My England 23

So before Fabio Capello announces who will be on the plane to South Africa, I've decided to list who I think should be going. This does not necessarily mean I think these will be the ones selected, since Capello obviously knows a lot more about football than I do.

By the way, the award for understatement of the year goes to that last sentence.

Of course, if it were really my 23, I'd use some players who didn't even make the 30-man squad. So for this list I'm limiting myself to the players took to camp. Here we go:

Goalkeepers: Robert Green, Joe Hart and David James

I would start Green or Hart. Never, under any circumstances, must David James see the field in South Africa. His nickname is "Calamity." He is a goalkeeper. Do the math. This is obviously a weak spot for England. I mean, Old Red Face even had the nerve to say Ben Foster, who was United's third-choice goalkeeper before being sold, was the best in the country.

New nickname alert: Sir Alex Ferguson = Old Red Face. I mean, look at him.

Picture from The Final Third.

Aww, his face almost matches his tie! You have to love him.

Defenders: Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Ledley King and Jamie Carragher

I really did want to include Michael Dawson, but Jamie Carragher provides cover as both a central defender and a right back. That means I can drop Dawson for another inexperienced player.

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, James Milner and Adam Johnson

I like including Adam Johnson because he's a creative and skillful player who can come on for a 30-minute spell and change the game. I know he's inexperienced, but if I had to take a risk on someone, it would be him. This is also assuming Barry is healthy. If he isn't, I'd take Tom Huddlestone.

Forwards: Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe and Emile Heskey

I would take these four forwards, but, barring injury, I'd only play Peter Crouch and Wayne Rooney. Defoe and Heskey are strictly cover.

Here's my starting line-up for the game against the United States:

Green

Johnson-Ferdinand-Terry-Cole

Lennon-Lampard-Barry-Gerrard

Rooney

Crouch

Just for kicks, I'll include my predictions for the actual 23:

GK: Green, Hart, James
Def: A. Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Johnson, Upson, Carragher, King, Baines
Mid: Gerrard, Lampard, Lennon, Walcott, Barry, J. Cole, Carrick and Milner
Fwd: Rooney, Heskey, Defoe and Crouch

More Predicting Practice

Turkey 3
Yanks 2

I feel like I'm going to make the mistake during this World Cup of picking teams based just on which team has the most talent. This is a perfect example.

I know Turkey has better players than the United States. I really don't care about the FIFA rankings that say the United States is the 14th best team in the world and Turkey is 29th.

But the American team will want to perform well in its last game on home soil before the World Cup. I could easily see them wanting to perform well for the crowd. In fact, that's why I said 3-2. If this game were taking place in Europe, I'd go 2-0 or 3-1 in favor of Turkey.

This highlights something I'm kind of sad about: I really have made no connection with this team. I just don't like them. I feel like a traitor, but I don't consider them MY national team. I guess this came from rooting against them every time they played Honduras.

The funniest part about my allegiance being more with Honduras than the United States is that it's probably the opposite with my mom. She was born and raised in Honduras, but she's a proud American citizen and will probably be rooting more for the United States than Honduras. I know she wants Honduras to do well, but she's a certified non-believer (and a front-runner) so she isn't getting her hopes up. I've spent much less time in Honduras than she has, but that's my team.

The only players I even really like on the American team are Deuce, El Gringo Torres and Stuart Holden.

I will still try my best to root for them, but I don't see it happening.

Lowered Expectations?

Well, not really, even though Honduras did look pretty poor in a 2-2 draw with Belarus.

Honduras was without its best player (Wilson Palacios) and captain (Amado Guevara), so this result isn't as bad as it seems.

The reason this doesn't change my expectations is simple: I'm not expecting much out of Honduras anyway.

I mean I'll definitely pick them to get out of the group, but that's just because I refuse to pick against them. Well, except against Spain. I'm stupid, not crazy. I just understand that it's not likely that Honduras will make it out of the group stage.

The most important thing about these friendlies leading up to the World Cup is David Suazo regaining his top form. With him at his best, Honduras can challenge Chile and Switzerland.

If Suazo struggles, they will have to rely too much on 1000-year-old Carlos Pavon. Not only is Pavon old, he has a tendency to not show up in big moments. I know he scored the goal that beat El Salvador, but he also missed a huge penalty against the United States. I'm not ragging on Pavon, because he has scored a lot of goals for Honduras, I just think he's not capable of being at his best for three games in nine days.

Suazo needs to be able to carry the attack, so hopefully he can find his scoring boots before June 16.

