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Coup Franc prend de l’ampleur ! En plus des textes quasi quotidiens sur cette page, MLSsoccer.com vous offre désormais une émission hebdomadaire en français. Elle sera mise en ligne chaque mardi. Rendez-vous ici pour écouter la première.
En voici le menu, ainsi que quelques liens et vidéos pour en savoir plus sur les sujets abordés :
- L’inauguration du stade Saputo rénové (photos) ; le troisième but de Montréal et la passe « Brésilienne » de Patrice Bernier (vidéo)
- Notre invité André Hainault parle du match Houston - Dallas, de sa meilleure place sur le terrain, du caractère offensif des défenseurs de Houston, des conditions de jeu dans son club qui vient d’inaugurer son nouveau stade
- L’équipe nationale canadienne, avec un retour sur Canada - Honduras
- Nouvel entraîneur à Toronto et à Philadelphie : est-ce que le choc psychologique fonctionne vraiment ? (Articles 1 et 2 sur des études menées à ce sujet)
N’hésitez évidemment pas à réagir et à nous envoyer vos commentaires, vos suggestions et vos questions !

Forget sibling rivalry, roommate rivalry is what’s in.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you should know that Webb Simpson (above right) just won the US Open last weekend. But why are we talking about golf on a soccer website? Oddly enough, Simpson was college roommates with one of the MLS’ very own, Colorado Rapids midfielder Wells Thompson (above left).
Even though they knew each other before college, their friendship grew when they became roommates at Wake Forest, as did their attempts to one-up one another.
Thompson has a US Open Cup (2007) and MLS Cup (2010) under his belt, but after Simpson’s big win, who is on top? The boys don’t seem to care too much anymore, Thompson is just happy for his old roommate.
"To see him succeed on Sunday was so cool, such a blessing," Thompson said. "It's his first major, but it was bound to happen. He's an up and coming golfer and I think people expect a lot out of him, expect him to win."
Habrán perdido 2-1 ante México, pero la pasión de la gente de El Salvador hacia sus jugadores es admirable, especialmente hacia el defensa de los Portland Timbers, Steve Purdy.
El espigado salvadoreño-estadounidense tuvo una gran actuación ante los jugadores aztecas, logrando cumplir la difícil misión de marcar a Giovani Dos Santos y Javier “Chicharito” Hernández. La afición cuscatleca se hizo notar en Twitter, donde una y otra vez elogiaron el trabajo del jugador de los Timbers.
Estos son algunos de los mejores tweets:
@spurdy25 gran partidazo Steve! te recompensaron con unas 3 pupusas y chocolate por lo menos! jejeje SOS GRANDE! y el Cusca te quedo GENIAL!
— Mauricio Ventura (@MauVenturaE) June 14, 2012
@spurdy25 gracias purdy por jugar pArA el salvador sos grande anulaste al chicharito ayer DIOS TE BENDIGA #grandePurdy
— Henry Alexander (@Henry_ramirez92) June 13, 2012
No s x nada pro @spurdy25 Jugaste un gran partido anulaste a Gio y Chicharo Q diferencia cuando jugas necesitamos +Purdys en @LaSelecta_ESA
— Marvin Henriquez (@Marvinfrances) June 14, 2012
@spurdy25 Diste los mejor en el partido vs México, todo El Salvador te apoya.
— Amilcar (@Psicodelic0_) June 14, 2012
@spurdy25 Thank u for being a source of inspiration. That above all is what our country needs. May u be blessed and stay healthy. Be well
— La Selecta (@laselectadotcom) June 14, 2012
A sus 27 años, Purdy se encuentra jugando su segunda temporada con los Timbers y aunque ha tenido tiempo limitado en el campo (3 partidos como titular), dejó demostrado ante México que es lo que El Salvador justamente necesita para afrontar las difíciles eliminatorias mundialistas.

