It seems the Philadelphia Independence will once again take to the pitch at PPL Park for their upcoming season. Philly Soccer News reported yesterday that the Independence could play up to four home games in 2012 at PPL, including its home opener on April 15th. During the WPS playoffs last season, PPL Park hosted the Independence's semifinal match against disbanded squad magicJack, drawing 5,410 fans, the teams largest crowd in 2011.

"We're very excited about that," Independence owner David Halstead told Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com soccer blog, The Goalkeeper. Halstead also noted that Philadelphia Union owner Nick Sakieiwicz has been "fantastic" about letting the Independence play at PPL.

While the full WPS schedule has yet to be released, four looks like the maximum number of games PPL Park will play host to the Independence, with that number possibly going down to three if any conflicts come up throughout the course of the Union season. Of course, these type of things are always subject to change so the number could easily go up or down at anytime. The remainder of the Independence's home matches will be played at Quick Stadium on the Widener University campus.

If Colombian media is to be believed, Faryd Mondragon is set to made a dramatic return to the country to end his career.

Golcarcol is reporting that Deportivo Cali has begun discussions to bring Mondragon back to the team. Deportivo is the team with which Mondragon began his career, which now spans over two decades, during the 1990-91 season.

The Colombian news outlet has a confirmation from Cali's president, Oscar Astudillo, that the team is pondering a transfer of some sort for Mondragon.

"[We're] not thinking of hiring a player in that position," Astudillo said, "but we will study this possibility with the coaching staff and if this is approved we will try to have the player."

The former Colombian national team goalkeeper has also apparently stated openness to returning to Cali. Mondragon was quoted on a radio show as stating that he would be open to moving to Cali if asked.

"I have a great relationship with the board," Mondragon told La Banda Deportivo.

However, Mondragon stated repeatedly that it was up to the Cali front office to determine whether or not it wanted to make the move happen. The 40-year-old said that it would require Cali to bring him back to Colombia prior to their season, not during the season.

"The economic issue is not going to be a problem," Mondragon said. "[It would] be nice to retire from the club of which I am supporter."

He also stated that he doesn't want to play with the feelings of the supporters from Cali, nor those from Philadelphia.

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If Costa Rica had any hope of qualifying for the Olympics this summer, it was extinguished in the second half of tonight's match against the USWNT. While Costa Rica played hard all match long, it wasn't enough, as the US scored two late goals to secure their fifth straight Olympic appearance.

The US Women's National Team now awaits the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, where they will defend their 2008 gold medal from Beijing.

The Costa Ricans had opportunity to score during the first half of the match, with one shot just missing the net and bouncing off the bar. Even goalkeeper Hope Solo, who ended up starting the match despite nursing a quad pull, was challenged during the first half.

That was until Tobin Heath scored a marvelous header goal off of Lauren Cheney's corner kick. Despite a determined Costa Rican squad that wouldn't quit, it was all USA for the rest of the night with Carli Lloyd and young up-and-comer Alex Morgan scoring late second half goals to seal the USWNT's Olympic berth.

The USWNT will go on to play the winner of tonight's Mexico/Canada match in the tournament final Sunday night. With the final match not having any effect on qualifying, head coach Pia Sundhage will probably rest her top players, especially after losing Ali Krieger in the first game of the tournament.

8:00 p.m. is the scheduled start time for this Sunday's final match and will be available via the Universal Sports Network and concacaf.com.

UPDATE: The Union have confirmed the training session and state that Mwanga will return to the team on February 6.

Aston Villa will be the host team of yet another Philadelphia Union player on trial, according to soccer agent Richard Motzkin.

Former first overall SuperDraft pick Danny Mwanga will train with Aston Villa, of the English Premier League, for ten days. Mwanga joins Freddy Adu (Rayo Vallecano), Michael Farfan (Sunderland), Zac MacMath (Everton), Amobi Okugo (SC Freiburg), Sebastien Le Toux (Bolton Wanderers) and Zach Pfeffer (Hoffenheim) as members of the Union that have spent time training with overseas clubs prior to the 2012 MLS season.

The timing of Mwanga's training stint with Villa is odd. The Union officially began their 2012 preseason yesterday and had begun their fitness portion of it today. Mwanga's time in England directly conflicts with nearly all of the team's scheduled training period at the Youth Sports Complex in Wayne, PA.

Mwanga was rumored to have been put on the trade block by the Union prior to, and during, the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, which makes this training opportunity appear to be more of a trial with Villa. Just like Sebastien Le Toux's supposed week long training exercise with Bolton, Mwanga's time with Aston Villa may prove to be more than just getting back into soccer shape.