Let's be honest, if he's not wearing his scoring boots against Azerbaijan or Romania, he's definitely not wearing them against Chile, Spain or Switzerland.

Thoughts on Mexico and England-USA

Here is my two-word England review: Not great.

Here is my two-word Mexico review: Not bad.

Mexico will definitely be proud of the way they performed in Wembley, specifically in the first half. I was shocked that they were as sharp as they were. Carlos Vela's stunning ability to not score kept England in the game, to be honest.

The Mexicans also went a long way toward convincing me they could win the first game of the World cup. I am 100 percent sure Mexico is better than South Africa, but I wasn't sure if the pressure and atmosphere would be too much for them. The fact that they showed up at Wembley puts my mind at ease about picking them.

England will feel flattered by the scoreline in the end. At times, Mexico looked like the home team. The important thing is that the players were able to find goals even when they were playing poorly. Also, Robert Green was excellent and at this point I wouldn't mind him or Joe Hart being in goal in South Africa. Anyone but David James, really.

I hate to say this, but Michael Carrick was terrible. I really don't know where his game has gone this season, but this is a bad time to be out of form. I actually have to say Tom Huddlestone (the man built like a small house) is a better option in midfield right now.

This game also made me think about what this result meant for England's game against the United States. I think it's a bad sign for the United States because Mexico gave England problems when it was maintaining possession of the ball and attacking the flanks with both wingers and fullbacks. I don't think the United States can emulate that style at all. Obviously the United States is not a team that is as comfortable on the ball as Mexico. Also, the fullbacks aren't all that great at defending, let alone attacking. Landon Donovan can counter with pace, but I don't think that will be as much of an advantage when he will be running at Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole, who both have great pace. Even if Johnson and Cole are caught up the field, as they are likely to do because they love to bomb forward, it will fall on the defenders and midfielders of the United States to spring counters with good passes, and I just don't see the ability there.

Testing My Predicting Ability

During the World Cup, I will be posting my predictions for every game. The day before the games, I will say who I think will win and by what score.

I think this will be fun and it will prove how little I know about soccer.

Spoiler alert: I will pick Honduras to win two times too many.

So a good way to start this off will be by picking today's Champions League final. It's a good thing I didn't choose to pick the Coca Cola Championship playoff winner, because I would have picked Cardiff City to win promotion. I don't know why, but I have a soft spot for Cardiff City.

Anyway, I think Jose Mourinho is a tactical genius and I also think Bayern Munich is a really bad team. Yes, that may be sour grapes because they eliminated Manchester United. Whatever, they got lucky. I think Bayern will struggle to break Inter down, and Inter has great attacking players that can hit them on the counter.

Inter 2
Bayern 0

Fergie Knows Best

When I woke this morning, the first story I read was about David Villa officially moving to Barcelona. I sent my brother the following text message:

"Villa to Barca is officially a done deal. Eff you!"

Except I didn't say "eff."

Needless to say, I was frustrated. After reading the comments by Sir Alex Ferguson, it seems Manchester United might go another summer without making a major signing. Ferguson believes the big spending of Real Madrid and Manchester City has skewed the market and made it difficult to find value.

This, to me, seems like an excuse. Just looking at the Champions League final, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder were offloaded relatively cheaply by Real Madrid.

I'll try to not get frustrated. I know Ferguson has forgotten more about soccer than I know, so I'll just have to trust him.

I think he's planning a big purchase or two this summer. At least I hope so, because if not we will continue to fall behind Chelsea.

Scouting Chile

I'm cautiously optimistic that Honduras can make it out of the group stage at the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.

I know we would need to get at least four points, possibly six. Honduras will not take a single point off of Spain. In fact, Spain's B team would probably wreck us.

With that in mind, Honduras must get something out of its opening match against Chile. That would mean, regardless of the Spain result, the last game against Switzerland will have more at stake than pride.

Sunday afternoon I had one eye on Barcelona winning the league and another eye on Mexico's match at the Azteca against Chile.

I'm not an expert on Chile's players, but I think their best player is striker Humberto Suazo, and he was not playing. Also, their first choice goalkeeper was not available.

All I know is, the players who played for Marcelo Bielsa against Mexico were absolutely dreadful.

While watching the game all I could think was, "Yeah, we can take them."

In other words, I'm now even more excited for the World Cup.

My First Philadelphia Union Game

I said that all it would take for the Philadelphia Union to win me over would be for the guys to play hard, and they certainly did that.

