Charlie Davies Is Still Out There Working

In case you forgot, Charlie Davies is still playing professional soccer for a living. The former Boston College and U.S. men's national team striker was most recently at Sochaux in France but he spent most of last season on loan at DC United in MLS.

We don't have to review his horrific car accident in October 2009 that likely robbed him of millions in career earnings not to mention his playing ability because this story is still developing and most importantly, it has a happy ending for him.

Davies signed a two-year deal with the Danish club Randers and he was set to begin training with them today. Their club season starts in a few weeks.

From CNNSI.com
Davies said on Randers' website that the deal "gives me a great chance to show I can be a success on European soil."

Randers club director Jacob Nielsen said the 26-year-old American will bring more speed to the lineup and that "he will fit in well with our current team of attackers."

The easiest thing to do is lament what he's lost and wonder what would have happened if he didn't nearly lose his life that fateful night. However, if he has the strength to move on and keep working on the comeback trail, the least we can do is support him throughout his journey. Not many people are as mentally and as physically tough as Davies, this much I know has to be true.

From following him on Twitter (@CharlieDavies9), I know that he recently got married. Give him a follow if you want to keep up with the latest news in his life, he is a truly inspirational guy.

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Another Spectacular Day For U.S. Soccer

There have been more and more of them lately but today was truly a great day to be a fan of U.S. soccer.

A quick run through to the highlights all from the past 24 hours:

1) The U.S. women beat New Zealand 2-1 in a friendly at FC Dallas Stadium. My girl Alex Morgan (who's going to be in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that drops this week!) saved the U.S. from a shocking defeat as she scored on a header in the 88th minute and another header in stoppage time. She has four goals in her past two games. The U.S. will next play on Feb. 29 (same day as U.S. men vs. Italy) against Denmark in the Algrave Cup held in Portugal.

2) It was another big performance by Everton teammates Landon Donovan and Tim Howard as the Toffees beat Chelsea 2-0. Donovan picked up an assist on Denis Stracqualursi's goal that made it 2-0 in the 71st minute. Howard notched the clean sheet.

3) Clint Dempsey scored in Fulham's 2-0 win over Stoke. It was credited as an own goal which is curious since Dempsey's blast went off Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen's hands, the crossbar, his back then in. It was all Dempsey as far as I'm concerned, he smoked the ball from well outside the box and it dipped at Sorensen, causing it to eat him up (in baseball fielding terms).

4) Charlie Davies made his return to French soccer after nearly 2.5 years out with injuries and playing in MLS. He came on as a sub in the 78th minute for Sochaux. On loan at D.C. United last season, he scored 11 goals in 26 games.

5) In likely his last EPL game ever, Thierry Henry added to his legend by scoring the game-winner in stoppage time for Arsenal, who beat Sunderland 2-1. It was a huge win too since it put Arsenal ahead of Chelsea and into fourth place (the cut off spot for Champions League).

Henry's final game on loan from the New York Red Bulls to the Gunners will be on Wednesday vs. AC Milan in a Champions League Round of 16 match. I wouldn't put it past him to get one more goal to the three he's already bagged. Furthermore, I have to give him and MLS credit; I guess he's not washed up and MLS might not be so bad if Donovan, Henry and Robbie Keane have all made an immediate impact in their returns to England.

Here's Morgan's second goal, sweet assist from Abby Wambach to head the ball to her. The crazy thing is I read both goals were headers and they both went off the post and in. Talk about being on fire.


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Charlie Davies makes a memorable MLS debut

If you're like me, you probably missed it over the weekend as you were caught in the wonders of March Madness.

Thanks to the magic of the interwebs and Deadspin-one of my all-time favorite sites-I was able to see Charlie Davies' awesome debut with DC United from Saturday night against Columbus.



As you can see, the former Boston College star put in two goals (a penalty kick and a sweet shot in the run of play) and punctuated them with his favorite celebration (the stanky leg).

Like always, I could honestly care less about MLS but if Davies can continue to find his game, I will definitely start to tune in. That's a promise. If you're a U.S. fan and/or a New Englander, you can't help but root for this local guy.

FYI: Davies also launched a new website cdavies9.com. Check it out, looks pretty slick (and no he didn't pay me to plug it or say that).

Charlie Davies-MLS bound?

Interesting stuff today as word leaked that Charlie Davies could be loaned from his French club Sochaux to MLS' DC United.

