The keynote speaker at a conference on brain trauma, Twellman said the trainer instead asked him his name, the score of the game and to count backward from 100 before telling him he doesn't have a concussion and sending him back into the game.

"It's horrifying," said Chris Nowinski, a founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, which raises public awareness of head injuries.

Revolution spokeswoman Lizz Summers said the team had no comment.

"I'm appalled. I'm angry," said Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler who retired after a series of concussions. "I thought I had it bad with my concussions, but at least people were trying. ... my God! for him to say he had a concussion and be told that he doesn't because he could count backward from 100 is absurd."

A five-time MLS All-Star who was the league MVP in 2005, Twellman scored 101 goals in eight years and also had six goals in 30 appearances with the U.S. national team. He said he has been diagnosed with five concussions, so he knew he'd sustained one in 2008 when he went for the ball and was punched in the head by Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin.

But the team's trainer cleared him to return after a cursory exam. later, Twellman said, he took a shot that was 10 feet wide of the net and began celebrating because he thought he had scored a goal. He was seeing double.

"For a professional sports trainer to be blowing off these symptoms was despicable," Nowinski said. "It feels like a violation of their ethics. I hope he's considering suing."

Dr. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon who is co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University's School of Medicine, would not comment on the quality of Twellman's treatment. He said Major League Soccer — like most leagues — has improved its handling of concussions since 2008.

"There's a lot more known about the management of concussions in 2011 than in 2008," Cantu said.

Twellman noted that he was injured during a home game in Foxborough, just down the road from where Cantu is researching brain trauma. He saw a half-dozen other neurologists before his concussions were properly diagnosed.

"If the star player in MLS is 18.5 miles away from the top concussion doctor and doesn't see him for 19 months, there's a problem," Twellman said. "Imagine if there's a kid in Billings, Montana."

Speaking to a crowd of several hundred people at the conference sponsored by the BU medical school, many of them doctors and athletic trainers there to learn about managing concussions, Twellman said he spent nine months in a dark room, unable to watch TV or walk his dog, and was nauseous every day for two years.

"I was completely helpless," he said, "and when I say 'completely helpless,' I mean you can't look at your cellphone without seeing three of them."

Doctors told him he had everything from diabetes to the flu to "post situational depression" — ostensibly because he was upset the team had refused a $2.5 million transfer offer from a team in England. He saw seven different neurologists in all, tried acupuncture, and took antidepressants but said they only made him feel worse.

He played in only 16 games in 2008 and only two the next season; as late as 2009 the team was listing him with a neck injury. He said he got himself ready for his final game, on June 7, 2009, by taking four Vicodin, three Excedrin and "shotgunning a Budweiser"; he entered as a second-half substitute because he could only manage to play for 45 minutes at a time and scored two goals.

His teammates wondered why he did not celebrate.

"My head was as soft as a sponge," Twellman said. "I knew deep down I was done."

Rapids midfielder Smith has torn right ACL

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Rapids say midfielder Jamie Smith is expected to miss about six months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Smith was injured Thursday in an MLS wild card match. The Rapids won 1-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The team says Smith will undergo knee surgery Tuesday morning. Smith scored three goals and had four assists for the Rapids this season.

Galaxy to play game in Philippines

CARSON, California (AP) — The Los Angeles Galaxy is adding a Philippine match to their Asian tour in December. The team said Friday it will play the Philippine national team in Manila on Dec. 3.

The Galaxy will then head to Australia to play A-League side the Melbourne Victory of on Dec. 6. The club is making its fourth trip to Asia and first since 2008.

Mexico Soccer

Mexico beats Argentina to win men's soccer gold

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Jeronimo Amione scored in the 75th minute and Mexico defeated Argentina 1-0 to win the men's soccer gold medal Friday at the Pan American Games.

Amione scored the winner with a right-footed shot from inside the area after a pass from Javier Aquino, giving Mexico its fourth gold in men's soccer at the games.

