Hottest Cheerleaders of Major League Soccer

You know it.  The MLS has cheerleaders.  Well, some teams anyway.  We all know you've not made it to this point in my commentary, so we'll move on.  Go ahead and click the button.  Go ahead.  It's all right.Wow, you stayed to read.  Let's count down the top five MLS cheerleaders, rated entirely by hotness factor.Begin Slideshow

MLS Referee Review: Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity

In the Laws of the Game, Law 12 states that denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) has two different punishments, depending on the outcome of the play.But let's start by defining what DOGSO is. The law says it's when "a player denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (direct or indirect) or a penalty kick."The interpretation of the punishment is important as well. The law states, "If the referee makes use of the advantage during an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and a goal is scored directly, despite the opponent’s handling the ball or fouling an opponent, the player cannot be sent off but he can still be cautioned."In that case, a yellow card is warranted, according to FIFA. If the opponent does not score, however, it is a send-off offense.In today's referee review, we'll take a look at four videos and see how MLS referees interpreted the rule.Begin Slideshow

Seattle Sounders Dominate Against Houston Dynamo, Finish with a Draw

What do you call an MLS game where shots number 26-6? Apparently in Seattle, we call that a draw. The Sounders once again dominated a significant amount of time on the pitch, but this time came away with a 1-1 draw rather than a loss. “I think we deserved more tonight than a tie,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid said. “I’m very proud of the team. I’m very proud of the effort they put in. Right now we can’t get anything to break our way sometimes. So I’m happy that we fought back and got the equalizer. Like I said, we deserved more on the day.” (http://www.soundersfc.com) Dynamo keeper Tally Hall was kept very busy, but a large number of Sounders shots went wide or high.  In the first half, it appeared the Sounders we set for a rout, but the ball never found the back of the net. This all changed, except not from the boys in green. Dynamo midfielder Lovel Palmer racked a shot off the crossbar and Geoff Cameron set the ball back towards the net. Sounder defender, and often-criticized player in this column, Jeff Parke put the final touch on the ...

Seattle Sounders: Top 5 Reasons They Can Win It All

The Sounders are off to a slow start. True enough. But we are in year three of the franchise, and can anyone argue with the success of the previous two years? Despite an incredibly slow start last year, the Sounders still made the playoffs, admittedly exiting early.The team brought home its second Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and this time in front of a home crowd. But we are hungry for more. The fans want the boys to bring home the big prize—the MLS championship. Here are five reasons why this year it'll be possible.Begin Slideshow

Seattle Sounders Drop Another: New York Red Bulls Take Their Opener

The Seattle Sounders played a tough 90 minutes in Red Bulls Stadium on Friday, but again could not finish well and dropped game two to the New York Red Bulls 1-0. Seattle played strong and created many opportunities in the first half, keeping Red Bulls keeper Greg Sutton busy and chasing. The highlight of the first half though came courtesy of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who got called for a take-down in the box, giving Red Bulls' superstar Thierry Henry a PK in the eighth minute.  Henry went to his left and Kasey Keller chose correctly and sent Henry's kick packing, keeping the Sounders in the game at 0-0. The pressure on Sutton continued for the rest of the period, forcing him to make five saves before the teams broke for halftime at 0-0. The Sounders came out quickly again in the second half, but fate would change quickly and the Sounders would find themselves playing from behind. Fredy Montero lost possession in an attack and Teemu Tainio sent a long ball to up and coming star Juan Agudelo, who battled off Leo Gonzalez before poking the shot past Keller for the goal and a 1-0 lead in the 70th ...

Seattle Sounders Sign Argentine Midfielder Mauro Rosales

On the heels of losing Blaise Nkufo, the Sounders have signed Argentine midfielder, Mauro Rosales.  Rosales, 30, has been capped 10 times by Argentina.  He has played for the gold-medal winning team at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2001 FIFA U20 World Cup and the 2004 Copa America (runners-up).  “Mauro brings a lot of experience to our team,” Sounders' coach Sigi Schmid said in a news release. “He’s a playmaking type of midfielder with good quickness and clever passing. We’re excited to have him join our team.” “I am very excited to start playing for the Sounders,” said Rosales. “This is a great opportunity, to play in this league and for one of the biggest teams in the USA. I’m especially happy to be joining such fantastic players and staff and such a great organization.” Rosales isn't new to the Sounders entirely. He trained with the team during the off-season in Florida. The 30-year-old midfielder has played in over 400 matches in all competitions in Europe and South America, scoring 39 goals in matches with the Old Boys, Ajax and River Plate. Terms of the contract have not been announced. The Sounders take on the New York Red Bulls, Saturday night in New York.Read more MLS news ...

