Nick Sakiewicz

The Union's Faryd Mondragon has had a franchise-altering season that resulted in his selection to Wednesday's Major League Soccer All-Star Game. Along every step, the 40-year-old multilingual goalkeeper has gone out of his way to show his appreciation to people working at all levels of the organization. Even the equipment manager drew high praise. "I thank everybody, from ownership to front office to technical staff - especially my lads I call my players who make my job very easy," Mondragon said last week.

PIGGY BACK. Those two words should be all over smart boards and dry-erase easels at Major League Soccer headquarters in New York. It's a design that the league followed in 1995, "piggy-backing" the success of World Cup 1994 in the United States. Flash forward 15 years, and it's a term that can be used again, with this World Cup in South Africa arguably the most publicized and most hyped ever in America. With every pulse-pounding moment captured in uninterrupted high-definition quality on the ESPN family of networks and Univision, there is little argument that the buzz for soccer in this country is higher than it's ever been.

Philadelphia has been chosen as one of 18 host cities included in the U.S. bid to land soccer's World Cup tournament in 2018 or 2022, officials announced yesterday. But don't rush out to buy your tickets just yet. The U.S. bid is due to FIFA, the sport's governing body, by May 14, and the winning nations will be announced in December. It's far from certain the United States will be awarded one of the tournaments. If the United States does win, it probably will be asked by FIFA to trim its list of host cities down to about a dozen.

Can you hear it, that sound coming off the Chester waterfront? It may be the faint sound of cheering. Or, perhaps, the chime of cash registers. Or, it could be just the winter wind, rippling through the weeds and ruins. Part of the answer could come soon, when Pennsylvania officials decide whether to spend $45 million on what developers say will be the final piece of a plan to build a stadium and secure a Major League Soccer team for the Philadelphia area. "This is the stadium site, right back in here," says Nick Sakiewicz, president of sports promoter AEG New York, who is helping local investors navigate the soccer league application process.

The region's new professional soccer team is setting up shop in a town where the sport has hardly existed. Chester High School, a perennial contender in basketball, doesn't have a soccer team. Throughout the Chester Upland School District, in fact, there is no soccer program. Last week, Philadelphia Union vice president Rob Smith arrived on the district's doorstep with a swift kick at the ready. On loan from the Major League Soccer team, whose home will be a new stadium in Chester, Smith is working nearly full time to establish a district soccer program.

For tea-leaf readers, it's another big sign that the Philadelphia region is about to land a pro soccer team. Nick Sakiewicz, who has worked tirelessly to help local investors navigate the league application process, said yesterday that he had joined the local ownership group and would run the prospective soccer operation. The move "is part of our commitment to make this happen," said the veteran soccer executive and former pro goalkeeper. "We're not there yet. But we're committed to getting there.

For tea-leaf readers, it's another big sign that the Philadelphia region is about to land a pro soccer team. Nick Sakiewicz, who has worked tirelessly to help local investors navigate the league application process, said yesterday that he had joined the local ownership group and would run the prospective soccer operation. The move "is part of our commitment to make this happen," said the veteran soccer executive and former pro goalkeeper. "We're not there yet. But we're committed to getting there.

WITH A SINGLE comment, Robert Pires will now go from potential savior to scoundrel in the eyes of the Philadelphia Union faithful. OK, perhaps savior is a stretch, but definitely a player who would have made a major impact. On Wednesday, Pires told French daily L'Equipe that he rejected an offer to join the Union and, subsequently, Major League Soccer, by the summer transfer window in July. The reason? Philly isn't "beautiful" enough. "It does not please me to [go to Philadelphia]

The team of four filed into the boardroom on the 34th floor of the Pepper Hamilton law firm's Philadelphia office on the night of Nov. 29. Their competition, another team of rising advertising stars working on a campaign for Philadelphia's prospective Major League Soccer franchise, was already there. At the end of the long mahogany table sat four people they had to win over, seasoned professionals in the business world, one of whom was an executive with Major League Soccer.

"We don't put too much into what happens. It's a team that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars vs. a team that's worth maybe $10 or 15 [million] at the most. In the world of soccer, that's a massive difference and you expect them to win . . . We're not playing against Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka in our league. We take it for what it is. " - Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan after a 4-1 loss to Real Madrid --- IN THE GRAND scheme, it's hard to disagree with Landon Donovan.