photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
The U.S. national team currently has a long list of injuries its trying to deal with, but Ricardo Clark is one name that can now be scratched off.
After missing the last few weeks with a calf injury, Clark returned to training for Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday. Eintracht manager Michael Skibbe said the former Houston Dynamo midfielder returned quicker than the expected four weeks because he went through intensive rehabilitation and put in extra sessions of rehab.
Clark likely won't see time in Eintracht's match this weekend against VfB Stuttgart, but he could make his Bundesliga debut when the club hosts Schalke 04 on March 6.
Here are some more stories from Tuesday:
Wizards trade Gil to Real Salt Lake
United States Under-17 national team midfielder Luis Gil is on his way to Salt Lake City.
A day after acquiring Gil via a weighted lottery, the Kansas City Wizards traded Gil to MLS champion Real Salt Lake. In exchange the Wizards received a 2011 second-round draft pick, an International Player roster slot and 25 percent of any future transfer fee received by RSL for Gil from a team outside of MLS.
Hoyos called into Argentina U-20 camp
The USSF's chase of Estudiantes la Plata and U.S.-eligible midfielder Michael Hoyos took a blow, as Hoyos was summoned by Argentina U-20 coach Sergio Batista for a 43-man camp. While attending the camp doesn't cap-tie Hoyos, it could be a sign that the 18-year-old might become the latest promising youngster to snub the United States for another country.
Hoyos previously turned down call-ups from the U.S. U-20 national team, stating he wanted to stay with his club in Argentina to fight for a spot in the first team.
Lopez and Kansas City part ways
The Kansas City Wizards and Claudio 'El Piojo' Lopez have parted ways, the club announced on Tuesday.
Wizards manager Peter Vermes said he would have liked to have kept the Lopez, but that it became evident early in negotiations that a deal was not going to be reached with the 35-year-old Argentine.
Lopez was consistent in his two years with Kansas City, scoring six goals and assisting on seven others in 2008 and recording seven goals and eight assists in 2009.
Lopez joins goalkeeper Kevin Hartman as veterans who were unable to reach new deals with the Wizards this offseason.
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Do you see Clark making his Bundesliga debut this weekend or next? Concerned over Hoyos taking part in the Argentina U-20 camp? Think Kansas City should have kept Lopez?
Share your thoughts below.
Gomez? Do you mean Hercules? Seriously? And help me with the Torres and Castillo issues… Castillo decided to play for Mexico, then changed his mind recently. We still don’t know if/how he fits in compared to another Latino (Bornstein). Torres has a great shot to make the WC roster and it’s still too early in his career to say how he will end up fitting in with the USMNT. So Michael Hoyos looked at that (and ignored Claudio Reyna’s experience, for example) and decided he would accept the U20 camp call up? Count me confused by this line of reasoning.
DMI!
I went to Drake.
Downtown Des Moines is pretty nice now, if you can avoid the crime around the campus (somehow I was never mugged or robbed while driving Jimmy Johns, classmate did loss an eye walking home though) its a pretty nice place to be. Credit the DSM cops for being cool dudes and there is a lot of locally owned buisness.
Lumberyard might be “shoe” club on the planet (shoes = only thing the “artists” wear)
I don’t think the issue with Lopez was whether KC wanted him to stay….Vermes made it clear they did want to keep him. The issue, again as with Hartman, was the player was probably asking for too much in a new contract.
Well to be fair, Neven was snubbed by Rongen on the u-20s.
I get what you’re saying but IMO its not useful to sit around being bitter about a few guys when we’ve got such a great NT ourselves. Also, we may have lost some players this way but we’ve also gained some (Castillo, Orozco, J. Jones hopefully).
If I recall correctly Subotic was snubbed at one point by USA coaching, by Rongen I believe. Plus status is more dubious as he could have played for a few countries. Rossi is hands down an American, born and raised but he thought he was too good to play for the United States. The situations of Subotic and Rossi is apples and oranges. No way is Subotic worse or on the same level as Rossi.
I’ve never seen Hoyos and know little about him other that what I read hear and there. Getting time with the Argentine side will be difficult and probably a longshot but I hope this kid has been evaluated by US Soccer coaching. I’d hate to see another potential star slip away.
Haha love the analogy and agree with you too.
Yeah, I watched so just relax. My point was that I saw a kid who was a bit ahead of the other u17s developmentally but I wasn’t wowed, that’s all.
