Union

With the Jorge Perlaza move to the Union rumors seemingly to foundering over an apparent contract dispute that may or may not be resolved, a report this morning from Nuevo Estadio says that Perlaza is waiting for a work permit to play in MLS “for a handsome figure.” (You can read a crappy translation here.)

New rumors emerge of a link between the Union and 21-year-old forward Cesar Arias of the Colombian club Cúcuta Deportivo.

After the conclusion of the first week of preseason training, during which the Union emphasized cohesion and creativity, the team exudes “a quiet confidence and comfortable demeanor.”

Brian Carroll says the Union’s facilities are better than those of Columbus Crew and DC United. Of the abundance of midfielders he says, “I think you just look at it as good competition, to help us improve. You field the players who are playing the sharpest, is how I look at it. It’s a long year, we have more games this year [than before], and we’re going to need everybody.”

From the Union website, Jordan Harvey and Nick Zimmerman agree on the importance of competitiveness in training. After training with the team last season, Zach Pfeffer finds himself on familiar ground. Jack McInerney says that preparation is the key to success on the field. Zac MacMath is adjusting quickly to life in the pros.

Jordan Harvey is profiled in his hometown paper: “I look at the young guys on the team now, and it’s crazy how quickly they develop. I needed at least a year to get a feel for the league.”

The shift of Houston from the Western to the Eastern Conference means that the Union’s first match of the season is now a conference battle.

Independence

The club’s website has an interview with Holmfridur Magnusdottir. What can I say? She is simply awesome.

MLS

The league released its new roster rules on Friday. Among the highlights: teams can have 30 players on their roster, the first 20 of which count against the $2.675 million salary cap; DPs count $335,000 against the cap; minimum salary for roster spots 1-24 is $42,000; minimum salary for non-Generation adidas players in spots 25-30 is (who must be 24 or younger in 2011) is $32,600; clubs can have up to eight international players and international player spots can be traded among the clubs; clubs may sign two home grown players to GA contracts.

The new roster rules also stipulate that Canadian clubs must have a minimum of three Canadian players, down from eight players in 2010. US players will count as domestics.

Glenside native and Temple product Tony Donatelli signs with San Jose Earthquakes.

US

The continuing unrest in Egypt has cast doubt on whether the scheduled February 9 USMNT friendly in Cairo will be able to take place. On Friday, US Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe said, “As of now, we are still planning to play the match. We will continue to monitor the situation closely. We are receiving daily updates.” A decision is expected in the next two days.

With US citizens being urged to evacuate Egypt, one writer argues that the safety of USMNT players must be the prime consideration.

It seems that a Bradley had to end up at Aston Villa this season one way or another as Michael makes the move in a loan. Meanwhile, the decline of Freddy Adu continues as he goes out on loan to Caykur Rizespor, third in Turkey’s second division.

Elsewhere

An Egyptian blogger interviewed on Al Jazeera says that supporters groups have been the most effective organizational mechanism of the ongoing uprising there.

The big story from Qatar over the weekend was Japan’s 1–0 victory over Australia to win the Asian Cup. Almost slipping through the cracks were reports that people with tickets were prevented from attending the final after riot police were deployed outside the stadium. One theory is that things got out of control after the Qatari organizers, mindful of the chronically poor attendance for many of the tournament’s matches, bused in migrant workers to fill the stadium. Says one Saudi who was barred from seeing the final, “How do they expect to organize the 2022 World Cup? They can’t even organize this.”