What to Expect From DC United

Well we are less than one week away from the beginning of the Charleston Battery's season. It has been way too long. I'm really excited about the upcoming season, and the Carolina Challenge Cup is always the perfect way to kick off the season. And the Coffee Pot Cup is up for grabs also, as DC United is coming to town for the Battery's first match up of the year. Here's what to expect from United:

DC is going to definitely be making some noise in the MLS this season, mainly because of the addition of Charlie Davies which rounds out the attack with last year's MLS Rookie of the Year, Andy Najar. Najar was the leading goal scorer for DC last year, with 5 goals in the league. Australian Danny Allsopp scored 8 goals in all competitions last year for DC, and now plays for Melbourne Victory in the Australian A-League. Argentinian, Pablo Hernandez played with Allsopp up front, but was on loan from Uruguayan club, Defensor Sporting. Davies will be able to fill Hernandez's role as a playmaker, but will also bring the goal scoring aspect of his game to DC. Davies will be one of the best players in the MLS this year.

Last year, United ran a diamond 4-4-2, with Allsopp and Hernandez up front. The midfield consisted of Americans, Santino Quaranta and Stephen King, along with Costa Rican Kurt Mosink, and Andy Najar. Quaranta was at the top of the diamond, with King and Mosink in the middle two spots, and Andy Najar at the back. The backline consisted of Americans, Devon Mctavish and Jed Zayner at fullbacks, and Julius James and Dejan Jakovic as the centre backs.

This year, we can expect the same diamond 4-4-2 formation from United. Joseph Ngwenya is joining DC from Houston, and should be expected to start for DC in a considerable amount of matches. Davies will play with Ngwenya as a forward. The midfield is a little more confusing. Najar is the only definate starter (probably starting at the back of the diamond), and Branko Bošković is a solid attacking midfielder, and should fill the front of the diamond nicely. The rest of the midfield looks a little fuzzy, though Dax McCarty looks like a front runner for a starting spot. Other candidates for the last 2 spots at midfield include Clyde Simms, who as been with United since 2005, Brazilian, Junior Carreiro, Kurt Morsink, and Conor Shanosky. Zayner and Marc Burch look like a locks for the back line (probably at fullbacks), with Rodrigo Brasesco, Dejan Jakovic, and recently drafted Chris Korb all fighting for the two centre back positions. It is not known at the moment who will play in goal, though the four candidates seem to be Pat Onstad, Joe Willis, Steve Cronin, and from their own academy, Bill Hamid.

This will be, as always, an interesting match up for the Battery. I am indescribably excited to see DC and Charlie Davies come to Charleston. Once we learn more about the Battery's roster, we will see how well the Battery will be able to compete with DC United.

New MLS Playoff Format, and the Battery's Preseason Camp

The MLS has announced the playoff format for this postseason. It has 10 of the 18 teams in the MLS making the playoffs. A picture of the new playoff format was posted on the MLS website:

This system is much better than last years, where we had Kansas City finishing third in the east, and not making the playoffs. Which in one sense made sense because they had 39 points, while in the west 39 points would have put them in seventh place. The point being, don't have eastern and western divisions, if you're not going to let the two divisions have an equal number of automatic places in the playoffs. Overall I think its pretty good. If you don't understand the new format, check out this article, which includes a video that describes the playoffs the best way possible.

In Charleston Battery news, the Battery's preseason camp began on Thursday with the 13 man roster and invited trialists that are trying to make it on to the Battery's roster. The players participated in training sessions and scrimmages.

I'm excited to see what will come out of the trialists that have been invited to the preseason camp. You never know when you can find a diamond in the rough, and boy do we need some. The 13 man roster obviously won't do for the CCC or the USL-Pro Season. I'm expecting the Battery to get the roster up 22-25 players at least. Check the Battery's Twitter for updates and pictures of the preseason camp, as well as updates for the rest of the season.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog.@gmail.com

Central SC Cobra News and New Battery Uniforms

In the past couple of days Central SC Cobras FC have been very busy preparing for the 2011 season. Here's a recap of what's been going on:

• The Cobras are finalizing the stadium that they will play in. Not much information has been released on this, but I'm expecting news on the stadium in the coming weeks.
• Their first practice will be on March 1st, though tryouts will still be held to find some more players.
• Central SC Cobras FC will be participating in an "open schedule" this year, meaning that they will not be in the USL's W-League, but will be playing many games against teams from the league. A schedule is to come.

