Work is always busy the last day you are in the office before you have to travel.  That said, I am going to be gone for work then fun starting tomorrow through Sunday/Monday.  I might be able to post here or there, but Howie will be in charge of things the next couple days.  Moving on, here are a couple links from today.

Some sad news for a USMNT legend as defender Harry Keough has passed away at the age of 84.  Keough was a member of the 1950 World Cup team that defeated England.

For whatever reason, the Guardian has a photo gallery of photoshops of Clint Dempsey.  Enjoy.

Neil Morris of the Independent Weekly recently spoke to Gale Agbossoumonde about his move to the NASL.

Landon Donovan thinks Everton can compete with any team in the English Premier League.

And finally, Jonathan Spector went the full 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 1-0 victory over Portsouth on Tuesday.

See you guys next week (unless I have some time to post some stuff at some point this week).

The North American Soccer League, the 900th different fledgling attempt at second-division second stateside, released their combine list today. Included are a number of former OT-featured players:

- Vincenzo Bernardo (who actually finished last year with the Harrisburg City Islanders of USL Pro), who spent time in Italy and Austria

- Erik Opsahl who played briefly with Reading before landing in the Swedish 3rd tier for a spell

- Jamel Johnson, frequently confused with Jemal Johnson, who spent some in the Danish 2nd tier

Gale Agbossoumonde has also been said to be set to be loaned to the Carolina Railhawks (which would be different than showing up at the combine) although we’ll have more on that if it ever becomes official.

In semi-related news, Jeremiah White was released from camp by the New England Revolution today. Hard to believe  a guy once capped after a good season in Denmark now can’t make perhaps the worst team in MLS.

Thanks to Brian Straus, I now know about the @Pothunting twitter feed.  It is for a company that make some old school soccer-themed shirts, but they use twitter to post a lot of old school photos and newspaper clippings from the 1920s and such like this team shot before a 1925 USMNT friendly against Canada.

Apparently the man in the front row and center is Archie Stark.  Stark played in only two games for the US, while scoring four goals in this 6-1 win over Canada (the four goals is tied for the most in a single game in USMNT history).  He was born in Scotland, but moved to the US when he was 13 (cap him now!) and received an invitation to the 1930 World Cup, but declined the invitation for business reasons (it was a different time).

I remember reading about Stark in a book (the name is slipping me…..I know Howie knows what I am talking about), but he set all kinds of American Soccer League records for scoring back in his day, including 232 goals in 205 games for the Bethlehem Steel.

But back to the topic of the photo.  Check out those jerseys.  They were rocking the deep v-neck way before it became popular.  I also love the US Soccer badge from those days.  And it pretty crazy to have the year and opponent on the front of the jersey.

So thank you Pothunting for tweeting these photos.

Howie’s Pick – Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – Belgian First Division)

Sacha Kljestan scored a pretty free kick to help league leaders Anderlecht defeat Racing Genk, 4-2.  If he isn’t in the squad for the Italy friendly this month, I have to believe that Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t even watching.

Matt’s Pick – Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – Belgian First Division)

Sacha (and his glorious mustache) continues to plug away at Anderlecht (he is second on the team in minutes played this year and first among field players) and scored his third league goal of the 2011-12 campaign.  Check out his goal (as well as some sweet music) right here.

Brad Friedel made four saves in Tottenham’s 0-0 draw to Liverpool.   With the draw, Tottenham sit in third place with 50 points, five points behind Manchester United for second and seven points ahead of Chelsea for third.  Here are the highlights from today’s game.

A few leftover links from the weekend.

Zak Whitbread had to be subbed out after 40 minutes due to a tight hamstring on Saturday, although the initial prognosis appears to be positive according to Norwich City manager Paul Lambert.  Hopefully it is nothing serious as he was one of two players (Sacha Kljestan being the other) who I was hoping to see in Italy later this month.

Nick Leyden recently caught up to Tony Taylor to talk about his move back to Estoril and potentially playing in the 2012 Olympics in London.

Ives Galarcep has a nice little story on Josh Gatt and his family over at FoxSoccer.com.

Midfielder Justin Moose appears to be on trial at HJK in Finland.  The 28-year-old has played for both D.C. United and Vancouver Whitecaps (USL version) before heading to Thailand in 2011 to play for Sriracha F.C..

