The Chicago Fire have inked former EPL player and Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope to a one-year deal.
Wanchope is expected to link up with Mexican star Cuahutemoc Blanco for the Fire as things take on a different look under new head coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
MLS continues to add signings that have complimated a league that features the American player.

The resources are clearly different.
Club America is backed by communications giant Televisa and the players are handsomely paid.
The Dynamo are backed by a billionaire in Philip Anschutz but the league operates on a salary cap of 2.3 million dollars.
Yet the Dynamo got the 1-0 win over Club America last night at Robertson Stadium on a goal by Nate Jacqua.
Yes it was pre-season for Club America yet it is no excuse.
The Dynamo dominated CA in the second half as they fatigued and were it not for Armando Navarette in goal for Club America it could have been 3-0 . But here is the real point. Passion, pride, and games with an edge that ultimately will grow the sport.
Superliga is trying to brand itself as a the premier club tournament in Concacaf and know they can do it through the intense rivalry that is the U.S. and Mexico.
Word is that Concacaf is looking to re-group the Concacaf Champions Cup to make it more appealing.

Play of the game: Stuart Holden going to his left and hitting the perfect cross to Nate Jacqua who was completely un-marked at the back post. Next up for the Dynamo is Morelia on Sunday night who drew 1-1 with DC United on a late Diego Martinez goal.
Check those highlights out because Christian Gomez’s goal for DC was equally impressive. Striker Luis Landin will miss the game with the Dynamo Sunday after being ejected. Landin played with Pachuca in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Thoughts?

Houston area youth product Arturo Alvarez had the lone goal for FC Dallas as they opened up the Superliga tournament with a 1-1 draw against Chivas at the Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
Alvarez scored in the 56th minute lobbing the Chivas goalkeeper to give FC Dallas the lead but minutes later second half sub Olivera scored a controversial goal from outside the eighteen yard box to tie things up. Replays indicated that Olivera handled the ball before the goal and FC Dallas players were livid in pleading their case to the referee.
FC Dallas finished the game a man down after defender Drew Moor was sent off for pushing Hector Reynoso in the neck area.

FC Dallas has reached towards South America this year with strong signings in Argentina Pablo Ricchetti and Colombian Juan Toja.
Toja scored recently in the MLS All Stars victory over Celtic of Scotland.
FC Dallas is expected to sign Brazilian attacker Denilson. A member of two Brazilian World Cup squads including the 2002 World Cup winners. Denilson has recently been playing with Al-NASR in Saudia Arabia.
While at Sao Paulo in 1998 Denilson was sold for a then record $40 million dollars to Real Betis in Spain.
His play at Real Betis was indifferent scoring only 5 times in 67 games and was then loaned to Flamengo. He returned to Betis and then went on to play with Bordeaux in France. He turns 30 in August.
This should be interesting as FC Dallas will most likely trade Ramon Nunez (rumors to Chivas USA) and move Marcelo Saragosa or Adrian Serioux to make room.
FC Dallas has signed 18 year old Ricardinho from Atletico Paranaense in Brazil. He has experience at youth international levels including the u20’s with Brazil and made 11 senior appearances for Atletico scroing 3 goals.
He will occupy a youth international spot with FC Dallas.
Intriguing signings to say the least up in the Big D.

He is the most important figure in the entire Chicago Fire franchise right now.
Cuahutemoc Blanco scored against Celtic in his debut at Toyota Park and wowed fans with his assortment of flicks, back-heels and passing skills.
I am excited because I want Blanco to make an impact just like I do David Beckham. They are unique individuals in that they have an opportunity to grow the sport to more fans. I am still reserved on both situation and look on with intrigue.
Blanco thrived on a day when he was given lots of space. The MLS All Stars also thrived against the very same Celtic on a day they were given lots of space. Now I am not down-playing what was produced soccer-wise in either case but I make the point that I don’t believe Blanco will get that same amount of space in MLS league games.
Yes, he no doubt will score some goals and produce moments of great soccer. But can he do it consistently in Chicago? That is the question.
As for Beckham I hope things come together quickly in LA because I hope the support system is in place. All in all these are great signings and the intrigue is there to see how both fit in to the MLS.
The big rumor around the MLS All Star game was John Spencer ultimately going back to Colorado as a head coach of the Rapids. If Fernando Clavijo gets fired , Spencer could be the man but don’t expect him to leave the Dynamo if it happens until the 2007 season is over. I still am perplexed about the leadership at the Rapids and hope that they are thinking more community.
A good opening and All Star crowd is going to cut it alone.

