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Because I love to follow the USMNT, I also love to follow the clubs our players play for. Early this morning our own Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC) had a brace against the number two team in the Premier League, Chelsea. Although I missed the first half (it started at 6am), I did catch the second half and what was a brilliant equalizing header by Dempsey in the 89th minute. His first goal, in the tenth minute, was an equally impressive display of finesse. I think this is great for American soccer. Hopefully this will boost his confidence even more and he can keep this up. Watch the highlight video...

Today Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid named Seattle native Brian Schmetzer as his first assistant. This is a great move as Brian, 2-time USL-1 Champion with the Sounders, is a cornerstone of soccer in the Puget Sound. Growing up in a soccer family (their father played professionally in Germany), Brian played for the Sounders and his twin brothers Andy and Walt also played professionally. Walt and Andy currently run the family business Schmetzer's Sporthaus which is the largest soccer specialty store in the region. As the USL Sounders coach over the past several years, Brian has truly proven himself to be a great coach. And as Sigi's first decision, this was without-a-doubt the right move. Read the full press release here...

Get the latest EmeraldPitch.com wallpaper celebrating the Sounders FC's historic first match on March 19, 2009 featuring the text "Our Time Has Come" (in Latin) and Gambian midfielder Sanna Nyassi. I hope you like it. Download here...

RENTON, WASH. - The Seattle Sounders FC named Sigi Schmid as the first head coach in club history, the team announced today. Winner of six major soccer championships, including two MLS Cups, Schmid, 55, signed a multi-year contract. Read the entire press release at SoundersFC.com...

NEW YORK -- Major League Soccer has announced that the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC resolved a potential contractual issue regarding former Crew coach Sigi Schmid. Columbus acquired allocation money and cash from Seattle, thus releasing Schmid from contractual obligations and allowing him to proceed with his contract negotiations with Seattle. In connection with this matter, Major League Soccer found no evidence of tampering by Seattle Sounders FC.

I've been doing a lot of kit gazing over the last couple of days and thought I should give a formal shout-out to Microsoft for the sponsorship. Why? Because out of all the companies that could have sponsored us, Xbox is hands-down the coolest. I know there's a lot of SONY folks out there that dislike the 360 and I guess if Playstation 3 was on the front of our kits I'd be a bit bummed out too. But look at it this way, we could have Foster Farms Chicken or Hostess Cakes on it. Or how about a kit with five different sponsors.

Not to belabor this topic too much, but because of the interest in my post about the Sounders FC kits, I wanted to do a follow up. I also feel congratulations are in order to adidas for their latest MLS design for Toronto FC (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Once again, I have nothing in particular against adidas. In fact I own more of their gear than Nike or any other sport clothing manufacturer. But the truth is, if I were a TFC supporter I'd be extremely upset and would protest by leaving my wallet in my pocket.

This new wallpaper features a quote made by Freddie when he was introduced to the SSFC fans on October 28th. I hope you like. Download it now...

Introducing the new line of Sounders FC t-shirts sold exclusively by EmeraldPitch.com.  See all the designs...

So the upcoming expansion draft is around the corner and the pool of available players has been released. So who's going to be sporting the Rave Green come March?

In light of a recent post at GoalSeattle.com in which the new SSFC kits were "revealed" (via a scan from a magazine), I wanted to weigh in on what I saw. I'll start off by saying I support the Sounders FC no matter what their kits look like. I also realize a lot of fans don't care about this subject. So this post is directed to those who do care or are at least interested in a designer's opinion.

The New York Red Bulls are the Western conference champions.  Kinda crazy, isn't it?

So what's up with the MLS' playoff system?  I fail to understand how the two arguably best teams in the league, the Columbus Crew and the Chicago Fire, playing in a semi-final tonight and not the MLS Cup final makes any sense.  Personally I think that makes for a great final match, though the New York Red Bull factor could make it interesting.

