1.31.13
Morning Read: Juan Agudelo Isn't Going Anywhere
It sounds as though the young Chivas USA striker will stay with his current club rather than signing in Europe; two center backs get some love in the form of numbers; mas about Mexico.
BY
Noah Davis
Posted
January 31, 2013
3:46 AM
Juan Agudelo will not be going anywhere if a report from Goal.com can be believed. The Chivas USA striker, who trained with Celtic and seemed destined to head across the pond, is staying in MLS. It's probably a good decision because the Scottish league isn't terrific. But it's only a good thing if Agudelo can find playing time on the new-look, new-philosophy club. Hopefully that's the case, despite his non-Mexican heritage.
A little bit of good news from Tuesday night's friendly against Canada: The Castrol Index rated Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez as the No. 1 and No. 2 best performers during the 0-0 draw. Given that their play was concern numero uno for the American fanbase going into the night, it's nice to see they came through.
Paul Kennedy, always the bearer of good news:
JAB has gone to German camps before, so this doesn't mean he won't suit up for the United States again, but it's probably not a good sign. If you had a choice between Germany and the U.S., which would you choose?
ESPN bought the English-language rights to the Mexican national team's game and Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president for programming and Global X, shares some thoughts about the deal. Here's the key quote (notice the part about the Confederations Cup, which Mexico, not the U.S., will play in): "With this agreement, ESPN continues to build up for the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and eventually, the FIFA World Cup in 2014." It's a smart move for the Worldwide Leader and, on balance, a good thing for soccer in the U.S. Along those lines, we'll have more from last night's Mexico-Denmark game later today.
Could the USMNT play Belgium in Cleveland in May? Perhaps. The rumored match is scheduled to take place three days before the rumored game against Germany on June 2. That game comes five days before the Americans resume World Cup qualifying with a match in Jamaica. Sacha Kljestan broke the news about the Belgium game on his Twitter feed, which is so wonderful.