Now on to Charleston Battery news. According to the Battery's facebook page:

"‎2011 Battery Home and Away Jersey to be unveiled at the Carolina Challenge Cup and will feature a new Battery badge and revamped AvVenta logo."

Excited, as always, to see the new Battery kits, and I'm assuming we will continue with the tradition of the yellow/black striped jersey for home matches, and the red/black stripes in away fixtures. Also looks like we will still be having the global marketing company, AvVenta as our sponsor. Hopefully we can get rid of the white box around the AvVenta logo somehow. That always bugged me for some reason.

Also posted on the Battery's facebook page was this picture:

Man I'm ready for the season.

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Lamar Neagle Goal Video, Central SC Cobras Open Tryouts, and No NASL Teams in the Open Cup?

Okay so if everyone has settled down about this whole NASL-teams-not-in-the-US-Open-Cup thing, let me explain to you why: You can't create controversy and then expect to be rewarded for it.

Now I like the NASL, I like the teams, I like the fans, I like the friendly rivalry it creates with the USL, but you can't cause all of this controversy and expect the USSF to say, "Hey the NASL has been such a problem, but let's let them participate in the one thing we can hold over their heads to make them do what we want anyway." Now if you understood the message being conveyed in that run-on sentence, you should understand that the USSF is dealing with the NASL like they would a child. They're shaking their finger in the NASL's face and saying bad boy. You don't give your child a lollipop right after they have done something bad right? But it is the right thing to do. I'm not saying it best for the growth of soccer right now, but in the long term it will have been the right decision. If they had not punished the NASL, this could lead to the leagues having more power than the federation, which is definitely not a situation we want to find ourselves in.

In the NASL's defense, they did not punish the USL for the whole ordeal went on last year, but then again it wasn't as much of the leagues' faults as it was the teams that left the USL. And also the USSF did "provisionally sanction" the NASL for this season. For those that don't know about the controversy last year between the NASL and USL here's a summary from Wikipedia:

"The USL has issued several press releases questioning the legality of the teams choosing to break away, suggesting that litigation to protect its interests and those of the USL-1 teams from any breach of contract is imminent.^[19] The USL has also claimed that the NASL and the TOA ownership group "is tortuously [Sic] interfering with USL-1 team owners that are contractually obligated to participate in the 2010 season" and "has made several misleading statements in a variety of press releases to taint the reputation of USL and its long history of developing the sport of soccer in the United States and Canada".^[20]

The NASL disagrees with the USL assessment, and the USL has not filed suit against the new league as a whole. The USL sued three of the constituent teams (Crystal Palace Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Rochester) for breach of contract, claiming that the teams had committed to playing in USL in 2010.^[21][22] However on December 21, 2009 the suits were dropped in favor of binding arbitration.^[23]

In January 2010, after announcing that it would not sanction either the NASL or the USL First Division for 2010, the USSF announced that it would be running a second-tier league in 2010, putting the NASL on hold for at least a year. The USSF Division 2 Professional League includes teams from both the NASL and USL-1.

Controversy has continued to surround both the NASL and the USL through the 2010 temporary USSF D-2 Pro League season and in the lead up a 2011 compromise on Tier 2 and Tier 3 soccer in the United States, as the leagues have fought for the loyalty of various clubs. Most recently, USL's Puerto Rico Islanders joined NASL, while a founding member of the NASL, the Rochester Rhinos, returned to the USL in October."

Well now that my rant is over, on to some news:

In one of my posts a couple of days ago, I mentioned that former Charleston Battery player, Lamar Neagle, scored a goal in a scrimmage with Real Salt Lake. Here's a recap of the match, and the goal that Lamar scored is included.

Today Central SC Cobras FC held open tryouts, and also announced that their first practice will be held on March 1st, and that more open tryouts are to come. After all of the open tryouts, a list of players who have accepted roster spots will be announced.

Sorry about the rant today guys, but what do you think about the NASL not being allowed to play in the Open Cup? Leave a comment in the comment section below.

If you need to contact me, you can by e-mailing me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Charleston Battery: US Open Cup, Charlie Davies Visiting Charleston, and More

Besides the upcoming USL Pro season, the Battery have the Carolina Challenge Cup in early March, a pair of mid-season matches against local colleges in mid-March, and now the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup to play.

