Mathis traded to Red Bulls

I am not sure this means anything since Clint Mathis is well past his prime. This move smells of desperation. What are you doing Red Bulls.

The 30 year-old Mathis is expected to join NYRB reuniting with head coach Bruce Arena, under whom he earned the first of his 46 U.S. national team caps on Nov. 6, 1998 in a 0-0 tie with Australia. Here's a little background on Mathis interesting career:

Mathis played college soccer at the University of South Carolina and was drafted sixth overall by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the 1998 MLS College Draft. After two and a half years with Los Angeles, Mathis was awarded to the MetroStars in the dispersal draft after the Galaxy signed Mexican forward Luis Hernandez. Clint immediately took his game to a new level, flashing an "I ♥ NY" shirt after scoring goals, and breaking the MLS record by scoring five goals in a game against the Dallas Burn on August 26, 2000. He finished second in the league in scoring with 16 goals and 14 assists and was named to the MLS Best XI.

2001 saw Mathis start a season on a tear, scoring seven goals in his first six games, including the league's eventual Goal of the Year on a half-field run against Dallas. He was also a contributor for the United States national team in the early stages of World Cup qualifying, scoring the game-winning goal against Honduras and setting up Josh Wolff's game-winning goal against Costa Rica. In June he tore his ACL, which ended his year.

In 2002, Clint became the first male soccer player in eight years to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated in its World Cup preview issue. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Mathis shaved his hair into a mohawk and scored a goal in the United States' 1-1 draw with South Korea. He never recovered his pre-injury form and scored only 13 goals in his remaining two seasons with the MetroStars.After the 2002 MLS season and his excellent World Cup performnce, elite German club Bayern Munich attempted to acquire Mathis but was blocked by MLS. Mathis was furious and played poorly for the rest of his time in MLS.

In 2004, after his contract Mathis left the MetroStars to sign on a free transfer with Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga. He finished his Metro career with 33 goals in league play and 39 in all competitions, both marks second-best in team history to Giovanni Savarese. Mathis played well in his first season in Germany, scoring four goals, but his second Bundesliga season was not as successful. After entering a game as a very late subsitute and immediately scoring, Mathis ran to the sideline and tapped his watch at the new Hannover coach, Ewald Lienen. The gesture earned Clint a permanent move to the doghouse and, unable to break into the first team again, he worked out a transfer back to MLS, joining expansion club Real Salt Lake.

Mathis said he returned to fulfill a promise made to RSL head coach John Ellinger. His only season in Utah was a major disappointment, as Mathis only scored three goals (all three were named MLS Goal of the Week). In December 2005, he was traded to Colorado in exchange for Jeff Cunningham. For a period of time in 2005, USA Head Coach Bruce Arena said he was open to putting Mathis on the 2006 World Cup squad if he could improve his fitness and make an impression with RSL. However, neither happened, and Mathis was not taken to Germany.

Despite the apparent demise of Mathis' career, he is still a legendary and beloved figure in the American soccer community.

Clint Mathis club level history:

Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2000 2000-03 2004-05 2005 2006 2007	Los Angeles Galaxy MetroStars Hannover 96 Real Salt Lake Colorado Rapids Red Bull New York	65 (15) 67 (33) 17 (5) 27 (3) 25 (2)

Clint Mathis national team history:

National team
1998-	United States	46 (12)

ESPN's review of DC United

Here is ESPN's review of DC United for the upcoming season.

US National team ties with Guatemala

Here is how the soccertimes rated the US National team members individual performance. Take a look - pretty interesting if you compare to the game on Sunday.

U.S. player ratings

Starters

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller - 6: His 46th international clean sheet was among his easiest. He was not really challenged all evening; when he was challenged, he made covering them look easy.

Defender Frank Simek - 6: In his first cap, he showed he is an experienced professional who can play with pace and not get rattled under pressure.

Defender Jimmy Conrad - 6: Responded well to marking Ruiz, a man he faces regularly in MLS. He only lost Ruiz once, allowing a potentially dangerous volley which missed the target.

Defender Jonathan Spector - 6: He pushed forward aggressively without giving up anything in back. He is gaining experience and maturity in England.

