By CALEB SONNELAND
Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League have agreed to play the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium in Texas on July 20th, soccer marketing firm Santio Sports revealed on Monday.
The match will see United States midfielder Stuart Holden return to his former club where he made 103 appearances and grabbing 15 goals while helping the Dynamo to two MLS Cups.
Holden is currently out injured with a knee injury suffered in a challenge with Manchester United's Johnny Evans in a Premier League match last month. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely that Holden will pass as fit for the game. However, it seems likely that Holden will be watching the match from his old stadium, as he is currently in Houston and was in the stands at the Dynamo victory over the New England Revolution on Sunday.
Bolton is the first Premier League team Houston has played host to.
Here are a few other stories from around the world to keep you updated:
RODGERS NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New York Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers was named MLS Player of the Week for his two-goal performance against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Rodgers scored two and set up Thierry Henry for a goal in the Red Bulls' 3-0 win against the Red Bulls.
Rodgers was selected for the award by the North American Soccer Reporters Association.
LEONARDO "COULD" BE OUT FOR SEASON
Los Angeles Galaxy defender Leonardo could be out for the remainder of the MLS season, according to head coach Bruce Arena.
The Brazilian defender picked up an injury in the second half of a Galaxy win over the Chicago Fire in Toyota Park on Sunday. Despite the fact that Leonardo went the full 90 minutes, the outlook is now grim for the 23 year old.
The injury means that added pressure could placed on the shoulders of A.J. DeLaGarza as a possible replacement, as well as the rest of the Los Angeles back line.
ALEXANDER HLEB OPEN TO ARSENAL RETURN
Former Arsenal attacking midfielder, Alexander Hleb has come out and said that he would favor a move back to the London club.
Though currently on loan at fellow EPL side Birmingham City, Hleb would jump at the chance to return to the Emirates. He left Arsenal for Barcelona in the summer of 2008 for a £11.8 million fee but hasn't been able to lock down a starting spot in Spain.
The Belarus international has found the net twice this season in 16 appearances for Birmingham and played a key role in a Blues' second goal in its win over Sunderland.
However, with the possibility of losing Cesc Fabregas this summer, Arsenal may be willing to try and bring back its old midfielder.
BALE AND WILSHERE SCOOP PFA AWARDS
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere yesterday received the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year, respectively.
Though Bale has struggled somewhat with injuries this season, the Welshman has scored 11 goals in 36 club games for Tottenham. He becomes the first non-Manchester United player to win the award since Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard in 2006.
After coming back on loan from Bolton Wanderers after last season, Jack Wilshere (19) has had a breakout season for Arsenal and has impressed on a number of occasions.
Despite his young age, Wilshere has been a regular for Arsenal which has led to him becoming a first-choice selection for Fabio Capello and the English National Team.
Bale and Wilshere, both left-footed players, were named in the PFA Team of the Season, as well.
PFA Team of the Year: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United); Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City); Nani (Manchester United), Samir Nasri (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur); Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United).
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What do you think of Houston's friendly with Bolton? Was Luke Rodgers your pick for Player of the Week? Agree with the PFA's Team of the Season?
Share your thoughts below
These are pretty ignorant comments. The fact that it is an English team will sell tickets. Houston has a huge base of EPL fans that refuse to watch MLS. Considering that, outside of ManU last year, this is the only EPL team within the city, they should hit 20-25 easy.
Besides, we can’t speculate much because this is the first EPL side to play Robertson. There really is no prediction that’s accurate.
Glad Kompany was recognized… he’s carried that City backline since Lescott is overrated and Kolo Toure has lost a couple of steps.
Outside of Tevez, best buy of the Hughes days.
Thinking of flying to Houston for the game!
If Holden was playing, yeah I could see it. But since he won’t be I say 15k, tops.
thanks doc!
nosarcasm
good job wikipedia.
sarcasm… right?
Bolton =/= Man U
Did you not see the All Star game last year! Bolton will sellout the 32k of Robertson stadium, easily.
I read one article that listed had the injury he sustained a week or so after the injury, I forgot exactly what it was.
Rodgers is a journeyman striker whose last gig was helping Notts Cunty get promoted to League One, Yeovil Town, Port Vale Crewe Alexandria and Shrewsbury Town were other previous stops. Basically he is a a lower league journeyman and he is 29.