Mexico lost the final to Argentina in 1955 and 1995. Argentina defender David Achucarro was ejected in the final minutes.

Uruguay won the bronze by beating Costa Rica 2-1.

League Capsules

Rooney looks to inspire United against former club

LONDON (AP) — England striker Wayne Rooney will return to former club Everton on Saturday looking to help Manchester United revive its stuttering Premier League title challenge at a ground where the team has struggled in recent seasons.

United has slipped five points off the fierce pace set by Manchester City following a humbling 6-1 home defeat to its rival last weekend, which came a week after needing a late equalizer to rescue a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

Rooney missed last season's fixture at Everton as United manager Alex Ferguson spared the striker a return to Goodison Park to protect him from the vitriol of the home fans following tabloid revelations about his private life.

But Rooney, the league's joint top scorer with nine goals, is unlikely to be missing this time around as United looks to recover from its first defeat of the season and claim a first win at Everton since 2007.

"It's always a difficult game at Everton," Ferguson said. "They all put a shift in and are always committed.

"It's been a tough week for everyone. it was a bad result but we have to get over it. The fans, players, employees, staff - everyone was involved in the disappointment. we must kick on."

Rooney has been unable to maintain his sensational early season form, when he scored nine times in five games, and is without a league goal in his last four matches.

"He's had mixed success going to Everton," Ferguson said. "He's scored a couple of goals in previous games and gets booed as normal.

"He got booked in one game and I took him off because ... there was no way I was going to give the referee an opportunity to send him off. That's where the hype around the ground in terms of him getting booed every time he makes a challenge comes into it."

Rooney's scoring drought has allowed City striker Sergio Aguero to become the league's joint top goalscorer and the Argentina international will be confident of adding to his tally when the free-scoring league leaders host struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

City followed up its rout of United by powering to a 5-2 victory over Wolves in the last 16 of the League Cup on Wednesday. Wolves head into the return match of its four-day double-header against Roberto Mancini's team without a win in six games and languishing in 16th place, two points above the relegation zone.

"The United game is past, it's history. Now we must focus on Wolves," Mancini said. "I remember the Arsenal team that went unbeaten (in the 2003-04 season) were very strong, an incredible team. I don't think we can do that this year.

"Last year we lost at Wolves and here we won 4-3 but they had chances for 4-4 before the end. if we think we can play 50 percent, not like against United, then we have a problem."

Chelsea, which is a point behind United in third and appears to be the only other team capable to halting the City juggernaut, looks to end a difficult week on a high when it hosts Arsenal in the standout match of the weekend.

Club captain John Terry is at the center of separate police and Football Association investigations following allegations he racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to its London rival on Sunday.

The club was also fined 20,000 pounds ($32,200) on Friday for the way its players surrounded referee Chris Foy after he sent off right back Jose Bosingwa in the game.

Arsenal heads to Stamford Bridge on a high, having arrested its early-season slump to climb to seventh place on the back of three straight home wins in the league.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said Friday that he had no qualms about playing Terry.

"I see no reason why not," the Portuguese coach said.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger must decide whether to play center back Thomas Vermaelen, who has only recently returned from an ankle injury.

Luis Suarez is a doubt for sixth-place Liverpool's away match at West Bromwich Albion after limping off with an ankle in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Stoke in the League Cup fourth round, when the Uruguay striker scored both his team's goals.

Also Saturday, it's: Norwich vs. Blackburn, Sunderland vs. Aston Villa, Swansea vs. Bolton and Wigan vs. Fulham.

On Sunday, Tottenham plays QPR at White Hart Lane while Monday's only game sees Stoke host fourth-place Newcastle.

Levante goes for eighth win, Villarreal eyes second win

MADRID (AP) — Surprise pacesetter Levante can remain top of the Spanish league with an eighth straight victory this weekend, while Villarreal is desperate to pick up just its second win this season ahead of a must-win Champions League match against English leader Manchester City.

