Happy Friday footy fans! We’ve got some great pre-weekend reading for you. Tons of English Premier League action to come, highlights from last night’s late-game heart break for the Revs, a compelling feature on US player Herculez Gomez and much more! Here’s your Daily Kick Around.

English Premier League

The race for the title is heating up as the season comes to a close. Manchester United and Manchester City are both fighting for the top spot. While United has the edge at the moment, a loss could swing momentum in City’s direction. Plus, the teams at the bottom are desperately trying to stay out of the relegation zone. Lots to soak in this weekend!

Major League Soccer

FC Dallas and the New England Revolution played a scoreless match for 94 minute last night. But, in the 95th minute, FCD broke the stalemate, notching a late-game winner. A heartbreaker for the Revs, but pure joy for FCD.

US Soccer

Self-proclaimed “former” USMNT player Herculez Gomez wants you know he’s very, very happy playing for Santos Laguna. Seriously. Gomez has been on a goal-scoring tear lately for the Mexican side, and while USMNT fans have been clamoring for him to be called up by Jurgen Klinsmann for the national team, Herc can’t be bothered. Read more about Gomez and where his focus is these days in this great feature from Brian Straus.

Soccer kits these days are becoming more and more innovative. Check out these creative away jerseys from NASL team Minnesota Stars FC.

This feels a bit like tooting my own horn, but it’s all the buzz on Twitter this morning, so I’d be remiss to not link to it. The New York Times featured Women United FC in their Goal.com blog today, an online community for women who love soccer (full disclosure, I am a founder of this site). Check out the great article here!

If you are lucky enough to live near Carson, CA, you might want to mark down April 15 on your calender. A very unique and special event will be taking place at the Home Depot Center that day. Former USMNT and Mexican National Team stars will be facing off in the “Legends Classic.” If you’re in the area, you don’t want to miss this.

We are nearing the end of the week, but there is plenty to talk about today! Lots of news — both good and bad — out of Bolton, John Terry could be sidelined for a while and Mario Balotelli involved in a car accident. Plus a crazy cool LEGO model in Kansas City! All that and more, here’s your Daily Kick Around.

English Premier League

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first, shall we? Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle said today that U.S. midfielder Stu Holden won’t be seeing any game play for the rest of the EPL season. While it is not a huge surprise, considering the severity of Holden’s injury and the setbacks he has encountered, it is still a blow for any Bolton fans hoping to have the dynamic player back. Bolton is on the verge of relegation and could use all the help they can get to stay in the EPL.

On to the good news: Fabrice Muamba has taken his first steps, just three weeks after suffering cardiac arrest on the pitch. Coyle said that Muamba has done some short periods of walking down the hospital corridor, and has a big smile on his face. Considering Muamba was technically dead for 78 minutes, any progress is amazing; the fact that he’s doing it all with a giant smile makes it that much better.

And of course, we can’t forget about the other American import at Bolton, Tim Ream. While Ream may have fallen out of favor with many USMNT fans, he has made a lasting impression on Coyle. Since arriving at Bolton, Ream quickly worked his way into the starting lineup, and has done well as a center back and occasionally as a midfielder for the Wanderers. Grant Wahl caught up with him, and gives great insight into his time with Bolton so far here.

 Chelsea captain John Terry could be sidelined with two cracked ribs, which is bad news for the Blues. They have a stretch of eight games in 26 days, including EPL, FA Cup and Champions League matches.

Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli was involved in a minor car accident today, but escaped unhurt. How is this man always in the headlines? It’s somewhat impressive.

Major League Soccer

In case you missed the drama in Torreon last night, Santos Laguna knocked Toronto FC out of the CCL tournament, ending the MLS squad’s surprising and impressive run. For you USMNT fans, Herculez Gomez scored. Twice. A call-up is inevitable if he maintains this form.

Ever wondered what MLS stadium would be the first to have an official LEGO model of it? Here’s your answer!

Today, MLS squad Toronto FC will take on Mexican giant Santos Laguna in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. For American fans without an allegiance to either team, there is an interesting dilemma here: root for the only MLS team left in the tournament, or support former USMNT player Herculez Gomez, who has been on fire for Santos lately.

I have seen people take both sides of this decision. But, not matter who you choose to cheer for today, one thing is certain: Gomez is a stud, both on and off the field.

Herculez Gomez has had a wild ride as a professional soccer player, with lots of highs and lows throughout his career. In fact, he nearly quit early on. But Herc persevered despite the rough patches, and we’re sure glad he did.

