US-Egypt Cancelled, and Torres to Chelsea?

Today was  very busy day in the soccer world. The US soccer match against Egypt was cancelled, and today it was announced that Liverpool's Fernando Torres is moving over to London to play for Chelsea. What madness.

First off the US-Egypt match. As soon as the news broke of the riots and revolting in Egypt, I assumed this game was cancelled, just because of the how close the game was. This, maybe wrongly, was my first thought. This would have been a great way for the US to up our ranking, with Egypt being ranked tenth in the world. Since it was a FIFA recognised date, the top US players would have played in this game, including players that are playing in Europe. The match was set to be played in Cairo on February 9th. The last time the US played Egypt was in the 2009 Confederations Cup, which the US won 3-0.

Apparently, as opposed to what I first thought, the option of switching the game to being played in the US was not an option that was explored to deeply. US Soccer president, Sunil Gulati, said about the game being cancelled, "We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match. We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State Department as we worked through this situation." I'm definitely fine with not risking anything when the best US players would be showing up at this unstable environment.

Second bit of news, Fernando Torres signed with Chelsea today, after they payed Liverpool £50 million. This is an interesting move for Chelsea, considering they already have world class striker Didier Drogba. The current Chelsea formation is a 4-3-3 with Drogba up front, with Malouda and Anelka on the wings. I could easily see them changing to a 4-4-2, so they can put both Drogba and Torres up front.

Liverpool is planning on replacing Torres with Newcastle player, Andy Carrol. Signed for £35 million through 2016, Carrol will play in Torres' position and also wear his highly regarded number 9 jersey. They also signed Ajax and Uruguayan star Luis Suarez, which I like even better than the Carrol signing. He was signed for  £22.7 million. He is one of the best young forwards in the game today. Suarez scored an unbelievable 49 goals in 48 games played for his team Eredivisie.

Overall an interesting move that could end up really good, or really bad for Chelsea. Losing Torres will have a huge effect on Liverpool, but the Suarez and Carrol signings are great and should help Liverpool get back to their former status as one of the best clubs in the EPL.  And by the way, they're already burning the jersey's over at Anfield.

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