Levante travels to Osasuna on Sunday, while second-place Real Madrid is at Real Sociedad on Saturday when third-place Barcelona hosts Mallorca.

Levante's improbable early season run continued Wednesday when Ruben Suarez scored a stoppage-time winner against Sociedad.

The Valencia-based club leads with 23 points from nine games, Madrid has 22 and defending champion Barcelona 21 points. Valencia is next with 18 points and Sevilla has 17.

"There's nothing casual about our position as leader, the work the club has done over the last four years has been impressive," Suarez said. "If you do things well at every level, then things turn out well. of course, I hope this lasts because it's nice that everyone is talking about Levante."

Few are talking about Villarreal in a positive light after its terrible start to the season, which has placed coach Juan Carlos Garrido under pressure.

Villarreal has won only one of nine league matches ahead of its home game against Rayo Vallecano, and is without top-choice striker Giuseppe Rossi, who is sidelined for six months after knee surgery. Brazil striker Nilmar is also recovering from knee surgery.

Villarreal seems to have never recovered from the season opening 5-0 loss at Barcelona as well as the exit of influential midfielder Santi Cazorla to Malaga.

"We started off on the wrong foot and now we're trying to get back into the same groove we were in last year but it's going to take time," Rossi said after a 3-0 loss at Madrid on Wednesday. "We're trying to take it on the chin and move on, the results aren't what we expected.

"We had a tough preseason because we had players coming and going. but now we're in October and we've played 14 matches and we can't use that as an excuse."

Villarreal has lost all three Champions League games which makes Wednesday's match against City vital for it to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages of the European competition, or even to finish third in its group and progress to the Europa League.

While Villarreal president Fernando Roig has publicly backed Garrido, time is not on the coach's side with the club 18th and in the relegation zone.

"We have to improve not just for him but for the team," midfielder Jonathan De Guzman said. "Every game we should step it up. We're not a small team, we should be getting results with the players we have."

Barcelona can count on the return of centerbacks Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, while Lionel Messi will be looking to end a three-game scoreless run.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola was forced to defend Messi's form despite the Argentina forward being the favorite to win a third straight FIFA World Player of the Year award.

"Nothing we've accomplished or that we will accomplish would be possible without him," Guardiola said. "I don't think, historically speaking, there has been a player like him, who has been available everyday or every three days over four years to be accomplishing what he is. Finding a player as consistent as that over four years is impossible."

Guardiola said Chile striker Alexis Sanchez could return for the next league game at Athletic Bilbao, but the Spanish champions first had to rediscover their best form after squeaking out a 1-0 win at last-place Granada.

Madrid is expecting midfielder Nuri Sahin to return shortly, which would bolster a team that has won seven straight overall by a combined score of 28-3. There has been little criticism of coach Jose Mourinho's tactics so far this season with Madrid averaging more than three goals per game compared to 0.667 surrendered.

Kaka has also hit form for perhaps the first time since joining the club, earning a recall to the Brazil team for the first time in 18 months.

Madrid striker Karim Benzema was slightly more skeptical of Levante's possibilities of maintaining their early season form with another 28 games to be played.

"Let's see if they last for the whole season," the France striker said.

In other games this weekend, it's: Valencia vs. Getafe; Sporting Gijon vs. Bilbao; Racing Santander vs. Real Betis; Atletico Madrid vs. Zaragoza; Malaga vs. Espanyol; and Sevilla vs. Granada.

Ballack earns Leverkusen 1-0 win at Freiburg

BERLIN (AP) — Michael Ballack's first Bundesliga goal for over five years gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 win at last-placed Freiburg on Friday.

<a href="http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sports/twellman-132992-mass-mls.htmltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sports/twellman-132992-mass-mls.htmlFri, 28 Oct 2011 23:09:53 GMT">Soccer Capsules: Twellman says MLS team ignored his concussions