Kick Off: Revs reportedly lock up Honduran FW Bengtson

Jerry Bengtson - Kick Off

While the Alessandro Nesta situation remains up in the air, it appears one of Honduras' brightest young talents is on his way to MLS.


Just days after Boniek Garcia made his debut for the Houston Dynamo, reports on Monday in Honduras claimed that Motagua forward Jerry Bengtson, winner of three domestic scoring titles, would join the New England Revolution pending completion of a medical.


The 25-year-old striker has been capped 22 times for Los Catrachos, scoring eight times, and is currently with the nation's Olympic squad as one of three overage players for the London games later this summer. "My goal is to work hard," he told the Honduran press. "I'm looking to score goals because that's my job as a goalscorer. I don't know anything else."


North of the border, things aren't quite so clear cut when it comes to Nesta. First it was Montreal, then Toronto, now Montreal again. And that was in the span of a week. Where will the Italian center back end up in MLS, if at all?


That was the question floating around Wednesday after word from the Impact that the team had made an offer to the Italian legend to pair him with countrymen Marco Di Viao at Stade Saputo.


Word in the UK is that David Beckham could still play in the Olympics should someone pull out or get injured. Team GB manager Stuart Pearce said he "fully expects" the former England captain to be available as a standby for the London Games.


Michael Ballack's chances of moving to MLS might be delayed a year if reports in Germany are to be believed.
Bild is reporting that Red Bull Salzburg has expressed interest in the midfielder
, and eluded to the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich star spending a year in Austria before moving to the team's sister club in the US to see out his career. (GERMAN)

If Michael Bradley indeed seals his move to AS Roma in the near future, he could make his first appearance for the club in the United States. Roma will play El Salvador in a friendly at Red Bull Arena on July 27.


In the first of two MLS games tonight, the Houston Dynamo will host the Chicago Fire at 8:30 pm ET (watch LIVE online). Check out the Houston Chronicle's midseason review, and read about St. Louis-born Will Bruin's breakout season.


Meanwhile, the Fire are starting to get hot, no pun intended. With three straight wins, they hope to make it four at BBVA Compass Stadium: "The last two results have been huge for us," Fire captain Logan Pause said. "The summer months are always a grind and that's where you see what teams are made of. Hopefully we're starting to hit our stride."


Things aren't quite going to plan in Portland ahead of tonight's home match against the MLS-leading San Jose Earthquakes (10:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online), with rumors that coach John Spencer is on the hot seat. That doesn't mean there are problems in the locker room, though, according to captain Jack Jewsbury: "There's no splitting off into groups as you see sometimes when you go through rough spells. ... This group is going to fight for [Spencer] and look to have a better performance [tonight]."


San Jose, on the other hand, are riding high after their comeback win against the Galaxy this past Saturday. The big talking point from that game was the behavior of David Beckham, who kicked th ball at Sam Cronin when the Quakes midfielder appeared to be injured late in the match. Cronin, who scored his first goal of the season in the 4-3 victory, said the whole thing was much adu about nothing: Global">Article">"I don't know what their guys were upset about," he said. "I guess [it was] me taking a little extra time on the ground. I wasn't trying to waste time or anything. I was just getting up and getting a rest.Global">Article">"


Omar Gonzalez doesn't want any more rest, and it appears he could be back in action as soon as the end of July or early August. The hulking center back, who tore his left ACL in the offseason, played in his first competitive game on Monday, a 45-minute scrimmage vs. the Galaxy Academy, and reported feeling confident, if not yet 100 percent. LA manager Bruce Arena hinted that Gonzalez is making progress in his recovery: “Omar's getting there. We're kind of taking it a day at a time,” Arena said. “We don't want to rush it too early, but he's getting to a point now where he can be considered in the near future to be on our roster.”


Former Chicago Fire turned Hammarby IF striker Baggio Husidic gave an interview in Sweden in which he says he turned down more money from the Colorado Rapids to chase his dream of playing abroad. But then he compared the level of soccer in the Swedish Superettan, the countr'ys second tier, to that of the top teams in American college soccer. (SWEDISH)


Jimmy Conrad and KICKTV sat down with US international and AZ Alkmaar forward Jozy Altidore to cover all the bases. Watch Altidore discuss Jurgen Klinsmann's affect on the national team, scoring goals and his offseason so far. Plus, is Jozy team Messi or team Ronaldo?


Impressed by the massive tifo Timbers Army put together a few weeks ago for the club's Cascadia Cup clash against Seattle at JELD-WEN Field? Check out this video detailing all the man hours that went into making it. (WATCH)


Speaking of Portland, their fans seems to do it big or not at all. That's certainly the case with this fan-produced video. (WATCH)


In Seattle, it seems the Starfire complex, where the club plays most of its US Open Cup matches, is converting to AstroTurf.


MLSsoccer.com Musts
ExtraTime Radio talks with Frank Yallop about the Cali Clasico
Food Week: Nutrition strategies fueling change across MLS
Caps' Rennie: Robson "will be involved" against Rapids



Get the Kick-Off delivered to you!


Enter your email address and favorite team below to sign up for The Kick-Off mailing list and get it delivered to your inbox every morning.


Email:  
Favorite Team:
Chicago Fire
Chivas USA
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
LA Galaxy
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
NY Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Sporting KC
Toronto FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
I don't have a favorite team