Freddy Adu: Why His Signing Makes the Philadelphia Union MLS Favorites

In a stunner, the 22-year-old soccer sensation has signed with the Philadelphia Union.Once hailed as the next Pele, Adu now has a chance to resurrect his career where it started. Adu spent his early years in the MLS playing for DC United and Real Salt Lake before being sent overseas to play for teams in Portugal, Turkey and Greece.Adu was a two-time MLS All-Star during his tenure in the United States but never lived up to the hype when he was signed by DC United as a 14-year-old.All that means nothing now as he beings his journey again as a player for the Philadelphia Union.He will also be re-united with his former DC United coach, now Philadelphia Union coach Peter Nowak.Their familiarity and chemistry will only mean good things for Adu and the Union.Philadelphia has suddenly become the center of the sports world.With the dominance of the Phillies as of late, the huge free agent acquisitions by the Eagles and Flyers coupled with a successful playoff season by the young and rising 76ers, it was the Philadelphia Union's turn to make their mark this summer.Freddy Adu brings celebrity appeal in addition to his All-Star caliber skill, which will delight the ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. CD Motagua: Back to CONCACAF Champions League Action

The Los Angeles Galaxy ended their 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League run on a winning note with a 2-1 victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders. However, the victory came off the heels of a 4-1 shellacking in the first leg at the Home Depot Center. This time around, there will be no preliminary round blowouts to agonize over. In fact, Bruce Arena's Galaxy get a free pass to the group stage by way of winning the 2010 Major League Soccer Supporters Shield. Their group? A group that could arguably be called the "Group of Death": Group A, which includes L.D. Alajuelense, the 2010 Invierno and 2011 Verano champion from Costa Rica; Monarcas Morelia, the runner-up in the 2011 Primera Division de Mexico Clausura; and their first opponent, C.D. Motagua of Honduras's Liga Nacional. Motagua are a team based out of the nation's capital, Tegucigalpa. They won the Copa Interclubes UNCAP in 2007 and had a third-place finish in 2002. Last season in the 2010-11 Clausura, Los Aguilas Azules soared to the title on the wings of an 8-7-3 record (31 points) in the regular season, a 3-3 semifinal victory over C.D.S. Vida based on superior regular season performance and a 5-3 ...

MLS Signs with NBC: Putting the Heroic Day in Perspective

Wow, what a day for American soccer!There is no question that the contract announcement between NBC and the MLS this morning was a great moment for the beautiful game in America. In case you missed it, I suggest you take a look at the win-win situation that occurred earlier in the day here. As NBC hopes to emerge once again as a powerhouse sports station, the MLS gets even more coverage on a high-profile cable network. With today being called a heroic one in MLS history, I decided to look at the numbers and actually see how important this deal is. You won’t believe what I found.To some people’s displeasure, the MLS’ move to NBC Sports also meant the death of their FSC telecasts and the newly born Soccer Night in America. However, upon looking at the impact between the national reach of the two stations, nobody really should be complaining about the move.Last year FSC reached approximately 37 million US homes while Versus (NBC Sports Network) reached roughly 74 million. That is twice as much exposure for the MLS and is bound to increase MLS TV ratings dramatically.More viewers? Check.The MLS/NBC contract also means that there will be more nationally ...

MLS: 5 Figures from USL/NASL Who Can Make the Jump

After it was announced that Carolina Railhawks coach Martin Rennie would be taking over the Whitecaps at the start of next season, I got to thinking who else from America’s secondary leagues (USL Pro and NASL) could make the switch and lock down a job in the MLS.We have seen a number of players do it, from Osvaldo Alonso to Lamar Neagle, and of course coaches now make the change once every few years. With all that in mind, here is a list of five figures who are due for a promotion in the upcoming months.  Luke MulhollandTeam: Wilmington Hammerheads (USL)Age: 22In his first professional season, the young Englishman has notched nine goals and four assists and is the USL Pro MVP favorite heading into the home stretch. He picks apart defenses with his passing ability and could be a good pickup for any team that is weak in the Central Midfield department. Also at 22 years old, he has plenty of years to develop into an MLS starter. Jason YeisleyTeam: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL)Age: 24Now I know FC Dallas fans might not think much of this kid, but the man is putting together a pretty good season down in Pittsburgh. Yeisley leads ...

