Szetela To DC united

Midfielder joins. D.C. after two years in Spain, Italy

Washington, D.C. (July 15, 2009) - D.C. United today acquired midfielder Danny Szetela via its #2 allocation ranking. Szetela joins the Black-and-Red after spending two-plus years in Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie B. The 22-year old is currently with the team and will be available for selection upon receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. He is not expected to be available when United takes on the Colorado Rapids at RFK Stadium this Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet).

“We are pleased that Danny has decided to return to MLS and that he is now part of D.C. United,” said General Manager Dave Kasper. “He is a talented young player who now has some terrific international experience including two years playing in Italy and Spain, as well as all of his time at the U.S. Olympic, U-20 and U-17 National Team levels. Danny is very versatile and will compete for regular playing time in a number of spots on the field. We look forward to his future contributions to our club.”

Szetela originally joined Major League Soccer in 2004, when he was allocated to the Columbus Crew at just 17-years old. Over four seasons with the Crew (2004-07), the midfielder played in 34 games (24 starts), collecting three assists. In August of 2007, Szetela was signed by Racing Santander of Spain’s La Liga and in July of 2008, he was transferred to Brescia Calcio of Italy’s Serie B. While with Brescia for parts of the last two seasons, the Clifton, NJ native played in 26 games, tallying a goal and two assists.

Szetela has earned three caps as a member of the full U.S. Men’s National Team, which includes playing in two FIFA World Cup qualifying games last year. His first cap with the full national team came on October 17, 2007 against Switzerland, setting up the game’s lone goal in the 1-0 win.

The 5-foot, 11-inch midfielder has a long history playing with the U.S. youth national teams, as well, seeing time with the U.S. at the U-14, U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels.
Last year as a part of the U.S. U-23 side, Szetela played in two games (one start) at the Bejing 2008 Olympic Games. All told with the U-23s in 2008, Szetela played in four games (one start).

As a part of the U.S. U-20 National Team in 2007, Szetela scored three goals in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada, starting each of the team’s five games. In all, he played in ten games (all starts), scored three goals and assisted on two others with the U-20s in 2007. In 2005, at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland, he played in two games with the U-20s. He played in a total of six international games in 2005 with the U-20s.

As a 15-year old, Szetela joined the U.S. Residency Program in September of 2002, finishing the year with 23 appearances (17 starts). He was the second-youngest player on the 2005 Under-17 World Championship roster, starting all four matches of the World Championship, and helping the U.S. to a fifth-place finish.

Livorno Crushes Brescia's Serie A Dreams

Livorno crushed Danny Szetela's Brescia side 3-0 in the final leg of their promotion playoff and will return to Serie A next season. Livorno's win capped a 5-2 aggregate win in the Serie B playoffs. Lingering injuries kept Danny Szetela out of the side which will remain in Serie B for at least one more season. Szetela's loan deal to Brescia expires at the end of June and its still not clear whether he'll stay with the club, move back to Racing Santander, or be picked up by another European side.

Francesco Tavano, Alessandro Diamanti and Martin Bergvold were the goal scorers for Livorno, which returns to the top flight after finishing the 2007-08 Serie A campaign bottom of the table.

Brescia Draws Livorno 2-2 in Promotion Playoff

American midfielder Danny Szetela did not play in Brescia's 2-2 draw with Livorno yesterday, the first leg in a home-and-away series to determine who will play in Serie A next year.

Given that the away goals rule does not apply and the higher seeded team (Livorno) advances if the goal aggregate is tied, Brescia faces a must-win situation on the road next week at Livorno.

Szetela, Brescia On The Brink

American midfielder Danny Szetela and his Brescia teammates have a chance to earn promotion to Serie A if they can get past Livorno in a home and away playoff series which starts tomorrow.

The first leg will be played June 14 in Brescia with the return leg on June 20 in Livorno. In the Italian promotion playoff scheme, the away goals rule do not apply so if tied on aggregate goals, the higher seeded team (Livorno) would be promoted.

The 21 year-old Szetela has made 16 Serie B appearances this season (scoring one goal) after facing a spate of injuries all year. He did not play in last week's 3-0 win over Empoli but is expected to suit up as a substitute for tomorrow's first leg.

On loan from Racing Santander through the end of June 2009, its not yet clear whether he'll stay with on with Brescia, go back to Racing, or move to another club (since some interest exists in Poland and elsewhere). If Brescia can earn promotion and the New Jersey native stays with the club, he would be become the first American to play in Serie A since Alexis Lalas' last appearance for Padova in 1996.

