Soccer Watch

European play is heating up after the midwinter break, with some new teams in the title hunt in England and close races just about everywhere else (except perhaps Spain, where Barcelona may be untouchable).

On this side of the pond, some of the biggest news this week had to do with the old Austin Aztex – now (shudder) Orlando City – who'll play in the inaugural game when the newest second-division soccer league, USL PRO, kicks off April 2, with 15 teams playing a 24-game schedule. Teams include established second-division sides Orlando and Rochester, plus six teams that comprised the third division USL-2 last year. The lone team from west of the Mississippi – Los Angeles Blues – is in the International Division with three established pro teams from Puerto Rico and one from Antigua and Barbuda. USL PRO is run by United Soccer Leagues, which might be termed the establishment side in the ongoing soccer league civil war. This announcement gives it a big PR win over the breakaway faction of team owners known as the North American Soccer League, which has six established second division teams (and a start-up promised for 2012 in San Antonio), but no visible organization, no schedule, and some suddenly shaky ownership issues.