The Colorado Rapids acquired midfielder Jason Moore from D.C. United in exchange for a 2001 first-round draft pick. Moore, 21, left the University of Virginia after his sophomore year and was the top overall selection in the 1999 Major League Soccer Draft. Moore appeared 16 times for D.C. United in 1999, then went on to make three playoff appearances as United captured the MLS championship. He has also played for the U.S. under-20 and under-23 national teams. "This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make," United president and general manager Kevin Payne said. "Basically it came down to …

Tom Stagliano Wellesley, Mass. What has happened to Danielle Fotopoulos regarding the women's national team? Here is the women who broke Mia Hamm's NCAA women's scoring record. Who lead Florida to an NCAA "upset" of UNC women in 1998. Who has scored a "reasonable number" of goals for the national team for the number of playing minutes she has been allocated to date. Who is a big forward that can dominate over many of the international defenders. Why is she not in the national team camp? Is she off doing something else? Is she medically not ready? Or does the …

Claudio Reyna came on as a second-half substitute for Glasgow Rangers in the four matches between his national team duty against Iran and the Gold Cup. Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has been outspoken about his displeasure with players missing games. SOCCER AMERICA: What did Dick Advocaat say to you when you returned to the club after the Iran match? CLAUDIO REYNA: Nothing really about the situation of me playing there. It was a bit strange because the first games I didn't start were after the Iran game and I'm not sure whether it was because I was coming …

Here are the results of the January socceramerica.com poll, in which 739 online fans picked the Gold Cup 2000 champion. Champion: USA: 376 votes (50.9 percent) Runner-up: Mexico: 264 (35.7 percent) Also-rans: Colombia: 30 (4.1 percent) Peru: 16 (2.2 percent) Jamaica: 14 (1.9 percent) Haiti: 8 (1.1 percent) Trinidad & Tobago: 8 (1.1 percent) Costa Rica: 7 (0.9 percent) Canada: 5 (0.7 percent) Honduras: 4 (0.5 percent) South Korea: 4 (0.5 percent) Guatemala: 1 (0.1 percent)

Under-17 standout, just a junior, finds 'perfect situation' with D.C. United Bobby Convey's prodigious talents long ago caught the eyes of American soccer's most influnential coaches, who encouraged the U.S. under-17 standout to take his game to MLS. A few weeks in New Zealand assured him it was the right choice. And so Convey - at 16 years, 8 months, the youngest player the league has signed - is off to D.C., where stardom, after a few years' development, apparently awaits. Nancy Convey, Bobby's mom, sees the other side. "He is a kid, he is my middle child," she says. …

U.S. women's national team coach April Heinrichs chose 29 players for a March 2-6 training camp in Orlando, Fla., from which she will choose an 18-player Algarve Cup roster. The USA will depart for the Portugal tournament on March 7. For the second straight time, Heinrichs did not include Women's World Cup '99 players Tiffany Roberts, Danielle Fotopoulos or Tracy Ducar on her original list of players. Roberts was a late replacement for Cindy Parlow in the last Florida camp after Parlow hurt a hamstring. The 2000 Algarve Cup will run from March 12-18 and features four countries that will …

The collective gasp that filled the room when defender Steve Shak was announced as the first selection in the MLS SuperDraft was probably not so much a reaction to the player as it was to the fact that the MetroStars had managed to avoid trading the pick. In the weeks leading up to the draft, MetroStars general manager Nick Sakiewicz said every single club inquired about obtaining the top spot, and in the three days prior to the draft those talks intensified. Chicago and Colorado were the most aggressive suitors and the rumored scenarios would have landed the MetroStars at …

Earthquakes grab best of draft's foreign legion The mystery surrounding the "youth internationals" finally ended three days before the draft when nine in-ternational players suited up for the MLS Youth Select team at the Umbro Classic. Four members of the Trinidad & Tobago club Joe Public, two players from Bolivia's Tahuichi Academy, two Mexicans and one Venezuelan joined the nine Project-40 signees to form the weekend's least cohesive squad. With new Project-40 coach Alfonso Mondelo trying to give every player equal playing time, MLS coaches essentially had about 135 minutes to evaluate these players. "It would have been nice to …