Szetela, Brescia Fall To Rimini 1-0

Young American midfielder Danny Szetela played the second half of Brescia's 1-0 loss to Rimini in Serie B action tonight. Brescia is currently in 6th place in Serie B with 46 points - three points out of the promotion zone.

Brescia's enduring problem this year has been its finishing and this week's result is just another example. The midfield is strong and well organized but Lombardians tend to choke once they have posession in and around their opponent's penalty area. Brescia has enough quality to make the jump to Serie A, but this lack of scoring punch has been the story of their season. If they can't find their scoring touch soon, Brescia can look forward to spending another year in Serie B.

Beckham: Just Let Him Go

I've been wondering when (depite the drumbeat of reports from Europe) people back home would finally realize that David Beckham really wants to stay in Milan. Now it seems they are waking up to it and none too happy.

Perhaps it was too much to load onto one man's shoulders -to popularize the game in a vast nation of 300 million people. Perhaps MLS and others close to the league lost some perspective in overplaying Beckham's star power. One popular media outlet even had a special "Beckham Watch" feature on its web page which just looks strange when you consider that even at the height of Michael Jordan's dominance of the NBA, you would never see such a thing.

For Beckham himself, its obvious that he still dreams of playing at the highest levels and his aspirations to earn England some silverware remain unfulfilled. Perhaps he went for the big paycheck in LA but then did some soul searching and remembered that he had some unfinished business. He obviously believes he can't achieve those goals by playing in MLS or he would not have gone to Milan with the intent to seek a longer term stay.

I truly believe cutting Beckham loose will allow the league and its fans to focus on the fundamentals; attractive, compelling soccer featuring exciting young players who want to be there. Cutting Beckham loose will allow the spotlight to shine where it should; on exciting young players like Kenny Cooper, the dean of US keepers - Kasey Keller, or the return of "Big Cat" Tony Sanneh.

For LA fans who were hoping for a turnaround under new coach Bruce Arena, the realization that they stand to lose Beckham and perhaps Landon Donovan (to Bayern Munich) this year may be too much to bear. The league would do to take some of the money they'll save on Beckham's massive salary and bring home DaMarcus Beasley, buy a few quality foreign players, while paying rookies enough so they won't need to live in their cars.

Still, its a shame that AC Milan couldn't at least have a dialogue on this with the LA Galaxy, instead of communicating to them indirectly through the press - something that happens all too often in Europe these days. Arena seems none too amused in remarking to the LA press that “I'm not sure it's appropriate for club officials at the biggest clubs in the world to make comments without having made contact with us. If I had a player on loan then I wouldn't be talking about acquiring him unless I had spoken to the club."

Here in Bella Italia, Danny Szetela played the final seven minutes last night in Brescia's 0-0 draw with Sassuuolo. Brescia is now third in Serie B with 38 points, just one behind second place Livorno and two behind leaders Bari.

Bradley Own Goal Helps Foals To 3-1 Loss

Just a week after scoring his first Bundesliga goal, American Michael Bradley scored another this week, just not for his team. So, when things were looking up for his new stint at Borussia Moenchengladbach, an own goal against Energie Cottbus didn't help. In the early going, a 3rd minute header by Bradley could have put the Foals ahead early if not for a good save by Cottbus keeper Gerhard Tremmel.

Cottbus put 'Gladbach under lots of pressure early and a 17th minute give-and-go put Ivica Iliev parallel to the goal where he lashed in a flat cross which glanced off Bradley and into the home team's goal for a 1-0 lead which the visitors carried into halftime.

"Gladbach got some good chances early in the second half on combinations from Bradley and Alex Baumjohann but could not equalize. In the 51st minute, Cottbus scored again for a 2-0 lead before 59th minute Baumjohann goal got the Foals back in the game, making it 2-1.

Bradley was substituted in the 70th minute by Tony Jantschke and later an 85th minute Cottbus goal sealed the win at 3-1. The loss put 'Gladbach into the relegation zone in 16th place with 11 points and a minus 14 goal differential. The Foals now have 23 matches left to score at least 38 total points, otherwise its a trip back to the Second Bundesliga.

Eleswhere in Europe, Freddy Adu watched from the bench as AS Monaco picked up a 1-0 win over Auxerre. Carlos Bocanegra and fourth place Stade Rennais take on fifth place Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow. A win for either side could mean taking over second place behind Olympique Lyon, provided Nice and Marseille stumble this weekend.

In Serie B, Danny Szetela went the distance in midfield for Brescia in their 2-0 win over Mantova in the Lombardia derby. The win bumped Brescia up to fifth place in Serie B with 26 points, just two behind leaders Sassuolo.

