What is it with Toronto FC and players wanting new contracts? After Dwayne De Rosario, TFC has another case on their hands involving a Canadian national team player.
New Toronto manager Aron Winter is facing his first real crisis at the club as Adian Cann has abandoned preseason camp in a contract dispute. Despite being on a long-term deal, the Canadian defender wants a new one.
TFC are not the only team north of the border that has experienced contractual challenges with players. Whitecaps manager Teitur Thordarson says he is still perplexed that forward Kyle Porter has jumped ship to join Montreal.
Or maybe it was that Porter heard that the Whitecaps were looking into acquiring Everton’s Louis Saha?
There's an English left back who plays in Greece and knows Whitecaps captain Jay DeMerit very well. His name is Jordan Stewart and he wants to play in MLS. (GREEK)
Another coach who was perturbed on Wednesday was Philadelphia’s Peter Nowak. Read how the Polish manager answers questions about Michael Orozco Fiscal, who is no longer with the club.
The Union have been training in Greece, while the New York Cosmos are currently touring Asia. Find out what message Pelé and Éric Cantona are spreading on their travels.
Thursday will provide a break from preseason matches for all 18 MLS clubs. Yesterday, FC Dallas dropped a 3-0 decision to future MLS expansion club the Montreal Impact. Watch video highlight package of the match here. (VIDEO)
In yesterday’s highlight matchup, Tijuana Xolos fans apparently outnumbered the Galaxy supporters in a friendly that the Mexican second-division team won on PKs in San Diego.
Clearly, Galaxy manager Bruce Arena needs to become a more regular reader of MLSsoccer.com’s Gringo Report. Arena was impressed by Tijuana’s American midfielder, Joe Corona, but the former US World Cup coach did not know about his background.
Like Corona, New York Red Bulls center back Rafa Marquez has dreams of Mexican soccer glory, except on a different stage. He says that he dreams of playing the 2014 World Cup final with Mexico. (SPANISH)
By the way, when it comes to World Cup 2014, FIFA is not changing the number of slots it's giving to CONCACAF.
Dreams that have already come true are those of two players who grew up as fans of their local MLS team and now will be representing their colors. There’s one player in Seattle who used to be a ball boy and another in Colorado who attended matches at Invesco Field.
Real Madrid will look to keep up the chase on La Liga leaders FC Barcelona with a match at Malaga (4 pm ET, ESPN Deportes), while Real Salt Lake will be watching closely tonight as their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal opponent is determined in Honduras. Olimpia need to win to get by Costa Rica’s Saprissa (8 pm ET, Galavisión).
Lastly, to prove that soccer is truly special, we turn to the NBA. The Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets are currently in London for the first ever regular-season games played on foreign soil. The Nets’ Slovenian guard, Sasha Vujacic, took advantage and attended the Chelsea vs. Manchester United game earlier this week. The Chelsea fan says that nothing beats the atmosphere of a soccer game. And that’s coming from an NBA player.
MLSsoccer.com Must-Reads:
Report says that the US Soccer Federation is chasing down Marcelo Bielsa as technical director
Philadelphia’s Peter Nowak finally confirms that Michael Orozco Fiscal is no longer with Union
Construction on new Houston Dynamo stadium has officially begun
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