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Si sur le terrain, c’est davantage Aurélien Collin qui suit les autres à leur plus grand désespoir, en dehors, suivre ses aventures extra-footballistiques a de quoi procurer bien du plaisir.
Cette semaine, il est à New York avec d’autres vedettes de la compétition pour une campagne publicitaire de la MLS (malgré des rumeurs de panique sur Twitter qui en transféraient plusieurs à la Red Bull Arena). La mode est son autre domaine de prédilection et comme le hasard fait bien les choses, on est en plein dans la Semaine de la mode à Big Apple, de quoi réjouir le joueur qui se sent comme un enfant dans un magasin de bonbons.
La réputation du bel Aurélien n’est plus à faire parmi ses coéquipiers qui n’hésitent pas à lui demander conseil… pour leur tenue mais aussi leur vie sentimentale ou encore de la cuisine. Ainsi, il a sa propre chronique vidéo à Kansas City. Oui, c’est hilarant et ça me fait penser à l’humour d’Eric Cantona.
Si Collin n’a pas le même palmarès que son illustre compatriote (quoi qu’ils ont gagné aussi souvent la Coupe du monde) ni sa filmographie, il n’a pas non plus sa réputation de bad boy qui fait du kung fu avec les supporters. Ça ne l’empêche pas de s’initier aux arts martiaux, comme le prouve cette autre vidéo à ne pas manquer, en français celle-là, où Vincent Parisi lui apprend les rudiments du jiu-jistsu brésilien.
When Jay DeMerit fell to the Vancouver Whitecaps ahead of their inaugural MLS season, most figured they'd landed the linchpin of their team for years to come.
Nobody could have guessed how quickly or fully DeMerit would embrace life in British Columbia, though. So much so that he's all settled down in the northern-most reaches of Cascadia. Literally.
He put a ring on a local celebrity (Canadian Olympic Ski Cross Gold Medalist Ashleigh McIvor) and has no trouble rattling off 'hoods (he lives in Gastown) like he's been posted up in Vancouver for years.
“The thing I love about this city is that it can really grip you in a lot of different ways,” DeMerit told WhitecapsFC.com.
“I met my fiancée here and I’ve been able to take my life to the next level,” added the World Cup veteran. “That’s what we all want in our lives and our careers, and this city has allowed me to do that on both ends.”
Bravo, Jay. Looks like you're doing just fine.
If you've got your finger on the pulse of the American soccer scene, you know the name Shawn Francis – former MLS Insider and curator of the fantastic blog The Offside Rules.
Once again, SF's shed some light on a clip that's got viral written all over it, and I just can't resist sharing since Alex Morgan + Katy Perry = the Internet breaking.
What are you waiting for? Hit play and enjoy US soccer's biggest star doing her best KP impression.
Oh yeah, let us know what you think in the comment section below. Just keep it civilized.
While we were busy debating whether the Fire or Crew got the better end of a deal that sent Dilly Duka and the right of first refusal to Robbie Rogers to Chicago and Dominic Oduro, Rogers was finding out the news on his own.
No phone call. No nothing.
The former Leeds United winger took to Twitter Monday morning to express surprise that his MLS rights had changed hands.
Bizarre? Sure, but perhaps par for the course in the often wacky world of MLS swaps.
CORRECTION: D.C. United has not yet clinched Carolina Challenge Cup championship. I apologize for the confusion. #MLS
— Andrew Wiebe (@AndrewWiebe_MLS) March 3, 2012
Could Jozy Altidore be the first American to capture a Golden Boot on European shores?
He's certainly on the right track at the moment, finding himself alone in poll position after scoring his 15th league goal of the season on Friday against VVV Venlo (above). With a little more than half a season in the books, only Vitesse's Wilfried Bony has scored more in the Dutch top flight with 16 goals.
Friday's goal, an effort reminiscent of a certain Frenchman now playing with Altidore's former club in New York, matched the American striker's total for all of last season with AZ. It also matched Michael Bradley's haul with Heerenveen during the 2008-09 season.
Herculez Gomez remains the only American to capture a Golden Boot outside the United States, tying for top scorer (10 goals) in the Mexican first division while playing for Puebla in 2010.
Do you think Altidore can do it? Let us know in the comment section below.
If reports in Germany are to be believed, the Chicago Fire were close to adding another German warhorse to their roster, only for Borussia Dortmund to commit to captain Sebastian Kehl for one more year.
There's been speculation in Germany that Kehl's place in the Dortmund team is at risk with Nuri Sahin returning from Real Madrid on loan, but Bild reported Wednesday that manager Jürgen Klopp will exercise the club's option on the midfielder, preventing the 32-year-old from linking up with Arne Friedrich in the Windy City.
