Major Links Soccer: David Beckham gets Miami ball rolling

Sounders

Sounders goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann decided to hold off retiring for just a little bit, and it might pay off as he has a chance at a starting job. MLSSoccer.com sat down with Hahneman to talk about this season and what he sees from himself next year.

MLS

Commissioner Don Garber was in San Antonio on Tuesday discussing an expansion bid with Mayor Julian Castro and San Antonio Scorpions owner Gordon Hartman. Miami and Atlanta are the hot takes around the league, with both Minnesota and San Antonio expected to make strong bids.

Toronto FC might not be the only residents of BMO Field in the future. A potential business deal between Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the owner of the Toronto Argonauts, a Canadian Football League team, means that Toronto will soon share its practice spaces. The deal is far from down, but a report says that the CFL team would eventually land in a renovated BMO Field after the 2017 season.

The Miami/David Beckham MLS juggernaught is prime to get moving. Beckham and the mayor of Miami are planning to get together with investors on potential sites for a soccer specific stadium in downtown Miami. Beckham is expected to announce how progress is going next week.

Andrew Farrell bet his brother that he won't shave his beard until he scores his first goal. The Revolution rookie didn't score a goal last year, so by my math his beard will reach infinite lengths before it is never cut.

USMNT

Jurgen Klinsmann invited Stuart Holden to the current USMNT camp as a guest player. Holden is still rehabilitating his torn right ACL he suffered in the Gold Cup last summer and is trying to show the U.S. coach he still has legs left in his balky knees.

The USMNT is scheduled to play a match against Mexico in Phoenix in April. It will be the second time the US has played Mexico in Phoenix, last winning, 2-0, on Feb. 7, 2007. The match isn't scheduled to take place on a FIFA international match date.

Brazil

Prosecutors in Brazil are investigating whether or not officials received money to deliberately relegate a team and keep the more popular Fluminense in the top league. Fluminense was primed to be relegated, but a four-point penalty was dolled out to Portuguesa after the season ended, sending Portuguesa down a notch.

Bundesliga

The German football league remained the second best league in terms of financials, sitting behind the English Premier League. The Bundesliga is still the world's most attended league, but the average crowd per game did fall to 41,914 this past season.

Toni Kroos is still under contract until 2015 with Bayern Munich, but extension negotiations haven't gone anywhere leading some to believe the 24-year-old midfielder is on his way out. Kroos' agent said no further negotiations are currently scheduled, and rumors are swirling that Manchester United is interested in the midfielder.

The Championship

Brek Shea will reside with Barnsley FC a couple of more months. He has appeared in two games since coming from Stoke City on New Year's Day.

Europe

FIFA handed down worldwide bans on four Slovakian players from DAC Dunajska Streda for the involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

AFC Wimbledon proved that the little guys are sometimes the best guys. The official club Twitter account notified the general public that someone had left behind their dentures at a match and were able to reunite the old man (or potentially young whipper snapper) with his lost chompers.

Ligue 1

Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain agreed to a 19m transfer fee for midfielder Yohan Cabaye, assuming he passes a medical on Tuesday. Cabaye joined Newcastle in 2011 but went a bit disgruntled after a transfer to Arsenal was rejected.

Premier League

The race is on to see who will be the newest sponsor of Manchester United's gear, and it is expected to be a world-record setting deal. Man U signed a deal with Nike worth £23.5 million in 2002-03 and it expires at the end of 2014-15.

Chelsea brass expect Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to return home-ish next season. Courtois has spent three seasons on loan at Atletico and has developed into one of the better goalkeepers in Europe.

Bryan Ovideo had successfully surgery to repair a double leg break on Monday. The 23-year-old Costa Rica international was demolished in Everton's 4-0 win over Stevenage in the FA Cup on Saturday.

16-year-old Adam Armstrong was called up to Newcastle United's squad after opening eyes in the organization in the U-21s and U-18s this year. Various injuries had left Newcastle a bit short handed for Tuesday's match against Norwich City.

Serie A

The rumors are flying that Qatar Sport Investments will be the new owners of Cagliari as Massimo Cellino tries to find a way out. Cellino is trying to takeover Leeds United, and has put his shares at a price between £70 and £80 million.

TMZ

A referee who agreed to fix a match in Singapore in exchange for sexual favors has been handed a lifetime ban by FIFA. Lebanese referee Ali Sabbagh admitted to fixing a match in April 2013 and will now forever pay the price.

And finally, the story without a header: The Guardian has a rather entertaining read on the practice of backpasses, chalk full of some fantastic examples for those that have never seen a stellar backpass before.