Julian DeGuzman to TFC?

[OJ]

'MY BODY'S GOING TO THANK ME FOR IT TOMORROW MORNING' DANNY DICHIO ON RETIREMENT
TheStar.com | Soccer | Popular star Dichio calls it a day
Popular star Dichio calls it a day
var imageL= '/images/90/62/f3f91d4044908d4a7381369320a8.jpeg' if(imageL) { document.write(''); } else{ document.write(''); } STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR
Toronto FC fan favorite Danny Dichio looks out at BMO Field after announcing his retirement as a player (Sept. 9, 2009).


Danny Dichio

After a 15-year career with some of the top clubs in Europe, Danny Dichio found a new home in Toronto in 2007. The Star's Cathal Kelly profiled the likeable striker during Toronto FC's inagural season.
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Three cheers
Danny Dichio, who announced his retirement yesterday, lists his three favourite career moments:
1995
Scores in his English Premier League debut with Queens Park Rangers, the team he cheered for growing up in the Hammersmith area of West London.
1997
The son of an Italian who immigrated to England, he honoured his heritage by playing for Sampdoria of Italian Serie A.
2007
On May 12, scored the first goal in TFC history in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire at BMO Field.



'It's a sad day for me because ... I'll never put on the boots again,' TFC fan favourite says

Sep 10, 2009 04:30 AM

Daniel Girard
Sports Reporter

Just 10 minutes after Danny Dichio secured his place in Toronto FC history by scoring the team's first goal, he was booted from the game for fighting with the goalie.
It's little wonder in this hockey town that the Englishman went on to become such a popular player.
But with six games remaining in TFC's third season and a first trip to the post-season still up for grabs, the 34-year-old Dichio yesterday announced his retirement.
Calling it "a bittersweet kind of feeling," Dichio was introduced as TFC's team ambassador and academy coach who will immediately begin working on the field with his former teammates, scouting for upcoming Major League Soccer games and looking for prospects.
"It's a sad day for me because I'm retiring and I'll never put on the boots again," Dichio told reporters at a news conference at BMO Field.
"But at the same time, it's a happy day because I'm excited about the future and the next chapter in my life," said Dichio, whose career included stints in the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A.
"My body's going to thank me for it tomorrow morning," said the 6-foot-3, 208-pound target man, who won fans over with his hard-nosed style of play.
Dichio, who has seen his playing time dwindle in recent weeks, retires as TFC's all-time leading scorer, having netted 14 goals in 59 games, 37 of them as a starter.
Dichio's spot on the roster is expected to be filled soon by Julian de Guzman, a Scarborough native and the 2008 Canadian Soccer Association male player of the year.
The 28-year-old Canadian international midfielder, who has played in Europe for more than a decade, earlier this summer turned down a two-year, $2.75 million offer to become TFC's first designated player, citing his desire to try to land another job in Spain, where he played for Deportivo de La Coruna in the country's top league from 2005 until the end of last season.
But sources said that talks resumed in the past week and the signing is expected to be announced as early as tomorrow.
TFC general manager Mo Johnston said while moving Dichio off the roster creates a little bit of space under Major League Soccer's $2.3 million (U.S.) salary cap, that "wasn't really a big issue" behind offering him a coaching position.
"The issue was that Danny was ready," Johnston said, noting TFC had already put Dichio through one international coaching certification and has him enrolled in the next level early next year.
Johnston said "we're in talks at the moment with one or two players," but refused to get into specifics about whether de Guzman will join TFC for the season's stretch drive.
"This is about Danny. It's not about Julian de Guzman today."
Johnston, who said he could see Dichio as the team's head coach one day, didn't rule out retiring his No. 9 jersey. He also said there will be some form of public event to honour the man who is serenaded by fans in the 24th minute of every game to mark the time of that first goal, which set off a celebration that included seat cushions being thrown onto the pitch by delirious supporters.
Dichio, a year-round Etobicoke resident who had already said he planned to retire at the end of the season, said talks with Johnson and head coach Chris Cummins about moving it up began two weeks ago.
They were finalized over the weekend in Colorado, where Dichio sat down with his agent and TFC brass to iron out the details.
Dichio, who said he plans to sit down today with his teammates and talk about his new role, made his final appearance in Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids, logging 20 minutes as a substitute.
Dichio said he flew home with the team on Sunday and discussed his retirement plans with his family and his father in England before making it official.
A married father of three with a fourth child on the way any day, Dichio said moving into the coaching ranks with TFC is something he's long envisioned given how much he and his family, who have become permanent residents of Canada, have enjoyed their new life here.
"It's a fantastic place for us to live as a family and we're just lucky that we fell on our feet here," he said. "We've had all these great things happen to us and it would be hard for us to move away from that."

//

[Assasin]

Don't do it DeGuzman

[OJ]

I know he turn it down the other day but it looks like he is owed by Dep Lacaruna in spain and has not signed yet. So maybe he needs to play and get paid.

[Naminirt]

What a waste of talent if he comes to the mls in his prime

[Naminirt]

Mears Still Has England Dream
Posted on: Wed 09 Sep 2009

Clarets defender Tyrone Mears insists he remains 100 per cent English and still harbours hopes of a call-up by his home country.

Mears had a run-out for Jamaica in February when he was battling back from an injury sustained while playing for Marseille.

But, according to the Stockport-born full-back, that un-capped appearance for the Reggae Boyz, who were then managed by John Barnes, did not qualify him as Jamaican and should not cast doubts on his international ambitions.

"I was asked to join the squad for training and a friendly. I was coming back from four or five months out with a knee injury at Marseilles and I really needed a game so I joined the squad, but that was it," said Mears, whose appearance came in a goalless draw against Nigeria at Millwall's New Den.

