Players the Strikers need to sign.

The new Strikers have big shoes to fill. Their prior name sakes were for the most part powerhouses, with star players, great attendance and a record that boasts never missing the playoffs. Will this new incarnation be up to par?

Traffic (owners of the new Strikers) have given us quite a few quality players in Romario, Zinho, Christian Gomez, among others. We know they have connections and could sign great players for the 2011 season. Let's hope they can pull off a few good transfers and surprise us!

Here is my fantasy list followed by players that might realistically be in the teams budget.

Ronaldinho: Yeah, I'm dreaming. If the Strikers were in MLS it could be realistic considering Traffic has the Brazil connection. Rumors have him going to the LA Galaxy or a return to Brazil.

Carlos Tevez: The Argentina striker has troubles with current club Manchester City and requested a transfer. Imagine watching Tevez at Lockhart Stadium...

Andres D'Alessandro: This Argentine has completed his stay at Internacional of Brazil and just got eliminated from the Club World Cup. Rumors have his sights on a likely return to River Plate in Argentina. A few European clubs are interested too.

Gianluigi Buffon: Wow, talk about dreaming... This Juventus goalkeeper would be any teams dream. He would likely be the reason the team would make it to the playoffs. A russian club is said to be after this 32-year-old shot stopper.

Clarence Seedorf: This Dutch player is a midfielder for Italian club A.C. Milan. The 34-year-old is said to be heading to MLS.

Juan Pablo Angel: Yeah, I know, the Galaxy are going to sign him, but this star was made for the Strikers. The huge Colombian population in South Florida would have flocked to see him.

Coming back to reality... Here is a list of players that could be within The Striker's reach.

Jaime Moreno: This former DC United star would be great for the Strikers. Speaking English fluently and originally from Bolivia he could be the face of the team on TV and radio. He is recognizable to most soccer connoisseurs.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto: Former Columbus Crew Designated Player, Schelotto was among the players not taken in the MLS Re-entry draft. He is still a great player and would be the perfect replacement for Christian Gomez if he doesn't return.

Dema Kovalenko: This rugged player will no doubt get carded every other game but no one can deny the man plays with spirit. Could play in midfield or as a back up striker.

Nick Garcia : Recently played for Toronto FC. Was not selected in the Re-entry draft. At 31 he is still a great defender.

Adrian Serioux: Former Houston Dynamo and Canadian international defender, currently a free agent. Would be great for our defense.

Gale Agbossoumonde: Played for Miami FC in 2009 for 6 games, went to Portugal on loan but didn't get playing time. It's time to bring him back and have him play regularly rather than sitting on some bench in Europe. Rumored to be heading to a Swedish team.

Pat Onstad : Canadian goalkeeper is a free agent and a member of the Canadian national team. Last played with the Houston Dynamo.

Franklin Salas: Out of favor at Ecuadorean Champions Liga de Quito, Salas is a skillful dribbling forward with an electrifying pace. His hard shot from 25 yards won the award for the goal of the tournament in the 2005 edition of the Copa Sudamericana.

Claudio Bieler: Forward from Racing Club in Argentina. A proven goalscorer. He is so good that this past February he was called up by then Argentina manager Diego Maradona, but ended up not playing because of an injury.

Diego Serna : Former Miami Fusion and Miami FC player. He was and forever will be a fan favorite. It could be his last hoorah! Wouldn't mind chanting "D-i-e-g-o" one last time!

Can you think of any other players? Suggest a few by leaving a comment below or flood the Miami FC/Strikers email with your player suggestions: fclavijo@trafficsports.com
(He might kill me for giving out his email)

Miami FC loses yet again. We suck again!

