Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

The third and fourth rounds of the MLS SuperDraft will be held today at 2 pm via conference call. The league website has a SuperDraft Tracker that will have live updates. The Union have 6th (44th overall), 8th (46th overall), 14th (52nd overall), and 25th picks (63rd overall) of the day. MLSsoccer.com has a look at some of the top prospects remaining for selection.

In a report at MLSsoccer.com, a Union spokesperson confirms the team “have a six-month loan offer from San Lorenzo” for Carlos Valdes, although the spokesperson added, “Nothing is finalized, though.”

Caracol.com is reporting (crappy Google translation here) this morning that Valdes’ physical on Monday is causing concern at San Lorenzo about the former Union captain’s knees. More meetings are to take place today to make a final decision about the proposed loan deal. Whether this medical concern is seriously valid or merely a negotiation tactic remains to be seen.

In the latest edition of 5 in 5, Kerith Gabriel and Kevin Kinkead talk about the Union’s selections in the first two rounds of the SuperDraft.

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders will be hosting an open tryout. “open to all experienced soccer players who compete collegiately, professionally, and internationally,” Feb 24 and 25th at the In the Net Sports Complex in Palmyra. A press release from the club says, “The tryout is limited to 80 participants; therefore applicants are urged to apply no later than the 17th of February.” For more information, click here. In related news, the USL PRO Combine begins on Thursday at the IMG Academy in Florida.

Who won the MLS SuperDraft? Reading United did, of course.

MLS

At SI, Brian Straus reports, “Major League Soccer could be close to finalizing a tweak to its playoff format that will offer additional reward, albeit slight, to clubs finishing higher in the regular season standings. SI.com understands that MLS is working on giving the higher-seeded team in the two-game conference semifinals and finals the option of hosting either the first or second leg.”

Vancouver have re-signed Jay DeMerit.

The LA Times reports the Galaxy are “expected to finalize a contract with midfielder Stefan Ishizaki this week.”

FC Dallas have named Dan Hunt the new president of the team.

Fox 35 has an update on the progress of Orlando’s new soccer stadium. Club president and owner Phil Rawlins says in the video report, “I would expect on opening day, we’ll have 20,000 people filling the stands here. We’ll be at capacity. I think we’ll be at capacity every week.”

NWSL

Here’s a look at the moves former Philadelphia Independence coach Paul Riley, now head coach of the Portland Thorns, made in last week’s draft.

Megan Rapinoe will play the full NWSL season with Seattle after deciding to terminate her contract with French club Lyon early.

US

The US defeated Sao Paolo 2-1 in a closed door scrimmage on Monday. There’s little information from the game but here are some pictures.

We mentioned in Monday’s roundup that Hershey, PA’s Christian Pulisic scored the game winner for the US U-17s in their 2-1 win over France at the Aegean Cup in Turkey. Well, Pulisic scored again in the 5-2 victory over Norway today. Here are highlights from the win over France.

An announcement on the Stoke City website confirms Juan Agudelo has signed with the club and will immediately go on loan to FC Utrecht.

Elsewhere

The AP reports that FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke “doesn’t expect the World Cup opener in Sao Paulo to be affected by the construction delays at the stadium where a crane collapse killed two workers last year.”

Some of the platforms of Jerome Champagne candidacy for the FIFA presidency include:

• Implementing “orange cards” to be issued for time penalties for players as in hockey when a player is sent to the penalty box
• Quotas for foreign players
• Implementing rugby’s rule where only the captain can talk to the referee with a free-kick advanced 10 yards for any dissent
• Abolishing the ‘triple punishment’ rule where a player who prevents a goalscoring opportunity in the penalty areas concedes a spot-kick, is sent off and also suspended
• All FIFA presidential candidates taking part in live debates on television and in front of the six continental confederations
• Making public the salary of the Fifa president and leading officials

While Nicolas Anelka has until Thursday to appeal a minimum 5-match ban for making a “quenelle” gesture associated with fascist groups in France after scoring in a recent game for West Brom, his club’s shirt sponsor, Zoopla, has announced it will not renew its contract with the team at the end of the season. A statement from Zoopla said, “Zoopla has been reviewing its position over the past few weeks in light of the actions of striker, Nicolas Anelka, during the match against West Ham over the Christmas period and has decided to focus its attention on other marketing activities after this season.”

No more Bafana Bafana, apparently.

Did you know that Arthur Pempar was the first president of the FA? Did you know he later emigrated to the US where he worked as an investigative reporter for the New York Times. Did you know he had a magnificent mustache?