The game against FC Dallas finished 1-1, but the result felt great for the Union because it game on an injury time goal by Danny Mwanga.

FC Dallas scored pretty early, but the Union had the better of possession for most of the game. They created and squandered many chances until finally breaking through in the last minute. I loved that the team kept going forward and was finally rewarded with a goal. The players could have felt defeated after constantly missing opportunities to even the score.

I love to see a team fight like that.

It's almost like they channeled the spirit of, dare I say it, Rocky Balboa.

As for individuals, Mwanga stood out to me because it was a well-taken goal and was such a stark contrast to the wasteful finishing on display the entire game. I was surprised when I learned he is an 18-year-old rookie. I love that he kept his head and put the ball away.

I also thought Roger Torres looked good and I was pleasantly surprised by Chris Seitz's performance.

The defense needs improvement, but that is to be expected with an expansion team.

Here's the most important thing I found out today: I loved watching them. After about five minutes, I was agonizing over every miss. As Yara can confirm, it was almost like I was watching a Manchester United or Honduras game. Well, maybe not that bad.

First Impressions: Chicharito

Instead of watching the crucial game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thursday night I watched Mexico play Angola in an international friendly.

Why? Chicharito.

I wanted to see the future Manchester United striker in a game for the first time. Unfortunately, he was only given 15 minutes of action.

Honestly, there isn't much I can say about it, other than he held the ball up well and waited for his teammates try to get involved in the attack. He won some balls in the air and clearly has a good leap on him. He's athletic, that's for sure.

There was something that stood out, though: Mexicans love him.

While he warmed up, chants of "Chicharito" could be heard. Telemundo's Andres Cantor repeatedly stated he was the man the people wanted to see.

Being Honduran, I'm naturally inclined to hate Mexican fans, but I know they're passionate and knowledgeable about their national team. The fact that they were so excited about getting to see this kid means something to me.

Mexico has a tough run of friendlies coming up, and hopefully Chicharito will show Manchester United supporters what the Mexican fans are so excited about.

My Favorite Soccer Nicknames

I'm a sucker for nicknames. I can't help it. I look for any excuse to say Chicharito. So here is a list of some of my favorite nicknames, which I will try to update whenever I remember one.

Der Kaiser-Franz Beckenbauer

Zizou- Zinedine Zidane

Chicharito Hernandez

Kiko Macheda

Pipita- Gonzalo Higuain

Batigol- Gabriel Batistuta

El Gringo Torres

Pato Abbondanzieri

El Piojo Lopez

La Pulga- Lionel Messi

Carlos El Apache Tevez

Pupi Zanetti

Cucho Cambiasso

Bofo Bautista

Rambo De Leon

Deuce- Clint Dempsey

Paco Memo Ochoa

Ginger Prince- Paul Scholes

The Evergreen Welshman- Ryan Giggs

Sergio Kun Aguero

Wow, apparently you can't be a soccer player from Argentina without a cool nickname.

For the purposes of this blog, I should also mention that I've made up my own nicknames for certain players. So this post will also serve as a key.

Gareth "Monkey Man" Bale (Come on, he has some primate features.)

Andres "Ninja" Iniesta

Hargo- Owen Hargreaves

Ando- Anderson

Buckets- Sergio Busquets

Old Red Scalp- Wes Brown

Useless- Ben Foster (Just kidding, but he is useless.)

Pedrito- Pedro (You'll always be Pedrito to me!)

Old One Move- Carlos Costly

Mexico- Rafa Marquez

Oh, and how could I forget my dad's epic nickname from when he was a player: 30 Seconds. That, apparently, came from the fact it usually took him that long to get kicked out of a game whenever he played.


Again, I will update this as I remember more.

Update (6/1/2010):

Sir Alex Ferguson- Old Red Face

Carlos Vela- Ass Dan

Thoughts On World Cup Rosters

First of all, it's sad to see Carlos Costly, a player who worked so hard to help Honduras make it to the World Cup, miss out on a chance to play in South Africa because of an injury.

Sure, he only has one move, this one:



But Honduras has no depth at all. We need every decent player we have to compete against Switzerland and Chile. We couldn't compete against Spain if we were allowed to use all 23 of our players at the same time. It's amazing that Carlos Pavon is still scoring goals for Honduras, but he's old. In the spirit of Kirk Lazarus from Tropic Thunder, he's old, man, he's freaking super old!

Costly is a much more dangerous option than Walter "Pery" Martinez or Georgie Welcome. I would honestly rather see Jerry Bengston get a call-up than either of these guys.