"The Jamaica thing was never going to happen. I played half a game for them in a friendly but that was more of a fitness thing. I wasn't capped and to be honest I'm not really too sure that I do qualify to play for Jamaica. I think it (his family link) is too way back.

"John Barnes was a close family friend and he did invite me to represent them but I decided not to. I was born in England, I am English and my dream is to play for England."

Tyrone Mears still has international hopes

At 26, Mears would be a latecomer to international football. But having made it back to the Premier League following his summer move to Turf Moor, the former Preston, Derby and West Ham full-back has the chance to catch the eye of England coach Fabio Capello to challenge for a position that is not brimming with obvious challengers to Liverpool's Glenn Johnson.

"He is doing fantastic and he is the number-one English right-back," added Mears, who has started the season in outstanding form for the Clarets.

"He's the one that you have got to be trying to push. Maybe I've still got a few more years to try and make a name for myself in the Premiership.

"That's the dream, that's the goal. Whether it happens I don't know, but if I am going to represent my country, it's going to be England."

[OJ]

From the Toronto Star








De Guzman signing `dream come true'




Toronto FC announces that Canadian International Julian de Guzman has signed with the club as the team's first-ever designated player (Sept. 11, 2009).


Welcome back
JULIAN DE GUZMAN
Midfield
5-foot-7, 150 pounds
Born March 25, 1981
in Scarborough
LAST CLUB
Deportivo de La Coruna (Spain). First Canadian to play in La Liga.
INTERNATIONAL PLAY
Forty games for Canada
Scored four goals
2007 Gold Cup MVP
Today
BMO FIELD
KICKOFF: 4 p.m.
TV: CBC RADIO: FAN 590
TFC STARTING XI
Frei; Attakora, Brennan, Garcia, Gomez; Wynne, Robinson, Cronin, Vitti; De Rosario, Barrett
COLORADO INJURIES
Out: M Colin Clark (knee)
M Jamie Smith (knee)
Doubtful: D Cory Gibbs (thigh)
Probable: D Scott Palguta (calf)
TORONTO INJURIES
Questionable: M Carl Robinson (ankle)
GAME NOTES
The teams meet in the second leg of a crucial home-and-home series after the Rapids won the opener last Saturday 1-0 in Colorado. ... Colorado is without Pablo Mastroeni who is serving a three-game suspension while TFC will do without Amadou Sanyang and Adrian Serioux, who were both red-carded in last week's game.




TFC could be on grass by start of next season
Toronto FC's pitch to put down grass at BMO Field has cleared its first major hurdle with the city.





Sep 12, 2009 04:30 AM

Daniel Girard
Sports Reporter
Julian de Guzman, Toronto FC's newest and highest paid player, is unlikely to make his debut today, a victim of time zones as the work week came to a close in Europe before his international transfer paperwork could be completed.
But the signing of the Scarborough native, introduced at a news conference at BMO Field yesterday as TFC's first "designated player," is not about this afternoon's crucial match against the Colorado Rapids or even the final six-game push to try and secure the team's first playoff berth since joining Major League Soccer in 2007.
Locking up the best Canadian international player in the game today through the 2012 season is a longer-term investment. While the other seven designated players in MLS right now are typically big international names such as David Beckham in Los Angeles, Freddie Ljungberg in Seattle and Cuauhtemoc Blanco in Chicago, who are in the twilight of their careers, de Guzman is less recognizable but younger and more likely to have a bigger impact on the field.
"He's 28 years old. He's not 33 or 34 coming home just looking for a paycheque," general manager Mo Johnston told reporters. "He could have stayed in Europe (but) we pursued him for over six to seven months and we made it happen.
"It's a wonderful signing," that Johnston insisted will help improve the team's immediate fortunes and grow the game in Canada by repatriating one of its stars.
De Guzman, a defensive midfielder who has also been known to push the ball forward, said after more than a decade playing in Europe he's "excited about this new experience, this new chapter in my career.
"This is a dream come true for me to be part of a professional team in Toronto at this level," he said. "And it's not even just representing Toronto but it's also a country that I'm carrying and the team's carrying.
"It's a big project and a plan I've always been looking forward to – helping the country find itself in the soccer world," de Guzman said.
After earlier stops in his career in France, Germany and Spain, where new faces and languages were the norm when he changed clubs, de Guzman's first practice with TFC yesterday featured a reunion with current and former Canadian national team members including Dwayne De Rosario, Ali Gerba, Adrian Serioux and Jim Brennan.
Because of that familiarity, no one, from Johnston to de Guzman to his new teammates, expects any friction in the dressing room as the new guy comes in with the designated player label, which means any pay above $415,000 (all figures U.S.) a year is not charged against the team's $2.3 million salary cap.
"I don't really look into it," De Rosario, TFC's prized off-season acquisition and previously the highest paid player at $425,750, said of the salary issue. "I just continue to do what I do on the field."
De Rosario, who knows de Guzman from their club soccer days in Scarborough and the national team, said, "I can't wait to get on the field with him."
While contract terms weren't disclosed, de Guzman earlier this summer turned down a two-year, $2.75 million (Canadian) offer in hopes of landing another job in Europe, preferrably Spain, where he played from 2005 through last season with Deportivo de La Coruna, in the country's premier league.
De Guzman said since becoming a free agent earlier this summer "there have been a lot of offers coming my way." But problems with teams not being able to sell players to make space for him and his status as a non-European made a deal difficult, so Toronto won out.
"TFC was always an option," he said. "I never turned my back."