Soccer Notes.
Former Hermann Trophy winner Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest), who joined the San Jose Earthquakes this year after starting his pro career in Denmark, hails from Newtown, Conn., and was at home the morning of the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 26 students, teachers and staff. Tracy, whose mother Marguerite once taught at Sandy Hook Elementary School, contributed to a music video that he and friends from the area did as a tribute…..The Galaxy traded forward Edson Buddle to the Colorado Rapids for a first-round supplemental draft pick in 2013 and allocation money. Buddle scored 17 goals for LA two years ago and 15 in 2008…..D.C. United has announced that the club has re-signed veteran defender Robbie Russell. Russell made 19 appearances (16 starts) and scored one a goal in the 2012 season, his first with United…..Former Demon Deacon is headed to Germany! FC Augsburg has announced the signing of U.S. international Michael Parkhurst on a deal that will keep him at the German Bundesliga club until June 2015. Parkurst will join Augsburg this month from Danish Superliga champion FC Nordsjaelland ….After a 14-year professional career in MLS, Germany and with the U.S. Men’s National Team, veteran forward Josh Wolff (Stone Mountain, GA) announced his retirement in late November. The 35-year old was named a player/coach with D.C. United prior to the start of the 2012 season, and will now join the technical staff fulltime as an assistant coach…..Ten years after leading Brazil to its record fifth World Cup title in South Korea and Japan, the Brazilian soccer federation (CBF) has reappointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as national team head coach. Scolari replaces Mario Menezes, who the CBF recently fired. Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title in the United States, will be the national team coordinator…..Sporting Kansas City has traded former UNC Tar Heel Michael Harrington (Greenville, NC) to the MLS Portland Timbers in exchange for allocation money. Harrington, a former member of the U.S. U-17 MNT Residency Program, played six seasons in Kansas City……Benny Feilhaber, who has had some magical moments with the U.S. MNT, spent 20 months with the New England Revolution after returning from Europe, but never recaptured those moments with the Revs. They recently traded him to Sporting Kansas City, and may get the better end of the deal having picked up a first-round pick in the 2014 SuperDraft, a second rounder in the 2015 draft and an undisclosed amount of allocation money….Goalkeeper Will Hesmer (Wilson, NC), 31, who played collegiate soccer at Wake Forest University, has been signed by the Los Angeles Galaxy from the annual re-entry draft after six seasons with the Columbus Crew. Hesmer is Columbus’ all-time leader in games played, wins, saves and shutouts (41). He underwent hip surgery in April….. Brad Friedel, already the oldest player in the English Premier League at age 41, has signed a new one-year contract that will keep him with the Tottenham Hotspur until the summer of 2014. He recently saw his record 310 consecutive EPL appearances end when he lost his starting job to Frenchman Hugo Lloris….Geoff Cameron picked up a yellow card in Stoke City’s 3-1 win over Liverpool, which was his club’s eighth straight game without a loss. That moved Stoke City up to #8 in the EPL…Tim Howard was in goal for fifth-place Everton n a 2-1 win over Wigan, Howard’s seventh straight in which he had allowed one goal….One U.S. national team player is returning from Germany to play in the new Nationl Women’s Soccer League, while another may be passing on the new league in order to sign with Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, the top women’s club in France. Ali Kreiger, who started for the U.S. in World Cup 2011, but missed the 2012 Olympic Games with a knee injury, is comng home, while it is rumored that midfielder Megan Rapinoe is headed to France. Krieger spent five and a half years in Germany playing for FFC Frankfurt. She started at right back for the U.S. in World Cup 2011.