Major Link Soccer: English club for sale for £1

Seattle

While the Seattle Reign were busy fighting back to earn a point with two equalizers, winger Nahomi Kawasumi played a full 90 minutes in the 2014 Asian Cup Final, helping Japan defeat Australia 1-0 for its first ever Asian Cup title. Japan had previously finished as the runner-up four times, in addition to five third-place finishes. Despite having never won a major continental or international tournament prior to the 2010 Asian Games, it now has won 3 major titles in the past 4 years, in addition to a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics.

The Sounders reserves played to a scoreless draw at Real Salt Lake yesterday, bringing their record to 2-0-2 for the season. Their next match is against LA Galaxy II next Sunday at 1:00 PM PDT at Starfire.

Two late goals weren't enough to get a result for the Sounders U23 in its home opener against the Puget Sound Gunners on Sunday, after allowing the Gunners to build a 3-0 lead in the first 60 minutes of the game. The Sounders U23's next match is Friday at Curtis High School in University Place against the Vancouver Whitecaps U23 at 7:00 PM PDT. The Gunners travel to Portland on Friday to take on the Timbers U23.

Tacoma

Despite being awarded a team for the inaugural Major Arena Soccer League season, Tacoma's team might not be known as the Stars. According to David Falk of goalWA.net, the Tacoma owner is in the middle of a legal dispute over the name and logo of the Tacoma Stars with the Tacoma Soccer Center, which is represented by its leaseholder Lane Smith, co-owner and CEO of Sounders Women and the Sounders U23. The ownership of the name and logo of the Stars went to the Tacoma Soccer Center earlier this month as part of a bankruptcy.

Through its Facebook page, MASL Tacoma had the following to say about the dispute:

MASL Tacoma has also been soliciting suggestions for a new team name and logo from fans if the legal dispute isn't cleared up by the start of the season in November.

Based on the goalWA.net article, it looks like the team will play its first MASL season at Kent's ShoWare Center, whose 6,500 capacity might be more realistic than the Tacoma Dome's indoor soccer capacity of nearly 21,000.

US Soccer

Despite the popularity of theories that USMNT manager Jürgen Klinsmann promised Julian Green a spot on the World Cup roster when he switched from Germany to the United States, Green's teammates and coaches are impressed with what they've seen from him thus far in pre-World Cup training.

On the heels of being included in the final World Cup roster for the US, fullback Timothy Chandler is reportedly drawing interest from Bundesliga sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart. According to Chandler's agent, his contract stipulates a reduced release clause in the event of Nuremberg's relegation.

First, there was Brad Evans training at center back for the national team, now Fabian Johnson is spending almost all of his time training at right back, despite being one of only two left backs on the roster.

Add Clarence Goodson to the list of recently cut national team players who thought he did enough to make the final roster for the World Cup. Goodson says that Klinsmann was "unwilling" to tell him why he was cut from the roster.

Stoke City CEO Tony Scholes is frustrated with England's work permit system that forced his club to mutually terminate Juan Agudelo's contract earlier this month. Scholes thinks Agudelo will go on to merit a $17 million transfer fee within the next few years, but because of the work permit system, English clubs will be forced to be on the buying end of that fee, rather than the selling end. Agudelo is currently linked with Bundesliga club Hannover 96, where former USMNT captain Steve Cherundolo spent his entire career.

Several USMNT players talk about their first conversations with friends and family members after finding out that they will be on the World Cup roster.

World Cup

Despite the controversy surrounding the USMNT, Klinsmann has been lucky enough to not have to worry about many injury issues on his roster. The same cannot be said for Germany manager Joachim Low, who has a trio of Bayern Munich stars recovering from injuries, with none of them able to participate in full training thus far.

Italy manager Cesare Prandelli has finalized a deal with the Italian Football Federation that will keep him in charge of the national team through the 2016 European Championship. The deal was previously reported last month, but it took some time to finalize the full details of the agreement.

MLS

According to Spanish newspaper AS, Kaká has held "secret meetings" with the owners of Orlando City's MLS expansion franchise.

Eighty Six Forever asks its readers whether the penalty called against Jay De Merit on Saturday was the right call, in light of the still image of the play that was posted to social media by the Sounders. As of this writing, the results of the poll suggest that Eighty Six Forever readers are split over whether or not it was a good call.

When MLS announced that ESPN will take over the streaming rights for out-of-market MLS games, many fans were concerned that consumers who choose not to purchase a subscription to cable or satellite TV would be left out, as ESPN requires viewers to sign in with their TV provider to view most of the content on Watch ESPN. It now appears that ESPN is considering a plan to sell streaming-only subscriptions for the out-of-market games.

Europe

Fleetwood Town won promotion to League One, winning the League Two Play-Off Final 1-0 against Burton Albion. This is the 6th time in the past 10 seasons that Fleetwood Town has won promotion. A decade ago, it was playing in the North West Counties League, which is on the ninth level of England's league system.

According to The Telegraph, Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino is close to an agreement with Tottenham Hotspur to become the next manager of Spurs.

Fresh off being rewarded with a new long-term contract, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is looking forward to Champions League, where he expects his side to be tough to beat after a 5-year absence.

Barcelona central defender Gerard Piqué has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2019.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has called off yet another potential high-profile transfer. This time, he ended United's apparent interest in Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fàbregas.

Former United central defender Rio Ferdinand is "seriously considering" a reunion with Harry Redknapp at Queens Park Rangers, who just won promotion back to the Premier League. Ferdinand made his first team debut under Redknapp with West Ham United in 1996.

The majority owner of Reading FC has put his stake in the club up for sale for £1 ($1.68). What's the catch? As of last year, the club had $64 million of debt, in addition to $5.4 million in unpaid taxes. Despite $70 million worth of liabilities, two billionaires are interested in purchasing the club.

Soccer on TV

Toulon Tournament	8:15 AM	Chile vs. Mexico	beIN Sports, beIN en Español
Toulon Tournament	10:30 AM	China vs. Portugal	beIN Sports
MLS	5:00 PM	Sporting Kansas City vs. New York Red Bulls	ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes
International Friendly	7:00 PM	United States vs. Azerbaijan	ESPN 2, Univision Deportes, UniMás