Sounders

I can confirm that Sounders FC assistant coach Brian Schmetzer has interviewed for the head coaching job at FC Dallas, something first reported by Jeff Carlisle in this story for ESPNFC.com.

The job was vacated by Schellas Hyndman, who stepped down after this season following five and a half years with the team.

Carlisle, citing sources, noted that former MLS great Guillermo Barros Schelotto is the preferred choice among the candidates — the ESPN report from Wednesday identified five — but that there has been a disagreement over compensation.

No firm deadline for a decision has been made public by FC Dallas, and Schmetzer is still believed to be in the running.

Schmetzer, 51, does have an interesting connection with FC Dallas, and it comes with technical director Fernando Clavijo. Their relationship dates to 1984 when they were teammates on the San Diego Sockers of the indoor North American Soccer League until 1988. It continued with two more indoor teams, the St. Louis Storm of the Major Indoor Soccer League (1990-91) and then with the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (1995-97), where at the end Schmetzer got one of his first coaching jobs under Clavijo.

A Seattle native, Schmetzer has been Sigi Schmid’s top assistant with the Sounders since the team’s leap to MLS in 2009. He was previously the head coach of the lower-league team in the A-League and United Soccer Leagues, and he also has ties to the Sounders dating to 1980 as a player in the old NASL.

Schmetzer had interviewed for the coaching job with the Montreal Impact before they joined MLS as an expansion franchise in 2012, something he told me last year. That job eventually went to Jesse Marsch, albeit not for very long.

Schmid and Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer have both expressed faith that Schmetzer is ready for the next step. Hanauer, in the linked story in the previous paragraph, said that Schmetzer will be “a tremendous head coach in MLS someday.”

Maybe “someday” is nearing.

The last of Sounders FC’s team awards was revealed Friday, and it came in an announcement that Leo Gonzalez has been named Defender of the Year after a player vote.

Here were the other awards: Osvaldo Alonso (MVP), Eddie Johnson (Golden Boot), Lamar Neagle (Humanitarian of the Year).

Gonzalez, 33, matched his career high in games/starts (27) and played 2,318 minutes, fourth best on the team. The Sounders went 14-9-4 with the Costa Rican in the lineup, averaging 1.04 goals allowed per game, and 1-3-3 when with him out, averaging two goals allowed per game.

Offensively, Gonzalez’ lone assist came May 4 in Philadelphia — the one matches a personal best in MLS — and he took a career-high seven shots.

Here are the previous winners of the award:

2012 — Jeff Parke
2011 — Jeff Parke
2010 — James Riley
2009 — Tyrone Marshall

Photo credit: Dean Rutz, The Seattle Times

The World Cup draw has been getting much of the attention Friday, but U.S. men’s national team captain Clint Dempsey also addressed a potential offseason loan in a TV interview with ESPN after the draw.

Dempsey has been linked to a handful of English Premier League teams in the past few weeks following his first season with Sounders FC.

Asked for an update on a possible loan from host Bob Ley, Dempsey said on the ESPN2 broadcast: “We’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen, but we should know what’s going on in the next week.”

Dempsey has a stipulation in his contract with the Sounders that allows for a one-time loan, and that was intended for this offseason as World Cup preparation. General manager Adrian Hanauer told me last month the team wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up happening.

“His agent and he are kind of keeping me in the loop, and we’re sort of working on that,” Hanauer said on Nov. 11.

Ley, on the ESPN2 broadcast, had a follow-up about what a potential loan would offer. Here was the response from Dempsey: “For me, it’s just about getting games and trying to get to that high level, bringing that back to the States if I get that opportunity to go on loan, and making sure I’m playing the best I can play going into this World Cup.”

Dempsey reiterated those exact thoughts in a separate ESPN interview later on Friday during a SportsCenter cut-in.

Well.

I’m not sure it could have gone any worse for the U.S. men’s national team in Friday’s draw for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann‘s squad will take on Germany, Ghana and Portugal in Group G, and also face some of the worst travel in the tournament, according to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl.

Here is a look at the draw:

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea

The U.S. will face Ghana on June 16 at 3 p.m., Portugal on June 22 at noon, and Germany at June 26 at 9 a.m.

What are your thoughts?

I’ll be holding a live chat during Friday morning’s FIFA World Cup draw (I’ll start along with the ESPN2 broadcast at 8:30 a.m.). It should be an exciting day as the U.S. men’s national team looks to avoid being drawn into the Group of Death.

If you need something to pass the time, here again is a link to a draw simulator that is pretty addictive.

