The Philadelphia Union selected the first 10 members for the league expansion of its initial roster which was headed by the experienced forward Alejandro Moreno, midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi and eight young players. Moreno played for the Colombus Crew while Stefani was from the Los Angeles Galaxy roster. The Union is set to debut at the Seattle Sounders on March 25 and will have their first home game against DC United on April 10 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Soon after the draft was announced at Union’s offices in Chester by the team’s coach and general manger Peter Nowak, there were reports by the Washington Post that Chris Seitz had been acquired by the team. The Real Salt Lake goalkeeper was reported to have been exchanged for the allocation money. Seitz was apart of the U.S. under-23 national team that participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Brad Knighton of New England Revolution was also drafted by the Union. Expansion teams receive the highest amount of money from Major League Soccer to get their hands on players.

The draft had one player selected from 10 of the 15 MLS rosters with the average age of the Union Selection being 25 years. Nowak reiterated the fact that the selection of the team was not an easy process and things got really hot at times. The Union has the freedom to negotiate the contracts with the drafted players. However, they do not have the authority to divulge the financial details. The salary budget of an MLS team is just a shed more than $2.3 million if a league source is to be believed.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, made it very clear that he is open to speak to any player who feels unhappy at being left out from the team. England has already qualified for the World Cup next year by achieving an emphatic victory over Croatia last Wednesday. They beat Croatia 5-1 at Wembley. The England manager has enjoyed 100% success so far in the qualifying Group 6 having already made it to South Africa with another couple of games to spare.

The manager owes the success to the mutual understanding that he has been able to build with his players. The best thing about him is that he is very approachable and players do not hesitate to walk up to him to clear any doubts. He confirmed that he had to enlighten as many as three players as to why they could not make it to the team. Capello played for the World Cup qualifiers back in 1978 but unfortunately could not make it to the squad. So he is not taking any chances to his 23- man squad either. However, he confirms that his decision would be based on the current form of the player.

According to Frank Lampard, Fabio is an exceptional manager who has been able to unite the team and make them perform to the best of their abilities. He has maintained a degree of discipline with the players and has taught them to maintain a level head irrespective of the result. Fabio Capello has shown that a little detail and change can bring about a lot of changes to the fortune of the team.