Glasgow Rangers formally announced on Thursday that the original club no longer exists — they are now known the world over as “The Rangers Football Club.” The question now for MLS fans is what's in store for the club's US contingent made up of Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya?
In the next week or so, the other 11 Scottish Premier League teams will meet to vote on whether Rangers can enter the SPL next season. The newly formed team, which is replacing the side which was formed in 1872, will have to win the vote by a majority of 8-4 in order to compete in Scotland’s top division. If not, they will likely be demoted to the bottom tier of Scottish professional soccer, the third division.
So will Bocanegra & Co. be lining up against the likes of Montrose, Elgin City and Peterhead next season? Or enjoying the Old Firm derby against archrivals Celtic FC at a packed Ibrox Stadium? Only time will tell, as the wait to find out their fate will be an anxious one for the US trio.
One report Thursday suggests that with the original Rangers Football Club ceasing to exist, no player is contractually obligated to play for the newly formed club. Hence, all three US players could end up as free agents and able to speak to whichever clubs they want.
Watch this space, this saga will rumble on long into the summer months. Let us know what you would like Rangers' American trio to do in the comments section below.
Andriy Shevchenko may be taking his talents to Major League Soccer.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian icon has been linked to MLS and says he has "several offers." In a report by The New York Times, Shevchenko — who is married to former American supermodel Kristen Pazik — is prepared to spend time with his two sons in the United States.
While he plans on waiting until after this month's European Championship to make any decisions, he has certainly proved he still has the scoring touch. In Ukraine's 2-1 victory over Sweden in the opening round game of Group D on Monday, Shevchenko scored twice in three minutes to overcome a 1-0 deficit and propel the co-hosts to the top of the leaderboard.
Sheva now has 49 goals in 109 caps for Ukraine, and after a quiet few years since his disappointing production at both Chelsea and AC Milan, a 2009 move to Dynamo Kyiv helped fuel his resurgence. With 23 goals in 53 games, it's become clear that despite his age, he refuses to go away quietly.
While we will not know for certain Shevchenko's intentions until he settles in after the Euros, his move to the States looks more like a "when" than an "if." With the type of numbers he is putting up, and the current form he is in, there are certainly no shortage of MLS teams who could use his firepower up front.
Just suddenly having [Fabian Johnson] on the squad feels like finding a solution to a problem you'd gotten so accustomed to that you'd stopped even thinking of it as a problem. He's the soccer equivalent of laser eye surgery or getting air conditioning for the first time.
Is Fabian Johnson the irrefutable savior of American soccer? Alone, it's unlikely.
But in Brian Phillips' article on the US men's national team at Grantland, he argues that Johnson is just another reason why US soccer is poised to push the limits on how well – and subsequently, how poorly – they can play.
Essentially, with a more attack-centered mentality and a formation to maximize the talent in the midfield, the potential to produce big-time performances (we're looking at you, Scotland) are ever more likely.
With that being said, against powerhouse teams like Brazil – where a 4-1 loss seemed to sting a whole lot less than a scoreless draw with Canada because, well, the team looked better – the risk of being dumped with an unsightly scoreline is also on the rise.
It's time to drop the "up-and-coming" tagline (it's been far too long), start playing up to the talent available (not to say that the US will consistently take down the world's elite, but just ask the past two World Cup champions, Spain and Italy, if they still get a can't-wait-to-play-them feeling in their stomachs when they see the United States on their schedule), and stop accepting losses to teams well below the Americans' capabilities (a la Panama in the 2011 Gold Cup on US soil).
"By gambling that he can teach the USMNT to walk before it's really gotten world-class at crawling," Philips writes, "Klinsmann is taking an already chancy situation and stirring in a fresh vial of crazy."
With the 2014 World Cup as the ultimate showcase of Klinsmann's US side, perhaps straying from the status quo and going for glory is just the type of craziness we need.
The 2012 Olympic Games are right around the corner, and although the US men's team won't be featuring in this year's soccer tournament, one of MLS' most recognizable figures just might be. (Not to forget the US and Canadian women, either.)
In a new video from KickTV, LA Galaxy star David Beckham talked about the pride his country is feeling when it comes to hosting the Olympic Games and expresses his hope that he might be able to represent the UK in one of the world's biggest sporting extravaganzas. He's also got a great quote about captaining the England national team, saying, "Captain of my country was one of the best and biggest things I've ever done in my career."
What do you think? Will Beckham make the Olympic squad? Does he have what hit takes to lead the UK to Olympic glory? Will you be following the Games, soccer tournament or otherwise?

Anthony Ampaipitakwong's new home is Thunder Castle.
More accurately, San Jose are in negotiations with Thai Premier League side Buriram United over the transfer of Ampaipitakwong to the reigning league champions, which are also known as Thunder Castle and have a stadium to cement that impressive moniker (see above).
All in all, it looks like a solid move for Ampaipitakwong, who was on the outside looking in during his time with the Quakes. He heads to a team with Asian Champions League ambitions, a sweet nickname and a 24,000-seat stadium worthy of the Thunder Castle brand. Buriram United even have an English-language website, meaning Ampai's fans in the United States can follow his every move.
Pavel Pardo hizo un pare a su preparación con el Chicago Fire – que jugará el único partido de la fecha este sábado en su visita al New England Revolution (7:30 p.m. ET; ONLINE: MLS Live) – para recibir a la que fue su selección nacional en 148 ocasiones.
México esta en la Ciudad de los Vientos para jugar un partido de preparación ante Bosnia-Herzegovina el miércoles y aprovecharon la oportunidad para reunirse con Pardo, quien acompañó a los jugadores y cuerpo técnico en una cena.
FutbolMLS.com charló un rato con el volante del Fire sobre su experiencia de volverse a encontrar con el equipo al que sirvió por tanto tiempo.
Auteur d’un magnifique but samedi dernier contre l’Écosse, Michael Bradley s’est une fois plus fait remarquer positivement par les nombreux clubs qui le convoitent.
Toujours sous contrat au Chievo Vérone, l’international américain peut partir pour une somme que les médias italiens estiment entre 2,5 et 4,5 millions d’euros (3,2 à 5,6 millions de dollars). Le directeur sportif du club déclare d’ailleurs que « la possibilité de le voir sous le maillot de Chievo la saison prochaine est vraiment faible ».
Le milieu de terrain est cité dans plusieurs clubs italiens. La Gazzetta dello Sport mentionne le nom de Palerme, mais ceux qui reviennent le plus souvent sont l’AS Rome et Naples. Toutefois, il pourrait bien prendre la direction d’Anderlecht, qui pense à remplacer l’international argentin Lucas Biglia, annoncé en partance.
L’information annoncée en Italie par Tuttosport et en Belgique par Het Laatste Nieuws est relayée par de nombreux médias. Le site officiel du championnat de Belgique (l’équivalent de mlssoccer.com) mentionne même que son agent dément les contacts avec Rome et Naples, et confirme des discussions de longue date avec Anderlecht.
En signant chez le champion de Belgique, Bradley y deviendrait coéquipier d’un autre international américain, Sacha Kljestan.