Not much real news out of Sounders practice today. Although we did finally get around to asking coach Sigi Schmid about midfielder Terry Cooke, the former English professional who has been working with the Sounders this week after being released in his fifth season with the Colorado Rapids.

“He has been here since we started training on Wednesday," Schmid said. "He was let go by Colorado earlier. He is still around and we wanted to take a look at Terry. Chris Henderson has played with him in the past. ... We wanted to see where he is at and talk to him. You are always trying to look. The trade deadline is September 15 so we have until September 15. If you can improve your roster in some manner, you try and do it. In Columbus, this was the time of year that I picked up Adam Moffat back in 2007 and he got off to a great start in 2008. When I was with the (L.A.) Galaxy, this was the time of year that I picked up Hurculez Gomez from the team he was playing on. He stuck around for a little bit. So, you can find guys at this time of the year.”

Just as Portland seems to get its stadium-renovation house in order, we get this report of potential problems with Vancouver's plan to use BC Place as a temporary home for its 2011 MLS expansion team.

(And for those of you who have done just about enough reading for one morning, here's a local TV report.)

Here's hoping things word out for the Highway 99 part of the I-5 rivalries.

Seattle has survived as the USA bid committee has cut its field to 27 cities still in the running to host games if FIFA awards the 2018 or 2022 World Cup to this country.

Both Qwest Field and Husky Stadium remain among the contending venues.

More information here.

Freddie Ljungberg worked out lightly and apart from the team again today, and coach Sigi Schmid said he won't play in tomorrow's game against the Revolution. There was also some implication he probably won't play Sunday in Houston either.

However, if there was good news it was word that tests trying to find the cause of Ljungberg's recent head/memory/vision problems came back negative.

And while that seems to eliminate certain grim possibilities, no one yet seems sure what is causing the problems. (Or at least no one is saying.) Everyone seems certain it's not migraines this time. And Schmid implied it might simply be diet or some other random factor that might have changed since Ljungberg's move to the Northwest.

To be continued, I suppose.

Meanwhile, Schmid also mentioned that Stephen King probably won't play due to hamstring. Meanwhile, reserve keeper Terry Boss has suffered a concussion and is unavailable. With Chris Eylander not yet ready to come off the injured list, the Sounders have again acquired Ben Dragavon from the MLS keeper pool, and he'll be in reserve for the Revs.

Freddie Ljungberg jogged lightly during some of Sounders training today, but left the Qwest Field pitch before the media-access time.

Coach Sigi Schmid said Ljungberg is still undergoing tests, so they don't yet know exactly what is going on. But he said this seems to be separate from his migraines. And while vision problems and memory loss are pretty scary symptoms, Schmid said he doesn't yet consider this scary in a sense beyond football availability.

“He’s going under some tests this afternoon just to evaluate so that we can figure out what exactly happened over the weekend," Schmid said. "We just want to make sure. It’s more a case of eliminating things than a case of determining is this happening or that. ... It is not migraine related. Right now, it is just a matter of a couple of things have happened over a short period of time and we just want to make sure there’s nothing else going on. ... He feels fine today. All we want to do is we want to error on the side of caution than come out and say, ‘Let’s go ahead and play,’ and have something else happen. Because of it happening as close to the (similar symptoms at the All-Star Game), we just want to make sure.”

Schmid said no decision will be made about Ljungberg's availability for Thursday until those test results come in.

Sounders fans got to see less than 17 minutes of David Beckham this season.

And when the next Major League Soccer schedule is released, Puget Sound soccer fans eager for an in-person look at the world’s most famous player should hope that the Galaxy’s visit comes late.

Beckham has said he will play the fourth and fifth seasons of his five-year MLS contract. But Grant Wahl, author of “The Beckham Experiment,” expects him to return once again as a part-time player in 2010.

“Beckham wants to be in the league next year, but he wants to be in the league on his terms,” Wahl said. “He wants to come back after the World Cup and rejoin the Galaxy more than halfway into the season, so he would be a part-time player again, just as he is this season. So, we’ll see how that works out. They would have to redo his contract for that to happen. But it sounds like the Galaxy would probably agree to that, and then Beckham could come back in the last part of 2010 and supposedly be around for all of 2011.”

This season, Beckham missed the Galaxy game in Seattle because he was still on extended loan to AC Milan. And then Saturday brought a 16-plus-minute appearance in the Sounders 2-0 road win. Then he was tossed through a straight red card for his spikes-up tackle on Peter Vagenas.

That leaves Sounders fans looking to next year ... or perhaps a Seattle-LA crossing on the playoff road.

Brothers, Ciaran O’Brien and Leighton O’Brien team up in Montreal.

The O’Brien family has an exceptional soccer history. Another chapter to their soccer legacy has begun Montreal.

In an exclusive TacomaFC.com interview, Ciaran commented about playing with his older brother, “It should be exciting, playing alongside him for the first time in a professional game is something I have always wanted to do”.

For the full interview and story, CLICK HERE

The Sounders didn't train Wednesday, so I spent much of the day -- the non-USA-Mexico part -- writing for the Thursday paper on Grant Wahl's book, "The Beckham Experiment."

