Friday Morning Union Freekicks: The Curious Case Of Pat Onstad

Many goalkeepers across professional soccer have this amazing ability to have an incredibly longevous career, as Kasey Keller, Pat Onstad, and hopefully Faryd Mondragon can prove. So it came as half surprise, half 'it's about time' when Onstad last December announced his immediate retirement and new position under Ben Olsen at D.C. United.

Onstad's new team is in a rather unfortunate predicament: 'keeper Steve Cronin has gone down with a broken wrist, and D.C. doesn't want to rush back prodigy Bill Hamid from his shoulder injury, an issue that is particularly easy to re-aggravate if not given proper time to fully heal and rehabilitate. So enter Onstad, now 43. Your open thread for all things Union, soccer and Jamie Moyer-esque.

D.C. United goalkeeping coach Pat Onstad, 43, will come out of retirement to play [Steven Goff, Washington Post] - This is still a rather fluid situation, and there are a lot of questions yet to be answered, but if this isn't one of the more interesting league storylines over the past few years, I don't know what is.

Valdés Making a Quick Impression with Union [Dave Zeitlin, MLSsoccer.com] - Interesting tidbit: Danny Califf says that Valdés has yet to fully grasp "soccer English," while Peter Nowak claims that from what he's seen, Valdés has had no problem communicating and working in English.

Seattle Sounders, Osvaldo Alonso Agree To Contract Extension Through 2014 [Graham MacAree, Sounder At Heart] - One gets the impression that both sides were eager to get a deal done, as Alonso's current contract doesn't expire until after the 2012 season.

Busy Offseason Benefitting Okugo in Preseason [Judah Levine, philadelphiaunion.com] - Okugo specifically points to newcomer Brian Carroll as a role model of sorts in the first sessions of camp.

Goodman: If Las Vegas can't lure basketball, look to soccer [Paul Takahashi, Las Vegas Sun] - Note to Don Garber: if even the NBA, which lost roughly $400 million across its teams last year and has lost hundreds of millions in previous years, doesn't want to sink its money into Sin City, you probably don't want to, either.

Philadelphia Independence Announce 2011 Season Schedule [philadelphiaindependence.com] - The second-year club is scheduled to play eighteen regular season matches this year, with its home matches now being played at Widener University's Leslie Quick Stadium in Chester. And speaking of WPS...

Pro women's soccer comes to South Florida [Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald] - The Washington Freedom are moving down to Boca Raton. The team was purchased by magicJack inventor Dan Borislow (from Philadelphia, but now lives in South Florida), who has renamed the team to magicTalk SC. Yeah.