photo: Yiorgos Karahalis | Reuters

Dutch international right back, Johnny Heitinga, has accepted a transfer from Atletico Madrid to Everton, completing a physical just under the transfer window deadline which closed at 5pm yesterday.

It’s a loss for Atleti and a serious loss for the Champions League competition (Everton competes in the Europa League but Heitinga is cup-tied for even that). I was looking forward to the rebels — “Los Colchoneros” (“the Mattress-Makers”) — of Madrid making a strong showing this year. Perhaps not.

Heitinga — a product of Ajax — is one of the quality right backs who’s lithe movement reminds a little of Cafu in his nimbler days. A skilled handler of the ball who gives firm ball on the ground and who is capable of launching stinging balls early across the 18 from wide space. He is clever, unpredictable, not easily read and not prone to tendency. He’ll set you up going outside then, later in the match, kill you driving inside. Unlike Ashley Cole, for example, Heitinga is the kind of wide back who keeps his wide opponents busy in their own end.

Moyes brings in Heitinga to replace Joleon Lescott who was snatched by Mark Hughes & Manchester City near the deadline. Lescott is a strong player, but this is at least a fair swap for the Toffees if Johnny can stay fit.

Heitinga rejoins his old teammate, Steven Pienaar, alongside whom he played at Ajax for five years. Said Heitinga, “I am looking forward to linking up with him again because he is a good player.”

Apparently, Heitinga was on a high salary in Madrid which Everton could not match (yet he now supercedes Mikel Arteta as Everton highest paid player). Nor can Everton offer Champions League competition this year. Even with these deficiencies in the bargain, a fine Dutch footballer feels the pull of the Premiership and the aura of living in Liverpool & environs.

My guess is Heitinga will take Tony Hibbert’s position wide-right; in which case it is unclear who among Baines, Yobo or Jagielka and others are best suited to partner Sylvain Distin in the middle of the back. It’s the kind of signing the effects of which will ripple through a side having its difficulties not a few months after just tasting the Wembley stage of an FA Cup Final.

Major League Soccer has announced Everton as the opponent for this year’s MLS All-Star game.

“We are very excited about Everton FC agreeing to be the opponent for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a league statement. “Everton is an elite European club that features many world-class players, including former MLS standout Tim Howard, who will challenge our unbeaten record against English Premier League teams in the MLS All-Star Game series.”

Everton are excited as well.

“We are all looking forward to the match in Salt Lake City,” said Everton manager David Moyes. “I am sure there will be a lot of interest in the game and it will be a valuable part of our preseason schedule. We always enjoy spending time in America during the summer because the facilities are first-class and there is a warm welcome wherever we go.”

The match will occur on July 29 at Real Salt Lake’s Rio Tinto Stadium. It will be televised on ESPN 2 at 9:30 PM EST.

Spanish clubs Valencia, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid were also rumored to be candidates.

The MLS All-Stars are unbeaten in the game against European competition in this fixture and have outscored opponents 13-4. One suspects they would not fare so well travelling to England at a time when Premier League players are in midseason form.

The match is the first confirmed fixture of the 2009 summer schedule but Everton supporters are advised that the first-team squad will not be based in Salt Lake City and the game will form part of a wider tour across North America.

It will be the Blues’ fifth visit to the USA in their last six pre-season tours, which have included stays in Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Colorado.

For the latest schedule of preseason friendlies involving Premier League teams around the world, visit the preseason friendlies page on EPL Talk.

When Steven Gerrard collided with Atletico Madrid’s Mariano Pernia in the third minute of injury time at Anfield Tuesday night, was Swedish referee Martin Hansen’s decision to award a penalty influenced by the deafening cry from The Kop? Or was it to compensate for the incident that Hansen failed to call in the first half when an Atletico player handled the ball?

The shock decision by Hansen to award the penalty resulted in Gerrard stepping up to score to make it 1-1 for both sides.

The controversial decision and resulting goal were a cruel blow for Atletico who deserved to hold on for a win in this match. But it was Gerrard’s decision to fling himself at the ball knowing that Pernia was going to collide with him that earned Liverpool the penalty. If you watch Pernia on replay, he kept his eye on the ball until the last split second where he saw Gerrard flying in at him. The ricochet from the bodies sent Gerrard tumbling to the ground, and Hansen pointed to the spot.

Was the penalty a poor decision, or did you see something that I missed? Add your feedback by clicking the comments link below.

The group stage of the Champions League begins today with several intriguing matches as well as the return of Chelsea and Liverpool to continental football.

Be sure to set your DVRs for the following matches on TV today in the United States (all times eastern).

• Bordeaux vs. Chelsea: 2:30pm ESPN2/ESPN360.com
• Sporting Lisbon vs. Barcelona: 2:30pm- ESPN Deportes and 5pm ESPN Classic
• Marseille vs. Liverpool: 2:30pm Setanta (replayed at 7:15pm Setanta).
• PSV Eindhoven vs. Atletico Madrid: 5pm ESPN Deportes
• Panathanaikos vs. Inter Milan: 5:35pm Setanta, and 7:30pm ESPN Deportes

If you’ll be watching – or have watched – today’s matches, please share your thoughts, insight, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

In the meantime, be sure to visit our sister site Champions League Talk for previews of Group C, Group B and Group A, as well as how Sporting Lisbon could cause an upset today against Barcelona.