The cold and snow postponed many games across Europe this weekend, but it didn’t stop Sacha Kljestan from scoring a sizzling goal (yes, I went cheesy on you).  Sacha scored an excellent free kick goal as Anderlecht continue to build on their first place lead in Belgium (highlights here).

We had a right back competition this weekend in Germany.  Due to some injuries, Alfredo Morales got the start at right back for Hertha Berlin as they squared off against Hannover 96 and Steve Cherundolo, with Hannover 96 walking away the 1-0 winners.

It wasn’t all pretty for Americans this weekend.  Oguchi Onyewu picked up two yellow cards and was sent off in the 53rd minute.  Worse of all, the second card set up a penalty kick and the only goal of the game as Sporting CP lost 1-0 to Gil Vincente in the Portuguese League Cup (highlights here).

As for some other tidbits from the weekend.  Zak Whitbread was subbed off after 40 minutes with a hamstring injury.  Norwich City manager Paul Lambert said after the game that Zak he felt a bit of tightness and he hopes that he will be OK.  Robbie Rogers made the bench for Leeds United, but did not play and Mix Diskerud made the bench for Gent, but also did not play.

Here is how everyone did this weekend.

Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers – Scottish Premier League) – Carlos got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Rangers’ 2-0 loss to Dundee United in the Scottish Cup.

Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona – Italian Serie A) – Michael got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Chievo Verona’s 2-1 loss to Parma.

Timothy Chandler (Nurnberg – German Bundesliga) – Timothy came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Nurnberg’ 2-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund.

Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96 – German Bundesliga) – Steve got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96′s 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin.

Clint Dempsey (Fulham – English Premier League) – Clint got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City.

Landon Donovan (Everton – English Premier League) – Landon got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Everton’s 1-1 draw to Wigan Athletic.

Maurice Edu (Rangers – Scottish Premier League) – Maurice got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Rangers’ 2-0 loss to Dundee United in the Scottish Cup.

Tim Howard (Everton – English Premier League) – Tim got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Everton’s 1-1 draw to Wigan Athletic.

Amaechi Igwe (SV Babelsberg 03 – German 3. Liga) – Amaechi got the start and went the full 90 minutes in SV Babelsberg 03′s 2-0 loss to Preußen Münster.

Jared Jeffrey (Mainz II – German Regionalliga) – Jared got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Mainz II’s 2-1 loss to Wuppertaler SV.

Fabian Johnson (TSG Hoffenheim – German Bundesliga) – Fabian got the start and went the full 90 minutes in TSG Hoffenheim’s 2-2 draw to Augsburg.

Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – Belgian First Division) – Sacha got the start, went the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in Anderlecht’s 4-2 victory over Genk.

Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin – German Bundesliga) – Alfredo got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 1-0 loss to Hannover 96.

Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting CP – Portuguese Primeira Liga) -  Oguchi got the start, played 53 minutes and received two yellow cards in Sporting CP’s 1-0 loss to Gil Vincente in the Portuguese League Cup.

Frank Simek (Carlisle United – English League One) – Frank got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Carlisle United’s 2-1 victory over Chesterfield.

Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City – English League Championship) – Jonthan got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 0-0 draw to Southampton.

Tony Taylor (Estoril – Portuguese Liga de Honra) – Tony got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Estoril’s 1-0 loss to Paços de Ferreira.

Zak Whitbread (Norwich City – English Premier League) – Zak got the start and played 40 minutes in Norwich City’s 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.

Daniel Williams (TSG Hoffenheim – German Bundesliga) – Daniel got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in TSG Hoffenheim’s 2-2 draw to Augsburg.

Preston Zimmerman (SV Darmstadt 98 – German 3. Liga) – Preston came off the bench and played 29 minutes in SV Darmstadt 98′s 1-0 loss to Wehen Wiesbaden.

Sacha Kljestan scored a goal on an excellent free kick (you can see it starting at 2:07) as Anderlecht won 4-2 to stay seven points clear of 2nd place in the Jupiler League.

Oguchi Onyewu was sent off in the 53rd minute with a red card, which also set up a penalty kick and the only goal of the game, in Sporting CP’s 1-0 loss to Gil Vicente in the Portuguese League Cup.  Here are the highlights.

Clint Dempsey went the full 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City in the snow.  Here are the highlights.