Colorado — No permanent replacement for Bob Houghton has been named, though U.S. Soccer staff coach Glenn Myernick is the name most often heard as the No. 1 choice…. Other candidates: U.S. five-a-side coach John Kowalski (believed to be the frontrunner for the Tampa Bay job) and Fernando Clavijo, the coach of the CISL’s Seattle SeaDogs…. Marcelo Balboa will play for the Dallas Burn as a guest player in a friendly against El Salvador Nov. 16. Rumors have him headed to Mexico for the offseason and then on to the Burn in ’97…. Rapids players Jean Harbor, Denis Hamlett, Matt Kmosko and Brian Bates all played for the USISL’s Raleigh Flyers in their 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago Nov. 7. Harbor had the winning goal on a penalty, while Hamlett got a red card…. Steve Trittschuh and Scott Benedetti are headed shortly to Thailand, where they will play there for three weeks.
Columbus Crew — Several Crew youngsters are training in England: Mike Clark and Rob Smith at Oldham and Todd Yeagley at QPR. The Crew hopes to reach a deal to send backup goalie David Winner and striker Pete Marino to the Belgian Second Division for the winter…. The club has broken ground on its new training facility in the town of Obetz.
Dallas Burn — The Burn plays its first international match ever when it hosts El Salvador Saturday night, Nov. 16, at the Cotton Bowl. Kickoff is 7:30 pm. El Salvador travels on to Los Angeles for a game against Mexico Nov. 20 at the Coliseum. Its next World Cup qualifier is Dec. 1 in San Salvador…. Three Burn players underwent offseason surgery: Jason Kreis (left elbow), Mark Santel (left shoulder) and Brian Haynes (left ankle).
D.C. United — Bolivian stars Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno are playing back home in the Bolivian playoffs with Bolivar and Oriente Petrolero, respectively…. Mark Simpson is starting in goal in the NPSL for the Buffalo Blizzard. United hopes to reach an agreement to purchase his contract.
Kansas City Wiz — Ron Newman is in the middle of a three-week scouting trip in Europe…. Three Wiz players — Mark Chung, Sean Bowers and Frank Klopas — are expected to go to Spain, where they would represent the United States in the world five-a-side world championships.
Los Angeles Galaxy — Goalie Jorge Campos has played in goal and up front in the Mexican First Division for Atlante…. He should face Galaxy teammate Mauricio Cienfuegos when Mexico and El Salvador meet Nov. 20…. Mark Semioli had surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle in Hartford, Conn.
MetroStars — With his recent departure from Brazilian club Sao Paulo, Carlos Albert Parreira has emerged as the hot pick to take over the vacant MetroStars’ head coaching job. Like Carlos Queiroz, who left for Japan after the MLS season, Parreira had rejected overtures from U.S. Soccer last season. The coach of the ’94 Brazil world championship team spent the 1995-96 season in Turkey at Fenerbahce…. The MetroStars’ game against America Cali in Colombia Nov. 20 was canceled…. Peter Vermes is playing with NPSL surprise Philadelphia, while backline partner Matt Knowles has been waiting for his indoor suspension to expire before beginning play with Milwaukee.
New England — The Revs have several players training abroad: Alberto Naveda (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Welton (America, Brazil), Darren Sawatzky (Leicester, England) and Aidan Heaney (Newcastle, England)…. Defender Ted Chronopoulos is back on loan to his old Greek club Panionios, since relegated to the Second Division, for the offseason…. The Revs are working on plans to tour South America in January.
San Jose Clash — It looks like Troy Dayak, who missed the playoffs due to a neck injury, will not have surgery…. A local sports cable channel is carrying both games of the Clash’s recent tour of China…. Missael Espinoza has been coming off the bench for Mexican First Division club Guadalajara. The Clash would love to get the popular midfielder/forward back from Chivas for the ’97 season.
Tampa Bay — The Mutiny is expected to announce its new coach today, Nov. 15. John Kowalski, U.S. 5-a-side national team coach and head coach at Robert Morris, is the leading candidate, though the Mutiny apparently has had some late interest in UCLA’s Sigi Schmid…. Carlos Valderrama, on loan to Colombian champion Deportivo Cali, stood out in Colombia’s 2-2 tie with Bolivia in La Paz Nov. 10. The World Cup qualifier had a distinctly MLS flavor: D.C. United’s Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno played for the host team, while the MetroStars’ Antony De Avila and former Dallas midfielder Leonel Alvarez lined up alongside Valderrama…. Roy Lassiter is at Italy’s Genoa, but he has yet to play in a Serie B match.