Lottery for U.S. player signed by the MLS
The Union will not get a chance at Sal Zizzo. In England, more teams ban vuvuzelas.
American midfielder Sal Zizzo has left Hannover 96 of the Bundesliga to sign with Major League Soccer, and will be assigned to a team during a weighted lottery held at the league's offices in New York on Wednesday.
Under the lottery, teams have a better opportunity based on reverse order of finish during the 2009 regular season. D.C. United has the highest percentage chance of winning (16.7), followed by Kansas City (14.7), Chivas USA (12.9), New York (11.2), New England (9.6) and Toronto (8.1). There was no word Tuesday as to why the Union wasn't figured in the odds.
The 23-year-old former UCLA star tore his left anterior cruciate ligament last October. Zizzo played once for the U.S. national team, in an August 2007 exhibition at Sweden, and was part of the U.S. team at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Meanwhile in England, Fans hoping to bring the distinctive drone of the vuvuzela back to the U.K. from the World Cup face disappointment after several Premier League clubs banned the plastic horns from their stadiums.
Although the Premier League has not made any ruling on the vuvuzela covering its 20 teams, Tottenham banned the South African instrument late Monday, and Arsenal, Birmingham, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, West Ham and Sunderland followed on Tuesday. The teams cited concern that the distinctive blaring of the vuvuzelas could prevent spectators at matches from hearing safety announcements, including evacuation instructions.
"We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium pose unnecessary risks to public safety," Tottenham said.
Vuvuzelas at the recently concluded World Cup annoyed plenty of television viewers around the world by drowning out television commentary and other crowd noise.
But for many visiting World Cup fans, the trumpets were a common souvenir.