D.C. United has agreed to take Charlie Davies on loan from France's Sochaux but wants to evaluate how far the American forward has progressed in his comeback from a near-fatal car crash before deciding whether to finalize the deal.

The Major League Soccer team said the 24-year-old is expected to report to the team on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where it is practicing ahead of the start of the MLS season in March. Davies will train with D.C. United and be evaluated by team doctors.

D.C. United said Tuesday that a weeklong evaluation period "will include training and game time with the first team and a full medical evaluation by team doctors in D.C."
"Details of a 12-month loan have already been negotiated," the team said, "but nothing will be official until D.C. United is satisfied he is physically capable of playing at the level required to be successful in MLS."

As always, best of luck to Charlie. Looking forward (fingers crossed) to see him back on the field doing what he loves.

Charlie Davies hopes to fully return this weekend for his French club team (Sochaux)

Since the car accident happened in the fall of 2009 and Charlie Davies' life was changed forever, we've had to completely alter our expectations for his professional career.

Paired with Jozy Altidore, they formed perhaps the most talented set of strikers in U.S. men's national team history. They were young, fast, skilled and hungry. That all changed with the accident and now, we just hope that Davies can reach even a sliver of his potential.

Reports out of France say that Davies could make his return to Sochaux this weekend.

The 24-year-old American, who missed this year's World Cup after failing to recover from his injuries, says he is now at "90 percent" and ready to play against Bordeaux on Saturday.

Davies was a passenger in a car accident Oct. 13, 2009, in which another passenger died. He was left with two broken bones in his right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain.

Davies played in several exhibition games for Sochaux in July and has since taken part in several matches with Sochaux's reserve team. His last competitive match was the United States' World Cup qualifier at Honduras on Oct. 10 last year.

"I'm feeling good. Physically I haven't felt this good in a year or so, so I'm feeling like my old self which is great because that's the most important thing because we all know the football will come by itself," Davies said. "I'm sure, if I could just get a few minutes out on the pitch, then I could make the most of that chance."

Davies has started to score again with the Sochaux reserves and is hopeful he will be rewarded with a chance to dress against Bordeaux.

Playing on Saturday night would bring back nice memories to Davies, who celebrated his home debut with Sochaux last season by scoring twice against Bordeaux.

"I really can't think of a better way to make my comeback than against Bordeaux, in the game where it all began, and come back after over a year out of the game against one of the top teams in France," Davies said. "It would be astonishing to finally get my chance."

But Davies is facing a sharp competition from strikers Brown Ideye and Modibo Maiga, a situation that has led Sochaux coach Francis Gillot to suggest it might be better for the American to leave the club on loan after the winter break.

"There are two guys ahead of me in the pecking order who are scoring goals left and right and playing well together, as well," Davies said. "But if I could get 15 or 20 minutes and make a difference and turn a few heads and suddenly people would be thinking, Sochaux with Bobby [Brown], Modibo and Davies, have three strikers that can all contribute and offer different things. I don't know which way it's going to go, so I can't really say anything about a loan just yet."

Davies was fined $1,040 in October and his license was suspended by French police because of a speeding violation in which he said a teammate was driving.

He reiterated his desire to play in the Premier League in the future.

"My long-term goals have definitely not changed, they're just maybe taking a little longer to achieve," he said. "But in terms of moving to England and hoping to play for Arsenal one day and making a difference with the national team and helping the USA to a top-four finish at the World Cup and just to be that player that everyone can count on, that hasn't changed at all."

You have to choose your words carefully when you talk about Davies since he was lucky enough to survive and he has made a remarkable comeback to even return to the soccer field. You know the whole story will make for a great book and movie in the future, we can only hope that it has a happy ending.

Submitting my application to become Charlie Davies' personal driver

When the news broke late last week that Charlie Davies was pulled over in France for speeding (125 mph), I didn't know what to do.

I saw Shimer over the weekend and we both agreed that while we didn't want to talk about this mess of a situation, it is news that's fit to print.

The latest chapter is that Davies was fined along with teammate Jacques Faty, who depending on who you believe was the real driver.

This blog isn't meant as a morality stage but come on Charlie. Whatever the case was with Faty, is it too much to ask to get a driver or assistant to shuttle you around? In light of Davies' brutal car accident last fall, you'd assume that he would ultra sensitive about getting into a car.

