FanHouse Kenny Cooper

After what seemed like almost years of speculation, U.S. forward Kenny Cooper finally transferred away from FC Dallas, however his destination causes the minor raise of an eyebrow.

Cooper, who was named to the all-tournament team at the 2009 Gold Cup, had long been linked to a slew of clubs in the English League Championship, most notably Cardiff City. Friday, it was announced he finally left MLS for of all places TSV 1860 Munich in the 2.Bundesliga for an undisclosed fee.

For the second straight match in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the U.S. national team is breathing a major sigh of relief. Trailing by a goal at the half, the U.S. rallied for a 2-1 win over Panama Saturday night in Philadelphia in extra time to advance to the semifinals.

A week after needing a stoppage-time cracker from Stuart Holden to salvage a 2-2 draw with Haiti, again the U.S. left it to be decided late. Saturday night Kenny Cooper was the hero, placing a 104th-minute penalty kick just inside the left post and past diving Panama keeper Jamie Penedo.

Greeting Soccer Fanhouse. I don't know you, and you don't know me. If you can hear me past the echo, my name's Mike and I'm a Sagittarius. No wait, I'm your new soccer blogger for this here slice of the Inter-nets. For the last couple years I've been blogging about soccer -- the Premier League, the U.S. national team, MLS and Champions League mainly -- and now I'll bring that to FanHouse.

The timing is probably right, with the main European Leagues kicking off this past weekend.
Fittingly on a day where I kind of materialize out of the ether, young U.S. international Maurice Edu -- last year's MLS rookie of the year at Toronto FC -- gets inked to a surprising transfer to Scotland's Glasgow Rangers for £2.6 (roughly $5 million). This move seemed to come out of nowhere and could still be held up by U.K. work permits. Edu -- the 'FIFA 09' coverboy -- joins current U.S. international DaMarcus Beasley at the storied club, which will not play in the Champions League -- or any European competition this season.

This comes on the heels of Jozy Altidore's move from RBNY to Villareal a few months ago. If I were to guess FC Dallas' Kenny Cooper -- the current MLS goal scoring leader -- would be next. At least MLS recently added ex-U.S. defender Corey Gibbs and ex-Bolton youngster Johann Smith.

This should be the first of many noteworthy transfers this week before the European window closes at the end of the month. I'll stay on top of these, and whatever else seems pertinent to the soccer world as time goes by.