The Chicago Fire traded four-season veteran Dema Kovalenko, 25, to D.C. United for 18-year-old Justin Mapp, a Project-40 midfielder who logged 28 minutes during is rookie season in 2002.''Unfortunately, due to our situation he [Kovalenko] became a player we had to take a hard look at,'' said Dave Sarachan on his first trade since being named Chicago coach. ''The situation called for drastic measures. We feel we are getting a very talented young player in return, who is just beginning to blossom. I feel he will give us tremendous depth in the attacking part of our game. He is a …

The MetroStars acquired defender Eddie Pope, striker Jaime Moreno and midfielder Richie Williams from D.C. United last week in exchange for defender Mike Petke, the MetroStars' second 2003 MLS SuperDraft first-round pick (No. 5 overall) and an allocation.The trade is the MetroStars' first since Bob Bradley took over as the coach in late October. The trio played under Bradley when he served as the assistant coach for United's first two MLS Cup titles in 1996 and 1997.Moreno, 28, is the fifth-leading scorer (69 goals, 52 assists, 190 total points) in MLS history.Pope, 29, anchored the backline of the 2002 U.S. …

Bruce Arena called up 28 players for the first U.S. national team training camp of 2003. They will assemble Jan. 4 at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in preparation for the international friendly against Canada on Jan. 18 at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.All 10 MLS teams are represented for the two-week training camp. The Columbus Crew contributes the largest contingent with five members. The 2002 MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes send four a piece.Included in the 28-man roster is 22-year-old Germany-based defender Cory Gibbs.In addition, Chicago Fire midfielder Chris Armas (torn …

Jovan Kirovski, who didn't earn a start for Birmingham until December, scored twice over the holidays and was a bright spot for the Blues in a loss to Manchester United.ENGLAND* Brad Friedel (Blackburn, PL) vs. West Ham, 2-2 (Dec. 28).Started: 90 minutes. Friedel was the victim of a Martin Taylor own goal and a Jermain Defoe header. Blackburn is in 11th place.* Brad Friedel (Blackburn, PL) at Liverpool, 1-1 (Dec. 26).Started: 90 minutes. Friedel conceded a 17th-minute goal to John Arne Riise.Friedel's holiday schedule: Jan. 1, vs. Middlesbrough.* Kasey Keller (Tottenham, PL) at Newcastle, 1-2 (Dec. 29)Started: 90 minutes.Keller, who …

* Greg Vanney (Bastia, D1) vs. Nantes, 3-1 (Dec. 20)Started: 90 minutes. After being limited to three appearances as a sub, Vanney ended the year with three straight starts.* Oguchi Onyewu (Metz, D2) vs. Amiens, 1-0 (Dec. 19) DNP* David Regis (Troyes, D1) vs. Rennes, 0-1 (Dec. 20) DNPNOTE: The French League is on winter break until Jan. 11

March 27: Clint Mathis scored two goals for the United States in a 4-2 loss to Germany in Rostock, touching off speculation that he would be snapped by a European club before the World Cup. Like milquetoasts in red, white and blue, Bruce Arena's men wilted against waves of Germans attacks. Only Clint Mathis could pierce the Teutonic armor. In the stands sat Bayern Munich brass, who revealed interest in the Georgia striker. He became the first American male soccer player to grace Sports Illustrated's cover in eight years. But Arena didn't embrace the sharpshooter …

February 24: After John Harkes (Sheffield Wednesday, 1991) and Kasey Keller (Leicester, 1997), goalkeeper Brad Friedel became the third American to win the English League Cup when he led Blackburn Rovers to a 2-1 victory over Tottenham. What must the folks at England's Department of Employment and at Liverpool be thinking now? After repeatedly being denied a work permit, Brad Friedel finally landed at Liverpool in 1997 only to spend most of three seasons on the bench. Here's a few of the accolades Friedel, who joined Blackburn in 2000, yielded in 2002: Blackburn's official Web …