U.S. soccer player Charlie Davies was fined $1,040 and his license was suspended by French police because of a speeding violation in which he said a teammate was driving.

Davies was with Sochaux teammate Jacques Faty when they were pulled over in the early hours of Oct. 3 after being clocked at 125 mph in France's Jura region. Faty and Davies have both said Faty was driving, but they switched positions because Faty thought his license was still suspended from a previous speeding infraction.

A French police official, who was not authorized to be publicly identified, said Monday that Davies has been fined. The official said neither player has officially contradicted the original version of events to police.

The 24-year-old Davies was a passenger in a car accident Oct. 13, 2009 in which another passenger died. Davies was left with two broken bones in his right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain.

He returned to training with Sochaux in March but missed the World Cup and has not played for either Sochaux's first team or the national team since.

Over the weekend, Davies played for Sochaux's reserves in a 2-0 win against Auxerre, while Faty played for Senegal in its 7-0 win over Mauritius in African Cup of Nations qualifying.

"Assisted on game winner today. We won 2-0. My best outing yet!" Davies said on his Twitter account after Sunday's game. "Feeling great and I'm so very close to 1st team action."

Le Progres newspaper reported on its website Sunday that Davies and Faty could face six months in jail and a far heavier fine of $10,400 each for lying to police. The police official, however, said he was not aware of any further investigation.

Davies was behind the wheel when he and Faty were questioned by the police, and so only Davies has been fined, the police official said.

Sochaux players had four days off after beating Lens 3-0 on Oct. 2. Davies flew to Boston, where he played at Boston College. Davies said he doesn't drive in France and, knowing Faty was going back to Paris, he asked for a ride.

Faty thought he would be jailed but police would only fine Davies, the U.S. player told The Associated Press. Faty told the AP he had panicked and plans to go to police this week to clear up the matter.

Davies said he was lying down in the passenger seat of the Audi Q7 as they drove. The windows of the SUV were tinted, so police couldn't see the players switching seats. Davies said he was hesitant about agreeing to the switch.

Davies said the police asked if he knew how fast he had been going. Davies said he didn't, and the police took both players to the police station.

While there, police ran Faty's record and told him his license was no longer suspended. Davies was told his license would be suspended, and he wouldn't be able to drive in France for six months.

Now it's time to get off my soapbox and wish Davies well in his return (fingers crossed) to the Sochaux first team sooner rather than later.

Go on Charlie!

His comeback didn't happen at the 2010 World Cup but fear not, U.S. youngster Charlie Davies is on the mend with his club team, FC Sochaux, in France.

We're coming up on a year since his near fatal car accident outside Washington, DC and the Boston Globe's Frank Dell'Apa caught up with the former Brooks School and BC star.

He has some interesting insights into what he thought when he woke up in the hospital after the accident and also possibly wrapping up his career with the New England Revolution.

Davies is targeting the Gold Cup next summer as his big return to the national team. Even if he never plays for the U.S. again, he'll always be a personal favorite. However, he's an easy guy to rally behind and hope the best for professionally and with his life outside soccer.

As for Davies’s future, he said, “I would love to play in the US. The Revolution would definitely work for me. The idea for me is very appealing to play in the United States. But it’s really important for me to succeed in Europe before that.’’

Here's the story that will appear in the Newburyport Daily News tomorrow: Who is Charlie Davies replacement?

EAST HARTFORD | United States fans have shorter attention spans perhaps more than any other country – they want to see goals.

A day before the U.S. coach Bob Bradley announces his final 23-man World Cup roster when the U.S. lost to the Czech Republic, 4-2, one of the biggest question marks the second winningiest coach in U.S. history will have to answer remains, who will partner Jozy Altidore – the leading Men’s National Team (MNT) goal-scorer with six during World Cup qualifying – up front?

The list is a lengthy one – Houston Dynamo’s Brian Ching, Los Angels Galaxy’s Edson Buddle, Pachuca’s (Mexican league) Herculez Gomez, Real Salt Lake’s Robbie Findley, and Aris Thessaloniki’s (Greek league) Eddie Johnson. Even outside winger Clint Dempsey, who plays at Fulham in the English Premier League, has been mentioned as possible option.

Before the horrific and tragic, fatal car accident in October (killed the driver Ashley Roberta) that left Boston College product Charlie Davies badly injured (broken femur, broken tibia, dislocated elbow, lacerated bladder, bleeding from the brain) to the extent that he has not even seen the pitch in game action since – Davies was the obvious choice.

