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U.S. national team fans weren't the only ones who caught a glimpse of Kenny Cooper's performance against Guatemala on Saturday.

With every passing day you watched Landon Donovan training with Bayern Munich, you just knew his trip to Germany would wind up being more than a training stint.

It has. According to multiple reports out of Germany and now confirmed on the Bayern Munich website, Donovan is set to join Bayern Munich on a short loan from the start of January through mid-March.

While the U.S. national team prepares for its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Guatemala on Wednesday, Landon Donovan is half a world away, still training with Bayern Munich.

The fine folks at Bayern Munich were kind enough to shoot a video of today's training session, with a special focus on Donovan.

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You might ask yourself how a defender on the absolute worse defense in Major League Soccer can win an award. While that is a valid question what you should ask yourself is just how good does a defender have to be to get noticed playing on the nightmare that was the 2008 LA Galaxy defense.

If you are scratching your head at the above photo, and the sight of Landon Donovan clad in Bayern Munich attire, then you probably missed the news that Donovan is spending 10 days training with the German champions, a stint that began on Tuesday.

While it is being called just a training stint, it is safe to say the 10-day stint is being used as a test drive by Bayern Munich, whish is strongly considering acquiring Donovan during the January transfer window.

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In what could be a prelude to a loan move and potentially a full transfer, Landon Donovan is in Germany preparing to begin a week-long training stint with Bayern Munich.

Donovan could wind up joining Bayern as replacement for out-of-favor German striker Lukas Podolski, who appears on his way out.

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Just when you thought David Beckham would stick around Major League Soccer through the 2011 season, now comes word that the upcoming MLS season could be his last.

Whether you want to call it simply a case of a team saying what its fans wanting to hear, or an actual case of battle lines being drawn, Landon Donovan's very public desire to make a move to Europe could be leading Donovan and the Galaxy toward a showdown.

Donovan has stated repeatedly and very clearly in recent days and weeks that he wants to go to Europe.

David Beckham is heading to Italy.

Major League Soccer confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the league has reached an agreement with Italian power AC Milan on a short-term loan deal for Beckham.

According to the MLS statement on the loan, the loan is set to begin on January 1.

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The 2008 MLS playoffs are set to kick off on Thursday and, for the third straight season, the Los Angeles Galaxy won't be involved.

LA had the league's poster boy in David Beckham, Golden Boot winner in Landon Donovan, and the winningest coach in MLS history in Bruce Arena (for the second half of the season at least) and still couldn't avoid its season ending early.

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With the 2008 MLS season over, and the Golden Boot Award in his grasp after a 20-goal tally, Landon Donovan is ready to head back to Europe.

This isn't exactly news since reports have permeated all year linking Donovan to a likely winter departure overseas.

The biggest MLS story heading into this weekend isn't the playoff race, which it should be, or even the Red Bulls drug fiasco, which has already become yesterday's news. The David Beckham/AC Milan loan move has become an international story that has turned just a bit messy as the Los Angeles Galaxy is left protesting a potential loan move that has little, if any, value for the club.

The biggest MLS story heading into this weekend isn't the playoff race, which it should be, or even the Red Bulls drug fiasco, which has already become yesterday's news. The David Beckham/AC Milan loan move has become an international story that has turned just a bit messy as the Los Angeles Galaxy is left protesting a potential loan move that has little, if any, value for the club.

Major League Soccer commisioner Don Garber has confirmed that MLS is in talks with AC Milan about a potential short-term loan move for LA Galaxy star David Beckham, a move that would allow Beckham to spend a large part of the MLS offseason playing with the Italian giants.

"Discussions have taken place between AC Milan and the Los Angeles Galaxy regarding the possibility of a short-term loan agreement that would allow David Beckham to play for AC Milan during the MLS off season,'' Garber said.

Major League Soccer commisioner Don Garber has confirmed that MLS is in talks with AC Milan about a potential short-term loan move for LA Galaxy star David Beckham, a move that would allow Beckham to spend a large part of the MLS offseason playing with the Italian giants.

"Discussions have taken place between AC Milan and the Los Angeles Galaxy regarding the possibility of a short-term loan agreement that would allow David Beckham to play for AC Milan during the MLS off season,'' Garber said.

David Beckham is set to resume his European club soccer career.

At least temporarily.

AC Milan has confirmed reports that Beckham will join the Italian power on a short loan deal beginning in January.

The deal makes all the sense in the world. Major League Soccer's off-season, from November to late March/early April, is entirely too long and now Beckham will have a chance to play high-level soccer before returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy at the start of the MLS season.