Today it was announced that the Battery's first round match in the US Open Cup will be against a team that qualifies for the tournament from the  USASA (United States Adult Soccer Association). The Battery will play at home on June 14th against one of these teams. The tournament will consist of 40 teams; 8 from the MLS (6 automatic bids, and 2 for the winners of a 10 team playoff), the 11 U.S. based USL Pro teams, 9 from the PDL, and 12 from the USASA. Seattle Sounders FC will be the returning champs and are going for their 3rd straight US Open Cup championship.

The Battery have had success in the US Open Cup (see the 2008 tournament), as well as against MLS teams. Last year the Battery got to the quarterfinals, with wins over the USASA's Capital Area Soccer League Elite (CASL Elite), the USSF D2's Carolina Railhawks (who happen to share a stadium), and the MLS' Chicago Fire on PK's, before losing to the Columbus Crew. The two games against the CASL Elite and Carolina Railhawks were played at Blackbaud Stadium while the two games against Major League Soccer teams were played away.

The US Open Cup is my favorite part about soccer in the United States, due to its similarity to the FA Cup, and I'm excited as always to the see the Battery playing in this great tournament. Hopefully we'll see good first and second round match-ups so we can face an MLS side in the round of 16 like last year. The Carolina Challenge Cup could give us a look to future matches in the US Open Cup. Toronto FC can't play in the US Open Cup because, well they're a Canadian team. DC United and Chicago Fire are not automatic qualifiers for the Cup, but are playing for 2 of the berths, and with the addition of Charlie Davies, DC should have no problem qualifying.

Speaking of Charlie Davies, we're gonna be seeing him in the Carolina Challenge Cup! A couple of days ago it became official that Davies will be playing for United next year. I can't begin to explain how excited I am about DC signing Davies. Though having USMNT players playing against the best over in Europe is great, it's also nice to be able to see them play here in the US, and when they're coming to Charleston, that quadruples the excitement.

On the women's side, the Central SC Cobras have been very busy. This Saturday, the Cobras will be holding an open tryout from 9:00-4:00 at North Springs Park in Columbia. Good luck to all that will be trying out, and hopefully in a while they'll be competing for a W-League championship. They also have been releasing videos on a YouTube page called OPP2434. Make sure to check that out as well as this page where they are selling shirts, and keep giving support to the Cobras as they make the transition into the W-League.

Also check out this article on The Shin Guardian. The article talks about the possibility of an MLS expansion team in the Southeast.

If you have any questions or if you need to contact me, you can e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

New Zealand's Cole Peverley Signs with the Battery



Peverley training with the New Zealand
Senior National Team.

 Today the Charleston Battery attained New Zealand midfielder, Cole Peverley for the upcoming USL Pro season. Peverley signs with the Battery "subject to USL and USSF approval." This brings Charleston's roster up to thirteen players, and signs just in time for the Carolina Challenge Cup.

Peverley, is a native of Wellington, New Zealand and plays for the New Zealand National Team, and in the past has played for their U20 and Olympic team. He was basically the 24th man on New Zealand's World Cup roster (he was put in for an injury), but ended up off the roster. He to Charleston after playing for Hawke's Bay United and Team Wellington, two teams in New Zealand's top league, and has recently been on trial with Seattle Sounders FC. Peverley has played against his new teammate, Colin Falvey, in matches in New Zealand (Falvey played for Youngheart Manawatu). Peverley has scored only 1 goal in his 68 appearances in the ASB Premiership.

Peverley will bring the Battery roster to a total of thirteen players, with 6 midfielders. The other 5 being Stephen Armstrong, Jon Gruenewald, Alioune Gueye, Kevin Jackson, and recently signed Nicki Paterson. Though young, he is only 22, Peverley brings some experience to midfield for the Battery. He has played in the top flight of New Zealand soccer for five years, which will bring expectations of a smart and experienced player.

Honestly, I don't know much about Peverley. Will have to see what he looks like this season, but luckily there is plenty of preseason matches to experiment with. I really feel that the Battery are making smart moves, and sometimes you have to just trust them. I have full confidence that they will bring the best team possible to the pitch this year, and making the playoffs should be a good goal to have for Charleston. Any year after a championship is tough (especially in the lower leagues), because your best players will move on to bigger teams. I still would like to see the Battery add another forward, and strengthen the back line, but there is still plenty of time before the USL Pro season.