Sadly Miami FC lost again this past weekend. We are now in last place and its not looking pretty! What can we say at this point? Can we really, realistically make the playoffs? Can our new coach Daryl Shore pull a rabbit out of his hat and turn things around? It's difficult for a coach to make things happen with a team he didn't pick. But we hope the coach has that magic.
We all say that on paper, Miami FC has a good team. But, the mix of Ex-MLS players and youth hasn't panned out. We have seen a weak defense this year. It doesn't help that our best player in the back, Zach Kirby, has been hurt for large portions of the year. Even a great goalkeeper like Caleb Patterson can't stop every shot. (Talk about Caleb, check out his new blog on the Blues site "Don't fear the keeper" ).
Our other weak point is our forwards. We just can't score. We need a Romario or Alex Afonso up front.
We can only hope things turn around for the better in the weeks to come. It's not unheard of that a team could make a come back. But do we have what it takes?
Maybe it's time to start building for 2011, the year of the Strikers!
For more on the Blues loss to Austin check out www.miamifc.com
Coach Shore picture by Robert Scorca

Ultras Road Trip to Tampa. Blues tie 1-1 with Rowdies

A four hour plus road trip up North and the Ultras were in Tampa supporting Miami FC as they faced the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The game was delayed due to rain, we got soaked and a Rowdies fan threw a beer at me, thankfully missing, but wasting a perfectly good beer. Alcohol abuse!

Some 50 plus Miami fans came out to Steinbrenner field and danced to the beat of the Miami Ultras drums and cowbell. Tampa's security even told us they liked us better then the troublesome Ralph's Mob (Plus we are better looking too!). We never saw the Sock Mascot they have. I guess they didn't want to get their sock wet... They did have these weird bugs that I just had to take a picture of, see to the right. In the end, it was a fun drive up and we hope to see more Miami Fans make the trip to the next game at the end of the month!

The Blues held on to the ball for large portions of the game and while our midfield is strong we still seem to lack that Center Forward that can score goals a la Alex Afonso from a few years back or Romario from Miami FC's first season. Nonetheless we Ultras support our team to the bitter end.
Check out the pictures of the game and read more about it at www.miamifc.com

Miami FC Remains Undefeated. Romario in the stands.

Only two teams in the USSF Div 2 can boast being undefeated so far this season. Portland and Miami FC. The Blues however have not won.
It was an eventful night which saw the surprise visit of Brazil World Cup Veteran Romario. (Click on picture at the right to enlarge)
The Blues scored first thanks to Abe Thompson but held on in the last minutes to a draw. Read more HERE

Following are pictures of the night:







If You want to see more pictures go to http://miamifc2.com/
Pictures by Robert Scorca

Miami FC puts together dream team. Signs Jason Taylor and other superstars!

Hola amigos y amigas! Burrito here with the latest Miami Soccer news!
We still no know in what league Miami FC will play next years. Will it be USL? Will it be MLS-2? We don't know, pero the team has made a commitment that they will play next year and Burrito has found out from drunken sources in the last tailgate at Lockhearts stadium that Miami FC plans to build a superdupper teams consisting of young and veteran players !

South Florida fans will flock to the stadiums next season to see the latest signings led by Miami Dolphin Defensive End Jasons Taylors! Si Señores y Señoritas, Burrito has learned that Jasons will be on loan from the Dolphins once the Gringo Handball game they call Football season is over! Coach Zinho was not availables for comments pero Burrito believe Jason will play in Defense and will tackle any Forward Estupid enough to get close to him! Expect many yellow and red cards compadres!
Another surprise signing is that of "El Presidente" Pieter Brown of the Miami Ultras. Pieter will play with #12 symbolizing the fans as they are known as the 12th man! Brown will most likely be the Captain... of the bench. Coach Zinho will have him on bench to chant player names, tell them how great they are, pat them on the back when they go on and of pitch, pass them towels, water and give them massages with happy ending! Since drums are not allowed on the field Pieter will be playing the "Maracas" whiles chanting "Vamos Miami" and "Viva Mexico!" (ok, ok not viva Mexico pero you get the picture)

Miami FC also make surprise announcement that Peruvian superstar Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas will be coming out of retirements and be the new creative midfielder Miami FC needs! Cubillas will play with the famous #10 jersey and assures fans that after a good Peruvian "Ceviche" he will jump on the pitch and score a hat trick every game!

Also coming out of retirement is everyones favorite Gol TV commentator, one time Ft Lauderdale Striker player and Miami Fusion coach Ray Hudson! Ray will be playing with the #4 that made him famous! When asked about Soccer, Ray said the following: "It keeps you a young man, doesn't it? It’s the game that will keep you living young and you look at these faces, there’ll be a lot of old men in there, there’ll be a lot of grandmothers, and they are getting the thrills of their lives, this is orgasmic stuff!" Hudson will revolutionize the game as he will be playing with a microphone and will be commenting the game while playing! Ay Chihuahua!

