A fine holiday tradition

Tradition is one of the things that adds character to a soccer club, as any supporter of the San Jose Earthquakes can attest. Many of you will remember the game in June, 2005, which saw Landon Donovan return to Spartan Stadium for the first time as a member of the L.A. Galaxy. (You can find video highlights here.) Among the festivities that day was a special charity fundraiser in which fans were invited to have a go at a custom-made Donovan piñata, seen above, for a dollar a swing. It was a landmark day for San Jose fans, who finally had a chance to voice their considerable displeasure over Donovan’s defection and were rewarded with a dominating 3-0 victory, punctuated with two second-half own goals. It was a defining moment in an epic year as the Quakes became the first team to go undefeated at home over the course of an entire season.

So what does this have to do with the holidays? As it turns out, the biggest prize from the Donovan piñata wasn’t the candy inside — it was the piñata itself, the head of which was picked up by a young member of the Jussen family. Every year since then — well, the photo below says it all.

Happy holidays from everyone here at Center Line Soccer!

Quakes hoping draft homework pays off

The San Jose Earthquakes haven’t had much in the way of draft picks the last two years. In both instances they didn’t have a pick until the second round. But this season, the Quakes find themselves among the teams with a surplus of selections, and general manager John Doyle indicated they intend to use them.

Read more…

McDonald called into U.S national team camp

Brandon McDonald has been called into the U.S. national team camp. Photo: Kelley L. Cox, isiphotos.com. 

San Jose Earthquakes defender Brandon McDonald received an early Christmas gift on Tuesday, when it was revealed that he had been called in by U.S. national team manager Bob Bradley to take part in the team’s January training camp. Read more…

The mini-camp that wasn’t

Remember the mini-camp that the San Jose Earthquakes were supposed to have this offseason? Evidently, it never happened, as the team ran into a stipulation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that indicates that players must get a minimum number of consecutive weeks off.

The Quakes trained right up to the Thanksgiving holiday, and then went their separate ways in the expectation that they would get back together soon. But when the team was made aware of the CBA provision, it was decided that the mini-camp would be shelved.

“We met with the senior players on the team and they felt that coming in for a week or two wouldn’t really make much of a difference,” said Quakes’ general manager John Doyle.

Of course, one reason for getting the team back together would be to monitor the status of several players whose season was ended by injury. But from that group, only Andre Luiz would have been able to train.

Doyle added that Chris Wondolowski and Cornell Glen are making good progress in their rehabilitation from their respective knee injuries, but the prognosis for defender Jason Hernandez isn’t as encouraging. After undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligaments and a fracture in his left ankle, there is now concern that Hernandez may not be ready by the time training camp opens in late January.

“It’s kind of a weekly conversation [with trainer Bruce Morgan],” said Doyle. “Hernandez could be back by then, but he might not be.”

U.S. draws England, Algeria, Slovenia for WC

Avoiding getting drawn into a potential Group of Death with France, Portugal, or a strong African team like Ghana, the U.S. men’s national team was grouped this morning with England, Algeria, and Slovenia for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The U.S. matches will all take place within a 90-minute drive of two of South Africa’s most populous cities, Johannesburg and Pretoria. The U.S. may also have an advantage in that they played matches in last summer’s Confederations Cup at each of the stadiums they will see in the group stage of the World Cup: Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, and the Royal Bafoken Stadium in Rustenburg.

The U.S. schedule is:
Saturday, June 12 against England at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg
Friday, June 18 against Slovenia at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg
Wednesday, June 23 against Algeria at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria

Look for detailed travel tips in the coming days when we publish Center Line Soccer’s Travelers’ Guide to the World Cup.