Defender Jay DeMerit - 6: With Conrad concentrating on Ruiz, DeMerit was left to shut down the middle. Although he was not put under much pressure, he showed a year in the English Premier League with Watford has given him experience, which allowed him to handle tonight's assignment with ease.

Midfielder Justin Mapp - 6: At times, he was the point of the U.S. attack, pushing the ball up the left side. Still young and improving, he could compete to start on the left flank. for the U.S.

Midfielder Benny Feilhaber - 5.5: A decent outing, but after recording his first two caps wince Sunday, he is still trying to find his role on the team. Will he be most effective as a defensive midfielder, as a link or by stepping into the attack? At 22, he still needs to gain more international match experience.

Midfielder Clint Dempsey - 5: Playing reserve matches and a few odd first-team minutes for Fulham in England, he is not sharp and could not take advantage of the couple of opportunities that came his way. Twice, he probably should have had goals or at least made a better effort. He needs to start playing somewhere as a regular.

Midfielder Michael Bradley - 5.5: He partnered well with Feilhaber in the middle, but the 19-year-old seemed to be have difficulty flowing from defense to attack and back. He could not find much room to operate in the crowded midfield and while his play was decent, he did not add much to the offense.

Forward Landon Donovan - 5: To his credit, he put in 90 minutes of effort, but the U.S. captain did not get the help or the breaks that went his way on Saturday. He was smothered by a defense designed to deny him the ball, but he also was not very effective on set plays, while his corner kicks and crosses were not sharp.

Forward Eddie Johnson - 4.5: For the second time since Sunday, he made a sub-par start and was replaced early. He was completely ineffective, even though he appeared to expend a lot of effort. He must do something to play his way out of his deep slump both at the international and club levels.

Reserves

Forward Kenny Cooper (59th minute for Benny Feilhaber) - 5.5: His entrance changed the shape of the attack for the better. He had his moments, but got little help. It will be interesting to see him over 90 minutes.

Midfielder Brian Mullan (67th minute for Johnson) - 5.5: He had a few good moments and did not make any glaring errors in a generally an understated appearance.

Defender Wade Barrett (83rd minute for Spector) - 5.5: Fit in well on the back-line.

Red Bulls get a new striker...

MLS and Aston Villa have agreed on a transfer fee for Colombian forward Juan Pablo Ángel to join the Red Bulls if he and the club can agree on compensation, according to Soccer America.

Ángel started playing professional soccer at Atlético Nacional in his home city of Medellín, Colombia. Ángel was sold to River Plate, Argentina, where he was considered one of the best players.

Ángel was Aston Villa's record signing from Argentinian side River Plate at £9.5 million, an increase of £2.5 million on the previous record, set by Stan Collymore. He was reportedly Villa's highest earner on £40,000 per week. After an indifferent start to his Aston Villa career, he settled down and started to produce the form that persuaded Doug Ellis to shell out the massive transfer fee. He was the club's top scorer in the 2003-04 season with 16 goals in the FA Premier League, but slipped to 7 goals in 2004-05.

Since the departure of Darius Vassell to Manchester City the summer of 2005, Ángel has been heaped with pressure to score more goals. In August 2005, Milan Baroš was brought in however, in an attempt to take off some of the burden. However, Baroš seemed to find scoring as difficult as Ángel, and was sold to Olympique Lyonnais in the January 2007 transfer window. Despite early promise, Angel later fell out-of-favour with manager David O'Leary, and spent most of the season either as a substitute or watching from the stands.

Martin O'Neill's appointment as Villa manager has resulted in a huge turnaround in Ángel's Villa career. He is now first choice striker again and is rewarding his manager with goals.

For Colombia, Ángel has appeared over 30 times, averaging a ratio of nearly a goal every 3 games. For Villa he averages a goal every 3rd game.

Here is Ángel's club history:

Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-97 1997-00 2000-	Atlético Nacional de Medellín River Plate Aston Villa	057 0(9) 091 (45) 175 (44)

Here is Ángel's national team history:

National team
1996-	Colombia	33 0(9)

Portland in MLS???