At this point, I think Reinaldo Rueda should start two defensive midfielders, Wilson Palacios and Hendry Thomas, to help cover for a shaky back four and terrible goalkeeper.

In more sad news, Charlie Davies and Owen Hargreaves won't be going to South Africa. At least Davies is young and will have another chance. With Hargreaves, it is hard to tell if his body will hold up another four years.

As great a story as Davies making the squad would have been, I couldn't really argue with any of Bob Bradley's decisions.

Ronaldinho will not be going to South Africa, but it has nothing to do with being injured. Dunga left the toothy one, as well as Diego and Alexandre Pato, off his squad. If he really thinks Grafite (who I actually rate) is better than Pato and Julio Baptista is better than Diego, then more power to him. He's the boss and Brazil will live or, more likely, die by his decisions.

It just baffles me how he can continue to ignore Ronaldinho. I don't follow Serie A at all, but I did see him give Manchester United fits in the Champions League. He has proven himself on the biggest stages and lives for the bright lights.

Really, Dunga, you couldn't use one more experienced play-maker on your team? No? You really had to have Elano and Kleberson (he's alive?) on your plane to South Africa? Alright then.

I've been very critical of Ronaldinho in the past. In fact, during a summer children's literature class I was taking a few years ago, I had to write a poem. This is what I came up with:

Little Ronny had the magical skills
Little Ronny filled the Nou Camp with thrills
Elasticos, stepovers and chilenas wowed the Catalan nation
Even los Galacticos gave a standing ovation
But oh that boy Ronny got fame in his eyes
And soon he decided to eat all the pies
Week after week his performances sputtered
And soon talk of his demise was publicly uttered
Until finally the club could take it no more
And so soon came his shameful walk out the door

Sure, it's a stupid poem. But the point is, Ronny has rejuvenated his career at AC Milan. At the very least, he should have been given a chance to participate in Brazil's friendly against Ireland earlier this year.

As far as my adopted team goes, I was pretty satisfied with Fabio Capello's choices. I don't like to question the man who fixed the mess made by Steve McClaren, but Jamie Carragher? I just hope he doesn't make the 23-man roster. It's good to see Michael Dawson and Adam Johnson get a chance too. Capello is obviously one of my readers and knows how much I like Johnson.

I can't believe I've been rambling so much about rosters being named, but I can't help it. It's the World Cup!

Wait, We Didn't Win The League?

It hurts, and it's a feeling I don't even much remember.

It started to seem like a given that Manchester United would win the Premier League every year.

Of course, I do remember what it was like before Manchester United won the league three years running. I remember watching Chelsea celebrate and being disgusted. I remember seeing Arsenal's Untouchables and thinking, "Untouchable my foot, we can take them."

When I saw Nicolas Anelka score at Wigan, I was finally ready to concede the title to Chelsea.

Even though we didn't win the league, there are positive things to take away from the season. We were really hurt by injuries, but managed to take the title race down to the last day. United never gave up and pushed Chelsea all the way.

If any team should be embarrassed about this season, it should be Chelsea. Yeah, I know they won the league, but boy did they struggle. Chelsea had every opportunity to run away from United, but never could. If United stayed healthy, the trophy would be at Old Trafford right now.

The fight United showed this year made me excited for the title race next season. So, to wrap up the season, I will say what I thought about these players this year and give them a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

Nani finally came into his own and showed he understands what it means to play for United. However, he's still inconsistent. Thumbs up

Antonio Valencia was great and should only get better. Thumbs up

Giggs, Scholes and Neville showed they still have something to contribute. These three will also benefit from having the summer off. Thumbs up for the pensioners

Rooney became a goal-scoring machine. Thumbs up

Berbatov became a goal-missing machine. I'm just kidding, but he did miss a lot of goals. I actually think a lot of United supporters are harsh on Berbatov. I think he's a very useful player. He just needs to be a little less wasteful. One thumb up, one thumb down

Michael Carrick was all over the place. He's usually one of my favorite players so it hurt me to see his form dip. Thumbs down

Anderson was injured most of the season, that was sad. He remains one of my favorite players, but it was frustrating to see him not play. One thumb up, one thumb down, one thumb sideways

Edwin van der Sar proved that he is still a wonderful keeper. The back four just seem much more confident with him in goal. I'm glad he keeps coming back. Thumbs up

Patrice Evra was our best defender this year. Thumbs up

Michael Owen beat City. Thumbs up

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, unfortunately, didn't get to play together consistently this season. I put them together because they were both down this year. I will give them both one thumb up, and one thumb down.