In his quest to reach 1 million goals in his career, Brazilian legend Romário de Souza Faria better known as "Romario" will again play with Miami FC in 2010. For you vatos who don't remember; Romario played with the Blues back in 2006 scoring 19 goles in 25 games! He helped Miami FC reach their first ever USL First Division Playoffs. Romario vows he will play until 110 years old and if neccesary will come back from grave to reach his mark. Romario say he will start a church to rival the one that Maradona have in Argentina and he will embark on crusade that will begin with stopping ugly Argentinian accents and will culminate once he score 1 million goles sometime in the year 2525 at which point he claim the world will end with final Brazil vs Argentina game. (Brazil of course will win)

Due to the high cost involved in bringing the before mentioned players (except for "El Presidente" Pieter Brown, who will pay to be on the bench) Miami FC's mascot Hotshot will double as a backup goalkeeper. When asked how he felt about becoming the first ever Mascot/Player, Hotshot gave the same blank stare he always gives and did his usual pointed finger thumbs up.

For more on the Blues go to http://www.miamifc.com/

Pictures stolen by Burrito from Victor Palkaninec, Robert Scorca, Jessica Nasib and other sources and poor fools Burrito too lazy to mention. If you want Burrito to take your pictures off this blog please send email to youarestupid@pictures.bye
Expect Burrito to not respond and ignore you as the email is fake and after all, Burrito is a dog.

Grandfathers of Football! Who's the oldest active player? Find out...

So I was kind of bored, twiddling my thumbs or chewing the fat as an old Army Sargent of mine used to say... and I remembered I had written about a couple of old fogies still playing football, so I said to myself; "Self, let's look up and see who in tarnations is the oldest player still active". So here we go... I was surprised to see so many older players still out there and doing what they do best, which is kicking a little ball and making tons of mullah for a living! What a great life they have and I envy every single one of them. Most of the Grandfathers of Football are actually Keepers. Who better to start this off then our very own Kasey Keller, soon to be a Seattle Sounder who at 39 seems to still be on top of the game. Another team USA veteran is Brad Friedel who will be 38 next May and he's still playing strong. To conclude with the USA, striker Brian McBride turned 36 in June. But thats nothing ladies and gents, nope, we are just getting started. Teddy Sheringham who now plays for Colchester United is 42 and plans to call it quits this year. AC Milan star Paolo Maldini turned the big 4-O this June and he claims to be ready to end it this year too, but a little birdy told me he might stick around another year just for s#@*! and giggles!Colombian Rene Higuita is 41 and he recently stated he wants to play till he turns 45. Other players getting up there in age are Juan Carlos Henao 37, Carlos Navarro Montoya who will soon turn 42. Ecuadorian keeper Jacinto Espinoza is 38, Peruvians Jorge Soto is 37, Roberto "Chorillano" Palacios is 36 and striker German Carty is 39 . Colombian Defender Ever Palacios is also 39. Paraguay's World Cup Veteran Jose Saturnino Cardozo is going to be 37 as well as his WC teammate Carlos Gamarra.MLS has a legion of old timers led by Canadian Pat Onstad 40 and Mexican veteran of a million battles, the original "Emperor" Claudio Suarez who will also turn 40. OK, and no one is better then Ezra! (get it?) St Vincents very own Ezra Hendrickson is 36 and will soon be followed by ex L.A. Galaxy Abel Xavier, Preston Burpo and Diego Gutierrez. Brazil's Romario de Souza Faria better known as... wait for it, "Romario" (Sometimes I just kill me!) is 42. He will retire with a game between Flamengo and Barcelona in Rio's Maracana stadium. His former Brazil teammate Cafu is 37 and Paulo Sergio Rosa aka "Viola" is 39.But the king of the old men of football is Brazil's oldest active player Pedro Ribeiro Lima who is 58! Lima currently plays for Desportiva Perilima and he recently said that he wants to keep playing until he is 60. He beat out previous record holder English winger Stanley Matthews, who represented Maltese outfit Hibernians until he reached 55, and the ageless Cameroonian Roger Milla , the oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history, he was 42.
Taken from a blog I wrote on the Orlando Sentinel March 8, 2008