Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

Ricardo Pachon, the agent for Carlos Valdes, tells Colombian news outlet El Tiempo (crappy Google translation here), that offers are coming from Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. The report says, “[T]here are deals, but missing is a decision from MLS.”

Pachon tells El Tiempo that he was in contact with MLS on Tuesday and that a delay in a decision from the league meant that Valdes has already missed out on an opportunity to play for Liga MX side Morelia. The agent also said he does not expect that a deal will be reached this week and re-iterated that a return to MLS is not an option at this point.

The 91st Minute’s Will Parchman talked to possible Union SuperDraft target and left back Ben Sweat, who was with Reading United last season. Sweat says, ““Last summer I was with the Philadelphia Union with Reading United, and I trained a lot with the MLS team the last week and a half, two weeks. I know they don’t have a left back at all. I know they liked me up there. One of their assistant coaches was my head coach. They talk highly of me. I might have a hunch for them, which I would love since I know the program, know the players. I kind of have a hunch toward them since I know what their needs are. But a lot of MLS teams have needs for a left back right now as well.”

Single game tickets go on sale today at 2 pm. The 2014 schedule has been updated with kickoff times for most of those TBDs that were on the schedule upon its original release back in November, although two — April 26 in Montreal and Sept. 6 in Toronto — remain.

Philadelphia Union Academy forward Raheem Taylor-Parkes. a former Canadian youth international, has been named to the 28-player roster for US U-17 MNT 2014 Spring Residency Program in Bradenton, FL. Joining him there are several other area players including Kevin Silva (GK: PDA; Bethlehem, Pa.), Matthew Olosunde (D: New York Red Bulls Academy; Trenton, N.J.), and Christian Pulisic (F: PA Classics; Hershey, Pa.).

The Brotherly Game on how Jack McInerney’s callup to the USMNT for the Gold Cup was both the high and low point of his 2013 season.

Topps has released player posters for Amobi Okugo, Sheanon Williams, Sebastien Le Toux, Jeff Parke, Brian Carroll, Ray Gaddis, and — sigh — Michael Farfan. Two sizes are available, 11″ x 14″ on “rigid ultra-high gloss UV coated trading card stock” for $14.99 and 18″ x 24″ on “premium resin coated lustrous semi-matte finish paper” for $29.99.

Click here to reserve your ticket for the sneak peek at the Sons of Ben movie on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Local

Coatesville native J.T. Dorsey, who played for the Hershey Wildcats and Harrisburg City Islanders, will receive the Gerald Botdorf Service Award from the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association at its annual awards dinner on Jan. 25 for the work he has done through the J.T. Dorsey Foundation for Education and Wellness.

Brett Werner, goalkeeper for Washington Crossing’s Patriot FC U-13 team, is up for US Youth Soccer’s Save of the Year award. You can view video of the save and vote here.

Newsworks profiles Jacqueline and Andrew Urbine, who were prime forces behind the recent growth of the East Falls Soccer Association.

MLS

Here are the latest player transactions from around the league:

• Portland have re-signed forward Frederic Piquionne.
• Los Angeles has acquired 22-year-old Brazilian forward Samuel on loan from Fluminense.
• A busy day for San Jose on Tuesday. The signing of former AC Ajaccio captain Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi was officially announced. Also, the Earthquakes traded midfielder Marvin Chavez to Colorado in exchange for midfielder Atiba Harris.
• A “high-ranking Toronto source” tells SI’s Grant Wahl that the Jermaine Defoe deal is is “not done yet, but close.”
• In other Toronto news, it looks like Genoa forward Alberto Gilardino has rejected a move to TFC.

Jermaine Jones’ agent has hinted that the midfielder, who is looking to leave Schalke, “could be snared for free or next to it.”

The Courier-Journal reports that the owners of Orlando City are exploring the possibility of continuing the USL PRO franchise of the team in Louisville after the team joins MLS in 2015.

Eric Wynalda fans, feel free to read on.

NWSL

The Equalizer has the protected/unprotected list ahead of Thursday’s NWSL Expansion Draft.

US

Jurgen Klinsmann talked about the idea behind moving the January camp down to Brazil for 13 days ahead of the USMNT’s friendly against South Korea on Feb. 1. “We’ll try things out there. We want to get to know the people. We want to build relationships, if it’s at the hotel, at the training ground. We want to get a feel for how things work there – for the Brazilian lifestyle, in a certain way – and this is a good opportunity…So we connected it because no other [World Cup] team really has that January camp happening. It’s because of the schedule that MLS has gives us that opportunity.”

The CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship begins on Thursday and US Soccer has announced you can see the US group stage games — as well as the semifinals, third place game, and final — on Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Soccer 2Go. Use the promo code “U20WNT” to access the games on Fox Soccer 2Go for free.

Elsewhere

FIFA’s general secretary Jerome Valcke said in an interview on Radio France, “The dates for the World Cup (in Qatar) will not be June-July. To be honest, I think it will be held between November 15 and January 15 at the latest.” FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce said in response, “This has to be a decision that’s made by the executive committee of FIFA. I’m totally surprised by what I’ve heard this morning…The situation as I’m aware was that at the FIFA executive committee would await a report set up by all the stakeholders involved…and there would be no further discussions before the December executive meeting…Whether Jerome was expressing a personal opinion, I don’t know, but this has not been discussed by the executive committee.” Boyce said he doesn’t expect a decision to be made until the end of 2014 “at the very earliest.”

FIFA released a statement after Valcke’s remarks that said, “The precise event date is still subject to an ongoing consultation process which involves all main event stakeholders. As the event will not be played until eight years’ time the consultation process will not be rushed and will be given the necessary time to consider all of the elements relevant for a decision. Consequently, no decision will be taken before the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil as agreed by the FIFA executive committee.” More on the story from the BBC, the Guardian, Reuters, and ESPN.

In 2014 World Cup news, the AP reports, “A special police battalion has been created to help control violent demonstrations expected during the upcoming World Cup and other large sporting and cultural events held in public venues, the Rio de Janeiro state government has announced.”

Former German international — and Aston Villa, West Ham, Everton, and Stuttgart — midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, who retired in September, has announced he is gay.

At SI, Laurent Dubois has a long form look at the importance of players who are the children of African migrants to the Belgium and France national teams.