Szetela Watches From The Bench As Brescia Drops Another

Brescia continued its slide in Serie B, losing its second match in a row, this time to 15th place Piacenza, 1-0. American Danny Szetela appears to have fallen out of favor with coach Nedo Sonetti, having been bumped by 23 year-old Marco Zambelli the past two weeks. Of course the more Sonetti seems to tinker with the lineup, the more inconsistent (and less successful) the side has been. So, Szetela may be able to work his way back into the mix - we'll see.

Elsewhere in Italy, Gabriel Ferrari's Perugia side takes on Foggia tomorrow afternoon in Serie C competition. Meanwhile, Vincenzo Bernardo and the Napoli reserves take on Bari in reserve league play. Bernardo leaves for Madrid next week to join the US U-2o squad for a training camp. This week, LFV will chat with Bernardo before he leaves for Madrid to discuss, among other things, what its like to train each week with two of Serie A's hottest young strikers: German Dennis and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

More on the U-20 Camp courtesy of US Soccer Communications:

U-20 MNT TO HOLD TRAINING CAMP IN MADRID, SPAIN: U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen has named 18 players that will travel to Madrid, Spain, from Nov. 15-23. The team will play games against club teams, with dates and opponents to be confirmed. The squad boasts nine professional players who play in seven different leagues around the world, including a pair from Germany’s Hertha Berlin in Bryan Arguez and Alfredo Morales and a duo from Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas in Josh Lambo and Anthony Wallace. Tristan Bowen of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Jorge Flores of Chivas USA and Abdusalam Ibrahim from Toronto FC round out the MLS contingent. All five of the domestically-based youth players play for clubs from the U.S. Soccer Development Academy: Gale Agbossoumonde (IMG Academies), Anthony Arena (Crossfire Premier), Bill Hamid (D.C. United Academy), Josh Hernandez (FC Dallas Juniors) and Zarek Valentin (PA Classics). Hamid replaces fellow U.S. U-17 Residency player Earl Edwards, who was named to the original roster. The U-20 Men’s National Team is preparing for CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying, which will take place in Trinidad early in 2009.

U.S. U-20 MNT Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (Anandale, Va.; D.C. United Academy), Josh Lambo (Middleton, Wis.; FC Dallas)
DEFENDERS (5): Gale Agbossoumonde (Syracuse, N.Y.; IMG Academy), Anthony Arena (Kenmore, Wash.; Crossfire Premier), Kyle Davies (Daniville, Calif.; Southampton FC), Zarek Valentin (Lancaster, Pa.; PA Classics), Anthony Wallace (St. Petersburg, Fla.; FC Dallas)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Bryan Arguez (Miami; Hertha Berlin), Jorge Flores (Anaheim, Calif.; Chivas USA), Gregory Garza (Grapevine, Texas; Sporting Lisbon), Josh Hernandez (Dallas, Texas; FC Dallas Juniors), Jared Jeffrey (Richardson, Texas; Club Brugge), Alfredo Morales (Berlin; Hertha Berlin), Giuseppe Nazzani (Reggio Emilia, Italy; Bologna FC)
FORWARDS (4): Vincenzo Bernardo (Madison, N.J.; SSC Napoli), Tristan Bowen (Van Nuys, Calif.; Los Angeles Galaxy), Abdusalam Ibrahim (Richfield, Minn.; Toronto FC), Jose Torres (Coronado, Calif.; Loros de Colina)

Szetela, Brescia Fall To Livorno

Brescia missed a chance to move into 6th place in Serie B after falling to Livorno 2-0 last night at the Stadio Armando Picchi. Szetela saw only the final seven minutes of the game, replacing Fabrizio Zambrella. Brescia is currently in 7th place on 19 points and will be looking for a win this weekend at home against 16th place Piacenza.

Szetela Scores Winner For Brescia

American midfielder Danny Szetela scored his first goal of the Serie B season in a 3-2 Brescia win over Triestina. Szetela's scored the winner in the 82nd minute when Triestina's keeper Michael Aggazzi's poor clearance fell to an onrushing Szetela, enabling him to blast a shot home to make it 3-2.

The much needed win, only Brescia's third of the season, moved Szetela's club into 9th place with 13 points. Next week Szetela and Brescia will be looking to collect three points as they travel to lowly Modena which is hovering just above the relegation zone with five points after nine matches.

Elsewhere, Freddy Adu played 11 substitute minutes for Monaco after the team was already down 2-1, a score which stood until the final whistle. Carlos Bocanegra and Stade Rennais take on Auxerre in a Sunday afternoon match.