2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 21

Parity ran amok this week in Major League Soccer, with the top teams falling and the teams with the worst records pulling off stunning victories on the march.Above the fray, Seattle find themselves shooting back up to the top of the Power Rankings after going through the week without a defeat.The moving and shaking is what makes Bleacher Report's MLS Power Rankings an interesting list to follow, so let's go through the action from the past week.Begin Slideshow

MLS: Late Drama Gives Seattle Sounders the Edge over Sporting Kansas City

How long has it been since the Seattle Sounders struck first in an MLS match? It's impossible to say really (actually, it's been six matches, dating back to June 21 against the New York Red Bulls), but one thing has been made clear over the past couple of months: The Sounders are as good as it gets when it comes to battling adversity and overcoming deficits to secure victory.Saturday night's match against Sporting Kansas City was no exception.Earlier in the week, Seattle was forced to overcome a three-match losing streak (consisting of one MLS match, one CONCACAF match and a Manchester United friendly) in order to advance to the group stages of the Champions League tournament. It took 120 minutes, but the Sounders secured the advancement and looked to get back on track to another long and impressive unbeaten run.Kansas City, who came into the match riding a 14-game unbeaten streak of their own, had other plans. KC scored in the 20th minute and carried the lead through much of the match, as Seattle once again faced agonizing problems in their finishing ability.It seemed obvious, as the two clubs approached the 90 minute mark, that Kansas City would take the ...

David Beckham, LA Galaxy Wake Up from Slow Start, Grill FC Dallas 3-1

So, is anybody up for some grilled Angus tri-tip this weekend? At least this Bleacher Report featured columnist is. 100 minutes of beer league football, as Mike Magee likes to say, combined with 80 minutes of Major League Soccer defined the week for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy. Not very often are the Galaxy able to rally back from a goal deficit and win, but after a ninth-minute strike from Chicken Thief Marvin Chavez, goals in the 32nd minute from Omar Gonzalez, the 62nd minute from Juninho and the 81st from Magee (which, some may argue, is Bradley Cooper's stage name, a la Chad Ochocinco) gave LA a badly-needed 3-1 victory over Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Arena probably figured out already that Chris Birchall and Juan Pablo Angel are two overrated posers fit for the bench. Angel did get some garbage time minutes, but it was pretty clear that the manager understood that Angel is a liability to the team. Now do you see what happens when you listen to your fans? Cha-ching! “We beat a good team tonight," Arena told reporters after the contest. "I think both teams ...

New York Red Bulls Unmercifully Stampeded by Real Salt Lake in 3-0 Loss

With 10 games remaining in the 2011 Major League Soccer season, there is no evidence that the New York Red Bulls should be considered a serious contender for the 2011 MLS Cup.A week after the Red Bulls flew to England to win the Emirates Cup, a tournament as meaningless as last year's Walt Disney Pro Soccer Classic, the team played their first MLS match since July 23, 2011 when they tied FC Dallas 2-2 at Red Bull Arena.Competing Saturday night against Real Salt Lake on the road at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Red Bulls were simply embarrassed by the home team in a 3-0 loss. In a battle of Eastern and Western Conference foes, RSL demonstrated on Saturday night why they're the stingiest team in MLS.With their superb defense, Real Salt Lake has only allowed 16 goals all season. Desperately needing to end a two-game losing streak, Real Salt Lake dissected the Red Bulls defense as they produced goals from a set piece, a strike and a penalty kick.Nat Borchers opened the goal register for RSL when he accepted a corner kick from Kyle Beckerman with his head to slam the soccer ball past Red Bulls goalkeeper Frank Rost for ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy face their toughest test to date this season: a match with the second place FC Dallas at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011.The Galaxy are currently 12-3-9 (45 points) and coming off an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to the Portland Timbers.As for FC Dallas, they are on a three-game win streak in all the competitions they are participating in and fresh off a 1-0 win over Alianza FC in the CONCACAF Champions League.Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by Fox Sports Prime Ticket and Fox Sports Southwest Plus.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

How Manchester United and Barcelona Damaged Major League Soccer

Soccer in the USA is one of the fastest emerging football markets in the world, of that there is no doubt. A glance at the steady expansion in the MLS over the last five years is testament to that, with successful franchises having sprung up recently in Seattle, Toronto, Philadelphia and Portland.Matches are now played in front of capacity crowds at soccer-specific stadiums—as opposed to the barely full NFL stadiums that were used to host the sub-standard matches of earlier years—with an array of international stars such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez and Torsten Frings turning out for their respective teams. So business is booming—in football at least—in the USA and, inevitably, the European giants of the game want a piece of that American pie.Dominant football powers such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Juventus toured the country this year, playing money-spinning friendlies against eachother as well as MLS teams.While the game's senior officials, like MLS Commissioner Don Garber, were licking their lips at the prospect of revenue opportunities and media interest brought about by these matches, the teams and hardcore fans are suffering.The MLS fixture list is among the most complicated and congested in football. Given the ...