute corner kick, and Richard Mulrooney's cross soared found Jaqua's head in traffic and Houston's big man redirected the cross into goal to make it 1-0. Following halftime, DeRosario added an insurance goal, when Craig Waibel intercepted a pass and put DeRo through with a nice pass. The Canadian international controlled and then beat Hartman to his inside post.

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Nate Jaqua 1 (Richard Mulrooney 1) 35
HOU -- Dwayne De Rosario 1 (Craig Waibel 1) 81

US roster for South Africa friendly set

Coach Bob Bradley announced a 17-players roster for next Saturday's match with South Africa. Four more players will be added in the next few days. Here they are:

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege)

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

FORWARDS: Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

No surprises given the relative success of the younger players in the Swiss match.

Ruud awakening for LA fans

Ok, the trite headline aside, how should LA fans feel about their new coach Ruud Gullit?

The former Chelsea, Newcastle, Feyenoord manager was named as a replacement for outgoing Frank Yallop who "resigned" to take the head coach reigns of the expansion San Jose Earthquakes on Friday. So, Alexi Lalas got his big-name coach to go with his big-name signing. But will it turn into big-time play or is it just a couple of washed up Euro trash having one last hurrah? More on this later.

In other coaching news, Bruce Arena was given the boot after just two seasons as the head coach of New York.

MLS Cup: Double-T's bike pedals Revs to final

New England is back in the MLS Cup final for the second year in a row, after Taylor Twellman's 38th minute bicycle kick doused of the Chicago Fire.

Double-Ts bike was created by a deflected cross by Wells Thompson. Splitting Fire defenders Dasan Robinson and Gonzalo Segares, Twellman's overhead kick beat Matt Pickens inside the left post.

It will be New England's fourth title appearance (always a bridesmaid...) where they will face either (last year's Cup final foe and winner) Houston or (please god no) Kansas City.

Chicago 0-1 New England
Scoring:
NE -- Taylor Twellman 2 (Wells Thompson 1) 38

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Conference semis Gm2)

GOALKEEPER

K. Hartman (KC)

DEFENDERS

E. Robinson (HOU), M. Harrington (KC), W. Barrett (HOU)

MIDFIELDERS

S. Ralston (NE), S. Joseph (NE), C Blanco (CHI)

FORWARDS

C. Rolfe (CHI), B. Ching (HOU),
J. Ngwenya (HOU), T. Twellman (NE)

MLS Cup: Dynamo, Revs -- and Wiz?

New England's Taylor Twellman managed the only goal his side would need in their Conference series with the NY Red Bulls, as the Revs advanced 1-0 on aggregate following their 1-0 home win in Game 2. New York was unable to over come injuries to Claudio Reyna, who left the match with yet another injury (looks like Captain America's super-soldier serum wore off a few years ago) and perhaps more importantly, to Juan Pablo Angel who left in the 64th minute due to injury. Before NY was able to get Angel's substitute into the game, New England raced down the field and Steve Ralston found Twellman who beat Jon Conway for the match's (and series') only goal.

A Dynamo deluge drowned FC Dallas in Game 2 of the Western Conference semi-finals, as Houston won the battle of Texas 4-2 on aggregate with a brace by Brian Ching. Dallas took a 1-0 lead into Game 2 in Houston and scored another 14 minutes in off the boot of Carlos Ruiz. As was expected following the incident in the clubs' last meeting between Ricardo Clark and Ruiz, the tempers flared several times, resulting in 40 fouls, 11 yellow cards and two ejections (both on Dallas); the match was extended due to stoppages into the 120th minute. Following the straight red to Arturo Alvarez, the Dynamo opened an orange can of whoop ass and scored four unanswered in front of the home crowd. Along with Chings' 72nd and 97th minute goals were sandwiched by Stuart Holden's 67th minute strike and Brad Davis' extra time goal.

But the most stunning victory of the night fell to Kansas City who having limped into the playoffs, nearly being bounced on the last weekend of the regular season, will advance to play Houston following their scoreless draw in Game 2, which allowed their 1-0 home win on Game 1 to hold up. Man-of-the-match honors should clearly fall to Kevin Hartman who managed to turn away six shots on goal and to keep his defense organized under extreme pressure.

The Cup semi-finals will feature Chicago versus New England on November 8 and Houston versus Kansas City on November 10.

SCORES
New York 0-1 New England
NE -- Taylor Twellman 1 (Steve Ralston 1, Shalrie Joseph 1) 64

FC Dallas 1-4 Houston
DAL -- Carlos Ruiz 1 (Kenny Cooper 1, Bobby Rhine 1) 14
HOU -- Stuart Holden 1 (Brian Ching 1, Ryan Cochrane 1) 67
HOU -- Brian Ching 1 (Joseph Ngwenya 1, Dwayne De Rosario 1) 72
HOU -- Brian Ching 2 (Joseph Ngwenya 2) 97
HOU -- Brad Davis 1 (unassisted) 100

Kansas City 0-0 Chivas USA

MLS Cup: DC 2, Chicago 2 (2-3) - Fire advance

Two first-half goals, two minutes apart, allowed the FIre to knock DC United out of the MLS Cup tournament with a 3-2 aggregate score Thursday night at RFK Stadium.

Chad Barrett started the Fire in the 31st minute and Chris Rolfe added the second, his second of the tournament. DC managed two second-half goals from Clyde Simms and 2006 MLS MVP Christian Gomez, but the League champions (Supporters' Shield) were unable to overcome the aggregate deficit, created by their 1-0 Game 1 loss in Chicago.

The Fire now advance to the next round where they will face the winner of New York v. New England, a series even at 0-0 after Game 1. New England host the Red Bulls on Saturday.

Scoring:
CHI -- Chad Barrett 1 (Calen Carr 1) 31
CHI -- Chris Rolfe 2 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 1, Calen Carr 2) 33
DC -- Clyde Simms 1 (Rod Dyachenko 1, Christian Gomez 1) 69
DC -- Christian Gomez 1 (Rod Dyachenko 2) 74

Discipline:
CHI -- Gonzalo Segares (caution; Reckless Foul) 54
DC -- Devon McTavish (caution; Reckless Foul) 61
DC -- Troy Perkins (caution; Reckless Foul) 63
CHI -- Matt Pickens (caution; Delaying a Restart) 93+
DC -- Rod Dyachenko (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 94+