*The goal was also Szetela's first ever goal for Brescia since joining the club last year.

Missing Five Starters, Brescia Tops Frosinone

Playing without a slightly injured Danny Szetela along with four other starters, Brescia topped a feisty Frosinone side 2-1 this afternoon in a rainy Serie B matchup. Brescia defender Marco Gorzengo seems to have recovered well from a calf injury, scoring both Brescia goals to put them at 13 points and fifth place in the league, within striking distance of a promotion spot (for now).

Szetela will now be packing his bags for a trip to Washington DC for a World Cup qualifier on October 11th against Cuba.

Serie B: Szetela Goes Distance in Losing Effort

American Danny Szetela kept up his string of 90 minute performances for Serie B side Brescia tonight in a losing effort to Ancona 2-0. The loss left Brescia in ninth place with six points after four matches. The home side, Ancona got its first win of the year while Brescia has a chance to redeem itself against Parma at home this Saturday.

Americans In Action All Over Europe This Weekend

American Jozy Altidore was named to the squad for tonight's match against Primera newcomer Numancia. Given that coach Manuel Pelligrini is without three starters due to injury and is just coming off a midweek Champion's League draw with Manchester United, and Altidore's encouraging debut last week against Deportivo, there is a good chance that Altidore will see more playing time this week.

Villarreal's current predicament is exactly the reason Pellegrini decided not loan out Altidore at the beginning of the season. If the young American can make a positive impact in the coming weeks, it will reduce the chance that he is loaned out in January - the club's current plan.

Playing center-left midfield of a 3-5-2 for Brescia, Danny Szetela went the distance again in a 2-1 win over Ascoli this afternoon. Meanwhile, Gabe Ferrari and Perugia are set to take on Pescara tomorrow in Lega Pro (Serie C) action. Elsewhere in Italy, Napoli reserve team player Vincenzo Bernardo picked up an injury while training with the first team and missed the last two reserve matches. Nonetheless, his performances in training with the first team has seen his stock rise, leading some locals to speculate on a future role with the senior squad.

Hannover got a spanking at BayArena as they fell to Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 on Friday night. American Sal Zizzo came on the 50th minute for Hannover with the team already down 2-0 while Steve Cherundolo did not play due to injury. Neven Subotic and Borussia Dortmund take on Bundesliga newbie Hoffenheim on Sunday. Heath Pearce went the distance for Hansa Rostock as they drew Rot-Weiss Ahlen 2-2. Ahlen's Grover Gibson did not play due to a nagging injury.

Also in Germany, Borussia Monchengladbach dropped its second straight match, this time to Hertha Berlin 1-0. Michael Bradley made his Bundesliga debut as started and played a solid 65th minutes but was not able to convert any chances for the Foals. Bryan Arguez did not play for Hertha.

Up in France, Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes will be looking to earn a much-needed three points tonight against Nancy while word out of Monaco is that Adu may have a larger role in tomorrow's match against arch rival Marseilles.

Edu And Adu Make Club Debuts, Subotic and Dortmund Avoid Disaster

Fresh home from international duty this week, Maurice Edu was not expected to play for Rangers this week against Kilmarnock. A late failed fitness test by Kevin Thopmson pressed Edu into duty as a starter in his debut for his new club before 50,000 home fans. Fellow American DaMarcus Beasley, also fresh back from Chicago, was also on the field as the Ibrox club found themselves down 1-0 in the early going.

Shortly after the Kilmarnock goal, Beasley had a chance to even the score on a nice through ball from Edu but he was tackled off the ball by James Fowler. A tiring Beasley was replaced at the half by Nacho Novo, who drew a 58th minute foul in penalty area to allow Kris Boyd to even the score at 1-1. Boyd would score again four minutes later to make it 2-1, a tally which turned out tho be the game winner. Edu acquitted himself adequately in his debut, playing the full 90 minutes.

In an interview with the Rangers' official website, Edu expressed his thoughts on the debut: "It was a great experience. The fans are amazing. It was great to get a win in my first game, especially as we had to battle back from a goal down but I think that just shows the confidence that the team has and the strength and character of the squad."

Up in Germany, Neven Subotic's Borussia Dortmund had their hands full with arch rival Schalke 04. A 20th minute Subotic handball in the penalty area allowed Schalke to take a 1-0 lead on a Jefferson Farfan penalty. By the 60th minute, BVB was down 3-0 before Subotic got one back in the 67th to put Dortmund on the board (his third goal of the young season). A pair of Alexander Frei goals allowed Dortmund to finish the game at 3:3, completing an impressive comeback to earn the point.

