U.S. Soccer announced the candidates for the 2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame class and the list included plenty of LA Galaxy connections.
Former LA Galaxy players Maurico Cienfuegos, Chris Armas, Robin Fraser, Ante Razov, and Tony Sanneh were nominated for their contributions as players. Meanwhile AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke and former LA Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid have been nominated under the builder category. The complete list of nominees is below...
2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame Player Ballot
Chris Armas, Wade Barrett, Mauricio Cienfuegos^, Raul Diaz Arce, Marco Etcheverry, Lorrie Fair, Robin Fraser, Chris Henderson, Angela Hucles, Jason Kreis, Roy Lassiter^, Shannon MacMillan, Joe-Max Moore, Victor Nogueira, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Cindy Parlow, Ante Razov, Tiffany Roberts, Tony Sanneh, Taylor Twellman, Tisha Venturini-Hoch^
* First year of eligibility ^ Final year of eligibility; moves to Veteran ballot in 2014
2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame Veteran Ballot
George Best, Mike Burns, Julio "Ringo" Cantillo, Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas, John Doyle, Linda Hamilton, Mary Harvey, Lori Henry, Bill McPherson, Shep Messing, Glenn Myernick, John "Harp" O'Connell, Mike Sorber, Carlos Valderrama, Peter Vermes
2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame Builder Ballot
Esse Baharmast, Chuck Blazer, Bob Bradley, Bob Contiguglia, Don Garber, Burton Haimes, Tim Leiweke, Francisco Marcos, Fritz Marth, Sigi Schmid
A few more notes to get your Saturday going...
LAGalaxy.com's Larry Morgan speaks to midfielder Michael Stephens who is targeting a starting position this season.
AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke was named the 2012 Sports Executive of the Year by the L.A. Sports Council.
Whether the San Jose Earthquakes will be able to retrain midfielder Simon Dawkins is still in doubt.
Chivas USA dealt last season's fifth overall selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Casey Townsend to D.C. United for a second round choice. The trade caused D.C United to cut Chinese forward Long Tan.
The Chicago Fire have loaned Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Fernandez to Qatari side Al Rayyan for six months. Chicago also sent midfielder Fredrico Puppo to Ecuadorian side LDU Quito for the entire 2013 season.
The preseason slate has begun across MLS with Sporting Kansas City playing to a scoreless draw against the New England Revolution on Friday. Meanwhile today, Chivas USA defeated UC Irvine 4-1, Columbus Crew bested D.C. United 1-0, and the Houston Dynamo defeated Houston Baptist University, 3-0. Remember, LA play in their first preseason game next Friday against the U.S. Under-17 national team.
Lastly, check out this photo courtesy of "8 bit football" who provided an 8bit image of Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, and Juninho.