According to reports, Major League Soccer hopes to have an expansion franchise in the Pacific Northwest by 2010, and Portland is a possibility.

On Tuesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber took a 45-minute tour of PGE Park, but Portland is no sure thing to land the expansion team. The league might not find PGE Park suitable, and there's the possibility that Seattle gets the Pacific Northwest entry.

Garber said the league has been discussing adding a Northwest franchise for at least six months with an investment group. The investors, whom Garber declined to identify, initially envisioned Seattle as the locale. Only recently has Portland emerged as an option.

Los Angeles is home to the West Coast's only two MLS teams, the Galaxy and Chivas USA. The two-time MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston after the 2005 season.

MLS started with 10 clubs in 1996 and now has 13. The league is expected to add three more teams by 2010.

US National game tomorrow!!!

A good test tomorrow! Here is the details on the game:

U.S. vs. Guatemala,
March 28
9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

U.S. player ratings for Sunday's game...

Big win on Sunday...

Here is how Soccertimes ranked the performance of the US players. Let me know what you think!

U.S. player ratings

Starters

Goalkeeper Tim Howard - 5.5: Looked a bit unsettled at times and might have done better on Ecuador's goal, but he did make a couple of nice saves though he was rarely pressured.

Defender Carlos Bocanegra - 5: Still seems more comfortable playing in the center of defense rather than the left flank, as he did today. Was beaten several times by midfielder Luis Valencia, including once that should have resulted in a goal

Defender Oguchi Onyewu - 5.5: Go off to a rough start and was abused when he was outmuscled by Caidedo. But settled down in the second half and did better.

Defender Jimmy Conrad - 6: Played well, though seemed to have some communication problems with Onyewu at times in the first half and was bothered by the pace. His slide tackle in the 28th minute did save what almost certainly would have been goal. Ecuador would have led 2-1 and the tenor of the game might have changed.

Defender Steve Cherundolo - 6: Produced a steady effort, especially in the second half. He pushed the ball forward at times and was a threat down the right side.

Midfielder Landon Donovan - 8: Not only did he have a hat trick, but he was outstanding in all facets of the game. Now, he must learn to perform consistently at this level and live up to his role as the natural successor to Claudio Reyna as team leader.

Midfielder Benny Feilhaber - 5.5: For a number of reasons, he was much better in the second half than in the opening 45 minutes of his first international appearance. In the first half, he seemed a bit unsure of his role, offensively and defensively. When Michael Bradley was inserted at the break, he helped clog the middle defensively and slow the pace, which helped Feilhaber, a promising 22-year-old, do much better.

Midfielder Clint Dempsey - 5: Except for a few brief minutes, he was never really in the match. Perhaps he is showing the effect of not playing regularly at Fulham in England

Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley - 5: Much like Dempsey, he mostly had little impact and was often pushed off the ball by defenders. He ran freely, but failed to use his pace effectively. He did lay off a nice ball for Donovan's third goal.

Forward Brian Ching - 5.5: Considering he is really still rounding into form following off-season knee surgery, he is looking better. A hard-nosed player, he was in the thick of things all afternoon and worked well with Donovan, his former Major League Soccer teammate in San Jose.

Forward Eddie Johnson - 4.5: Another appearance with little impact. He should have done better given the wide open spaces available to him in the first half.

Reserves

Midfielder Michael Bradley (46th minute for Johnson) - 5.5: He helped settle down the defense and offered support, allowing Donovan to move forward. Took advantage of the slower play in the second half and did everything asked of him.

Forward Taylor Twellman (72nd minute for Ching) - 5: Made little difference other than occasionally dropping back to give some help on defense.

Defender Jonathan Spector (80th minute for Cherundolo) - 5.5: Showed some speed on the defensive flank. but had some trouble near the end, though no harm done was done.

Midfielder Brian Mullan (80th minute for Dempsey) - 5.5: Helped run tome off the clock.

Midfielder Justin Mapp (83rd minute for Beasley) - 5: made little impact during short stint.

Midfielder Brian Carroll (91st minute for Donovan) - no rating: A token appearance.