MLS Exports - 2016 Edition

South America

Norberto Paparatto - Portland Timbers - Atlético Rafaela (Primera División, Argentina)
Lucas Pittinari - Colorado Rapids - Club Atlético Belgrano (Primera División, Argentina)
Leandro Barrera - San Jose Earthquakes - Club Atlético San Martín (Primera División, Argentina)
Ezequiel Cirigliano - FC Dallas - River Plate (Primera División, Argentina)
Thomás - Seattle Sounders - Joinville Esporte Clube (Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, Brazil)
Sebastián Jaime - Real Salt Lake - Universidad Católica (Campeonato Nacional, Chile)
Andrés Correa - Seattle Sounders - Boyacá Chicó F.C. (Categoría Primera A, Colombia)
Javier Calle - New York City FC - Independiente Medellin (Categoría Primera A, Colombia)
Diego Rodríguez - Vancouver Whitecaps - C.A. Cerro (Primera División Uruguaya, Uruguay)
Gabriel Torres - Colorado Rapids - Zamora FC (Venezuelan Primera División, Venezuela)

Central America/Caribbean

Leonardo González - Seattle Sounders - Herediano (Primera División de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
Roy Miller - New York Red Bulls - Saprissa (Primera División de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
Alex López - Houston Dyanmo - Olimpia (Liga Nacional de Honduras, Honduras)
Juninho - LA Galaxy - Club Tijuana (Liga MX, Mexico)
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy - Pachuca (Liga MX, Mexico)
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Querétaro (Liga MX, Mexico)
Jorge Villafaña - Portland Timbers - Santos Laguna (Liga MX, Mexico)
Luis Silva - Real Salt Lake - Tigres UANL (Liga MX, Mexico)
Sebastian Saucedo - Real Salt Lake - Veracruz (Liga MX, Mexico)
Daneil Cyrus - Chicago Fire - W Connection (TT Pro League, Trinidad and Tobago)

Europe

Estrela - Orlando City SC - APOEL (Cypriot First Division, Cyprus)
George Fochive - Portland Timbers - Viborg FF (Danish Superliga, Denmark)
Matt Miazga - New York Red Bulls - Chelsea (English Premier League, England)
Angeliño - New York City FC - Manchester City (English Premier League, England)
Shay Facey - New York City FC - Rotherdam United FC (Football League Championship, England)
Andy Rose - Seattle Sounders - Coventry City (English League One, England)
Fernando Aristeguieta - Philadelphia Union - Red Star (Ligue 2, France)
Emanuel Pogatetz - Columbus Crew - Union Berlin (2. Bundesliga, Germany)
Caleb Clarke - Vancouver Whitecaps - SpVgg Unterhaching (Regionalliga Bayern, Germany)
Charlie Rugg - LA Galaxy - Eintracht Trier 05 (Regionalliga Südwest, Germany)
Aaron Schoenfeld - Columbus Crew - Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israeli Premier League, Israel)
Rodney Wallace - Portland Timbers - Arouca (Primeira Liga, Portugal)
Steven Vitória - Philadelphia Union - Benfica (Primeira Liga, Portugal)
Erik Palmer-Brown - Sporting KC - Porto B (Segunda Liga, Portugal)
Perry Kitchen - DC United - Heart of Midlothian (Scottish Premiership, Scotland)
Chris Konopka - Toronto FC - Ross County (Scottish Premiership, Scotland)
Juan Ramirez - Colorado Rapids - UD Almeria (Segunda División, Spain)
Kristinn Steindórsson - Columbus Crew - GIF Sindsvall (Allsvenskan, Sweden)
David Texeira - FC Dallas - Sivasspor (Süper Lig, Turkey)

Asia

Obafemi Martins - Seattle Sounders - Shanghai Greenland Shenhua (Chinese Super League, China)
Krisztián Németh - Sporting KC - Al-Gharafa (Qatar Stars League, Qatar)

USL

Tony Cascio - Orlando City SC - Arizona United SC
Antoine Hoppenot - Philadelphia Union - FC Cincinnati
Jimmy McLaughlin - Philadelphia Union - FC Cincinnati
Sean Okoli - New England Revolution - FC Cincinnati
Kenney Walker - LA Galaxy - FC Cincinnati
Chandler Hoffman - Houston Dynamo - Louisville City
Lewis Neal - Orlando City SC - Orlando City B
Marius Obekop - New York Red Bulls - Orlando City B
Andre Lewis - Vancouver Whitecaps - Portland Timbers 2
Chris Schuler - Real Salt Lake - Real Monarchs
Eric Bird - Philadelphia Union - Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
Dzenan Catic - Philadelphia Union - Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
Taylor Hunter - Houston Dynamo - Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
Memo Rodriguez - Houston Dynamo - Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
A.J. Cochran - Houston Dynamo - Saint Louis FC
Carlos Alvarez - Colorado Rapids - San Antonio FC
Josh Ford - Orlando City SC - San Antonio FC
Danny Garcia - FC Dallas - San Antonio FC
Jason Johnson - Chicago Fire - San Antonio FC
Manolo Sanchez - New York Red Bulls - San Antonio FC
Jordan Schweitzer - Seattle Sounders - Seattle Sounders FC 2
Tommy Meyer - LA Galaxy - Swope Park Rangers