David Beckham is set to resume his European club soccer career.

At least temporarily.

AC Milan has confirmed reports that Beckham will join the Italian power on a short loan deal beginning in January.

The deal makes all the sense in the world. Major League Soccer's off-season, from November to late March/early April, is entirely too long and now Beckham will have a chance to play high-level soccer before returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy at the start of the MLS season.

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Four teams saw their MLS playoff dreams buried last weekend, leaving four groups of fans disgusted and four clubs searching for answers heading into the off-season.

His MLS playoffs hopes have already been dashed, but David Beckham isn't wasting any time making plans for the off-season.

According to reports out of Italy, Beckham will spend part of the winter training with AC Milan. The training stint will allow him to stay fit and potentially be available for selection by England national team manager Fabio Capello.

So it's the day after the Los Angeles Galaxy's awful 3-1 loss to Chicago on Thursday and you're probably wondering where the Galaxy will go from here. I can tell you where at least one of their players is.

None other than David Beckham is in New York City today along with wife Victoria to promote their fragrance lines.

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Wouldn't you know it. After three months off, You Write the Caption has made a strong comeback, with this week's entry drawing a new record for submissions entered.

Let's face it, the above photo of Josh Wicks can't help but inspire the comedy writer in all of us.

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Wouldn't you know it. After three months off, You Write the Caption has made a strong comeback, with this week's entry drawing a new record for submissions entered.

Let's face it, the above photo of Josh Wicks can't help but inspire the comedy writer in all of us.

The Los Angeles Galaxy just flat-lined. Coded. Went into cardiac arrest.

You don't need to watch Grey's Anatomy or ER, or be a doctor, to know the medical terms for what happened to the Galaxy's playoff hopes last night. An embarrassing 3-1 loss to Chicago all but squashed LA's faint playoff hopes less than a week after a promising win against D.

The Los Angeles Galaxy visit Toyota Park tonight to take on the Chicago Fire in what amounts to a must-win match if LA hopes to resurrect its faint playoff hopes. The Fire will be looking to avoid a three-match losing streak, and a three-match skid against Western Conference opponents at that.

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There is still a month to go in the MLS regular season but with two clear front-runners for the MVP award we can start to talking about who might win the award.

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Don't call it a comeback. At least not yet.

The Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-2 drubbing of D.C. United raised plenty of questions about D.C. (again) but it also raised the question of whether Bruce Arena, Landon Donovan and David Beckham could help LA secure its first playoff berth in three years.

We are mid-way through September, with about six weeks left in the season, and there is a very real chance that neither Los Angeles team will make the MLS playoffs. That's a sad statement considering MLS Cup will be held at Home Depot Center this year.

Though neither team is eliminated from playoff contention yet, neither team is looking all that dangerous.

We are mid-way through September, with about six weeks left in the season, and there is a very real chance that neither Los Angeles team will make the MLS playoffs. That's a sad statement considering MLS Cup will be held at Home Depot Center this year.

Though neither team is eliminated from playoff contention yet, neither team is looking all that dangerous.

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Good afternoon folks and welcome to the first installment of Emptying the Notebook. I plan on making this a weekly segment where I touch on all the topics and stories I wasn't able to get to during the week.

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The details finally emerged on the Carlos Ruiz trade from LA to Toronto FC on Thursday and they were shocking to say the least. The LA Galaxy shipped Ruiz to Toronto FC for a pair of supplemental draft picks.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy has traded Carlos Ruiz to Toronto FC, sources told SBI on Tuesday evening. Details of the deal were not available yet. To make room for Ruiz on the roster, TFC has waived French midfielder Laurent Robert.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy will introduce Bruce Arena as the team's new head coach at a press conference scheduled for 2pm ET today.

Arena and assistant coach Dave Sarachan will take over for former Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit, who resigned a week ago, and their first game at the Galaxy helm will be Saturday against the Chicago Fire.

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The Bruce Arena era in Los Angeles is about to begin.

The Los Angeles Galaxy has hired Bruce Arena as the team's new head coach, multiple sources told SBI on Friday.

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The Bruce Arena era in Los Angeles is about to begin.

The Los Angeles Galaxy has hired Bruce Arena as the team's new head coach, multiple sources told SBI on Friday.

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With the rumors of Bruce Arena joining the Los Angeles Galaxy growing by the day, the sight of Arena in the Galaxy box at Home Depot Center for Thursday night's match between the Galaxy and Chivas USA gave the talk even more life, but not nearly as much as comments made by AEG president Tim Leiweke about Arena during the ESPN broadcast of the match.