Former Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens seemed top be on an upward path when he left the MLS team for England's Queens Park Rangers last year on a short term deal. But he never made it farther than the second-tier club's reserve team and was cut at the end of the 2007-08 English season. Where's he been since?

Pickens, 26, whose rights were held by the Fire until it traded him to Colorado this month, spent three fruitless months trying out for different European clubs between August and November, he told Luis Arroyave. "It was tough to be on trial on and off. You would train one week and be off another. There wasn't much consistency. It definitely was not fun. But it's not supposed to be."

Pickens said he wouldn't mind giving Europe another shot some day. "I would go back if I could," he said. "But I probably wouldn't sign if it's to sit on the bench." Although he never cracked QPR's first team lineup, he learned from the experience. "I learned about life in general. I learned how to get knocked down and get back up." Read the original story...