I read the book while traveling last week and noticed that three current Sounders are mentioned: coach Sigi Schmid, defender Patrick Ianni, and especially veteran midfielder Peter Vagenas, who emerges as one of Wahl's go-to guys for quotes. Wahl comments more than once on Vagenas' intellectual and dry sense of humor.

I talked to all three at training on Tuesday, and none had read the book from cover to cover. However, Vagenas said Wahl sent him a copy and that he is aware of what was written. Schmid said spoke with Wahl and therefore wasn’t surprised to be included. And while Ianni didn’t know he was in the book, he sure remembers the incident mentioned.

Here are those Sounders’ highlights, and their reactions (which have been edited for space and clarity):

PETER VAGENAS
Mentioned: 40 pages.
Context: Soon after signing, Beckham presented his teammates with fancy red invitations to attend a VIP party that would also include actors Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The next day, Vagenas distributed similar invitations jokingly inviting the team to “the castle for wizardry and sorcery” where live chickens would be served.
Reaction: “Ever since I was a 20-year-old rookie hesitant about approaching (Galaxy teammate and former UCLA-legend) Cobi Jones, I haven’t really had a problem with what the name on the back of the jersey of someone is. And you can tell right off the bat with David that he’s one of the guys, he wants to be one of the guys. And regardless of how he’s (portrayed) in the media or how the media wants to perceive him, he’s fair game just like anyone else in the locker room.”

SIGI SCHMID
Mentioned: Three pages.
Context: Schmid never coached Beckham, but Wahl portrays him as someone who knows soccer and as the guy in charge when the franchise was successful.
Reaction: “He told me he had written the book. I asked him, ‘Is it going to be interesting?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ But I haven’t read it. I figured Pete Vagenas could give me the blow-by-blow, the actual verbal description. I’m pushing for a free copy.”

PATRICK IANNI
Mentioned: Two pages.
Context: When Ianni played for Houston, Donovan celebrates a Galaxy goal by standing over his fallen opponent and barking “like Muhammad Ali looming over a beaten Sonny Liston.”
Reaction: “I definitely remember that. Yeah, definitely (took offense). I know for him it was in a competitive spirit, that’s how we are are: Sometimes our emotions get the best of us on the field. But to embarrass me like that was uncalled for, and I think he knows that. There was an incident early in the game where he feels I bumped him real hard. I think he embellished that. But I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Naturally, while the Sounders stuff may be most interesting to Sounders fans, the part of the book that has gotten the most attention nationally is Landon Donovan's criticism of Beckham as an unworthy captain, a bad teammate and a guy who doesn't like picking up checks.

Vagenas spoke in considerable detail about that -- far more than I could get in the newspaper. But I wanted to present that entire portion of our converation here:

=> Read more!

Here is a report on the game.

I'll keep the result out of the headline and this portion of the blog for those of you who taped or DVR'd it. However, the comments portion below is fair game, and is now open.

The USA and arch-rival Mexico kick off at 1 p.m. Obviously, it's a big one for pride and as a World Cup qualifier.

Here's a preview from the Associated Press.

Here's a Fox Soccer take on why Mexico will win what it calls one of the most vicious rivalries in sports.

Here's a New York Times take on what a U.S. victory would mean, and why the early minutes will be so important.

You can find information on the limited broadcast and Internet streaming options a couple of posts below.

(Just before kickoff, I'll create a new post for in-game and post-game discussion.)

The USA visits Mexico at 1 p.m. Wednesday for one of the most anticipated World Cup qualifying matches from the CONCACAF region.

Here's a preview from the U.S. Soccer site.

Seven MLS players will be on the U.S. roster.

Comcast subscribers can watch as part of a free 24-hour preview of Mun2 and Telemundo, with Phil Schoen handling the action with former U.S. national team defender Marcelo Balboa.

Telemundo will be broadcasting the same game in Spanish.

Mun2 is on Comcast Channel 603, and Telemundo is on 607

Meanwhile, a reader has passed along this link to a site where the game apparently will be streamed on the Internet.

OK, you season ticket holders have gotten Chelsea and Barcelona, and MLS Cup is yet to come. Not bad little add-ons to your season ticket package, eh?

What can the Sounders organization do for an encore next season?

They'd like to live up to the high expectations they've set.

"Obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do in the off-season," general manager Adrian Hanauer said. "But we’re 100 percent committed to delivering on fans expectations. We’re not exactly sure how we’re going to do it, but we’re going to have to figure it out."

Hanauer said he already has some clubs on his mental wish list. He wasn't ready to share them yet, but he indicated that Sounders fans can probably come up with a wish list not too different from his own.

"When you talk about superclubs, the list is relatively short," he said. "It’s not like there are 50 clubs in the world that we’re going to be able to go after. But, yeah, we have some in mind and there are other ways to deliver exciting opportunities to the market, not necessarily the superclubs."

AC Milan? Celtic or Rangers? Hanauer didn't seem to think its essential to necessarily bring in clubs from other parts of the world after reaching into England and Spain this year. But still: Club America? Chivas?

As for opportunities that don't necessary involve superclubs: Maybe including Superliga or CONCACAF Champions League as part of the ticket package? It won't be the MLS All-Star Game, as that was recently awarded to Houston.

Anyway, all interesting. One of the real charms of soccer, this chance to see the great international clubs.

What one club in all the world would you most like the Sounders to bring in?