"I want to thank God for giving me the ability to do something I love for such a long time," Hendrickson said. "I'd also like to thank my family for all their support. I have been fortunate to make some wonderful friends and play with some of the top players in the league. I've played for some of the top organizations and enjoyed the support of all the fans. I intend to stay in the soccer world and continue to help the sport grow in the United States. But at this point, I'm happy to finish my playing career as a champion with the Columbus Crew." Hendrickson capped his 12-season tenure in MLS by helping the Crew to its first MLS Cup Championship this past season. It was the third MLS Cup title of his career.

"On behalf of our entire organiz

A MLS veteran who played for the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division in 2008, Griffin trained with the Galaxy at the end of the 2008 season.

Cronin, 25, appeared in 22 games for the Galaxy in 2008 before a fractured right hand ended his season in late August. He had a 6-9-6 record for the Galaxy in 2008, brining his career record in MLS to 7-13-7, with a 1.93 goals- against-average and two clean sheets.

"We are pleased to have re-signed Marc to a new deal," United General Manager Dave Kasper said. "He has adapted well to playing in our defense and has become an important player for us. We look forward to his future contributions to our club." In his first full season with United, the 24-year-old made 21 starts. In all competitions during the 2008 season, Burch started 35 games, scoring two goals and four assists.

MLS teams and adidas identified nine of the most promising soccer players in the United States with the selected players signing MLS contracts before completing their NCAA eligibility and can be selected in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, which will take place on Jan. 15 in St. Luois. The Generation adidas players' contracts will not count toward the salary cap of the team that selects them.

Below is the 2009 Generation adidas class (Name, Position, Age, College): Kevin Alston, defender, 20, University of Indiana Danny Cruz, midfielder, 19, University of Nevada Las Vegas Stefan Frei, goalkeeper, 22, University of California Omar Gonzalez, defender, 20, University of Maryland Jeremy Hall, midfielder, 20, University of Maryland Baggio Husidic, midfielder, 21, University of Il

Mendes was originally signed to the club's senior roster on March 21, 2005, and has appeared in 95 matches for the club, making 81 starts over four seasons.

He is coming off a 2008 campaign in which he played in 17 matches, making 10 starts.

(Sports Network) - D.C. United announced the re-signing of midfielder Santino Quaranta.

"Santino is very deserving of a new contract," United General Manager Dave Kasper said. "He had his best season as a professional for us in 2008, and he will be a significant part of our team moving forward. Santino's best soccer is ahead of him, and we are thrilled to have him back with us for the long term." Quaranta began his second stint in D.C. in 2008 and went on to have the best season of his career. He produced career-highs in games played (27), starts (23), minutes (1,963), and goals (5).

"Having played for the USL Sounders the past three years and having grown up in the area, I had always wanted to play in MLS," Eylander said. "To reach that goal and do so by playing for the first MLS team in Seattle is really, really special for me and very exciting." The 24-year-old is the second goalkeeper on the Sounders FC roster, joining U.S. veteran Kasey Keller.

"We're very excited to have Chris join our team," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said.

Donovan had a 10-day training stint in November with Bayern and just rejoined the club on Friday. His loan will commence immediately.

"He will get playing time in the friendlies, in the DFB Cup, and in the Bundesliga," Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann told the club's official website. "He has unbelievable pace and dribbling skill, he looks for one-on-one situations and he scores goals." Donovan's loan is scheduled to end on March 8, when he will rejoin the Galaxy for the 2009 MLS season which starts on March 22.

Beckham has joined the Rossoneri on loan from Major League Soccer side, the Los Angeles Galaxy, for three months and has amazed Ancelotti with his fitness during training.

The former England captain has now been penciled in for a place in the squad which will face AS Roma after the winter break.

"I wish we could give you hard commitments today, but we're not even sure the stadium is going to be built," he told the Delaware County Times. "If the [financial] markets tank next month, then we won't build this thing. We'll be out $15 million and everyone goes home." The comments were made after a meeting to discuss a request for the expansion of a tax-exempt building zone for the developers. The request was withdrawn after several hours of tough questioning when it became clear they would not be able to strike a deal with the Chester Upland School District before an end-of-the-year deadline, according to the Delaware County Times.

The group will prepare for the United States' first match of 2009, a friendly against Sweden on Jan. 24 at The Home Depot Center.

"This is the beginning of a big year for the national team, and it is important that we get started off heading in the right direction," said Bradley.

"We welcome Tom Dutra to our staff," said Schmid. "He is a respected goalkeeper coach with great local connections. He has developed young keepers and also worked with experienced keepers like (Seattle's) Kasey Keller." Dutra, 36, served two seasons as goalie coach under Brian Schmetzer for the USL Sounders.

Schmetzer was named as Schmid's top assistant Dec. 22. Schmid became head coach of Sounders FC Dec. 16.

Videira was originally selected by the Revolution in the second round (18th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, but chose to pursue options with European clubs rather than sign a contract with Major League Soccer at that time.

The 22-year-old midfielder signed with Hamilton of the Scottish Premier League in August, but was plagued by injuries during his stint and didn't make a first-team appearance for the club before being released in mid-December.