NASL

Matt Watson - Chicago Fire - Carolina RailHawks
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire - Indy Eleven
Lovel Palmer - Chicago Fire - Indy Eleven
Charles Eloundou - Colorado Rapids - Jacksonville Armada
Adaílton - Chicago Fire - Miami FC
Dane Richards - New York Red Bulls - Miami FC
Bernardo Añor - Sporting KC - Minnesota United FC
Danny Cruz - Philadelphia Union - Minnesota United FC
Damion Lowe - Seattle Sounders - Minnesota United FC
Ben Speas - Columbus Crew - Minnesota United FC
Jairo Arrieta - DC United - New York Cosmos
Michael Lahoud - Philadelphia Union - New York Cosmos
Jimmy Ockford - Seattle Sounders - New York Cosmos
Robbie Findley - Toronto FC - Rayo OKC
Michel - FC Dallas - Rayo OKC
Pecka - Real Salt Lake - Rayo OKC
Sebastián Velásquez - New York City FC - Rayo OKC
Eric Avila - Orlando City SC - Tampa Bay Rowdies
Jeremy Hall - New England Revolution - Tampa Bay Rowdies
Danny Mwanga - Orlando City SC - Tampa Bay Rowdies
Michael Nanchoff - Portland Timbers - Tampa Bay Rowdies

Odds and Ends

Ridgwell to Debut this Weekend?

Portland Timbers center back Liam Ridgewell is on loan until February with English Football League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion, and may get his first action this weekend as Brighton takes on Hull City on Saturday morning. If he does, he'll have a chance to match up against former Chicago Fire striker Shaun Maloney who joined Hull City in August after spending just eight months in Chicago. Maloney has scored one goal since returning to England.

Copa América Centenario Playoffs

Today Panama City will play host to the final two play-in games for the Copa América Centenario. In the first match, Panama will take on Cuba, and in the second Trinidad and Tobago will play Haiti. Current MLSers Aníbal Godoy (Panama, San Jose), Joevin Jones (Trinidad and Tobago, Chicago), Kevan George (Trinidad and Tobago, Columbus), and Cordell Cato (Trinidad and Tobago, San Jose) will all be suiting up for the matches as well as a number of former/unsigned MLSers including Soni Mustivar (Haiti), Blas Pérez (Panama), Gabriel Torres (Panama) and Daneil Cyrus (Trinidad and Tobago). The actual tournament, which will be held in the United States, will begin in early June.

Thiago Silva, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham

Ok, so I said this would be an MLS blog, but how can I talk about the MLS without at least mentioning the World Cup? Let's be reasonable. So Germany destroyed Brazil in Tuesday's semifinal by a score of 7-1, a more-or-less unprecedented drubbing against the South American powerhouse. Now there's been a lot of talk about Neymar's absence due to his broken vertebra, but very little about Thiago Silva's yellow card that led to his suspension. If you missed it, Silva received his second yellow card of the tournament (an automatic one-game suspension) for trying to interfere with Colombian goalie David Ospina's punt. It was a completely unnecessary foul, especially given that he already had a card to his name. It was selfish, stupid, and offered zero tactical advantage to his team. As a result, Brazil was forced to take on the force that is Germany without him. Would his presence have spelled victory for Brazil? Probably not, the addition of one player probably wouldn't have prevented 7 goals. That said, Brazil completely crumbled without their two best players, and had Silva been there, he at least could've given them some fight with his on-field leadership. Instead we watched an utter meltdown of arguably one of the top teams in the world. So what does this have to do with Wayne Rooney and David Beckham? In 1998, David Beckham senselessly retaliated against Argentine Diego Simeone which led to his ejection in England's Round of 16 match against Argentina. The match ended in a 2-2 draw and England went on to lose in penalties.

 

In 2006, Wayne Rooney was involved in a similar play where he stomped on the groin of Ricardo Carvalho in a quarterfinal match against Portugal. The match ended in a 0-0 draw with England again losing in penalties.



Both Beckham and Rooney were vilified for their actions, isn't it only fair that Silva get similar treatment? In all three cases, senseless acts by these stars put their teams at a disadvantage. At least Beckham and Rooney were young and hot-headed (not that that's an excuse). Silva's 29 years old and the team captain. You expect better from a player of that caliber. Just my thoughts.