Davies, who was born in Manchester, NH and played high school soccer at Brooks School in North Andover, burst onto the national team scene at the Confederations Cup last summer where he scored a goal in the team’s 3-0 win over 2010 African Cup of Nations champions Egypt.

In his absence in 2010, the U.S. has struggled to find a reliable second option as the MNT have been mostly unconvincing going forward in a 3-1 loss to Honduras in January, a poor 2-1 win against El Salvador in February, and another lackadaisical 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in early March.

In fact only one forward has scored a goal for the U.S. in 2010 – Ching.

Clearly there is a debate; does Bradley go with experience or with whose hot?

Johnson (12 goals in 40 appearances) and Ching (11 goals in 44 appearances) are without a doubt the two most experienced guys. Johnson has not scored since 2008 for the U.S. and has really fizzled since scoring five goals in his opening year with the team in 2004. Ching has probably been the U.S.’s most reliable forward this year with much of the roster away in Europe earlier in the year, but he seems to disappear in big games.

Buddle meanwhile only has one career cap for the U.S. back in 2003 and after recently turning 29 the time is now or never because he currently leads Major League Soccer in scoring with nine goals, and it is no small component that he plays well with Landon Donovan one of the key U.S. players.

Gomez was the first U.S. forward to lead another country’s top domestic league in scoring enjoying a resurgent season with Puebla in Mexico by scoring 10 goals. The 28-year-old is finally recovering after missing nearly a year after an ACL tear in September in 2007. He too is virtually uncapped with just two in 2007, two years after his breakout season in 2005 with the Galaxy where he scored 18 goals.

But after scoring one of the MNT’s two goals on the evening a beautifully executed corner, Gomez has to be considered a front-runner now with the form he has been in to make this squad.

“It was fun, it was hard, it was a great feeling to be out there with those guys,” said Gomez, who came on as a substitute in the second half. “You build those friendships during camp, you kind of get throw in some turmoil with all the fitness and it brings the guys together – they really area a great group of guys and being out there was a lot of fun.

“I haven’t spoken to (coach Bradley), but I’m a big boy, I know what I have to do, I knew coming into this I was going to have to show more than just being able to put the ball in the back of the net,” Gomez followed up. “I felt I gave (the Czechs) a few headaches, got them on their toes, but they are a great team. Peter Cech (the Czech Republic goalie) is a great goalkeeper, he’s not just anybody, so it was a good test. I’m just glad I survived the 45 minutes. It’s out of my hands now.”

Ching, who also came on as a second half sub, felt like all the forwards showed quality in defeat to the Czechs, who have beaten the U.S. all three times they have played each other.

“You just try to go out and score goals,” Ching said. “Good for Herculez, he scored a good goal. I thought we had some good combination play. I though the forwards all played well in my eyes, so hopefully it’s a tough decision for the coach.”

You knew this day was coming

For as long as we've had this site, Shimer and I have been rooting for Charlie Davies to get back on the field with the U.S. national team but in our heart of hearts, we knew it probably wouldn't be for this World Cup.

That premonition was confirmed today as our main man Bob Bradley named the 30-man preliminary roster for the U.S.

Coach Bob Bradley included five Premier League players in his selection, while Villarreal's Jozy Altidore spent part of the season at Hull City and Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan was on loan at Everton prior to the Major League Soccer campaign.

The squad will meet up in Princeton on May 15 and play friendlies with Czech Republic in Conneticut on May 25 and Turkey in Philadelphia on May 29 prior to the final 23-man squad being submitted to FIFA by the June 1 deadline.

Charlie Davies has not been named. The Sochaux striker was injured in a fatal car crash last October and returned to training only last month. Freddy Adu, once a child prodigy linked with the world's best clubs, has also missed out.

DaMarcus Beasley, who announced he will be leaving Rangers, is one of two players selected from the Scottish champions, along with Maurice Edu.

Bradley told ussoccer: "Throughout the past three years a number of players have contributed to our journey toward South Africa and we appreciate all of their efforts.

"We are very excited to get this group together to begin our pre-World Cup training camp as we continue to prepare for the challenge of the World Cup."

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jose Torres (Pachuca)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki).

Davies back to full training

By nature, I am a realist. Therefore every time I give a Charlie Davies update I'm not fooling myself; I realize he's unlikely to play in the 2010 World Cup.

