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Mid-Day Ticker: Onyewu finalizes Twente loan, Union find sponsor and more

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Photo by Perry McIntyre/ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

Oguchi Onyewu is returning to the Low Countries.

The United States national team defender is joining Dutch club, FC Twente on loan until the end of the season from AC Milan. At Twente, Onyewu will be reunited with his former Standard Liege head coach Michel Preud'homme. The pair helped Standard win the Belgian title in 2008 before Preud'homme departed Standard for fellow Belgian side Gent. 

Onyewu will be expected to provide needed defensive cover and challenge for a spot on the first team immediately. Twente is currently second in the Eredivisie, just a point off of leaders PSV Eindhoven. Twente is also involved in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32, where it will face off against Russian club Rubin Kazan. 

UNION FIND SHIRT SPONSOR

The Philadelphia Union announced the first shirt sponsor in team history on Tuesday, Mexican baking company Bimbo. The Union's deal with Bimbo is for a total of four years and $12 million, adding needed funds for a club that did not have a jersey sponsor last season. The Mexican bakery has close ties to Pennsylvania, as its American headquarters are based in Horsham, Pa.

Per the agreement, Bimbo becomes a sponsor for Major League Soccer, which could lead to future advertisements and promotions at all MLS stadiums.

GALAXY DEAL FOR CRISTMAN 

As Edson Buddle departs for Germany, the Galaxy acquired D.C. United forward Adam Cristman. Los Angeles dealt their first-round pick in the 2011 Supplemental Draft for Cristman, who scored two goals and had one assist in 17 appearances for United last season. 

Cristman is a four-year veteran of MLS, scoring 12 goals and six assists while playing for the New England Revolution, Kansas City Wizards now known as Sporting KC, and D.C. United. Cristman has made a scant 68 appearances, having missed most the of 2008 and 2009 seasons due to injury.

FIRE SIGNS PAIR OF PLAYERS

The Chicago Fire added a couple of new additions on Tuesday, signing Daniel Pladini, a 26-year-old midfielder from USSF D-2 side Carolina Railhawks, and Croatian defender Josip Mikulic. Pladini comes to the Fire after a successful career with the Railhawks, having twice been named to the league's Best XI. Mikulic has spent the last five seasons for NK Zagreb in the Croatian first division.

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Happy that Onyewu is finally out of Milan? Ready for loads of jokes due to the Union's new jersey sponsor? Will a Cristman/Magee forward pairing have success for the Galaxy?

Share your comments below.

Comments

  1. Nope, they’ll still associate it with dirty whores, a distinction Philly doesn’t need any more help with IMO.

    I associate Nature’s Own with bread. I associate Bimbo with my ex girlfriend.

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  2. All this talk about “BIMBO” is great press for the Union. Soon, fans will associate the name with bread and a reputable foreign company making a 12m investment in the club and PA.

    Be Grateful!!!

    Plus, in Spanish it is pronounced BEEMBO!

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  3. I’ve seen many Mexican league games, and still think the Bimbo logo looks ludicrous on Philly’s shirt. At least CA and Chivas have elements of reds and blues in their kit design that helps the logo compliment, not contrast, the shirt overall look. Is the money good for the team/league? Absolutely. Is it at the expense of ruining what I thought was a fairly decent looking strip? Absolutely.

    And as for mirroring the Mexican Primera, no thank you. I’ve always thought having an Apertura and Clausura was a stupid idea.

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  4. Exactly… which is why WHEN they play in France (a la Europa League, or *snicker* Champions League) they have to take the sponsor off. Which is exactly what he said.

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  5. Bimbo is sold everywhere here in SOUTH FLA.Most people here know its a company that sells bread and so forth. guess it has to do with our large hispanic community.

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  6. nothing like a set of 42DD’s in a tight-fitting soccer jersey with the word “Bimbo” right across the ta-tas! 🙂

    Seriously-the next thing Bimbo should do is hire Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan (maybe Jessica Simpson) as spokesperson? Hire a bimbo to sell Bimbo-and give us our fun…what do you think?

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  7. Apparently a lot of you have never seen a Mexican league game, which is shocking. Bimbo is a big corporate supporter of football–especially in Central America. Good for the Union and MLS. The more our league mirrors the Mexican Primera, the better off it will be.

    Also…good move for Gooch. Twente have strong Central D’s already, especially Douglas, but he has a better chance of fighting his way into the starting XI there than in Milan.

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  8. Go read some of Philly’s female fan comments on their facebook page, it’s not such a laughing matter to them.

    This would not happen if MLS didn’t have all-male front offices. Pretty clear Philly has a gender and sexism problem.

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  9. No, but it is part of him finishing his prime is it not? Say he has 1-2 seasons left in his prime. Not good… but prime. Then yes it is finishing up even if it finishes next season.

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  10. Multiple teams have the Bimbo logo on their shirts, including America and Chivas.

    I’ve seen Bimbo bread in my local grocery store and all over the packaging it says “Say Beeeembo!” I guess thinking if they get people to pronounce it a little differently they’ll avoid the negative English associations of the word.

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  11. The Union jersey now looks horrible, the colors don’t go together at all. And the name is ridiculous. Seems like this was just about who was the highest bidder, that’s all.

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  12. That is NOT the reason that the Winston Cup name doesn’t exist anymore. The reason is because Nextel outbid J.R. Reynolds for the name.

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  13. Easy there. “In other words” is close enough for i.e. (id est), which does mean “that is” but which dictionaries will also define as “in other words.” Similarly, e.g. (exempli gratia) is understood to mean “for example” even though its literal translation means “for the sake of example.”

    On a less annoying note: this is easily the best news about Gooch since his injury.

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  14. You may be an annoying guy, but you’re a wrong annoying guy. ‘i.e.’ translates to id est from the Latin language, which literally means ‘that is’.

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  15. eg means “for example”

    ie means “in other words”

    Adam Cristman is one of many slow-footed strikers to grace the MLS (eg, Alan Gordon, Pat Noonan, etc) who is probably not worth a first round pick in the MLS Draft (ie, the Galaxy got hosed).

    — sorry to be the annoying guy

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  16. France has an advertising ban for alcohol. As a result teams like Liverpool, when sponsored by Carlsburg, had to remove the sponsor’s name from their playing jersey.

    Doesn’t NASCAR have the same issue? They can advertise booze on the cars – or tobacco for that matter, which is why it is no longer the Winston Cup.

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  17. Bimbo is huge. Revenue almost $9 billion annually. Right up there with Kraft Foods, Nestle. They own all kinds of stuff in the USA. Friehofers, Entenmanns, Thomas (as in English muffins)

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  18. I never liked the idea of gooch at acc milan because I knew he wasn’t good enough to start for them. It was strange in that the car I am in passed a bimbo truck 15 seconds before I opened up this article.

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  19. well, seeing as we’ll be playing with 2 CM, having a 4th lined up going into the draft certainly shows exactly what we will be aiming for. A CB and ST. But anyhow, with a 30 man roster, picking up a CM from Carolina is not breaking the bank. We still have something like 10 spots to fill.

    Plenty of promising strikers in the combine. Eager to see who we pick.

    Reply
  20. Mexican company based in Pennsylvania?

    Philadelphia Union seems like a great target for said company…regardless of name. (which I don’t mind.)

    Reply

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