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November 24, 2007

More expansion draft coverage

Friday has come and gone but there was no announcement about the trade and player acquisition that were expected after they were mentioned at Wednesday's expansion draft party. From a PR perspective, it's probably just as well — better to make those sorts of announcements after the holiday weekend. That's our guess, anyway.

Soccer America writer Ridge Mahoney's story on the draft has made its way online. He offers this interesting tidbit:

Yallop is researching the possibilities of bringing back former Quakes Ramiro Corrales (Norwegian club Brann) and Danny Califf (Danish club AaB Aalborg) from Europe.

It was mentioned not long after John Doyle's hiring that Corrales' agent had contacted him, but the Califf connection is new. Califf, 27, is currently captain of AaB, a team which is currently second in the Danish league (on goal differential) and competing in the UEFA Cup in a group that includes Tottenham Hotspur and Anderlecht. In fact, the team's next UEFA Cup matchup, against Spurs at White Hart Lane, will be televised on Thursday, November 29 at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel, so we'll have a chance to see Califf on live TV. (We're going to go set up the Tivo now.)

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In other potential player acquisition news, Germany's Kicker magazine reports that German club Wolfsburg is ready to let go of Berkeley native Kamani Hill, a 21-year-old forward who made his U.S. National Team debut at last summer's USA/China match at Spartan Stadium.

Posted by Jay at November 24, 2007 06:33 AM

Comments

Thanks, Jay, for the update.
While Califf is interesting speculation (and I'm a Califf fan), he'd likely be expensive. And we seem to already have a crowded central defense - would he be worth the premium? Finally, I think for him personally he'd be better served staying in Europe - he seems to be succeeding and getting NAT looks.
I'd be more interested in Corrales, who could lend some valuable assists to our to-be-named striker.
Which leads to Hill. This could be a GREAT match. He's a Berkeley boy. He's struggled in Europe with a lack of playing time and a lack of National Team looks. And he's still young with a big upside. While we'd still need to sign a more seasoned goal scorer, Hill could be a great speculative signing. He has the potential to light up MLS.

Posted by: Dave at November 24, 2007 10:01 AM