Major Link Soccer: Tyrone Mears signed

Seattle

In case you missed it, the Sounders made their first signing of the offseason yesterday, acquiring Jamaican Sierra Leonean defender Tyrone Mears. Mears spent 14 seasons playing professionally in England before being released by Bolton Wanderers at the end of their 2013-14 season. Mears has traditionally played at fullback, and could slot in to replace DeAndre Yedlin. Mears did an interview with the Sounders, and hinted that Seattle's fans were a major reason behind his signing.

While it might not be "news," we just wanted to give you a friendly reminder that the Sounders do not have a first round draft pick in the 2015 SuperDraft. The Sounders lost their 2015 first round to pick to Toronto FC in the trade that acquired Stefan Frei.

With Garth Lagerwey reportedly coming to the Sounders in 2015, rumors of the Sounders finding their own stadium resurfaced. We take a look at possible locations for the new stadium here.

The Sounders Women were a bit overshadowed by the Reign in 2014, but they'll be continuing to compete in 2015 and beyond. They've elected to keep Hubert Busby as their head coach for the coming season.

MLS

Orlando City has an opportunity to establish itself as the South's MLS team, or at the very least Florida's. This could be a key to future success, suggests the Mane Land.

The Red Bulls are currently in a battle for support in New York City. Proposed changes to PATH (the trains from New York to New Jersey which transport many Red Bulls fans to and from games) are not going to help the Red Bulls win any fans. PATH trains are soon to lose late night hours as well as charge higher prices.

Stumptown Footy takes a look at the upcoming seasons for MLS's Eastern Conference teams here, check it out.

The first Generation Adidas player of 2015 has apparently been signed:

Sources tell me #MLS has signed Central Florida forward Romario Williams as the 1st member of the 2015 Generation adidas class. #MLSDraft

— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) December 29, 2014

US Soccer

It's finally time to pop the champagne, Gedion Zelalem just became an American citizen. The Arsenal youth player will soon be following up with FIFA to get approval to play with the USMNT.

After reportedly tearing his calf muscle in a game against Stoke City last week, American hero Tim Howard appears to be out of commission for somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks. Everton's Goalkeeper is currently on a yearlong break from international play.

We know one thing about Mix Diskerud's 2015 season: it's not going to be played at Rosenborg SK. Other than that, the American midfielder's future appears to still be up in the air, with previous rumors linking him both to Liga MX and MLS.

The USMNT is doing something new this year: holding a U-20 training camp for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. Seven MLS players will be attending the camp.

The USMNT have a lot of good players, but do they have a true sniper? Probably not, which is part of why American Soccer Now thinks Kelyn Rowe needs to be given a chance at January camp.

Soccer by Ives took a look back at the USWNT's 2014 season, compiling a list of their top 5 games.

World

Zlatan shot a moose, and Swedish animal rights activists are not too happy about it. Apparently Swedish animal rights activists forgot how much of an honor it is to interact with Zlatan in any way.

Professional soccer players: they're just like us. They wear pants, eat food, and apparently use LinkedIn to find jobs.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a pretty good 2014, winning the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey tournaments with Real Madrid (among others), and winning a number of personal awards as well. But his year didn't start off so great, as he had to spend a good deal on Real Madrid's bench due to injury. Could this be the beginning of the end for the superstar?

Sure, soccer with people is fine, but you know what's even better? Soccer with animals! Soccer America has compiled a list of the best animal soccer videos of 2014. I've included the first video below, but there are like ten videos and you need to see all of them so go click on the link. Do it. No one has ever regretted time spent on cuteness.