Herculez has played for teams all over Mexico and the US. His first MLS team was the LA Galaxy, with his breakout year coming in 2005 when LA won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the MLS Cup. Herc scored 18 goals that season, and was voted the LA Galaxy Team MVP for the year.

But 2005 seems like ancient history now. Since going to Santos Laguna this season, Herculez has been on fire. He has eight goals so far this season, but with the form he’s in, I have a feeling that number will hit double digits soon.

Alright, so clearly Herc is killin it on the pitch. But what about off of it? Well, we think he’s a stud there too, and we’re pretty sure you’ll agree.

Not only does Gomez have a chiseled physique, he lets his personality shine through, and we dig it.

Oh, and did we forget to mention, he’s single? Or at least, we’re 99% sure he is. The picture (which he posted yesterday) says it all.

We’ve determined the Herc is an all-around great dude. Skilled, attractive, funny, and of course, muscles. And he’s fantastic on social media. I can’t think of a player who is has more contact with his fans on Twitter than Gomez. Make sure you’re following him here.

Good luck today Herculez, we want to see some goals (and if you want to rip your jersey off to celebrate, we wouldn’t mind that either)!

Good Thursday morning to you all! I don’t know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but for me it’s beautiful, spring soccer weather! Today we’ve got the news from the CONCACAF Champion’s League games last night, the MLS power rankings, where Jose Mourinho might be next season and tragic news about Eric Abidal. Here’s your Thursday Daily Kick Around!

CONCACAF Champion’s League

Well, well, if things aren’t a bit interesting already in the CCL! Seattle squared off with Santos Laguna and let’s just say Santos apparently were there to prove a point, along with USMNT forward Herculez Gomez. The Mexican side squashed the Sounders 6-1.  “If this was a boxing match, they would have knocked us out,”  Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid said. And he would have been right.

And they weren’t the only shocker last night. LA Galaxy hosted Toronto FC and let’s just say, the boys from LA showed again they are a team that can be beat. It looks like the back line is still the biggest trouble for the Galaxy. You can check out the highlights from the match here.

MLS Kick Off also has a ton of links concerning both games for all the information you could ever want!

Major League Soccer

The Montreal Impact might have lost their season opener to Vancouver this weekend, but clearly they aren’t thinking negatively. They are still building their team, and today they announced they would sign Italian Veteran Bernardo Carradi to their roster.

Now that we have First Kick out of the way, it’s time for that nice little thing called the power rankings. Real Salt Lake have taken the top after their impressive showing against LA and the Montreal Impact find themselves still at the bottom. But it’s only the beginning folks!

English Premier League

For once, it’s not a player’s miscue that is causing a ruckus, but none other than Premier League chairman Dave Richards. He took aim at FIFA, stating the governing body of world soccer stole the game from England.

“Then, 50 years later, some guy came along and said you’re liars and they actually stole it. It was called FIFA. Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more.”

He  had to offer up an embarrassing apology for his words. But you have to kind of feel for him too; apparently while at the event where he had made his comments, he accidentally stepped in a pool and fell, hurting himself badly. Talk about adding injury to insult.

Okay, this saddens me a bit. According to Sir Alex Ferguson, Dimitar Berbatov is on his way out of Manchester United. And who could really blame him? Over the past two seasons, we haven’t really seen a lot of Berba in the line up. This does make me a bit sad because he was a top notch player and a great goal scorer for the Red Devils.

U.S. Men’s National Team

After making his debut for Leeds United a few weeks back and suffering a concussion, US international Robbie Rogers was back on the pitch for Leeds United Tuesday in a friendly match with Carlisle United. Rogers not only played 90 minutes, but he also scored a goal.

UEFA Champion’s League

Now that Real Madrid and Chelsea (which is a wonder in itself) are through to the next round of the Champion’s League, RM boss Jose Mourinho said he would “love” to face off with his old EPL club in CL final. What do you guys think? Can Chelsea, or Real for that matter, get to the final?

La Liga

Speaking of “The Special One,” rumors have been running rampant that Jose will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and possibly return to England to take up another English team. However, he was quoted in the Daily Mail last week stating he would extend his contract with the Spanish club. Sounds like good news for Real fans!

Finally, our thoughts and prayers are with Barcelona’s Eric Abidal as it was announced today he would need a liver transplant. Last year, the French international underwent surgery after a tumor was discovered on his liver. We’re hoping for all of the best for Eric and that he is on a road to recovery.