However that doesn't mean that this story doesn't get more inspiring by the day. By all accounts, Davies is recovering at a fast pace and he's just lucky to still be walking this Earth.

It's quite easy to cheer for someone like that, throw in the fact that he's from New Hampshire and went to Boston College, and I think it's fair that we root for Davies as much as humanly possible.

Davies trained Monday with French club Sochaux less than seven weeks before the World Cup opener for the Americans against England on June 12.

Davies wrote Monday on his Twitter feed that "it's about time & it feels great! My speed is getting there too! Today was a good day!"

The car accident killed another passenger and the 23-year-old Davies broke two bones in his right leg. He also suffered a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and had bleeding on the brain.

There's only one Charlie Davies

It's been a great day for the U.S. men's national team (which is not something you could say much recently).

As Shimer already noted, Clint Dempsey returned to the field for Fulham and now comes word that Charlie Davies is also on the mend and hoping to play for his French club Sochaux by next month.

Just the fact that Davies is alive is a miracle (not a word I toss around liberally) which makes his possible comeback for this World Cup one of the story lines I will be following closely with regards to the U.S. men's national team.

"I'm outside, running at a good pace, as far as jogging, cutting, agility and playing with the ball," he said in an interview posted Wednesday on the team's Web site. "I'm starting to dribble and trying to get the movements back. By the end of next week, I'll think I'll be pretty confident to end up joining the team again in training."

I don't think it's fair to have any real high expectations for Davies this summer but I think if he's playing with his club and is game fit, just being with his teammates in South Africa will be a huge boost. I have no problem giving him a roster spot over Brian Ching or some scrub that won't play anyway.

We've already seen how lost Jozy Altidore and the rest of the U.S. attack is without the pride of New Hampshire and Boston College. Davies had just come into his own on the national team level last summer at the Confederations Cup and undoubtedly the combination of him and Altidore up front is one that gives me a nearly constant boner.

As I've said before, offensive players with flair and creativity are virtually non-existant commodities in the United States so when we find one like Davies, we have to do everything we can to use all his talents.

"I definitely feel that I'm able to get back towards the end of April," he said. "I feel really confident that I'll be back to myself as far as physical able to run, cut, shoot and do everything that I could before."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4986532/ce/us/us-forward-charlie-davies-hoping-play-french-club-team-month?cc=5901&ver=us

GOOD NEWS: Davies back in France

U.S. men's national team forward Charlie Davies finally has returned to France with his club team Sochaux and said he is one month away from training with his club team to help him get fully fit for a possible return to international play. This is just another big step forward in the 23-year-old's huge come-back.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4924871/ce/us/us-team-forward-charlie-davies-back-french-club-sochaux?cc=5901&ver=us

The next Charlie Davies?

Alejandro Bedoya is drawing a lot of comparisons to injured U.S. forward and former Boston College striker Charlie Davies. Like Davies, Bedoya rose to prominence in Chestnut Hill and also like Davies began his European playing career in Sweeden.

Bedoya, who plays for Orebro, had a breakthrough performance late last July coming off the bench and scoring two goals to help his team come back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point.

After primarily being held to a subbing role, Bedoya finally did enough to earn a place in the starting lineup and started 11 of the final 14 games for his team, which only lost one game in the stretch.

Bedoya did feature in the recent Honduras friendly, again as a subbing role. Much like the familiar theme in the U.S. play, Bedoya did not have a memorable appearance, but it was not nearly as disastrous as some other MNT players.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4876989/ce/us/another-former-eagle-flies-high-sweden?cc=5901&ver=us

Speaking of which, here is an update on Charlie Davis recovery, who just recently had elbow surgery.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=735832&sec=us&cc=5901

Although the previous article states Davies is not expected to be ready for the World Cup after suffering a broken elbow, broken right femur and tibia, fractured bones in the face and a lacerated bladder, don't tell Davies that. But the fact he did not suffer any significant ligament damage was perhaps biggest break (no pun intended).

He recently proclaimed he wants to be back for his French side Sochauxm, which come as early as April, and can easily be back for the World Cup. And he is not looking to be on the bench, he expects to be good and ready to score goals.

Read Ives Galarcep terrific in depth article for all the specifics on Davies amazing recovery to date.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4856256/ce/us/davies-remarkable-path-recovery?cc=5901&ver=us