Had the Fire been able to land Kehl – assuming their rumored interest was indeed concrete – he would have provided a direct replacement for Pável Pardo, who announced his retirement last week. As it stands, Pardo's place will most likely be filled by Jeff Larentowicz, acquired from Colorado in a trade prior to the MLS SuperDraft.
What do you think? Would Kehl be a good fit in MLS? Do the Fire even need another central midfielder after a busy offseason?
UPDATE: Word from the Fire makes this one almost certainly the work of an enterprising agent rather than actual interest in Kehl.
Asked Frank Klopas about Sebastian Kehl this morning. Said there was no approach and "we have enough central midfielders". #cf97
— Andrew Wiebe (@AndrewWiebe_MLS) March 3, 2012
De acuerdo con el agente de Joao Plata, Gustavo Lescovich, el delantero ecuatoriano estaría a punto de firmar con Real Salt Lake. Así lo dijo entrever el representante en su cuenta de Twitter:
@joaoplata10 muy cerca de Real Salt Lake, hoy se confirma.
— Gustavo Lescovich (@guslescovich) January 24, 2013
Plata, quien jugó para Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito en calidad de préstamo la temporada pasada, debía regresar a Toronto FC a comienzos de 2013.
El director deportivo del club canadiense, Earl Cochrane, le dijo a FutbolMLS.com el miércoles por la tarde: “No tenemos nada concreto, aún estamos conversando. En este momento Plata sigue en Ecuador jugando sus últimos partidos con la Liga, pero el préstamo está por vencerse. Si vuelve al plantel será cuando todos viajemos a Florida, pues no tiene sentido que venga a Toronto en estos momentos”.
Real Salt Lake hará un anuncio importante a las 4 p.m. (hora del Este en los EE.UU.), a través de una emisora de radio local.
If reports out of England are to be believed, Norwich City fans might want to familiarize themselves with heart-shaped hands and Chipotle.
On Wednesday, Sky Sports reported that, according to sources, the Canaries have made an offer for Sporting Kansas City's Kei Kamara. When contacted by MLSsoccer.com, Sporting KC declined to comment.
Kamara, a Sierra Leone international, already trained at Stoke City this offseason and "is believed to be in the last year of his contract," per the report.
Since arriving in Kansas City at the tail end of the 2009 season, the 28-year-old striker has become one of MLS' most-imposing wingers, scoring 30 goals and dishing out 18 assists in his three full years with the club.
What do you think? Should Kansas City be open to selling Kamara? How would he fit in the EPL?
If the reports are true, Vancouver are looking to the Land of the Rising Sun to help bolster their midfield.
According to Sponichi Annex, Daigo Kobayashi, currently with Shimizu S-Pulse in the J-League, is poised to sign with the Whitecaps sometime this week.
The 29-year-old has more than 10 years experience as a professional while logging time with Tokyo Verde, Omiya Ardija, Stabæk, Iraklis Thessaloniki and S-Pulse.
The 'Caps also have Japanese midfielder Jun Marques Davidson and South Korean defender Young-Pyo Lee on their books, so they're no stranger to shopping on the Pacific Rim. With the exit of Barry Robson this week, there's room in the Vancouver midfield for a string-puller like Kobayashi, who wears No. 10 for his club side and has one cap with the Japanese national team.
EDIT: Marc Weber of The Province confirmed the move on Tuesday afternoon, followed by this tweet from the official Vancouver account:
CORRECTION: D.C. United has not yet clinched Carolina Challenge Cup championship. I apologize for the confusion. #MLS
— Andrew Wiebe (@AndrewWiebe_MLS) March 3, 2012
La restructuración en Chivas USA también parece tocar la nómina de jugadores.
Luego que “El Chelís” le dijera a FutbolMLS.com en exclusiva que su plan es reclutar jugadores mexicoamericanos al rebaño angelino, algunos de los extranjeros del equipo parecen estar a punto de salir del club.
De acuerdo con reportes en Ecuador, Oswaldo Minda estaría regresando a su país para vestir la camiseta de Deportivo Quito.
#Confirmado: Oswaldo Minda llego a un acuerdo en EEUU y vestira la camiseta de @sdquito en esta temporada..
— Soledad Rodríguez (@sol_deportiva) January 22, 2013
De llegarse a dar la vuelta de Minda a Quito, Chivas USA tendría un cupo internacional disponible que podría hacer efectivo inmediatamente. Tendría todo el sentido, ya que ese cupo lo podrían usar para atraer a otro mexicano que quiera jugar para el club de Los Ángeles.
Minda fue campeón en tres ocasiones de la Serie A ecuatoriana con “La Academia” en 2008, 2009 y 2011. Con Chivas USA se encuentra desde la temporada pasada.
Un vocero de Chivas USA dijo al respecto, que si bien sí hay conversaciones para el traspaso de Oswaldo Minda, aun no hay nada en concreto.