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From ESPN.Com
Major League Soccer is adjusting its designated player rules in the hopes of bringing in more young international talent, an area in which the league has struggled to gain a foothold.
MLS teams are currently allowed to have three designated players on their rosters — players whose salaries don’t fully count against the salary cap. But the decision by MLS to adjust the charge for younger players gives teams the latitude to take chances on younger international players where they may have been hesitant in the past.
International designated players age 20 or younger will be charged just $150,000 against the team’s salary cap. Players aged 21 to 23 will count $200,000 against the salary cap. Both of those numbers are down from the $335,000 charge for all other designated players.
“Our designated players are anywhere from their mid- to late-20s to their mid-30s. We’re getting players that are good players, veteran players, but we’ve been out of the market for the most part in young, promising players,” Durbin said. “If we want to continue our growth and continue the improvement of our on-field product, this is an area we have to be in.”
The rule will take effect for the 2012 season, but there are no plans right now to add any designated player slots. Durbin said the markets most likely to be tapped were South America, Central America and Mexico.
The league also will increase its scouting department to supplement what each individual team already does. Durbin said that would come in the form of more overseas consultants and a technological component at the league headquarters.
“The idea is not to become the scouting network for the teams but to provide a resource for the teams to do their jobs as effectively as they need to,” Durbin said.
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6807638/spain-tops-fifa-rankings-us-falls-no-30
From ESPN
ZURICH — World and European champion Spain remained at No. 1 in the monthly FIFA rankings released Wednesday, and the United States dropped six places to No. 30.
Netherlands and Germany rounded out the top three in the standings that will be used to help decide seedings in Saturday’s World Cup qualifying draw.
Brazil climbed one place to fourth despite only reaching the Copa America quarterfinals, while Copa winner Uruguay rose to fifth, its highest ranking.
Sixth-place England and No. 8 Italy both fell two places, but are assured of top seeding in their qualifying groups.
Portugal (No. 7), Croatia (No. 9), Norway (No. 12) and Greece (No. 13) completed the list of nine European countries set for top seedings.
France will be in a pool of second-seeded teams, which also includes 2018 World Cup host Russia and fast-improving Montenegro.
In the world rankings, Argentina stayed at No. 10 after it was eliminated in the quarterfinals as the Copa America host. Chile rose 16 spots to No. 11, and beaten finalist Paraguay climbed six to No. 26.
Copa America semifinalists Peru (rising 24 places to No. 25) and Venezuela (up 29 to No. 40th) made the biggest moves in the top 100.
Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup last month, but fell 11 places to No. 20 after poor Copa America results with a young team of backups. The U.S. fell despite being the Gold Cup runner-up.
Ivory Coast led the African nations at No. 14, and Asian Cup champion Japan heads its continent at No. 16.
Elsewhere, 2022 World Cup host Qatar is up four places to No. 90.
A total of 175 national teams will take part in the 2014 qualifying tournament that will be drawn Saturday in Rio de Janeiro.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
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