Lots of David Beckham talk tonite on the the Dynamo Power Hour on 790 the Sports Animal at 7pm.
Reaction from Dynamo players Dwayne DeRosario, Brian Ching, Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, and Pat Onstad on the Beckham signing.
Dynamo re-cap from New England.
What are your thoughts on the Beckham signing, the Dynamo against Club America in the Superliga, Cuahutemoc Blanco and more.
Call in number is 713-212-5790.

Todays Dynamo at NE Revolution (3:00 CST Channel 55)shapes up to be a good one for a variety of reasons.
Both are at the top of their respective conferences, both have solid depth in their squads and both have star quality.
Throw in the fact that they played in last year’s memorable MLS Cup Final and you can see why this shapes up to be good television.
A few things to think about:
*Dynamo have not conceded a goal in 695 minutes which equals out to over 11 hours and have 7 shutouts in a row.
Remarkable…..does the streak continue.
*The Dynamo will have to deal with the NE five man midfield without Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, and Brian Mullan who are all out injured. Yet they are still able to put out a midfield that might look like this . Mulrooney and DeRosario in the middle with Holden and Jacqua on the flanks. If they have problems with the additional NE player in midfield you could see head coach Dominic Kinnear match them with a five man midfield and change his system.
NE is potent with Shalrie Joseoph in the middle along with Jeff Larentowicz. Their wide midfielders Steve Ralston and Khano Smith will match up with Holden and Jacqua……Andy Dorman is quite a surprise and his runs out of midfield from deeper areas make him dangerous. Can the Dynamo find their passing rhythm against a five man midfield and avoid resorting to playing direct balls out of the back bypassing Mulrooney and DeRosario and Co?
*Pressure on the NE back three will be key to creating chances, space lies in the areas behind their wid
*NE also has strikers that can score goals especially when you talk about Taylor Twellman who like Ching has added to his game.
He has looked to playmake more and shoot from longer range this season. Former England international and NE assistant coach Paul Mariner has been working with him and looking to add to his game.
* The two most competive teams from top to bottom in the league in my opinion .
*The Dynamo will have to get a result in NE on artificial surface which makes you wonder about Brian Ching going 90 minutes and do you want to risk his knee?
The Dynamo had three days off this week during the All Star break and yesterday practiced at Robertson Stadium before heading to NE. Lots of technique work and then shadow play with the starters.
Thoughts?

I caught the final 25 minutes of the LA vs. Chelsea game on ESPN2 and saw the Beckham debut.
You would have to think that he was pressured in to playing this game. What player wants to debut when they are not a full strength. Yes I know I am sure they mentioned it to the Chelsea dressing room that he was injured but once a game starts people aren’t thinking about who to tackle and who not to tackle. Especially younger players trying to impress.
Your thoughts on the ESPN production and show …….By the way I never saw the goal as they never replayed it post game.

In Germany the country is reminiscing about last summer and the World Cup and the memories it brought.
And now the new football season is only weeks from kick-off. , and this weekends League Cup provides an appetizer for fans.
It seems like only yesterday that Stuttgart held on to win the Bundesliga Championship on the last day over Schalke and Bremen.
These three teams, along with Bayern Munich, Nuremburg, and promoted second leaguer Karlsruher, will be playing in the pre-season tournament. The match between Bremen and Bayern today will give fans the first real look at the re-vamped Bayern team that made the most splashes in the off-season. Luca Toni, Frank Ribery, and Miroslav Klose are the big names.
In Jan Schlaudraff, Jose Ernesto Sosa, Hamit Altintop, Marcell Jansen and the return of Ze Roberto, head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has a stocked team.
When the Toni/Ribery signing were announced Bayern had already spent 57 million Euro (the entire league only spent 44 million euro) and that was before the 15 million Euro transfer fee for Klose was secured. Bayern could actually split into two teams and each squad could compete for the Bundesliga title. After a disappointing fourth place finish and only a UEFA Cup berth for this season, Uli Hoeness and Co. have upped the ante with the signings and create more pressure this season. Bayern is the favorite fo the Bundesliga title before the start of every season said Franz Beckenbauer in an interview with bundesliga.de
It starts all over again this weekend. The league kicks off Aug 10th and I’ll return with a look at the contenders in my next blog.
Until then.
Salman Mitha from Germany

Catch David Beckham in an interview with Glenn Davis tonite on Channel 55 at 6pm and Saturday at 5pm.
The show also includes coverage of his press conference, the MLS All Star game, Brazil/Argentina Copa America highlights, a look at the NE Revolution and an interview with Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear.
Also don’t forget the Dynamo Power Hour with Glenn Davis Monday at 7pm on 790 the Sports Animal.
Let Glenn know what you would like covered on either program by emailing him at glenn@thesoccerhour.com or Glenn@thetube.net