Good afternoon all. Apologies for the late Kickoff, but an early morning and some non-SBI responsibilities forced the late posting. We will try to make up for the tardiness by hitting you with a plethora of news and notes. Let's get started:
U.S. Soccer announced the final four winners of its Best Of series on Friday, with Landon Donovan (best goal, vs. Brazil in Confederations Cup), Tim Howard (best performance, his game vs. Spain in Confederations Cup), Fado's Irish Pub (Best Soccer Bar) and Bill Hamid (Best Academy Story) winning awards.
Here is a closer look at the award winners:
http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=EwaGozMTrhCPgtz6T1x1xxyCWsum1djL&autoplay=0
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Speaking of Howard and Donovan, Everton drew Sporting Lisbon while Clint Dempsey and Fulham drew Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League Round of 32 draw on Friday. While the Champions League had some great match-ups in its draw, the Europa League didn't disappoint. Consider Ajax-Juventus, FC Twente-Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg-Villarreal and PSV Eindhoven-Hamburg among the better of the 16 knockout round match-ups. Here is the full draw.
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D.C. United has signed Salvadorean midfielder Christian Castillo on loan from Mexican club Leon. You might remember the shifty left winger as the Salvadorean player who scored in the U.S. team's 2-1 World Cup qualifying win against El Salvador in Rio Tinto Stadium last September.
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Kansas City Wizards president Robb Heinemann gives us an update on the Wizards stadium project.
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Dartmouth midfielder Craig Henderson, regarded as one of the better senior prospects in the upcoming MLS Draft, has signed with Swedish club Mjallby on a three-year deal. Henderson had been set to attend the MLS Combine, but will now be heading to Sweden this winter. No word yet on who MLS will replace Henderson with at the MLS Combine (though if MLS officials had a clue, they would invite All-ACC midfielder Alan Sanchez from North Carolina State).
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That's all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts on the above items in the comments section below.