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Mid-Day Ticker: St. Louis takes top spot in WPS dispersal draft and more

Aathleticalogo

By AVI CREDITOR

A day after St. Louis welcomed home Steve Ralston, the city appears to be in position to add another top-notch soccer star.

St. Louis Athletica has traded for the top spot in the Los Angeles Sol dispersal draft, sending three players and its second-round pick in the dispersal draft to the expansion Atlanta Beat.

Athletica is now in position to add another U.S. Women's National Team star to its roster, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch speculates that the team will select Shannon Boxx with the pick. The team already has Lori Chalupny and Hope Solo.

Why wouldn't St. Louis select Marta and reunite her with former Brazil coach Jorge Barcellos? The Post-Dispatch adds that since the four-time reigning FIFA World Player of the Year's contract is held by the league, she will likely be held out of the draft and be assigned to a team.

Atlanta acquired Kia McNeill, Angie Kerr and the rights to 2010 St. Louis draft pick Amanda Poach. The team also sent a second-round pick in the 2011 WPS Draft to St. Louis to complete the deal.

BENJANI BEATS TRANSFER BUZZER

Technical difficulties didn't stop the Premier League from allowing the transfer of Benjani Mwaruwari from Manchester City to Sunderland.

The Zimbabwe captain will join the Black Cats on loan after the EPL ruled that Sunderland had attempted to complete the deal prior to the transfer window deadline. Problems with the club's e-mail, fax and phone connections prevented the paperwork from being filed on time.

JAPAN, VENEZUELA DRAW

World Cup-bound Japan and Venezuela played to a scoreless draw Tuesday in an international friendly.

Japan was drawn into Group E in this summer's World Cup, where it'll compete with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon.

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What do you think of Athletica's trade? Will Benjani help Sunderland out of its recent funk? Does Japan stand a chance in its World Cup group?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I really wanted to support the LA Sol, but for many games the cheapest seat at the Home Depot Center was $20, which is outrageous considering it was a start-up league. Have to consider that it’s the summer and they were going up against the Dodgers and Angels, whose cheapest seats are around $7.
    They did not try hard enough to get fannies in the seats.
    Not having a women’s soccer team in LA, but having one in the middle of New Jersey is strange.

    Reply
  2. Part of that is due to the fact that the original logo was for “St. Louis Soccer United” (terrible name) which was the initial MLS bid. So when they had to settle for WPS, they awkwardly added a ponytail to make it slightly feminine.

    Agree that it could use some touch up.

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  3. Too bad Marta isn’t going to be available. No offense to Ms. Boxx, but Marta would have actually drawn some interest. Probably not season tickets galore, but I’m sure even a casual soccer fan would check out a game or two knowing the best female player is in their back yard.

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  4. Now if St. Louis could only secure the rights to a decent graphic design person and send this one back to the high school from where it came.

    Not only is it amateurish but the flag-bearer during the Crusaders is on par with the modern-day water boy (person). Nothing like using an image of a person who hung on the side of battle as your inspiring image.

    Reply
  5. Pretty interesting couple of days for St. Louis soccer! Now if only that was all about an MLS team and not a D2 team and a women’s team.

    Reply

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