The Soccer Thread (Version 8)

Quieter -- Oslo or Vancouver? Norway or Canada? Tough call.

 

Many fewer hockey riots in Oslo.

 

Theo Walcott out for the rest of the season and the World Cup with an ACL tear.

 

Michael Bradley to Toronto, per Taylor Twellman on Twitter.

He'll be joining Jermaine Defoe in the Great White North, eh. And some folks are estimating TFC will have $100m tied up in those two players.

 

Wow. If Lil' Bradley goes, that would be a shock for an in his prime player to move from a steady climb up the European chain to the relative wasteland of MLS.

 

Thomas Hitzlsperger, 52 times capped by Germany, has come out.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/08/thomas-hitzlsperger-gay-announces-homosexual

 

Hmm.

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/08/michael-bradley-transfer-rumor-toronto-major-league-soccer-latest-news-roma/

 

That article does gloss over the fact that Bradley wasn't playing for Roma, and Roma just brought in another midfielder on loan. I don't know what kind of options he may have had in Europe, but he's done at Roma.

 

If you believe Greg Seltzer -- and you should; he's as connected as they come -- he had options.
http://www.noshortcorners.com/

 

I have to say, several of those options would look a hell of a lot more appealing to me than Toronto FC, assuming he'd actually see the field.

 

Going around Twitter that this is the USMNT's World Cup home jersey ...



The road jersey will be red body instead of white, with white piping instead of blue.

 

I like it -- very retro look.