Category: Story

Three days after David Beckham came to terms with MLS to stay on loan at AC Milan until July before rejoining the Los Angeles Galaxy, he twisted his ankle in practice.

[MLS] A league that has been beaten over the head dozens of times at the ballot box, city council meetings, and legislative sessions is perhaps one vote away from adding another Northwest city to its lineup. The five-member Portland City Council votes Wednesday on a proposed agreement between potential MLS operator-investor Merritt Paulson, who owns the USL-1 Timbers soccer team and minor-league baseball Beavers, and the city to renovate PG&E Park, currently the Beavers’ home, into a first-class soccer facility and build a new baseball park downtown near where the NBA Trailblazers play.

[CONCACAF UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP] While its archrival, Mexico, was unceremoniously dumped from the tournament, the USA got the job done and qualified for the Under-20 World Cup for the seventh straight time, defeating El Salvador, 2-0, in Tuesday’s group finale despite finishing with only nine players.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Real Madrid has won nine European Cup titles, more than any other club, but that’s all ancient history as the Merengues have failed to get past the first round of the knockout phase for the last five years. Its latest exit was the result of Tuesday’s 4-0 thrashing at Liverpool — its worst defeat in the history of the Champions League. Chelsea, Bayern Munich (with a record aggregate victory) and Villarreal (2-1 winner at Panathinaikos) also advanced.

[MLS] Jon Conway and Jeff Parke, who  tested positive for a banned substance and were suspended by MLS in October for 10 games, will be able to train with their teams once the MLS regular season begins next week.

Three games in the UEFA Champions League will be broadcast live on cable — Barcelona-Lyon, Manchester United-Inter Milan and Roma Arsenal. For all of television details …

[MLS] The MLS Players Union has released the list of 2009 player salaries and much of the inevitable interest is focused on two categories: the new Designated Players, and some high-profile signings not in the DP range, at least officially. Only Seattle has signed a new Designated Player, to wit Swedish midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, who will earn $1.3 million in base salary. That’s twice as much as the DP deal awarded to the Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who after winning dual MVP awards – regular season and MLS Cup – while leading Columbus to its first MLS title, has been bumped up to $650,000 in base salary ($775,000 in guaranteed compensation). He earned a base salary of $250,000 and $375,000 guaranteed last year.

[MLS] 2009 player salary figures released by the MLS Players Union reveal that only seven players in MLS earn more than $500,000. Forty players make the minimum $34,000, and 12 more make the developmental minimum of $20,100, as of March 2. For more on who makes what in MLS. …

[2009 GOLD CUP] Concacaf will hold the 2009 Gold Cup in 13 different U.S. cities — a record for a continental championship and once less than the 14 different Spanish cities that hosted games for the 1982 World Cup, a record for an international championship hosted by a single country.

[MLS] If “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” as the king himself utters in “Henry IV, Part II,” the word hasn’t been passed to members of the Columbus Crew.

[MLS] The four U.S. Open Cup play-in matches for MLS teams have been finalized with the pairing of Real Salt Lake and expansion club Seattle, to be hosted by the Sounders at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila on April 28.