As we have said in the past, former FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham, the second-leading scorer in the history of MLS, had been looking at some options in Europe, namely Randers FC in Denmark and IK Start in Norway. The dream of finding success in the lands of Hamlet or Fortinbras has come to an end for Cunningham, according to Start’s site. A fun Google translation:

Attacking player Jeff Cunningham has gone home to the U.S. to sign a two year contract with the Columbus Crew.

- It has been a pleasant acquaintance. He was also satisfied with his stay in Kristiansand, but felt the he had not shown enough at his best,, “said IK Start’s Rune Jakobsen.

Cunningham has decided to sign a contract with the American club. He asked himself whether to use some of their vacation days to train with Start.

- A pleasant city. “It was nice to see something other than what one is accustomed to, “said Cunningham, to IKStart.no a few days ago.

He spent plenty of time to being a tourist in Kristiansand. When Knut Tørum recently offered the American a shuttle to the city he thanked him politely but said no because he wanted to have looked for a while.

Cunningham begins his second stint with the 2008 and 2009 Supporters’ Shield winners. He scored 62 goals in 182 matches from 1998-2004 after being the 9th overall pick in the 1998 MLS College Draft. Columbus have just 16 goals of production returning for 2011, so Cunningham will be counted upon to take the all-time record and then some.

I am not surprised as I always thought it was a bit odd for a 34 year-old who had been accused of attitude problems (he has been in six different club stints since the start of the 2004 season) to be moving abroad.

I got an e-mail from ticketmaster yesterday informing me that the US-Chile friendly has been pushed back from 6 PM Pacific to 7 PM Pacific (10 PM for you East Coast guys).  And according to this US Soccer press release, the game will only be on TeleFutura or ESPN3.com, no English-language TV coverage.  Boo.

Like I have mentioned before, I will be at the game in the stands, but I am going to bring my camera and take a few shots of the game (while also enjoying the game as a fan).  I am also going to set up another “guess the score” contest later this week/early next week with stickers and maybe another book on the line for the winners.  I just need to see what I have laying around the “OT Mansion”.

Maurice Edu finally returned to action after missing some time with a knee injury.  He came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Rangers’ 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.

Sticking with some cup action, here are some highlights from Évian TG’s 3-1 victory over Olympique Marseille in the Coupe de France featuring Howie’s pick for player of the week in net for Évian TG.  The lone goal that Quentin Westberg gave up was actually an own goal (and that field was in horrible condition).

This report out of Norway has Jeff Cunningham training with IK Start, although they haven’t signed him (and someone with IK Start gives the standard “we haven’t signed him, but you never know what the future holds” type comment).

I tweeted this last night (if you are not following us, you probably should), but it appears that Daniel Antunez (he played at FC Inter Turku in Finland this past season) is now at Estudiantes Tecos in Mexico.  He got the start and played 68 minutes in Estudiantes Tecos’ 4-1 loss to Cruz Azul this past weekend.  Also, the article indicates that the forward might be playing a sweeper/defender role for Tecos.

Jeff Cunningham– formerly the co-all-time leading scorer in MLS history (he currently trails the now-retired Jaime Moreno by 1 goal, 133-132) is apparently off to Randers (Denmark) and an unspecified club in Norway tor trial after negotiations with his new MLS rights-holders have broken down.

Via Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America:

Agent Jan Schiefloe is finalizing arrangements that will send Cunningham to Danish club Randers and an unspecified Norwegian club next week. He will train with the teams in hope of getting an offer to continue his career overseas. Cunningham — with 132 goals second only to Jaime Moreno — entered the Re-Entry Draft in December after netting 11 goals last season for FC Dallas, which declined to pick up his option.

After spending the last 2.5 seasons with 2010 MLS Cup runners-up FC Dallas, Cunningham was acquired by the Columbus Crew in MLS’s re-entry draft when his option was not picked up by Dallas (despite leading the team in goals even as a reserve). If he could reach terms with Columbus, it would be his second stint with the Crew— he scored 62 goals in 182 matches for America’s Hardest Working Team from 1998-2004.

Despite his domestic success (the 2006 and 2009 Golden Boots in addition to the 2002, 2006, and 2009 Best XIs), the Jamacian-born striker (he actually had a cap for his native Jamaica before becoming naturalized as a U.S. citizen), Cunningham has never seen much success at the international level. In 14 appearances with the national team, he has just one goal, in a friendly loss to Denmark in November 2009, and has only been on the squad in one tournament of note, the 2003 Confederations Cup.

Randers FC, it’s worth noting, has one ex-MLSer on the roster, 23 year-old Armenian Yura Movsisyan, who has 12 goals in 30 appearances since moving from Real Salt Lake to Randers one year ago.