I've always thought of soccer as the sport of fashion. Maybe it's because of my history of liking European music (e.g. Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, U2, Seal, etc) who's fashion-centric members claim to be soccer fans themselves. I also understand there may be different opinions about this one. Let's see, we have Drew Carey, "A-List" celebrities (whatever that means), Sounders FC players (will Ljungberg appear again—after all, he's a fashion statement himself), and finally, Sounders FC gear. At $65 a person, is it worth it?

A lot of us wonder what the pitch will look like and the environment will feel like when March comes around. With 17k season tickets already sold, I'm sure it's going to be great. But here's a few things I DO NOT want to experience during a SSFC match...

The USL Seattle Sounders, keeping up the tradition with All Nations Cup, will play the All Nations Cup 2008 Champions Bosnia. Former Sounders players such as Viet Nguyen and Andrew Gregor will join Sounders stars such as Leighton O'Brien, Kevin Sakuda, and Hugo Alcaraz. Already disbanded, the Sounders will get together one last time, thanks to the efforts of owner Adrian Hanauer and coach Brian Schmetzer, to support Sister Communities newest project...

There was nothing beautiful about the final result of today's Champions League match at Anfield between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid. When in the 94th minute Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard launched into defender Mariano Pernia just inside the box, I had a sinking feeling this was how it was designed to be all along.  Sure enough, referee Martin Hansson (who should immediately take up shopping mall Santa duty) pointed to the spot in what might be the most obviously biased call I've ever seen. If anything, Gerrard committed the foul and that the Hansson went so far as to call a PK the other way inevitably raises questions about his fairness and impartiality.

Download the latest EmeraldPitch wallpaper of Freddie Ljungberg...

I often wonder about football stars coming from Europe or elsewhere into the MLS. Will the desire to play at their highest level still be there? Think about it for a moment, Freddie has played in the most popular league in the world (BPL), for one of the most popular teams in the league (Arsenal), and won many trophies with this team (including the Champions League). Arsenal averages about 65,000 fans to every home game. The players are looked up to as if they are gods (unfortunately). And, the media is around every corner to catch every move they make.

Ljungberg, the 31 year old Swedish International was introduced to a couple hundred excited SSFC fans tonight at Qwest Field. There was a nice buzz in the air as the Sounders FC Marching Band played a few tunes while the crowd patiently waited for the announcement. Hanauer, Roth, Calabro, and Ljungberg entered the room to arousing applause. The night consisted of brief words from the ownership group followed by a few questions for Freddie. He assured the fans that he was here to win, not to be a novelty.

The Swedish International, Freddie Ljungberg is a Sounder. Read more about the press conference at Prost Amerika!...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Former Sweden captain Fredrik Ljungberg is reportedly set to sign for the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer. Read the Fox Soccer article...

If you can read Swedish, here's an article that all but confirms the Ljungberg move to Seattle. Take a look...

According to an article written by Prost Amerika! the Sounders FC may be signing Freddie Ljungberg next week.  Is this good news? Only time will tell. In the past, other "more seasoned" DPs have done real well in MLS as some have failed miserably. One thing is for certain, he'll be responsible for selling more tickets to 13 year old girls (remember TITANIC? –the best selling movie of all time thanks to this demographic, I'm sure Joe Roth remembers).

According to the latest Joe Roth interview, Sounders FC fans can expect a lot of news coming out of the club over the next six weeks. Could it be players (Ljungberg, Montero or even Crespo), a head coach, and even the away kit? Stand by.

Wednesday evening the USMNT will face off against T&T with a very youthful squad. This is what US fans have been looking forward to. The match will be broadcast live from Port of Spain on Wednesday night at 5pm PT on ESPN.

Washington DC-The US Men's National Team did what good teams do, they crushed a side that has no good reason for being on the same pitch with them. It was especially nice to see Beasley score a deuce, his first 2-goal game since spring of 2007. The win clinches a birth to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.