The USA won its Gold Cup first-round group with a 1-0 win over Peru. Cobi Jones gave the Americans the lead in the 59th minute, heading in an Eddie Lewis cross The USA meets Colombia Saturday Feb. 19 in Miami (3:00 pm ET on Univision). Colombia lost, 2-0, to Honduras earlier in the day (Feb. 16). The U.S. starting lineup vs. Peru: FRIEDEL, Brad (GK) POPE, Eddie LLAMOSA, Carlos VANNEY, Greg JONES, Cobi ARMAS, Chris KIROVSKI, Jovan REYNA, Claudio (Capt.) LEWIS, Eddie WYNALDA, Eric McBRIDE, Brian

The U.S. Soccer Federation, in conjunction with Major League Soccer and United Soccer Leagues, has unveiled plans to pioneer experiments with a two- referee system that is currently being tested around the world by FIFA. The system will maintain the two referee's assistants (linesmen) in addition to two refs on the field. The two-referee system will be tested in the United States in two phases. The first phase will see the system used exclusively at official exhibition matches between Major League Soccer and A- League clubs, and at all A-League U.S. Open Cup qualifying matches. The first phase of testing …

The following editorial, by Executive Editor Mike Woitalla, appeared in the May 31, 1999 issue of Soccer America: The referee and two linesmen must keep track of 22 players. A ridiculous ratio. No other major sport places such a large burden on so few. Plus, the linesmen are outside the field of play and must concentrate on offside. Players away from the ball, the ref's obvious focus, can push, shove and grab each other. That they do. Just watch the goalmouth before a cross. The referee must run more than players. With a two-ref system, FIFA could abolish its absurd …

A women's professional soccer league will start in the spring of 2001, pending approval from the U.S. Soccer Federation. Major U.S. media companies and individual investors have joined forces with the 20 players from the U.S. women's World Cup '99 team to form the Women's United Soccer Association or WUSA. Both the investors and players have executed preliminary agreements and are working to finalize the first round of financing which is scheduled to close by April 1, 2000. A minimum of $40 million is scheduled to be provided by the investors to fund a minimum of eight teams plus the …

The MetroStars didn't have to wait long for their trade of Henry Zambrano to garner them an actual player. MLS allocated Colombian forward Alex Comas to the MetroStars, who acquired the allocation in the earlier trade with Colorado. They expect to receive another allocation later this week in place of Yugoslavian midfielder Sasa Curcic. "Alex Comas is one the more talented strikers to come from the competitive Colombian league" said Sakiewicz. "We look to him to fill the scoring void this team sorely needs, as we continue to build the team for the upcoming 2000 MLS season." Comas, 28, spent …

The Colorado Rapids acquired Colombia forward Henry Zambrano from the MetroStars in exchange for an allocation. Zambrano, 25, joined the MetroStars late in 2000 after a career that included play in his native Colombia and in Ecuador. "We are thrilled to have a player of Henry's caliber joining us," Colorado coach Glenn Myernick said. "He is a proven goalscorer who is quick and crafty and will be a perfect complement to Jorge Dely Valdes and Paul Bravo.ö HENRY ZAMBRANO Position: Forward Height: 5-6 Weight: 148 Birthdate: 8/7/73 Birthplace: Soledad, Colombia Personal: Married to Viviana International Honors: Made Colombian full national …

Results February 18 2nd place vs. 1st place: D.C. United 2, MetroStars 2 (D.C. wins 5-4 on penalties.) 4th place vs. 3rd place: Chicago 2, Tampa Bay 1 February 17 6th place vs. 5th place: Kansas City 3, Dallas 2 8th place vs. 7th place: Los Angeles 1, New England 2 February 16 12th place vs. 11th place: Colorado 1, Miami 0 10th place vs. 9th place: San Jose 1, Columbus 1 February 15 D.C. United 2, Los Angeles 0 Kansas City 4, Miami 2 February 14 Dallas 2, San Jose 0 MetroStars 1, Columbus 0 February 13 Chicago 4, …