Tomasz Kuszczak was actually decent and established himself as the second-choice keeper. I wanted to mention him because he is a player I really changed my mind about. I give him credit for winning me over. Thumbs up

Darren Fletcher is another player I changed my mind about. I used to think, "What does Fergie see in him?" Then he slowly started to win me over, and I was absolutely gutted when I found out he would be missing out on the Champions League final in Rome. He had another great season. Thumbs up

Darron Gibson was OK when he played. Thumbs sideways

Ben Foster was shocking. I really wanted to love Ben Foster, but wow. In the words of Dave Chappelle (as Rick James): I wish I had more hands, so I could give Ben Foster four thumbs down.

John O'Shea and Wes Brown were injured a lot this season, so I'll give them each one sideways thumb.

No thumbs for Fabio, Gabriel Obertan and Kiko Macheda because they didn't play enough.

Jonny Evans had a decent season, but all I can remember is how shocking he was at the San Siro. One thumb up, one thumb down

Park Ji-Sung scored massive goals and always impresses me with his effort. Thumbs up

Rafael was great at times, but showed he's still a kid. Two thumbs up, one thumb down

(This is my blog, I'll have as many thumbs as I want!)

Players I Love, No. 1: Owen Hargreaves

Sadly, I missed the Philadelphia Union game today. So instead, I'm starting a new thing where I will write about players I love and players I hate. I'm not listing them in any particular order, just because it would be impossible for me to pick a favorite player.

All I knew about Owen Hargreaves was that he was supposed to be good. I mean, he had to be if Sir Alex Ferguson spent so much time trying to sign him from Bayern Munich.

Well once he got to the club it was easy to see why the manager liked him so much. He an excellent holding midfielder, but has also filled in at right back and on the right side of midfield for United.

He is great at winning the ball back and picking out great passes. When I first saw him played on the right side of midfield, I was worried he wouldn't be effective there. He proved me wrong by showing more pace than I thought he had and consistently delivering dangerous crosses. He can also do this:



That stunning free kick was the most memorable moment of that entire season for me, well, not including the Champions League.

Unfortunately, his time in England has been mostly spent nursing injuries. This past weekend against Sunderland, Hargreaves saw first-team action for the first time in 19 months. While watching the game against Manchester City, I almost cried when I saw him warming up. I can only imagine what it has been like for him, having to go through surgery after surgery. I wonder if at some point he thought about quitting. Regardless, he has fought all the way back and it is inspiring to see. It obviously means a lot to him to get back out there, and I can't wait until next season when he is a regular in the starting eleven.

I really hope Fabio Capello gives him a chance to go to the World Cup. It is obviously a risk because of his lack of football over the past two years, but if he is healthy enough to play for United, he can be a contributor in South Africa.

I'll let my favorite Manchester United fan sum it up:



I want curly hair too!

Chicago Fire? Never.

On Friday, I found out I had been accepted to the DePaul University College of Law. So I have that going for me, I guess.

Because I am a freak, one of the first things I thought about was whether I could see myself supporting the Chicago Fire. Obviously, I can't.

Why? Just look at this guy:

www.chicagotribune.com

I'm sorry you had to see that.

His name is Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I hate him. I hate his stupid signature move. I hate his goal celebration. I hate his face. I hate the way he runs up to the ball on penalty kicks. I hate that he's really good at what he does. I hate that I had to Google him to make sure I was spelling his name correctly.

And I hate that he is, at least in my brain, the face of the Chicago Fire. That's not at all fair to the team and the players that are there now, but that's how it is.

I can't separate his smug face from the team.

On a more positive note, I'm really excited to watch the Philadelphia Union against Real Salt Lake in a bit. I'll post my reaction after the game.

Philadelphia Union vs Manchester United: Great News or Greatest News Ever?

Today it was announced that Manchester United will be playing the Philadelphia Union in the second game of their North American tour.

(Victory dance.)

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, this is incredibly exciting for me. If I manage to go to the game, my first live Manchester United game will double as my first live Philadelphia Union game. What could be more perfect than that?

I'm aware that Sir Alex Ferguson won't use his regulars too much, if at all. This game will come soon after the World Cup so he will need to get his key players some rest.

But I love Manchester United so much that I don't care who is out there. In fact, one of my favorite players, Owen Hargreaves, is sure to figure prominently in the pre-season fixtures because he's had so much time away from the game due to injury. It will be a big summer for him because he must prove to the manager, and to himself, that he is still capable of being a key United midfielder.

