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MLS trade deadline looks 'quiet' Scuttlebutt: D.C. wants Conteh

By José Alfredo Flores

and Peter Brewington
USA TODAY

Major League Soccer's trading deadline is today. But the only hint of a deal, and not much of one at that, is from D.C. United, which is virtually eliminated from the playoffs and short on draft choices.

One player United has been interested in is Abdul Thompson Conteh, who starred at the University of District of Columbia and still resides in the area. Conteh is San Jose's leading scorer with eight goals and three assists for 19 points. He is 17th in MLS in scoring.

But Conteh's agent, Patrick McCabe of Boston's Woolf Associates, says that a trade is doubtful. ''San Jose is simply asking too much for Conteh,'' McCabe says.

According to McCabe, the Earthquakes were looking for two starters, a midfielder and a defender, in exchange for Conteh. Talks between the two teams stopped after the All-Star break.

''Now it's too late because D.C. is no longer in playoff contention,'' McCabe says.

Conteh has expressed interest in playing closer to home, and he says there are problems with coach Lothar Osiander.

''He puts the blame on me all the time to the point where I get resentful,'' Conteh says. ''If it's going to happen (a trade), it's going to happen in the offseason.''

San Jose might have a forward to spare after acquiring forward Giovanni Savarese from Viterbese, an Italian team, late last week. Savarese, who played for New York and New England form 1996-99, is the No. 5 all-time MLS goal scorer.

All trades must be submitted to the league office by 5 p.m. ET today. ''So far it looks pretty quiet,'' says Todd Durbin, MLS' vice president of player personnel.

Valencia honored: New York/New Jersey MetroStars forward Adolfo Valencia is MLS' player of the week for his two goals, including a game-winner Saturday against New England. He is the team's first player of the week this season. . . .

MetroStars defender Lothar Mattaeus, who made his first regular-season appearance in six weeks Saturday, is close to 100% after sitting out with a back injury.

''He's playing the way we knew he could always play,'' N.Y./N.J. coach Octavio Zambrano says. ''He's very close to being to top form.''

Zambrano says his team is not planning on making any trades before today's deadline. ''We have great chemistry now.''

Open Cup: Los Angeles will host Chicago on Aug. 23 at Cal State-Fullerton in one of the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. The date and site of the other game, New York/New Jersey vs. Miami, hasn't been set. New York has the option to host and is deciding the venue. The team has said it will not play at its home field, the Meadowlands.

Playoff hunt: Wednesday's big match is New York/New Jersey at Tampa Bay. Both division leaders are jockeying for better seeding in the playoffs. Each has 44 points, but Eastern Division leader New York owns the tiebreaker over Central leader Tampa Bay. New York holds a 2-1 edge in head-to-head competition.

''It's very important to be first in the group,'' Tampa forward Mamadou Diallo says.

Briefly: Chicago will be without six of its starters Wednesday at Dallas. Defenders C.J. Brown and Evan Whitfield will sit out this week because of yellow-card point accumulation, while Chris Armas and Ante Razov are with the U.S. national team in preparation for its World Cup qualifier vs. Barbados. Also, Lubos Kubik (knee) and Diego Gutierrez (ankle) are out with injuries.