San Diego Won’t Get Chivas

Mexican soccer club Chivas of Guadalajara has crossed San Diego off its list of where it will place a team to compete in Major League Soccer next season.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Chivas owner Jorge Vergara made the announcement during halftime of Wednesday night’s friendly involving Mexico and Costa Rica at the Home Depot Center.

Last August, Vergara and MLS reached an agreement to bring Chivas USA to the league in 2005 as an expansion franchise. San Diego had been thought to be the front-runner with Houston as another possibility.

When asked why San Diego had suddenly been dropped from consideration, Vergara’s only comment, the Union-Tribune reported, was: “It’s because of the concentration of the population in San Diego. If we wanted to bring a team there, we would bring it to Tijuana, not San Diego. And we don’t want to put a team in Tijuana.”

Originally, Vergara had said he wanted to bring Chivas USA to Los Angeles and share the Home Depot Center with the Galaxy. But MLS officials were quick to dismiss that idea, leaving San Diego and Houston to fight it out.

In recent months, Chivas team officials had toured both cities and met with civic leaders.

Lately, though, there has been talk of Los Angeles re-entering the picture, along with Chicago.

“We’re been talking to the Galaxy for about three weeks,” Vergara told the Union-Tribune. “If we came to Los Angeles, it’s a negotiation between Chivas and the Galaxy, not Chivas and MLS....We can come here if we want.”

Adu a Hot Ticket

There won’t be a large walk-up crowd seeking tickets for Freddy Adu’s MLS debut Saturday when D.C. United plays host to the San Jose Earthquakes.

At least not at the official ticket windows at RFK Stadium.

That’s because single-game tickets have sold out for the match that will feature the 14-year-old striker.

As of Thursday afternoon, about 100 tickets were available, but those were being sold only as part of full-season or half-season packages.

World Cup Qualifying

CONCACAF’s schedule for the second round of World Cup qualifying is set after the Netherlands Antilles and St. Kitts and Nevis became the last teams to advance.

First-leg games for the next round in the region that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean are scheduled for June 12-13, with return legs a week later.

The United States will play host to Grenada at Columbus, Ohio.

The other matchups are: El Salvador vs. Bermuda, Haiti vs. Jamaica, Panama vs. St. Lucia, Cuba vs. Costa Rica, Suriname vs. Guatemala, Netherlands Antilles vs. Honduras, Canada vs. Belize, Mexico vs. Dominica, Barbados vs. St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic vs. Trinidad and Tobago and Nicaragua vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

MLS Moves

Goalkeeper Matt Jordan, a former All-Star with the Dallas Burn who spent last season in Denmark, has signed with the Columbus Crew....The New York-New Jersey MetroStars acquired Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Flores as a developmental player from Ginasio Pinhalense de Esportes Atletico....Jamaican striker Wolde Harris, an eight-year MLS veteran, was waived by the Kansas City Wizards....The Colorado Rapids signed Haitian striker Jean Philippe Peguero to a multiyear deal.

World Cup Rematch

Germany and Brazil, 2002 World Cup finalists, are discussing plans for a friendly to be played Sept. 8 to mark the reopening of renovated Berlin Olympic Stadium.

Brazil defeated Germany, 2-0, to win its fifth title in 2002.

-- Compiled by Jim Barrero