I'm also excited to possibly see some of the younger players, like Kiko Macheda.

It would also be exciting to see the Philadelphia Union, even though I'm not quite as familiar with their players just yet. I'm sure by then I will have fallen in love with a few of them.

That's enough victory dancing and blogging, time to go try to make this trip happen.

Spurs, City Have Brighter Futures Than Liverpool

While watching Wednesday's match between Tottenham and Manchester City, I realized that this season was not a fluke.

It seems to me that both these teams are better equipped than Liverpool to challenge for fourth place next season. In fact, Aston Villa will also likely finish ahead of Liverpool, unless it sells one of its talented young players.

Now that Tottenham has sealed a Champions League place, it can be expected to attract one or two more top players during the summer. The club has a great manager in Harry Redknapp, and Daniel Levy, chairman of the club, knows what he's doing (as evidenced by the fact he forced Manchester United to overpay for Dimitar Berbatov). Being in the Champions League will also allow the team to hold on to players like Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

Manchester City will still be able to attract great players because some guys, like Robinho or Adebayor, will care more about money than winning. As much as I hate this club, I have to admit that it has some quality players. In particular, I'm a big fan of Adam Johnson and think he deserves to be on the plane to South Africa more than Theo Walcott. An important factor for them going forward is managerial stability. If Roberto Mancini is sacked, the next manager should be given at least one full season to prove himself. Unless the club can attract Jose Mourinho, I think its better off keeping Mancini (and his scarves).

Liverpool, on the other hand, seems to be very much in decline. The club is dealing with internal turmoil and may lose its manager to Juventus. Which top player is going to go there? It seems more likely to lose a world class player (Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard) than attract one.

Spurs and City are not ready to challenge for the title, but they are closer to getting there than Liverpool, which is sad considering how close Liverpool came to winning their 19th title just last season.

I'll sign off with this:

This is how it feels to be City
This is how it feels to be small
This is how it feels when your team wins nothing at all
Nothing at all!

Sorry, City, I had to do it.

Me and the Philadelphia Union

Ever since the Miami Fusion ceased to exist, I have been a free agent fan looking for the perfect team to sign with.

I had a short spell with Toronto FC because I loved their home atmosphere, but something about our relationship just didn’t feel right. I had to opt out of my deal after one year.

I signed a short-term contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy when they signed David Beckham, but I was always just a fan of him, not of the team. It’s never a good idea to follow a team just because you like one player. This has worked for me (Tottenham Hotspur), but only because I started to care about the team on a much deeper level than just, “Oh, Wilson Palacios plays there.” This never happened with the Galaxy.

It was starting to look like I should just retire, but I decided to give it one last chance.

This fall I will be starting law school. I’m still not sure where, but since I’ve already paid a seat deposit at Temple, that is looking a likely destination.

When I first got in to Temple I was excited because I knew Philadelphia had an expansion team in MLS. One of the most important things for me when picking a team was that I wanted it to be a team that was relatively young. Well, you can’t get any younger than an expansion team. I hope to one day be able to say I was there for the first season of Philadelphia Union soccer.

Also, one of the great things about Philadelphia is the fact they have many professional teams, ranging from great (Philadelphia Phillies) to, um, not so great (Philadelphia 76ers). I couldn’t really adopt any of the teams from the major sports because I already love the Dolphins, Heat, Marlins and Panthers. I would not feel guilty about loving the Union because there is no Miami team to betray (sorry, Miami FC).

That was two weeks ago, and now I feel fully committed to becoming a fan. I refuse to call myself a fan of the team now, because I have never seen one of their games and that would be an insult to the true fans. I’m excited to watch their game Saturday against Real Salt Lake.

Really, they only have to do one thing to win me over: Play hard.

If they do, I think I might be signing a long-term contract with them soon.

Welcome To My Brain (There’s Not A Lot In Here)

I’ve decided to make the most awesome blog about soccer ever. So, be excited.

After interviewing Brian Quarstad from Inside Minnesota Soccer, I was inspired to blog about soccer, my biggest passion. An important thing I learned from him is that it’s important to provide more than just opinion. That is why, starting in the fall, I will be trying my best to write news about the local team of whatever city I happen to move to.

Until then, opinion it is.

I will be writing mostly about the Philadelphia Union, Manchester United, the United States Men’s National Team, the Honduran national team and Tottenham Hotspur.

Over the next few months, I will dedicate a post to explaining why I care about these specific teams.

It’ll be a fun ride, and I promise to update as often as possible.