January 8: Major League Soccer announced that the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion will immediately cease operations, reducing the league to 10 teams. For the second year in a row, the New Year began with talk of contraction in MLS. Unlike 2001, this time around league executives pulled the plug. Tampa Bay, as a league-run team without potential saviors, always led the list of teams most likely to be chopped. Anschutz Entertainment Group advisers had been suggesting to Phil Anschutz that the Rapids should be contracted. But Anschutz lives near Denver, and the …

Clarence E. Goodson IV can tell you that getting kicked in the groin hurts, but not as much as getting kicked out of school. This time last year, Goodson sat on his couch alone and watched the College Cup on television. Plenty of other players, confined to their living rooms, wished they were in Columbus, but few felt further away than Goodson. ''I didn't even have a chance of being there,'' he said. He was stuck doing damage control at Northern Virginia Community College after failing out of Maryland in his first year. ''It …

Do you like soccer? There's a simple question with as many answers as hexagons on the ball - if you want a specific response. In this country, millions may play but don't care much for watching. Many adults who spend enormous spare time watching their children play - ''Oh, I love soccer'' - couldn't care less about Taylor Twellman. Obviously, millions of Americans are soccer fans. But fans of what soccer? There are those who may tune in only for big events. How many of the roughly 7 million who turned on the United States-Mexico …

The Los Angeles Galaxy won its first MLS final after three runner-up finishes when it beat New England, 1-0, in overtime before an MLS Cup-record crowd of 61,316 at Gillette Stadium. Since the inaugural MLS season in 1996, the Los Angeles Galaxy had worn the stigma of failure. The Galaxy lost the first MLS Cup, fell again in 1999 and was beaten in 2001. It won the FC Champions Cup and U.S. Open Cup in 2001 and four West regular-season titles in the first six years of MLS. But in the postseason L.A. stood for …

Led by first-year German Birgit Prinz, the Carolina Charge completed a remarkable worst-to-first campaign by beating Washington, 3-2, in Founders Cup II, the WUSA final. The WUSA championship was Birgit Prinz's fourth title of 2002: DFB-POKAL FRAUEN. The German striker's hat trick carried FFC Frankfurt past Hamburger SV, 5-0, in the May 11 final at Berlin's Olympiastadion, its fourth successive German Cup title. BUNDESLIGA-FRAUEN. Prinz netted 17 goals as Frankfurt romped to its third league championship in four years, going unbeaten with an 18-0-4 record to best Turbine Potsdam and Rumeln Duisburg by …

A day after the United States fell to Germany in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, Landon Donovan was back in action for MLS's San Jose Earthquakes. The World Cup ended, and 20-year-old Landon Donovan took on another job: soccer salesman. He didn't need to go door-to-door, but he'd probably have been willing. Instead, he made a whirlwind tour of the nation's most popular talk shows. He accommodated scores of print journalists and became a familiar voice on radio, from NPR to sports talk. The plan was to make Americans - whose interest in the …

Defensive midfielder Chris Armas, a stalwart in the U.S. World Cup qualifying campaign, was ruled out of the finals less than four weeks before the opening game when he suffered a knee injury during a friendly against Uruguay. To many teammates and fans, Chris Armas was the heart and soul of the U.S. World Cup team. But he missed the tournament. A man who has won thousands of tackles and shaken off hundreds of hits crumpled while planting a foot. Armas pushed on for eight more painful minutes, then hobbled off and was replaced by Pablo …

Goalkeeper -- Laurie Franklin (Malone). Defenders -- Julie Baird (Western Baptist), Cheryl Balogh (Mt. Vernon Nazarene), Heather Ellis (Trinity International), Courtney Porter (The MasterÆs). Midfielders -- Jessica Bents (Trinity International), Emily Ouimette (Olivet Nazarene), Bethany Seiffert (Mt. Vernon Nazarene), Amy Wolf (Roberts Wesleyan). Forwards -- Julie Herbst (Malone), KeriAnn Lawson (Western Baptist), Ashley Palmer (Indiana Wesleyan), Sarah Riojas (Western Baptist).