Freddy Adu to Genoa?

Word is that the historic Italian club Genoa is interested in acquiring Freddy Adu from Benfica, on loan. Adu made the move to Benfica last year but has not seen the type of playing time he or many of his fans would like to see him get. Maybe a move to Serie A and Genoa will get him some more starts on European soil. Genoa finished in 10th place in Serie A, which is respectable considering the previous season they had been in Serie B.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/06/17/adu.genoa/index.html

http://www.goal.com/en-US/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=739588

Louis Saha to Roma?

Looks like Louis Saha might be with the Giallorossi next season:

http://www.goal.com/en-india/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=738703

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23496011-details/Roma+primed+to+strike+loan+deal+with+Manchester+United+for+Saha/article.do

Roma Transfer News

The latest news out there concerning possible changes at Roma:

Sevilla's Luis Fabiano has expressed interest in moving to Roma.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=740004

http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/06/17/Liga-Serie-A-Fabiano-wants-Roma-move/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/football/

John Arne Riise is likely to move from Liverpool to Roma.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=739944

Philippe Mexes' agent is urging Roma to sign Ben Arfa of Lyon.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=738510

Manchester United has stolen Davide Petrucci away from Roma.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1026360/United-grab-new-Totti-dad-job-too.html

Roma is interested in Portsmouth's Niko Kranjcar

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=737526

Roma is also interested in Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre.

http://www.clubcall.com/index.jsp?storyID=340292

Roma considering David Suazo.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=98283

Mario Gomez is open to moving from Stuttgart to Roma.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=98287

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=736362

Dynamo Draw for the CONCACAF Champions League

On Monday, the draw for the 16 team group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League came out, and the Houston Dynamo are in Group B, with the following fixtures:

Sept. 17 – Dynamo vs. Luis Angel Firpo
Sept. 23 – Dynamo at San Francisco/Jalapa/Municipal
Sept. 30 – Dynamo at Pumas/Harbour View
Oct. 8 – Dynamo vs. San Francisco/Jalapa/Municipal
Oct. 22 – Dynamo vs. Pumas/Harbour View
Oct. 28 – Dynamo at Luis Angel Firpo
Times and venues to be announced.

Lecce is Moving on Up

On Sunday, Lecce played Albinoleffe to a 1 - 1 draw in the second leg of the Serie B promotion playoff final, giving Lecce a 2 - 1 aggregate in the final. So Lecce will be returning to Serie A for the 2008-2009 season. Congratulations to Lecce and good luck to Albinoleffe on making the promotion cut next season.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jUzany272NZAVzSxbfIzXPP323NA

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=738281

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldFootballNews/idUKL1562819520080615

New Episodes of World Soccer Wrap Available

Episode 73 of World Soccer Wrap is now available on iTunes and at:

http://web.mac.com/rayharatian/iWeb/Site/Podcast/BC54026D-9E29-4B14-9326-E0BD9C607F59.html

This week's episode contains post-match reactions from David Beckham, Ruud Gullit, Edson Buddle, Frankie Yallop, Dominic Kinnear, Franco Carracio, Stuart Holden, and Craig Waibel, as well as Ricardo Clark on playing England.

Due to technical problems, Episodes 13 and 14 of World Soccer Wrap: Serie A have been combined and are available on iTunes, and at:

http://web.mac.com/rayharatian/iWeb/Site/Podcast/8F08B7F9-1BDC-47C3-82F0-D04E7701E958.html

Episode 13 takes a look at the start of the Mourinho era in Serie A, while Episode 14 looks at the first foreign ownership of a Serie A club, the Euros, and the Serie B promotion playoffs.

Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear's Post Game Press Conference

Here is Coach Kinnear's press conference after the Dynamo's 2-0 loss to New England on Thursday night:

http://bzygo.home.att.net/domnepressconf.mp3

Thursday Soccer Roundup

Good news for Iraq, FIFA lifted the 1 year suspension that would have prevented Iraq from participating in World Cup Qualifying matches and the Confederations Cup.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/29/sports/SOCCER.php

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11996_3624377,00.html

It's official, but not much of a surprise, Roberto Mancini has parted ways with Inter Milan. I highly, highly suspect that we'll be seeing Jose Mourinho passing the side of the pitch at the San Siro next season. Word is, he has spent the last 5 months learning Italian. It appears that the Special One is urging Inter to go after Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho, and, of course, Didier Drogba.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/29/ufnmour229.xml

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0529/inter.html

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/mourinhointer-move-reignites-lampard-rumours-1388073.html

http://www.agi.it/engsport/news/200805271456-spr-ren0047-art.html

After last Thursday's devestating loss to the new San Jose Earthquakes, the Houston Dynamo had a small rebound on Wednesday night when a stoppage time goal by Dwayne DeRosario gave Houston a 2-2 draw against FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. This match, which was moved from its originally August date to make room for Ozfest, is the only Dallas leg of the Texas Derby this season.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/5806907.html

Siena has a new coach, Marco Giampaolo.

http://goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=712610

Will World Cup 2010 really take place in South Africa? In light of recent violence directed at foreigners, could be the breaking point for FIFA and result in moving the World Cup to another country. Said violence resulted in the death of 56 people. A South African caller into a daily soccer program stated that this violence was planned and he now doubts his country is capable of hosting soccer's premier event. Where could the games be relocate too? England, Germany, Australia, or the U.S., probably the country that could most easily put on the Cup with little notice.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL29751938.html

http://football.uk.reuters.com/world/news/SYD32119.php

Donadoni has named his squad for Euro 2008:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders: Cristian Panucci (Roma), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Midfielders: Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Alberto Aquilani (Roma), Mauro German Camoranesi (Juventus)

Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)

Standby: Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

http://goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=714009

Stay tuned for Episode 12 of World Soccer Wrap: Serie A, with expected topics including the final week in Serie B, the promotion of Chievo Verona, transfer rumors, Mancini, is Roma for sale or not, and much, much more.

Dynamo Fans Develop Website to Promote Stadium

In an effort to show their support for and increase support for a Houston Dynamo stadium in downtown Houston, a group of Dynamo fans have developed their own website for the purpose of promoting and advocating the development of a soccer specific stadium in downtown Houston.

You can visit the site at:

http://homeforthedynamo.com/

So please do so and show your support for the development and growth of soccer in the U.S.A.

De Rosario & Onstad called up for Friendly

The Houston Dynamo's Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad have been called up for Canada's friendly against Brazil on Saturday May 31, 2008 in Seattle, Washington.

Not surprisingly, since it seems that the MLS goes out of its way to schedule club matches on FIFA International breaks, the Dynamo Midfielder and Goal Keeper will miss the Dynamo's home game against Red Bull New York, also scheduled for May 31.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/23/sports/SOC-Brazil-Canada.php