If you have any questions, or if you need to contact me, you can email me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Charleston Battery: Possible Starting XI

With the Carolina Challenge Cup coming up in less than a month, the Battery roster should be coming together. But it really isn't. On the Battery website the roster only lists 12 players:

• Goalkeepers: Or should I say goalkeeper. The only keeper listed is the recently signed Keith Wiggans, who is a 6 year veteran for the Battery and I'm perfectly confident in his ability. His GAA (goals against average) is solid at 1.08.
• Defenders: Colin Falvey, Mike Zaher, Nigel Marples, and Brandon Massie round out the current defenders on the Battery roster. Falvey is obviously a solid defender, barring an occasional sloppy challenge like at the USL-2 Championship last year. Zaher is also good and has some MLS experience. Marples also has some experience and logged many useful minutes for the Battery last year. Massie is playing his second season with Battery, and is listed on the Battery's website as a defender though he was brought to the team as a striker/midfielder.
• Midfielders: If there is one position I feel good about, it's at midfield. The midfield will consist of Stephen Armstrong, Alioune Gueye, Kevin Jackson, Nicki Paterson, and Jon Gruenewald. Stephen Armstrong has been in Charleston since 2006 and has become a staple at the Battery's games. He has scored 24 goals and dished out 11 assists in his career. His 24 goals is fifth all time in the Battery's history. It was interesting to see how he adjusted last year, when he was put into less of a goal scoring role. He did well and had 3 assists along with one goal from a PK in the 2010 season. Alioune Gueye scored only 2 goals with no assists last season, but brings a flair to the games that I've enjoyed watching. Kevin Jackson is arguably the most experienced player on the so far 12-man roster. He played for the Battery from 2003 to 2005 before taking a four year break. Last year he returned to the Battery and scored 1 goal and had 2 assists in 17 appearances last year. Nicki Paterson, one of the Battery's newest signings, will be joining the Battery for the first time this season. Last year with Real Maryland Monarchs he scored no goals in 19 appearances. Jon Gruenewald is the least experienced player in the midfield joining the Battery for his second pro season. Last year he appeared 9 times for the Battery, with 3 starts.
• Forwards: Only two forwards are listed on the roster and they are Zach Prince and Levi Coleman. Zach Prince will be returning for a second season with Charleston. He was used a lot last year, usually as a sub. He made 16 appearances with 3 starts. In all of his appearances he scored one goal with no assists. Levi Coleman is also coming back to Charleston for a second season. And he is tall, standing at 6-2. He scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in 2010. Prince and Coleman could play similarly up front as Heinemann and Neagle played last year (Probably not as good though, let's face it Tom and Lamar tore it up), with Prince playing the role of Neagle as the speed and Coleman playing the role of being huge (though not as big as Heinemann who was 6-4) and knocking people around inside the box.

Overall not too bad. The roster is obviously thin and leading up to the CCC we should see Charleston sign some more players, and hopefully find some young players to give a shot at playing professionally. We have no depth at all, and we need to fill holes at every position. The current roster suffers from some inexperience, but has enough veterans to survive. At worst we need to get:

• A back up keeper for Wiggans
• Three more Defenders
• Three more Midfielders
• One preferably two forwards. Getting one striker, and one that we can put at midfield would be helpful.

Right now our starting XI would look like this, assuming we come out in a 4-4-2:

This is just my best guess (and I'm sorry Jon Gruenewald somebody had to be left out). But a couple of things, I can assure you of. Wiggans will start in goal, and Armstrong, Falvey, Gueye, and Zaher all look to be locks for starting positions, but we'll see where we're at before and after the Carolina Challenge Cup.

If you need to Contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com

Lamar Neagle Playing in Preseason Matches for Seattle Sounders FC

Former Battery player Lamar Neagle, who played on last year's USL Second Division Championship team, is training with Seattle Sounders FC for the upcoming Major League Soccer season. He has been with the Sounders for the entirety of their training camp this year in Arizona.