You don’t seem to have a lot of faith in Juan.
If Agudelo is to be our next saviour and he can’t beat out a guy like this, that doesn’t say much for the quality of our anointed saviours does it?
Rodgers is English, right?
Watch it again. Both of Leonardo’s knees buckled to the side.
what injury to Leonardo? The one at the end of the game where Oduro was offering to pick him up? Wow….it didn’t look that serious and I thought Leonardo was basically trying to blow some time, but he did get carted off and did not return.
I agree that there has been little information provided regarding the actual diagnosis of Holden’s injury. I’ve watched the collision between Holden and Evans many times and my guess is that Holden has what is called a tibial plateau fracture. It is commonly seen in car wrecks and in sports injuries such as the collision Holden’s knee had with Evan’s straight-leg challenge. The information from Rowsdower that he is unable to put no weight on the injured leg is consistent with a tibial plateau fracture and much less so with “ligament damage” which usually occurs from severe torsion of the joint. These tibial plateau fractures really have to be aggressively managed by the Orthopods. Even with excellent orthopedic care there is always the long-term problem with post-traumatic arthritis in the joint.
I really hope he recovers all of his abilities because I always thought he had a great future with the Nats.
“always meshed spectacularly” – you’d think he played with him in the past. It was a very good game, let’s see if it can continue. And at Agudelo’s age, I’d rather him starting than benched. Obviously coming into the Gold Cup, he’s one of our best strikers (sadly) so he needs to stay sharp.
And up to last week’s game, I don’t think Rodgers had done anything of merit.
I’m waiting for the cap Rodgers calls.
It’s not a nightmare at all. Agudelo will get his PT, but it was pretty obvious that Rodgers is a more established and professional player right now. He always meshed spectacularly well with Henry. Who woulda thought?
Yes, Rooney’s been making the bench, and made his first appearance in the San Jose game. He come in during stoppage time, although I don’t think he had a single touch on the ball. Obviously he’s been doing well in practice or Backe wouldn’t have given him that reward. You can expect to see him get some minutes this season.
Courious, is young Rooney getting any PT at RB? I forgot to check…did he even make the team? i seem to recall that he did.
How many tickets get sold in Houston to watch Bolton without Holden playing ?
I can’t imagine any.
$$$$$$$$
Sucks so bad that Holden got hurt. Would have been cool to see him playing in an FA Cup Semi in Wembley, and he definitely would have helped Bolton yesterday (not saying they would have won, but still).
Was also really looking forward to seeing him with the Nats in the Gold Cup this summmer. And I was seriously considering flying to Houston for the Bolton friendly. Oh well. Get better soon, Stu!
A little odd that the information if nowhere to be found
Red Bulls are speculated to be playing in the Emirates Cup this year vs Arsenal soooo there you go 🙂
Is every EPL club coming to US this year for their preseason? I understand the money grab aspect of it all but I can’t remember a time where this many EPL clubs came over in one year.
As a US fan this is a nightmare – Aguedelo being relegated to the bench… Hoping Rodgers starts bombing..
Arsenal would never accept Hleb back after he little stunt prior to moving to Barca. Tack on the fact he’s playing terribly, why bother?
He can always retire to MLS…
-_-
MLS teams should be traveling overseas to play EPL teams, not vice versa. It doesn’t help MLS for these teams to come here. We need support of MLS teams from foreigners across the pond.
Not sure how deserving Bale was of the award, mainly because I don’t know what exactly the rules were. Was this EPL season only? Calendar year 2010? I thought I read somewhere that the voting ended in February…
If the award is for the EPL season 2010-2011 only, I can think of a half-dozen players better qualified. I guess if it’s for all competitions from February 2010 to February 2011, maybe I’d vote for Bale since he tore it up in the Champions League too.
I am not sure of the extent of Holden’s injury but me and the fiancee briefly talked with Holden after the game last night. He’s on crutches and was putting no weight on the injured leg. He was in good spirits and very optimistic about his recovery.
I’m happy for Rodgers, but I kind of wish that he and Henry could split the award. They really worked as a unit, trading assists and goals. Agudelo who?
Any definitive word on Holden’s injury? Ligaments?