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MLS Ticker: Keane not ready to walk away, MLS Cup winning coach sacked, and more

Robbie Keane

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

While one famous international forward is leaving the game at the end of this season, another one is determined to keep playing for much longer.

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane, speaking to BBC Sport ahead of Ireland’s World Cup Qualifier against Sweden on Friday, stated his intent to continue to play soccer as long as he can. Keane, 32, entered professional soccer with Wolverhampton around the same time that Michael Owen did with Liverpool, in the late 1990s.

“I dread the day I have to finish playing because it’s my life, this is what I love doing,” Keane said to BBC Sport. “I wake up every morning and look forward to going to training and playing games.”

Since joining Los Angeles in the summer of 2011, Keane has played 34 matches, scoring 19 goals in the process in league play.

Here are some other MLS stories to catch you up on all the latest:

STEVENAGE SACK SMITH AFTER DISMAL RUN

Former MLS Cup winning manager Gary Smith has been sacked by League One club Stevenage, following a very poor run of form which saw the side lose 14 of their last 18 matches.

Smith, who was appointed as Stevenage manager in January of 2012, is remembered as the first Englishman to coach an MLS Cup winning side, leading the Colorado Rapids to the title in 2010. He was let go from the Rapids at the end of the 2011 season, due to differences with other members of the front office.

In Stevenage’s first 14 games, they had only lost one, but the past 18 have been another story, and Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Bury was the final straw, putting Smith out of a job.

UNION DEFENDER SOUMARE WANTS OUT

In the same week that Portland Timbers defender Hanyer Mosquera left the team to return to Colombia for an indefinite period, Philadelphia Union defender Bakary Soumare has made public his desire to leave PPL Park.

The 27-year-old has had to sit second-fiddle this season to Jeff Parke and Amobi Okugo in the first three matches this season, and wanting playing time, Soumare has approached coach John Hackworth with a transfer request.

The Mali international joined Philadelphia in June of 2012, but only played one match for the club last season due to a knee-injury that he had suffered before the trade. The Virginia University product was the second-overall pick in the 2007 draft, going on becoming one of the top defenders for the Chicago Fire.

SALGADO HITS ANOTHER RUT IN THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

After foot surgery in June 2012, Vancouver Whitecaps forward Omar Salgado is still working his way back onto the pitch.

The 19-year-old American first came back in October of last year, but he re-injured the broken bone in his right foot,  causing him to miss the rest of the season. Since then, Salgado has been rehabbing and trying to work back to fitness, but suffered another setback on Saturday in a friendly against local University of Victoria.

The former first-overall-pick in the 2009 MLS draft originally injured his foot on June 7 of last year, during a friendly with the U.S. U-20’s against Uruguay. Originally planning on returning to the field this Saturday, Salgado will now have to move his plans back a few weeks.

QUICK KICKS

Blas Perez (Panama), Raul Fernandez (Peru), Je-Vaughn Wilson (Jamaica) and Kellyn Acosta (U.S. U-18) have all been called up for their national teams, and will be unavailable for FC Dallas’ match against New England on Saturday. (REPORT)

Chivas USA has re-signed goalkeeper Tim Melia to a contract extension. (REPORT)

Toronto FC midfielder Hogan Ephraim, on loan from Premier League club Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season, has praised the league as being “top class”. (REPORT)

Diego Restrepo, who spent time in camp with D.C. United and the Philadelphia Union this winter, has signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

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What do you think of these reports? See Keane finishing his career with Los Angeles? Where do you feel Soumare will end up?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Little surprised that Smith has failed in his native land. He did well to succeed over here. I wasn’t expecting perfection out of him, but I had the feeling he’d get his team places.

    Reply
    • I’d say his Stevenage tenure was more of a mixed bag than an absolute failure. He made the promotion playoffs last year but lost, and the fifth round of the FA Cup with a Tottenham replay. Was in the top 6 up through Feburary of this season, then went on the 14 of 18 losing spiral. Hence the team is amazingly enough in 15th of 24 and 11 points clear of the drop after losing this many on a run. I don’t blame them for firing the guy because they are in freefall but he did have some success before it turned on an absolute dime.

      Reply
    • Trip from March 15-25 w/ games against France (1 game) at Clairefontaine and then Romania (2 games) in Bucharest.

      Reply
  2. Galaxy will three-peat this year, due to the nonsense parity of the league and galaxy has the bigger budget for the salary cap since they won the 2 past MLS Cups. So with the parity of the league and galaxys bigger salary cap budget, they will get Lampard. So with Donovan coming back with new energy, keane being a real DP and soccer player and with lampards experience and attitude…..that means Galaxy will be champions again. So if Galaxy keeps winning MLS Cup every year, it only makes Galaxy better due to the fact they get more money to spend with players after winning MLS Cup. That is why Galaxy will not have real competition in MLS and will keep their victory bus running every season and parity of the league is their only competition.

    Reply
    • Do you know what the Galaxy players salaries are? players like Omar, AJ DeLagarza, Sarvas, Juninho, Franklin don’t make as much as what you might think. Do you also take into account that Galaxy players salaries like McBean and Villareal from the Galaxy youth system don’t count against the cap as they come up to the senior team. Maybe the difference is not that the Galaxy have their own Salary Cap, but that they run a better team and system than most MLS teams, and are also coached by Bruce Arena that understand the MLS system better than most other coaches, and also drafted extremely well. As far as DP’s every team is allowed three, same rule for the Galaxy.

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  3. Sourmare was a rising talent when he left. I hope he can get his career back on track. Always liked him as a player.

    Reply
  4. You know how sometimes you scan the stories and your mind fills in what it thinks it sees and not what it really see?

    That’s why I scanned the quick hits and thought, “Wow, Tony Meola? Chivas must be desperate!”

    The truth was so much more boring…

    Reply
    • Amateur stuff. Ives is great, but I really want to see this new staff step it up. There have been some rookie mistakes and articles that sound like they’re out of a high school newspaper lately. Love the site, but come on guys. Virginia University?

      Reply

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