In French action, American defender Carlos Bocanegra put in a solid 90 minutes in Stade Rennais' 1-1 draw with Havre FC. Also, American forward Freddy Adu made his first appearance for AS Monaco, coming on in the 79th minute of a 2-0 win over FC Lorient. American Andrew Jacobson did not dress for Lorient.

Down in Italy, American midfielder Danny Szetela went the distance for Serie B side Brescia in a 1-1 draw with Bari. Elsewhere in Europe, Jozy Altidore is listed as among the 18 for Villarreal's Sunday match with Deportivo La Coruña.

Altidore Scores Hat Trick in Exhibition Match

While their American brothers were picking up a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Cuba this weekend, a pair of young American players kept their shooting boots sharp in a pair of friendlies across the pond.

In Spain, Jozy Altidore tallied a hat trick for Villarreal in a 7-1 romp over semi-pro club San Rafael del Rio. Coach Manuel Pelligrini is still indicating that he may decide to loan out Altidore in January but first wants to get a good look at what he can do. Two clubs in the running for a future loan appear to be Real Sociedad and Valladolid. Of course much can change between now and December.

Over in Italy, Danny Szetela appears to have secured a starting position with consistent strong play, including in a recent Coppa Italia match which Brescia lost 2-1 against Serie A side Torino. This weekend, he scored a goal in Brescia's 7-0 first team exhibition over their own youth team.

Update: Adu Named To Squad For Match Against Caen

It looks like AS Monaco's American newcomer Freddy Adu may see his first Ligue 1 action tonight against Caen after being named to the 18 man squad. Fellow newcomer Dario "The Pitbull" Simic, a Croatian defender, transfered in from AC Milan, was also named to the Monaco squad in its third week of competition where they are in 4th place at 1-0-1 with 4 points.

The other 16 named to tonight's squad of Les Monégasques are: Roma, Ruffier - Mongongu, Nkoulou, Modesto, Muratori - Pokrivac, Leko, Perez, Gosso, Meriem, Diaz - Ménez, Pino, Nimani, and Bakar.

At the same time, Toro News is predicting American Danny Szetela will be in the starting lineup for Brescia in tonight's Coppa Italia match with Torino.



UPDATE: Freddy Adu came on in the 86th minute in a 1-1 draw with Caen before a half-full stadium of 9,000 spectators. Monaco's Frédéric Nimani was the main man for the home side, scoring a 51st minute goal and constantly causing problems for the Caen defense. Next week Monaco travels up to the Alps for a battle with Ligue 1 newcomer Grenoble, a team which is curently in third place while ASM sits in fifth.

Danny Szetela started and went the distance for Brescia in a 2-1 loss to Torino to end their Coppa Italia campaign.

Szetela: Back At It With Brescia

American Danny Szetela, just back from playing in the Olympic soccer tourney in China, is back into the swing with his Serie B club Brescia. Last night he started and played a solid 75 minutes in a 4-1 preseason friendly win over Darfo (...don't ask). Coach Serse Cosmi substituted five of his starters in the half to look at new talent and rest his players for Saturday's Coppa Italia match.

Indications are that Szetela has a good chance of starting Saturday against Serie A side Torino to determine who makes it to the fourth round of the hunt for Italy's second most coveted club trophy.


Also, hats off to the US ladies for their gutsy 120 minute performance to win the gold medal twice in a row, beating a quality Brazil side by playing team ball.

Unlike most of you reading this blog, I'll be waiting for a DVD in the mail to see the US men's win over Guatemala 1-0 last night (or this morning Italy time). My friend Bob Wagman, who was at the game, has a nice detailed report on on Soccer Times.

Ferrari, Perugia Knocked Out Of Coppa Italia

The Coppa Italia tournament already started 10 days ago with first round matches between the clubs at Lega Pro (Serie C) level and below. Two weeks ago, American striker Gabe Ferrari played 47 minutes as Perugia topped Lumezzane 1-0 to earn a berth in the second round. But Perugia's Coppa Italia campaign came to an end this weekend as Ferrari saw 71 minutes of action as Perugia fell to Serie B side Ascoli 3-1.

Tonight a nine-man Perugia dropped a friendly to Frosinone 2-1 in a match which saw three red cards passed out between both sides. Neither Ferrari nor his primary competition at forward, Sergio Ercolano played in the match.

Playing without Danny Szetela, just returning from Olympic duty for the USA, Brescia won their second round opener (Serie B teams join in the second round) in a 2-1 win over Foligno. They next face Serie A side Torino this weekend in third round action. It remains to be seen whether Brescia coach Serse Cosmi will decide to play Szetela in Saturday's match.