In a game against Real Salt Lake on Tuesday, Lamar Neagle got the Sounders on their way to a 3-3 draw. In the 3rd minute, Lamar picked off a lazy pass and put it past the keeper and to the far post. Fredy Montero was subbed in for Lamar in the second half.

On Thursday Neagle also got playing time in a match against the Columbus Crew.Yesterday, Neagle got in and played for the entire second half. He was put in for Alvaro Fernandez in the 46th minute. If Lamar does make the first team, he will be playing with former Charleston defender Osvaldo Alonso.

Overall I'm happy for Lamar, though I would have liked to see him playing at the 'Baud this season. Neagle along with Heinemann and others will be hard to replace.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCsoccerblog@gmail.com.

Charleston Battery: Bits of News

The Battery have been pumping out the news in the past few days, here's a quick recap:

• 2 Spring Scrimmages Announced: On Tuesday, at the montly Regiment meeting, games against a pair of South Carolina colleges were announced. The first is to be played just after the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium against the Clemson Tigers. The game will be played on March 16th. The second game will be against the College of Charleston Cougars on March 22nd at the College of Charleston. These are both good teams to get the Battery warmed up for the upcoming USL-Pro season. Clemson has been an improving side in recent years, after having a few bad years after having such stars as Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden. The Tiger's 2010 season was highlighted by a win over 18th ranked Duke. College of Charleston had a great year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to the eventual runners up, Louisville.
• Battery Resign Three: On Thursday three players from last year's USL Second Division championship team, we're resigned for another year in Charleston. Colin Falvey, Zach Prince, and Keith Wiggans will all be returning to play for the Battery. Falvey, a midfielder, played in New Zealand during the offseason with Youngheart Manawatu, and played with the Wilmington Hammerheads, who are on the Battery's schedule this year. Prince, who is also a midfielder, will be playing his second season with the Battery. The Battery is the only pro team he has played with, but he played with the College of Charleston. Keith Wiggans, a keeper, will be returning for a sixth season with the Battery. Wiggans also played at the College of Charleston. These are all good signings, I like having experience with Wiggans and Falvey, and Prince should give the midfield some depth.
• Plus, the Carolina Challenge Cup is less than a month a way. Time to get very amped up for the tournament!

A Couple of Thoughts On the USL I-League



Any time you spell extreme as Xtreme,
 you have a problem. Yes we're looking
 at you XFL.



This upcoming fall, the United Soccer Leagues are trying to start a brand new level of soccer in the United States: the I-League. The I-League will be an indoor soccer league, to go along with the other American indoor soccer league, the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL). Many former indoor soccer leagues in North America have failed (see the Xtreme Soccer League, the Major Indoor Soccer League's first attempt, and second attempt), but the I-League can be successful. And for a little bit of added interest for the fine soccer fans in South Carolina; we could get a team.


If any indoor soccer league would ever have a chance to succeed, it would be the I-League. The difference between the I-League is the experience of the USL. Not to pick on the MISL, (as they are still going, with 5 teams) but they are a stand alone league. From 2001-2008 it was sanctioned by the USSF, but not anymore. The United Soccer Leagues are an experienced organization that have enough sense to not expand to quickly. According to the map of their proposed expansion for the next 4 years, they are going to add a region or two every year until they cover the whole of the US and Canada.

The I-League is looking for markets to start teams in, and the 3 teams that have already been announced are the Norfolk SharX, the Rochester Lancers, and a team based in Syracuse, New York. According to the I-League website, the requirements for the franchise's arena are:

• A capacity of 2,000-10,000
• The arena must be able to hold a field with the dimensions of 200X85

Any arena that hosts minor league hockey are perfect for this. So connect a couple of dots here.

Look up at the map above. South Carolina is in the area for expansion this year. Barely, but we're there. We have plenty of good arenas for this; the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, which hosts the Greenville ECHL team, the Road Warriors, or the North Charleston Coliseum, home to the Charleston ECHL team, the Stingrays, are the most likely candidates for this. The only reason I don't mention Columbia's Colonial Life Arena, is because of the 2,000-10,000 seating capacity range that the I-League is looking for (the Colonial Life Arena holds 18,000). The Bi-Lo Center, are much closer to the 10,000 seat range, with the Bi-Lo Center holding 13,000 for hockey, and the North Charleston Coliseum holding 11,000. In this situation, hockey is the most comparable to indoor soccer, capacity wise.