I look forward to seeing what he can do against pros, even in the MLS.
regards,
Exactly. You have to consider its a 43 man U-20 camp. U-20. If he gets significant playing time with the u-20s then his chances of playing for us will be closer to being over.
Bolton Website is reporting that Holden will get his debut against Tottenham.
Adu was only at RSL at the very beginning of Kreis’ tenure as a coach. That team has a good smattering of young talent, so I’d look for him to do well there.
As far as the slam on SLC goes, I’m from Des Moines and I hate it when people who’ve “spent some time” in my hometown badmouth it. There’s plenty to do in any city that an MLS team plays in, its just people with no imagination who can’t see that.
Good for Rico, hope he gets on the field soon.
Hoyos?lol Mark my words, this guy will never see a W.C game in a Argentina jersey. Maybe copa America, but that’s as far as it’s going to get. I’m not dissapointed that he will not play for us, Davies,Jozy,Adu, are about the same age as this guy, so I’m not worried. Now if he was a 15yr old prospect ready to head over to Man U camp, then I would be a little sad over it, but he is not.
Hoyos probably feels more Argentinian because half of Latino families preach culture and proudness of their native country. So they grow up thinking their 100% what ever that country might be. I respect his decision.
This is actually good news for me though. I get to bother Argentinians and poke fun on how they need Americans athletes on their soccer team, just like the Italians.lol
You welcome Italians & Argentinians!;)
VIVA los Yankees PAPA!
I’m an RSL fan, and i’m think RSL’s style is the best match in MLS for Gil’s development.
Like Jermaine Jones & Edgar Castillo, if it gets to the point where he isn’t cap-tied (to Argentina) and he has been long awaiting a call up or doesn’t feel that he’s doing to get one anytime soon or the World Cup is approaching and he desperately wants to play in it(2014 maybe) then perhaps he will make the switch to the U.S.
valid point. You win some, you lose some. If someone thinks of them self more a citizen of one country, do we really want him on our team? The sports fan in me says ‘maybe’ while the USA patriot in me says ‘nah’
shall i play for argentina or the us? hmmmmmmm (providing of course he could get any time)
he was born in California
Is Hoyos even a US citizen?
I know he lived in the US for several years but I’ve never seen any reports saying he is naturalized and if he’s not, and he’s over 18, it’s gonna be tough to get US citizenship living abroad.
In other words, tough to lose what you never had.
Or, maybe Hoyos realizes his financial prospects are a lot better if he’s known as an Argentina national team player rather than a USA national team player. Better to be thought of in the same category as Messi and Aguero rather than Kljestan and Cooper.
Wow…”el piojo”? No wonder KC parted ways with him.
then people will then find a way around the draft
MLS sure ruined landon donovan’s growth too huh
I wonder if the Hoyo boys thought that their south american style of play wasn’t going to fly with the English style of the USMNT, a la Torres, Gomez, Castillo. I hope the Hoyos boys give us a shot.
Sounds like a good place to be for a 16 yr old boy suddenly on his own and with lots of spending money. Fewer temptations.
subotic is worse than rossi. rossi never said he would play for the usa. subotic accepted our youth training. then he went to play for serbia, which I think he will come to regret.
you didnt even watch him for the u17s then did you? he was by far the most skilled u17 player. hes got superb skill. unfortunately mls will ruin him, so its on to the next hyped youth player.
That would have been epic.. huh..
I hate to say it, but with the Clark rumors that his coach didnt really buy into him.. and now this injury.. I hope I’m wrong, but playing time might be few and far between.
Gil to Salt Lake? Not sure that was the right decision. The city sucks unless you ski or snowboard, I’ve spent some time there. Not sure that Jason Kreis has the experience to develop young youth. It didn’t help Freddy much. I think Sigi or Arena would have been a much better decision than Real.
It is a free country and I’m proud of it. But it does bite you in the ass a little doesn’t it?
Rossi was born here, schooled here, here is where an opportunity was given to his parents but.. he leaves.
Submotic, I can give a little more leniance.. but as I’ll say every damn time, how the hell was his talent not recognized. He started in Bundesliga2 3+ months later. We spurned him.. we burned that bridge.
Now Hoyos. Who knows, the talent pool runs deep in Argentina.. but damn man. You’re an American be proud.
And this is coming from someone that could oh man woulda loved to have chosen between a country my father has in his heart and the country I was born in and there’s no question. And he would say the same thing.