The one hang up for any potential transfer of Mwanga out of America is his citizenship status. The 20-year-old is due to be able to receive full US citizenship within the next year, but a move out of the country would put that on hold. Additionally, not holding US citizenship, nor an European Union passport hurts Mwanga's chances of gaining a UK work permit, or winning an appeal for one.

With four days left in the January international transfer window, anything could happen.

Former Independence fan favorite Holmfridur Magnusdottir and her fellow countrywoman, Katrin Omarsdottir signed contracts with the Independence last week, adding more depth to a team looking to make another trip to the WPS Final. Both Magnusdottir and Omarsdottir are midfielders, bringing even more experience to an already strong Independence midfield. These two women also bring international experience to Philadelphia, having numerous appearances for the Icelandic Women's National Team. Both Magundottir and Omarsdottir were members of the 2009 UEFA Championship team.

Magnusdottir will be coming back to Philadelphia for her second season, having been named fan favorite during the 2010 season. During the 2010 campaign, the Icelandic midfielder (she also can play as a forward), played in 12 games in which she started six, scoring one goal and one assist before going back to Iceland. "I love being in Philadelphia," Magnusdottir told the official Independence website.

Unlike Magnusdottir, Katrin Omarsdottir will be entering her first season in WPS, formally playing in the WPSL in Walnut Creek, CA. Omarsdottir played her college career at UC Berkeley, scoring five goals in her sophomore year, followed by two goals and four assists in 2010. "Kat [Omarsdottir] is a smooth operator with elegance, class and soccer acumen," said head coach Paul Riley, "she's has the ability to be a WPS regular."

Sebastien Le Toux's return to the Philadelphia area has taken another turn, as yet another media outlet reports of a development concerning his possible transfer across the pond.

English sports news site Sporting Life reports that Le Toux did not impress enough to warrant Bolton Wanderers pursuing a transfer. Despite the large amount of speculation, rumors and overseas media member based intrigue, Sporting Life claims that Bolton manager Owen Coyle has declared the Wanderers decision to look elsewhere for support.

"Sebastien came in for a couple of days," Owen said, "and to be fair to him he hadn't trained for four or five weeks. He did fine and that's where it is. We'd have probably needed a longer look."

The quote directly contradictions assertions by other outlets that the Frenchman's trial in England had gone well, including one from MLSsoccer.com's own Joe Prince-Wright.

As of right now, Sporting Life is the only outlet attributing the quote to Coyle, which is interesting in the highly competitive and copycat world of English sport media.

Hope Solo could potentially miss tomorrow nights all important semifinal match against Costa Rica with a lingering quad injury. The timing could not be any worse as whoever loses the match tomorrow will not qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Solo was seen clutching her right knee during the game against Mexico this past Tuesday night. Despite whatever pain she may have been feeling, the star keeper for the USWNT completed the game saying afterwards that it was, "a little quad pull."

This past Fall, Solo took time off from soccer to appear on the hit ABC series, Dancing with the Stars, which she says may have resulted in some loss of muscle. Since being back, Solo has been doubling her workouts and pre-game warmups, but it appears all her hard work may have backfired. While she is not 100% ruled out for tomorrow nights game, head coach Pia Sundhage is confident in her team even if Solo ends up sitting. "We have to make a decision whether she is 100% to go or not," Sundhage told ESPN, "And if she isn't, we have a tremendous backup goalkeeper (Nicole Barnhart)."

Kickoff for tomorrow nights Olympic qualifying semifinal is set for 8:00 p.m. Obviously if Solo is not able to play in the match, Nicole Barnhart will start in net. Even without Solo, the USWNT should not run into any trouble against Costa Rica. Stay tuned to Brotherly Game tomorrow as more information on Solo's status becomes available.

Sebastien Le Toux's return to Philadelphia truly does appear to be simply a chance to pack his belongings, as the striker's transfer to Bolton Wanderers is set to be completed in the next few days.

MLSsoccer.com's Joe Prince-Wright told TalkSport UK, in an interview, that the Frenchman was "gonna finalize his contract tomorrow with Bolton."

Le Toux has been rumored as an option for the struggling English side since heading on trial with Bolton last week. Now, according to Prince-Wright, rumors of a "substantial transfer" could be completed with plenty of time before the end of the January international transfer window.

Mirror Football's Alan Nixon had put the odds of Le Toux joining Bolton at 6.5 out of 10, when asked by a Philadelphia Union fan. Nixon has maintained that Bolton's move for Le Toux or any other player would be dependent on the status of Giovanni dos Santos' transfer out of Tottenham.

Earlier today, French site Football.fr stated, on its MLS dedicated site, that "Le Toux should also soon join the Wanderers for a similar amount," to Tim Ream, who was sold to Bolton for a reported 2.5 million pounds.

(H/T to Philly Soccer Page for spotting this first.)