"We have made a significant commitment to ensure that Chad remains a member of the Crew and we are very pleased to have gotten that priority accomplished," said Columbus technical director Brian Bliss. "It goes without saying that he played a vital role in our championship season and re-signing him allows us to retain our core group of key contributors." Originally drafted by the Crew No. 2 overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, the 6-4, 190-pounder has been widely regarded as one of the league's top defenders since his rookie campaign, when he was a finalist for Rookie of the Year.

Marshall, 24, returned from an injury-shortened 2007 season with a career year in 2008. He started 29 games and ranked second on the team in minutes played, with 2,485, helping the Crew win the Supporters' Shie

Ricketts joins the Galaxy after previous stints with Village United of the Digicel Premier League in Jamaica, Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League and Bradford City of League Two in England.

The 31-year-old will officially be added to the Galaxy?s roster, pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Clearance.

Schmetzer, 46, joins Sounders FC following seven seasons as the head coach of the Sounders' United Soccer Leagues First Division club. He guided Seattle to USL-1 championships in 2005 and 2007, and the U.S. Open Cup semifinals in 2007 and 2008.

"I'm excited to work with Brian," said Schmid, who became head coach Dec. 16. "He brings great knowledge of the Seattle area, the history of the USL-1 Sounders, and a wealth of coaching experience. That, coupled with his past playing experience, makes him the ideal assistant coach." Schmetzer has nine years of experience coaching and 15 years of playing at the professional level. He was a member of six championship teams during that span.

"There was significant interest in our head coaching position and we considered several candidates, but none of them brought more soccer expertise, experience or potential to lead our club than Robert Warzycha," Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers said. "And certainly, none approached the commitment and loyalty to the Crew that he possesses." The 45-year-old Warzycha replaces the departed MLS Coach of the Year, Sigi Schmid, who took the head coaching position at 2009 expansion club, the Seattle Sounders FC last week.

"Robert's resume is impressive, from his playing experience in the English Premier League and at the international level to his experience playing and coaching in Major League Soccer," McCullers said. "He

The 23-year-old is expected to join the Mexican side this week at its preseason camp in Guadalajara.

In four seasons in MLS, Mendoza has set the all-time record for league appearances by a Mexican, with 111 regular-season games, scoring five goals and 16 assists.

"Freddie Ljungberg is a player that we value for the long term," Sounders FC General Manager Adrian Hanauer said.

"As Freddie increased his training regimen for the upcoming season, we wanted to make sure that he was firing on all cylinders for the next two years and beyond." Ljungberg, who signed a designated player contract with the 2009 expansion club earlier this year, is expected to make a full recovery and his projected return to training is 10-12 weeks.

Kljestan represented the United States at the Olympics and played on the senior national team in four CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

"I'm very proud to have won the award this year, and I know that some great players have been named Young Male Athlete of the Year in the past," Kljestan said.

"I'm not one who wears ties very often," Schmid said, "and if you see me in a tie very often, that means I'm not doing my job on the field.

"So hopefully you won't see me in one often." If the past is any indication, Schmid's tie will start collecting dust soon.

"We believe Sigi is a perfect fit for what Sounders FC sought in hiring its first head coach," Sounders FC Majority Owner Joe Roth said. "Sigi is a proven champion in this league and beyond, with an extensive and impressive coaching resume, and a track record for getting the most out of his teams. We believe that with Sigi Schmid as our coach, we have the best possible chance to succeed from the outset. He is the only coach to have led two MLS teams to the championship. We plan on being the third." Most recently, Schmid, 55, guided Columbus to the 2008 MLS Cup championship and a Supporters' Shield. He currently ranks second in MLS career victories with 113 while also posting an all-time best 19 postseason wins.

"Clearly, Sigi is a winner, and there are

Columbus acquired allocation money and cash from Seattle, thus releasing Schmid from contractual obligations and allowing him to proceed with his contract negotiations with Seattle.

In connection with this matter, Major League Soccer found no evidence of tampering by Seattle Sounders FC.

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Toronto FC announced on Friday they have acquired four-time Major League Soccer Cup winner and three-time MLS All-Star Dwayne De Rosario from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for defender Julius James and allocation money.

"Dwayne is a player we've admired for quite some time," TFC Director of Soccer Mo Johnston said. "When the chance came to work with Houston to get this deal, we were obviously very happy. I'd like to thank Chris Canetti and Dominic Kinnear f the Dynamo for their help in bringing Dwayne to Toronto. He's a wonderful talent and I hope all of our supporters are as excited as we are that Dwayne is now a member of Toronto FC. We also want to wish Julius all the best, it's never easy to say goodbye to a young talent." "Wewould liketo thank Dwayne for his leadership, commitment, and contributions during his tenure with the Dynamo," Dynamo coach Kinnear said. "He has been a valuable asset to our team

"We're amazed at the support by our fans," Toronto FC Senior Director of Business Operations Paul Beirne said.

"Having these graduates become season seat holders is exciting for us too. It's about welcoming and engaging new supporters for the upcoming season, who will now be able to experience the exciting atmosphere and not miss a minute of game day at BMO Field." Toronto FC will open the 2009 MLS season on Saturday, March 21 in Kansas City, followed by a match Saturday, March 28 in Columbus.