2010 World Cup Qualifying

This is a list of the 19 teams that have now qualified for the next years World Cup hosted by South Africa. A total of 32 nations will play in the WC, and we will keep you updated as this list grows.

• South Africa
• Japan
• Australia
• Korea Republic (south)
• Netherlands
• Korea DPR (north)
  
• Brazil
• Ghana
• England
• Spain
• Paraguay
• Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
  
• Germany
• Denmark
• Serbia
• Italy
• Chile
• Mexico
• United States

Timber Gym?

Timber Gym from Jamon Van Den Hoek on Vimeo.

USA Qualifies for its Sixth Straight World Cup

USA defeated Honduras 3-2 in World Cup qualifying on Saturday and has now qualifyied for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Third Times a Charm?

Steve Cronin is heading back to the MLS. The Portland Timbers have agreed to loan Cronin to DC United for the remainder of the MLS season. DC United is still battling to make the playoffs with 2 league games left to play (vs Columbus 10/17, vs Kansas City 10/24). They'll also play Toluca FC in the CONCACAF Champions league match in Mexico on the 20th.

For a team that's allowed more goals than they've scored perhaps a new look in front of the net wouldn't be the worst idea. Cronin has certainly earned his opportunity, winning USL's Goal-Keeper of the Year and being a strong and dominating presence behind Portland's backline all season. Good for Cronin, hope he gets an opportunity to play major minues and show what he can really do.

Here's more from uslsoccer.com.

KEITA FOR MVP!!!
Mandjou Keita is one of 2 finalists of the USL's 2009 MVP. Puerto Rico's Cristian Arrieta, 2008 Defender of the Year, is nominated along side Keita for this year's Player of the Year honors. The winner will be announced this upcoming Friday. Read more here.

AND Some BIG Soccer matches to watch today. ..
If you can stomach it - USL Championship, Game 1, Montreal vs Vancouver, 6:30pm

And if you can find a place to watch it - USA vs Honduras, 7:00pm

*great photo by Cronin's better half, Laura Kristi, check out her site.

Minnesota, Miami and Carolina Players Released

As we reported earlier (Will The Timbers be Playing in the USL Next Season?) several teams called the TOA are going to be splitting off from the USL. The league president sent an email to all players on Minnesota, Miami and Carolina letting them know that they were released from their contracts. The links on the official USL Soccer Page to these three teams no longer work as well. Brian Wellman, president of the Railhawks, has a different viewpoint on whether the players are actually released:

It’s a little unfortunate, it may have been a bit of a posturing, scare tactic technique on the part of the league due to the nature of the negotiation. It was unnecessary and unfortunate. We met with our players today [Saturday, Oct. 3] for about an hour and a half to explain the entire situation. Our players are under contract with us, and they’re under registration to the federation whether we play in the USL, in a new league or partnering with the MLS, wherever we play next year, our players are under contract with us.

This could soon affect the teams playing in the final:

First of all, Vancouver and Montreal, they can’t be contacted at all because they’re still playing [in the USL playoffs]—even though they’re in the TOA, they’re in our situation. The day they stop playing, they’re going to receive everything we received because they’ve not renewed.That’s the only reason why [they didn't receive the same email as Miami, Minnesota and Carolina], because they’re still playing.

(Full interview with Wellman)

For the Timbers, this is an opportunity for Gavin Wilkinson to begin to scour those rosters and look for prospects. Of course that is only the silver lining. The downside is that the TOA currently has more teams than USL-1, so something is going to have to give.

Miami FC Fans Look to Becks

Miami FC averaged the lowest attendance in 2009 with just around 1000 peeps deciding to show up. An end of the season plea to the fans that one player would shave his head for every 500 fans who showed up, only cost 1.5 Miami FC players their locks, because only 860 Floridians showed up. So what are such die hard fans to do when they need a boost for an MLS club, pray to the great messiah, David Beckham. It has been widely reported that Beckham is interested in ownership of a club, he at one point said "I have the right to own an MLS franchise, which I will action immediately after I have stopped playing." David's contract with the Galaxy will end in 2012, and that time his contract gives him an option to buy a MLS franchise.

We reported rumors a few months ago about Beckham being interested in Montreal, which has a huge loyal fan base that averaged around 12k a game this year, but could you see Beckham and the spice girl really living in cold Montreal? I think not, but the MLS is expanding the next few years, with the Union next year and Vancouver and Ptown in 2011. Beckham and Montreal in 2012 could be the perfect little fit just imagine the providence being renamed to QueBecks. This rumor of Beckham and Montreal has been refuted by the Beckham people and really is only tabloid bs.

British newspaper the Sunday Mirror and Miami FC blogs report that Miami has caught the eye of Beckham and that there is interest in bringing a new Team Beckham MLS outfit to South Florida. Hey the second time might be the charm right? A new stadium and a team that galvanizes the huge Latino population could be a success for the MLS and Miami. The city is one of the largest US cities without an MLS side and some of the strongest Latino roots. Sources say that Beckham is now looking for the right financial partners and sponsors to make this Miami bid a reality. Besides Posh Spice likes to get her tan on.

Brian Farber's first goal for the Timbers

Brian Farber scores a header off a great cross from Ryan Pore on May 2nd at PGE Park against the Carolina RailHawks. The play started with a quickly taken free kick, which caught the complaining RailHawks off guard. The final result was 2-0 first win of the season. Here are a few angles from fans in the stands.