Seattle Sounders vs L.A. Galaxy: Seattle Drops Season Opener

The Sounders dropped their season opener to the Galaxy on Tuesday night, 1-0. In many cases, this was a tale of two halves. The Sounders created many opportunities in the first half. Unfortunately, we all watched as the Sounders were unable to finish on those many opportunities. All was looking well going in 0-0 at halftime in rain-drenched Qwest Field. The Galaxy came out looking different in the second half, as did the Sounders. Juninho took a pass from Todd Dunivant at 35 yards. The Sounders defense failed to close in on Juninho, and he took a blazing shot past Kasey Keller to give the Galaxy all they needed to win the match. The Sounders continued to look flat in the second half. Long passes to nowhere and poor play throughout gave the fans no hope of a comeback. One of the bright spots so far has been the play of Osvaldo Alonso. He is looking better than last year, if that's even possible. The defense continues to look weak, with Leo Gonzalez starting the season with a yellow card, which surprises no one. Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado seem to always be a step behind. James Riley is ...

Seattle Sounders Drop Cascadia Summit Opener to Portland Timbers

The Seattle Sounders' unofficial opening salvo in the Great Northwest MLS rivalry didn't close as well as they'd hoped. In the 21st minute, a rain-soaked Kasey Keller seemingly stopped a shot on goal only to have the ball lay up a few feet in front of him as he watched it rocket to the back of the net off of Timbers forward Jorge Perlaza. Most assuredly this goal was weather-related. However, the Sounders did nothing to earn a victory—weather-related goal or not. The Sounders' playing style hasn't changed this year. There are still spots of unbridled excitement riddled in between many minutes of passing the ball around on defense. Speaking of defense, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is now back in the lineup. He had an up and down night, mixing a few good plays with some bad. Most notably on defense, though, was the play of Jeff Parke. Parke made plenty of mistakes, but he was slow to correct them and was constantly in the wrong place. Most remarkably—aside from providing zero cover for the aforementioned goal—Parke allowed several balls to run right past him and across the middle of the goal. It's a wonder Keller is losing his hair. If Sounders coach Sigi Schmid insists on playing everything ...

Seattle Sounders and Manchester United Set for a 2011 Friendly in Seattle?

EPL Talk, the online blog for the English Premier League has leaked the Manchester United travel schedule for 2011 and guess who is on it?It's being reported that Man U. will begin play right here in Seattle at Qwest Field.If you recall, earlier this year the Sounders promised there would only be a single international friendly, but that the visiting team would be a world top-five. Well, congrats to the front office if the rumor is true. They landed one of the true big names in soccer and the sellout is virtually guaranteed.The Sounders, for their part, have remained silent on the subject. An announcement is sure to come soon, we hope. When the front office does announce the opponent for the friendly, and if it's Man U., they'll have satisfied a chief complaint from Sounder fans last season.Despite the valiant efforts to provide more games, Boca Juniors and Celtic did not satisfy the fans' desires for good, quality international teams.Add that to the grueling schedule the Sounders faced while trying to bring home an MLS Cup and the fans were much higher on the team than on the front office last season. In other Sounders news, the Cascadia Cup ...

Seattle Sounders Here We Go: The New Season Is Upon Us

Kasey Keller. Alonso. Blaise and Fredy.   Can it be spring already?   The Seattle Sounders are set to begin their season against the Colorado Rapids on March 9th at Qwest Field. Before the opening match, though, comes the Cascadia Summit.   The Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps will meet at the Starfire complex for exhibition games to kick off the first MLS rivalry in the northwest.  A few random thoughts on the upcoming season follow. Kasey Keller has indicated that this is his last year. Keller, in case you don't know, is a legend in US Soccer—a local boy made good. Keller represented the US in the World Cup four times. He was the first American to become a regular in the German Bundesliga, the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. We are truly fortunate to be able to watch a world class athlete spend his last days on the pitch here in Seattle.   Fredy Montero is now a designated player. That moniker gives Fredy a certain right to a larger ego, but also gives him the responsibility to be a team leader and a top performer.  Fredy matured last year and became a high performer. Can he become ...