The last day of the 2010 MLS Combine is underway and this morning should help solidify draft places for many of the top spots in the draft.
I will be providing some live commentary (and sharing some of the good tidbits of info) throughout the morning (power supply permitting). Feel free to follow along, and as always, share your thoughts below.
Enjoy the action.
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FINAL– F50i defeated Predator X, 1-0.
That's all for now. We will be posting a recap of today's action later on today, and I will be writing up a new (and final) Mock Draft as well as a Draft Big Board, that will run on Wednesday. Also, I will be having a pre-draft Q&A at some point tonight with answers posting on Wednesday, so stay tuned for all of it as we draw closer to the 2010 MLS Draft. Thank you for following along here.
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12:30pm– Apologies for the lack of comments. I'm cranking out an ESPN.com piece as we speak.
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12:27pm– Considering the weak Combines of Wiedeman and Akpan, I have to think McInerney is moving up draft boards. He's 17, but plays and carries himself like an older player.
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12:20pm– Liking what I'm seeing from the following Game Two participants:
Jack McInerney
Blair Gavin
Michael Stevens
Kwaku Nyamekye
Sean Johnson
Irving Garcia
Drew Yates
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12:01pm– Collen Warner had another good game today in the first half. Nothing outstanding today, but good stuff each day.
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11:57am– Andrew Wiedeman with another disappointing day. I have to think he's played himself out of the Top 10, though he should still be a first-rounder (10 or 11 is whereI projected him).
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11:54 am– Michael Stephens with a nice pass that Joseph Noone can't get on to.
HALFTIME- No score.
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11:45am– Here are the Game two lineups:
ADIDAS F50i
————-Wiedeman————-Millien—————
Garcia—————–Yates———————–LaBaeux
————————O'Brien——————————
Sarkodie—–Hadevag——Cardenas———–Herold
———————–Moore——————————-
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11:33 am– Andre Akpan hits the crossbar with a shot and then gets clattered into chasing down the rebound. He was down for a bit but is back up.
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11:29am– Apologies if there are fewer updates for the second match. I'm cranking out an ESPN.com piece on people who's stock has risen and fallen.
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11:27am– Tony Tchani isn't the world's best quote (yet) but I love his confidence (reminds me a bit of 16-year-old Jozy Altidore in terms of the way he carries himself confidently). I asked him what he thought he could have done better and Tchani took a long pause and just smiled, as if to say "You know, I can't think of anything". He's not wrong. I can't think of a prospect who has been more universally loved by scouts than Tchani. This isn't some player overachieving at the Combine. This is a player who clearly looked miles better than the competition.
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11:26am– GOAL Tennant McVea with a nice header and Team F50i takes an early lead. It would be funny if the team widely-regarded as the worst one here wins two of three matches.
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11:22am– The MLS Combine's second match is underway and first-game interviews cut into that time.
Dilly Duka missed the first match with an ankle injury suffered during the first match. Missing the match won't hurt his stock because he played so well on day two that he's a safe bet as a Top 10 pick at this point.
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11:02am– I'm about to go on with the MLS Insider blog for a live video preview and review so go to MLSInsiderBlog.com to check it out.
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11am– FINAL. Condivo 1, Jabulani 0 and Condivo clinches the MLS Combine Cup (okay, no such thing exists, but they're 3-0 and were the best team here).
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10:57am– Nice shot from Estrada and a great save from Brian Perk.
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10:51am– Hoxie just had a would-be goal cleared off the line. Great header that looked over the line.
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10:41am– Trade talk is starting to smolder and teams are tapping up both New York and Dallas about their picks. Tony Tchani, Teal Bunbury and Zach Loyd are players teams covet.
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10:36am– Justin Morrow is having another good day. He's having a good battle with Collen Warner.
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10:33am– The funniest thing I heard recently? Ran into Peter Nowak and he goes, "You know, I came all the way to Florida to see this kid Mwanga, and he's not even here." Nowak has a rep as a serious guy but actually has a great sense of humor.
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10:30am– Zach Schilawski has looked good. With some of the forwards looking bad so far this Combine I'd say Schilawski has moved up the forward list.
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10:26am– Andrew Hoxie is in the match. He's tied with Eric Alexander for the Combine Golden Boot with two goals. We'll see if he can score a third to pick up the Luke Kreamelmeyer Combine MVP Award.
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10:26am– Tony Tchani is on the field for the second half. No sign of Opara. I will look to find out what the situation is with his injury.
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10:22am– Here's another news item, or at least an item I hadn't heard reported before now. Ike Opara is apparently going to stay in school at Wake Forest to finish his degree, meaning he won't join the team that drafts him until May. This development would seem to make it even more likely that the Red Bulls will draft Tony Tchani.
The last top prospect to stay in school into his rookie year is Patrick Nyarko, who went from potential No. 1 overall pick to No. 7 the year he came out.
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10:20am– The second half just kicked off.
Some news items of note. UConn central defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe is out today and has apparently suffered a skull fracture during Monday's action. No word yet on how long that will keep him out, but that's devastating news for a player who looked like a solid first-rounder.
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10:10am– GOAL CONDIVO. Eric Alexander hits a blast from 30 yards out. Spoils some good possession from
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10:06am– Ike Opara took an early knock and has left the match. Amobi Okugo is looking good early on.
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9:56am– As I mentioned on Twitter, Tony Tchani has bypassed Ike Opara as the top draft prospect here. Not sure there isn't a team wishing it could trade up to get him and I'm starting to lean toward projected the Red Bulls selecting Tchani over Opara.
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9:51am– Here are the lineups for game one:
CONDIVO
—————–Dike———Kissi—————
Alexander———Thomas—————-Loyd
———————-Yanez————————
Morrow—–Opara———-Kinney——Braun
———————-Perk————————–
JABULANI
————–Bunbury—–Schilawski————–
Warner————Nakazawa————-Estrada
———————-Okugo————————–
Aiyegbusi—-Tangney—–Schuler———Welch
———————Haggerty————————-
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9:50am– Kyle Nakazawa has had a few early free kicks, but he sent one wide and sent one into the wall. Michael Thomas still has the best free kick of the Combine.
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9:47am– No score about 15 minutes into the first match. I'll sort lineups shortly.