Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Obodai

It’s a cheery Monday morning here at the solar-powered soccer blog. Yes, we’ve put the words “cheery” and “Monday morning” in the same sentence, because we’re still savoring the 4-0 pasting the Quakes laid on the Revolution Saturday night. Speaking of which, you can now cast your ballot for Ronnie O’Brien’s first strike from Saturday in the MLS Goal of the Week voting.

O’Brien is also the subject of an excellent one-hour radio special created by East Coast FM, a station in his hometown of Bray, Ireland. It covers his development as a youth player, his early days with Middlesborough, Juventus, and other clubs,  and his long career in MLS. Included are interviews with a number of figures from O’Brien’s footballing past as well as the man himself. Great stuff from the Emerald Isle.

In other news, the web site ModernGhana.com reports that the Quakes are among four teams interested in Anthony Obodai, a 26-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam  midfielder who has also seen time with Ghana’s U-17 and U-20s and whose last name inspires today’s headline. (As for the “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” part, we present to you what may be YouTube’s best example of a lame video paired with a great soundtrack.)

According to Modern Ghana, Obodai is on the outs at his current club, RKC Waalwijk, due to a disagreement with his coach, Ruud Brood (which would make for a good name for a band, we think). According to Obodai’s Wikipedia page, it’s not the first time he’s found himself in this sort of situation — a similar disagreement is said to have led to his dismissal by Sparta Rotterdam in 2007. Modern Ghana says that Holland’s NEC Nijmegen, Switzerland’s Young Boys, and Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach are also interested in signing him.

Considering the MLS transfer window closed last Friday, it seems unlikely that he’ll be appearing in Quakes blue anytime soon. We’ve contacted the club about their alleged interest and will let you know if there’s any truth to the rumor.