The one edge I would give to Greenville is that they don't have a soccer team, but of course the edge to Charleston is that they do. It has advantages and disadvantages for getting a team. Having another team in Charleston could "mess with attendance" because of economic issues, while not already having a team in Greenville could give them a clean slate for the city. But what comes with already having a team, is a market for soccer in Charleston, while not having a team in Greenville, well gives them a clean slate. Both would be tough fits, and this is all speculation, but you would hope that some city in South Carolina wants an indoor soccer team. But finding the right place, poses the problem.

More information on the I-League can be found on their website: http://ileague.uslsoccer.com/
You can contact me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Premier League: Weekend Review

Last weekend was one of the biggest weekends of the Premier League season. Lots of big news from across the pond. Here's a recap:

• Newcastle Makes Four Goal Comeback: On Saturday we had Arsenal take a 4-0 lead on Newcastle in the first half in front of 51,561 at St. James Park. Then with a goal from both Leon Best and Ismael Chiek Tioté, and two goals from Joey Barton, Newcastle United successfully came and tied the game in the 87th minute on a volley from Tioté. This is one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history.
• Dempsey Scores for Fulham: In a game that could have been Michael Bradley's debut, Fulham and Aston Villa tied 2-2. In the 78th minute, Clint Dempsey found net off a corner from Danny Murphy. Dempsey's 10th goal of the campagin drew Fulham level. Bradley did not play. The goals for Villa came from a John Pantsil own goal, and Kyle Walker. While Fulham's other goal came from Andrew Johnson in the 52nd minute.
• Manchester United FINALLY Loses: Also on Saturday Man U lost for the first time this Premier League season. The 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers comes after United being undefeated in 24 straight games. Though they dominated possession and shots, Man U couldn't stop goals from Elokobi and Kevin Doyle. Manchester United have gone onto the list of title contenders, along with Manchester City and Chelsea, who have lost to Wolverhampton at Molineux Stadium.
• Torres and Chelsea Can't Handle Liverpool: On Sunday, in one of the most anticipated matches of the year, Chelsea faced Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. This was Fernando Torres' debut as a Blue and was disappointing for Torres and Chelsea. After so much anticipation, Torres' performance was subpar at best, and he was pulled in the 66th minute for Salomon Kalou. Raul Meireles spoiled the party in the 69th minute. Steven Gerrard crossed the ball in from the right for Meireles who after a nice bounce, put the ball in the back of the net. Chelsea never really recovered, and Liverpool finished off the game and go home with a 1-0 victory.

Some Possibilities for the Carolina Challenge Cup

So we're just now entering February and in a month is the biggest preseason tournament there is; the Carolina Challenge Cup. For those of you that don't know, the Carolina Challenge Cup (I'll shorten it to CCC for my sake) is the tournament that has been hosted by the Charleston Battery annually since 2004. Since the beginning of the tournament, the Battery have been able to bring in MLS clubs to play. This year is no different, with Toronto FC, DC United, and Chicago Fire SC all coming to play in the Battery's tournament. A month before the tournament, here are some updates, and what you can expect for the eight edition of this tournament:

• Charlie Davies Coming to Charleston: As mentioned in my last article, Charlie Davies is now training with Major League Soccer's DC United. Well, it just so happens that they're playing in the CCC. Isn't that just wonderful? Actually it is. I'd be really excited to see Davies come to Charleston. Any chance to get USMNT players to town is something that needs to be jumped on. Hopefully the transfer will go through, and I see no reason why it wouldn't. Davies wants playing time, and at DC he will get it, and at Sochaux he won't. Simple as that.
• 9th Edition of the Coffee Pot Cup: DC United will be playing Charleston in one of the only MLS-USL rivalries. I'm always happy to see DC in Charleston, because I love this rivalry. For more of the history on the Coffee Pot Cup check out this Wikipedia article.
• A Chance for Revenge for Chicago: Way back in the summer of 2010, the Battery faced the Fire in front of 2,526 at Toyota Park, (Yes that does mean for every two seats filled there were eight teen empty.) The game went nil-nil through 90 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of extra time. After this, the Battery won 3-0 on PK's and were sent through to the Quarter Finals of the 98 year old tournament. Charleston deserved to win just as much as Chicago, with the Fire completely underachieving. The best chance came in the 5th minute when Stephen Armstrong hit the post off a left-footed strike.
• Toronto Returning for 5th Straight Year: Every year since the club's founding in 2007, Toronto FC has participated in the CCC. They have never won the tournament, but came in second in the 2007 and 2009 editions of the tournament. Toronto has definitely brought the most supporters to the CCC during all of the tournaments they have participated in. Check out this video on YouTube of their supporters making the trip down to Charleston. Its in four parts:

This year's tournament looks to be a good one. Having a USMNT player in Davies coming to Charleston will hopefully bring more fans to the CCC. With DC also comes the Coffee Pot Cup which is always great. Chicago will be looking for some revenge and I'm excited to see Toronto back. I'll be expecting a large contingent of their fans down here in Charleston.

2010 Clemson Soccer Highlight Video

Check out this video by the Clemson Athletics Youtube channel. Its a highlight of the Clemson Tigers 2010 season:

Good Article on No Quarter About the Battery's 2011 Roster

Over at No Quarter, Mikey posted an article about the Battery's roster for the upcoming USL Pro season. It covers who is currently on the roster along with an update on the status of the NASL. Check it out:
http://give-em-no-quarter.blogspot.com/2011/02/rosterso-far.html

I agree with most of what's said here. Make sure to check back here, No Quarter, the Battery's website, and theRegiment's  facebook. If you have any questions, or if you need to get in contact with me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Good News For the US National Team

A lot of news has been flowing in since Monday, the end of the transfer window. The USMNT has had many players make moves, and have had a couple other pieces of good news come in that I'll cover.

First off; transfers. Many big moves this weekend for players on the US team. Turkey is getting its fair share of American internationals, with Jozy Altidore going to last year's Turkish champion: Bursaspor, and Freddy Adu going to second division, Rizespor. Altidore, who is on loan from La Liga's Villareal, is making a good move. I say this because the best way for Altidore to improve, is obviously experience, which he just wasn't getting at Villareal where he only appeared twice this year. Adu, who is on loan from Benfica of Portugal, will definitely be getting a lot of playing time, and though his shot with the US team is slim now with new players Agudelo and Bunbury, I'm always glad to see an American playing overseas.

The third big move was Michael Bradley's move from Borussia Mönchengladbach of Germany, to Aston Villa of the English Premier League. How great of a move is this? Any way of getting American's to one of the biggest leagues in the world, I'll take and Bradley's move is no exception. The English Premier League fits Bradley's box-to-box midfielder style well. Bradley had this to say about his move:

"Everyone can see that Aston Villa is a big club, a fantastic club, with tradition and great supporters. Over the past few years Villa have made big strides and are trying to challenge at the very top of the Premier League. I am excited to be part of that and I am excited to be here."

A pair of players, Robbie Findley and Eddie Johnson, both made moves to Championship sides. Findley finalized his move to Nottingham Forest and his signed for 2 and a half years. He picked up a thigh injury in training, that could sideline him for up to three months. This is just devastating. Findley has finally made his move to Europe, and this is a terrible start to his European career. Johnson moved from Fulham to last place, Preston North End. Though the team is in last, Johnson should get more playing time, which he wasn't getting any of at Fulham.

Also, Charlie Davies of France's Sochaux, is making a move back to the MLS. He is training with DC United after playing this season with the reserves at Sochaux. This is a good move that will be getting Charlie many minutes, and I'm excited to see him back in the United States, but I hate that he didn't get a chance this season with Sochaux. He deserved a little more than what he got, and, not to hate on the MLS, but the talent in Europe is much better and we want our players playing against the best. This is not official yet. Since the MLS transfer window is open until April 15th, Charlie can make a move later. The only problem that could happen is that the MLS only accepts transfers of players that can be bought outright.

And finally the biggest piece of news, for me anyway. As ya'll may not know, Seattle Sounders FC is my MLS club. Long story. The news being about the Sounders crafty midfielder, Steve Zakuani is considering playing for the US team. How great is that? Zakuani is one of the best players in the MLS. Though he played for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his home country, he only played in friendlies. This means that he can still play for the US since friendlies are not considered official by FIFA in the sense of player's teams. This is big news for the USMNT.

Well that's all I've got for today. If you have any questions or need to contact me, you can by e-mailing me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.