Same for the contingents that go to USA v Mexico, Any central american game.. damn.. its ok to root for your homeland.. but remember where the opportunity is coming from.
Bottom line.. our best bet in the future is converting at least a small percentage of those Americanos that end up choosing to be a point guard in college hoop or a cornerback/ running back college football… to stick with Futbol past age 8. Champions League Final on Fox is a small step. We need more.
That translation in that Clark article was hilarious! a paperless summer? Contract expires this summer? Great to see him back in training. Playing in Germany can only improve his game.
We were so close to getting to see Clark and Jones in the same game for the inside track to the MF spot…so close.
**more talented
Why does MLS even bother with all this lottery charade. Just send these kids where they want to go or have teams bid on them. KC made out like bandits on that deal.
i dunno dude. i hate to keep pumping up a guy that might choose to play for another country, but if you were born in 1991 and you’re even sniffing playing time in the Estudiantes midfield, you are disgusting, and you’re certainly more than anyone else in the states your age that we know about.
in response to Lescott and Barry..
It may be a game and a passion to us, but it is also a career for these guys..
Say you’re working at Turbo Tax and you’re effing killing it. You’re saving people money on their taxes left and right, you’re king of the office, slaying receptionists night and day.
One day Ernst and Young comes knocking and offers you a position that pays double. You’re gonna go to E&Y even if your former clients and co workers feel betrayed.
I don’t buy that sports somehow transcend real life into something golden and special where everyone plays for love like Brinker from Disney’s classic film “Brink!”
God damn it. Another Rossi. Oh well..like the other comment, it’s not over yet. While I’m sure Hoyos is talented, he’s no prodigy, and the fact that the Argentine national team is stacked means he’d probably have loads of trouble breaking into the squad. Couple that with no playing time, and maybe we can still get him. I guess we have to face the facts that most of our players with citizenship in other countries that are good at soccer are going to ditch us. Bastards.
not that i agree with their decisions, but there’s something to be said for getting in early and making something special. For all we know, this could be the beginning of Man city starting a long reign over the EPL. If that is the case (and i dont think it is) then garreth barry and joleon lescott got in at the ground level and might well ride it to the top. Oh, and $$ talks, too.
problem is you dont want to develop the reputation just callin ppl up to make them cap tied then never play them again
Sorry, but I just couldn’t see myself playing for any country except the one I was born and raised in. It just does not compute. But then, I also don’t understand Joleon Lescott and Garreth Barry’s decision to move to Man City just to make a boat load of money. You were captains of teams that were knocking on the door of the top 4, and you had the complete support of a loyal fan base.
Aw, well.
the game is in Netherlands (not far at all from Frankfurt) and it’s an official FIFA date. If he’s healthy Rico should be there
He’s not cap tied until he’s played in an official senior level match (friendlies don’t count). It’s not necessarily over yet
Um…SoccerByIves.net?
ive seen him play against mls players, and he was better than most of them. i might be in the minority but i will not be a bit surprised if he becomes a substantial contributor for rsl this season.
Based on the experience of every hopeful youth, all hype on these kids is overblown.
Not all these kids are going to be fantastic pros. And Gil may not fully develop until he is in his 20s.
So yes, I think here in the US, we hype these kids way too soon. We really will not see his potential for a couple of years. We will not see him mature, until his 20s.
probably a u20 callup from argentina
I think this is why if you are Bob Bradley you get these kids who are in the u-20s and such Senior team call ups. A U20 call up by argentina or a Senior call up to the USA…which one would you take?
Ok, SBI quiz with text backup…..is all the attention about where Gil goes warranted?
Having watched the U17s, I thought the kid was…meh. Is the sentiment about him universally positive or are there others out there who think the hype is overblown?
m
I would imagine Clark does not play this weekend. Even if he does I do not think Bradley should call him in for the Netherlands game. Let Clark settle with his new club -it will only benefit the national team in the long run. (Plus I really want to see Torres get the start.)
I have never seen Hoyos play, but I imagine it would be a big loss to the national set up. I hope he chooses the US but I believe in the western liberal theory of free choice; therefore, I will respect his decision to play for Argentina.
I also think KC Wizards got a good deal in this trade.
Ives, if there were to be an announcement in regards to the CBA and the potential future of MLS, where would be the best place to find out?
bye bye hoyos, we barely knew ya