While you’re enjoying EPL Talk, don’t forget to check out the sister sites in our network for a taste of German, Italian, Spanish, European and American soccer.

Bundesliga Talk has the statistics comparing Schalke to Atletico Madrid for the most enticing Champions League third round qualifying match. Another new article written by Bundeliga Talk correspondent Mark Moll is a piece on the new manager at Hamburger SV, Martin Jol, who lost 2-1 yesterday against Real Madrid in the 2008 Emirates Cup in London.

Prolific writer Lonnie Smetana at Champions League Talk has been busy previewing the most exciting matches in the Champions League third qualifying round stage, the latest transfer market activity in Europe and a roundup of the results from the third round of the Intertoto Cup.

If you’re a fan of Major League Soccer, Kartik Krishnaiyer writes on a near daily basis at Major League Soccer Talk about topics such as Cory Gibbs who may be heading to LA Galaxy, the list of MLS players playing in the Olympics, how the Mexican players are notorious sore losers when they get defeated by US club sides and/or the national team, and a very interesting article entitled, Does SuperLiga Have A Future?

Over at Serie A Talk, Kevin Walker has an interesting article about the Italian connection at Bordeaux, as well as rumors about Tiago leaving Juventus.

Yours truly has written an article about the Spanish influence at Swansea City under the website Championship Talk. Shakira Graham meanwhile writes about one of the best supported clubs in England, Derby County.

If you’re a fan of the world’s game, be sure to check out the sister sites on a regular basis.

 Take a look at this article that came out today on ESPNsoccernet about Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi:ROME, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Italian striker Rolando Bianchi aims to reach double figures at Manchester City this season but does not plan staying in the Premier League in the long term.‘I hope to score at least 10 goals and I want to win a place in the next Champions League with City. It would be like winning the championship,’ he said in an interview published in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.‘I want to become a European top scorer. After the 18 goals I scored with (Serie A side) Reggina, I want to reach double figures in the Premier League too.’Then I’ll pack my bags again and go in search of new adventures. I’d like to wear the shirt of Atletico Madrid and score 15 goals in the Primera Liga too.’He also said he planned to return to Italy soon because playing abroad was not helping his chances of winning a place with the Italian national team.The forward, who has scored four league goals since joining City in July, said he had trouble getting used to the British diet.’I have raised the white flag with English food. I don’t like it,’ he said.’I think I’m the only teetotal player in the Premier League. My team mates were surprised when I refused a beer. They looked at me as if I were an alien.’He also has his doubts about English refereeing:’In Italy the referee whistles as soon as a defender brushes against you. In the Premier League you don’t get a free kick even if the defender runs you over with a tank.’Wow. I don’t even know where to begin.I guess I’ll start by saying that if you’re lucky enough to play professional soccer, or any sport for a living for that matter, one would think that you’d appreciate that opportunity and not complain about it. I understand that that isn’t how things work in the real world; players have their gripes about certain things and I know that, I’m a player myself.But Bianchi crossed the line in this interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, a newspaper in his home country, Italy. First of all, he shouldn’t have gone public with his desire to basically leave Manchester City and go to Atletico Madrid or somewhere else in Spain if he can score 10 goals this season. Bianchi is 24 years old and in the soccer world, you’re supposed to be a little bit more mature and a lot less selfish at that age; you’re not a youngster or a kid anymore. Basically what he’s saying is that he just views playing soccer for City as a challenge, as another step in the ladder. He scored 18 goals with Reggina in Italy, he wants to score 10+ goals with City in England, and then he wants to go to Spain and do the same thing.This is selfishness to a tee. You don’t come out in the media and say that you’re in it for the individual glory of scoring goals; whether that’s what you care about or not, you stick with the team-first mantra and say you want to help achieve great things with that club.“I’ll pack my bags again and go in search of new adventures.” I’m sorry, you just can’t say that publicly. This will become a distraction because he’s putting himself above the rest of the team. If you’re going to boast about scoring goals and speak of your ambitions, at least be able to back that up on the field. Bianchi has not done that. He’s scored 4 goals in 14 Premier League games this season and is not even a regular starter for City.Bianchi also has the gall to complain about British food and refereeing. Granted, British food isn’t in the same caliber as Italian food (but then again, nothing is), and some of the refereeing has been shockingly bad this year. But come on! Bianchi had to have known these things before he came to City! It was his choice to come to England in the first place; he made the decision to leave home for greener pastures. I have no problem with that at all, but I do have a problem with whining about something he knew full well about or at the very least, should have known full well about.As I said before, he’s 24 years old now. He’s not a kid anymore but this interview brought him back down to that level. I haven’t heard younger, more productive foreign players like Nani and Fernando Torres come out in the media and say things like this. There was no reason for Bianchi to do what he did and there’s no excuse for it. If I was manager Sven Goran-Eriksson, I would have Bianchi on a plane out of England in January as soon as I could. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to be in England and he has no real desire to play for City, so why keep him on the roster?Things like this make me angry. Rolando Bianchi is a disgrace and I truly feel bad for Manchester City, who invested a lot of money in him and their faith won’t be rewarded.