*     *     *

Photo credit: Ellen M. Banner, The Seattle Times

Sounders FC has some representation in the latest Seattle Sports Star of the Year award nominations, and it comes in the form of young DeAndre Yedlin being among the finalists for Male Athlete of the Year. The 20-year-old defender had a standout rookie campaign, leading the team in minutes, making the MLS All-Star Team, playing in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and even collecting a goal and assist in the playoffs.

The Sounders have been no stranger to the annual event, with Adrian Hanauer and Gary Wright winning top executive awards and Kasey Keller winning top professional athlete a couple years ago.

Soccer programs from the University of Washington, Seattle University and Washington State University are also in the mix for awards this year. Tickets for the Jan. 22 event at Benaroya Hall, the 79th edition of the awards banquet, can be purchased here.

*     *     *

Nominees for the Female Sports Star of the Year:

Joan Bonvicini (Seattle University Women’s Basketball Head Coach)
Krista Vansant (UW Volleyball)
Marti Malloy (USA Judo)
Melissa Arnot (Record holding Mountaineer)
Micaela Castain (WSU Soccer)
Tina Thompson (Storm Basketball)

Nominees for the Male Sports Star of the Year:

Bishop Sankey (UW Football)
DeAndre Yedlin (Sounders FC)
Hisashi Iwakuma (Mariners Pitcher)
Jon Lester (Red Sox Pitcher)
Russell Wilson (Seahawks Quarterback)
UW Men’s Soccer

Nominees for the Sports Story of the Year:

Eastlake Little League
Husky Stadium
UW Volleyball
UW Crew
The Seahawks’ Run
Seattle University Men’s & Women’s Soccer

Reign FC appears to be the busiest sports team out there, and here is a brief rundown of three more transaction in the past week or so:

*     *     *

— Seattle has acquired forward Beverly Goebel on a year-long loan for INAC Kobe Leonessa, champion of the Japanese Nadeshiko League. The California native led the league with 15 goals in 15 games this past season and was named to its Best XI. Goebel, 25, in a University of Miami product who played for the Western New York Flash in Women’s Professional Soccer and went to Japan when the league folded.

— Also announced Thursday was a trade that sent forward Liz Bogus to FC Kansas City for a second-round pick (No. 15 overall) in the 2014 college draft. The teams also swapped third-round picks. Bogus was selected No. 26 overall in the 2013 supplemental draft and played 20 games this past season, scoring once and collecting two assists. The Reign currently holds the picks at No. 9, 15 and 26 in the Jan. 17 draft.

— In a move announced last week while I was on vacation, Seattle acquired forward Danielle Foxhoven from Portland in exchange for forward Jess McDonald and the rights to midfielder Rebecca Moros from the Reign’s discovery list. Foxhoven, a University of Portland product, played 21 games for the Thorns, starting eight, and scored four goals, including two game-winners. McDonald, acquired off waivers, scored three goals and had an assist in seven games for Seattle in 2013.

The final MLS postseason awards, Goal of the Year and Save of the Year, were determined by a fan vote.

The top goal was claimed by Vancouver Whitecaps forward Camilo, who led the league with 22 goals, for this amazing flying scissors-kick against the Portland Timbers. Here were all the finalists (you might remember Patrick Ianni won the award last year).

The top save goes to Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando for a stunning double save against the Colorado Rapids, including a scramble to push the ball off the goal line. Rimando also won last year, following Kasey Keller‘s back-to-back run in 2010 and 2011. Here were all the finalists.

GOAL OF THE YEAR

SAVE OF THE YEAR

Previous winners listed after the jump:

(more…)

Photo credit: AP

The MLS MVP race was expected to be a close one between Robbie Keane and Mike Magee, two Los Angeles Galaxy teammates at the start of the season.

Instead, Magee won rather convincingly, according to the voting breakdown released Thursday, making him the second player in league history to win the award after being traded midseason. The 29-year-old was acquired by the Chicago Fire in May in exchange for the rights to Robbie Rogers, a rather one-sided transaction in the end.

Magee collected 15 goals and four assists in 22 games with Chicago. He scored six goals with the Galaxy, and his 21 overall were second most in the league behind Vancouver’s Camilo (22).

Most impressive, however, is the fact that Magee’s previous best was seven goals with the MetroStars back in 2003.

The other MVP to have been traded was Dwayne De Rosario in 2011, when he went from Toronto FC to the New York Red Bulls and then ultimately to D.C. United.

Here is the voting breakdown in this year’s race:

Previous winners after the jump:

(more…)