Help for a lousy offense

Josh Wolff is back from his stint abroad as he signed a four-year deal with Kansas City on Monday. Wolff gives the Wizards some much-needed help as KC has one of the worst offenses in all of MLS. The Wizards have 11 goals in 13 games this season and the 11th goal wasn't even one they scored themselves.

Wolff isn't the most prolific scorer and his inclusion on the US national team recently has been questioned. But Wolff has three seasons of double-digit goals, including one of 10 goals and 10 assists. If he comes anywhere near 10 goals this year, it'll be a successful return to MLS considering the sad state of KC's offense.

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Ronaldinho has joined the Galaxy

For a charity match, looks like. But see how happy he looks to be sporting a Galaxy shirt? Even if it's not the LA Galaxy, it's perhaps a sign of things to come.
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Who are ya? Who are ya?

I mean, I always thought that Chris Brown had a longer MLS career than this.
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CC#10

The real world intruded today, so I wasn't able to put up the Canales Corner, Monday edition, until now.

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American English is an accent

Jack Bell rails at the preference of some for all things English.

My gripe about American announcers, however, is that too many of them are tied up in the insular soccer structure of the U.S. to have any independent opinions. It was painful to hear John Harkes try to be objective about DC United when commenting on their match versus the LA Galaxy. It was almost a relief when he finally just gave in to talking about his days with a young, pre-injury Ben Olsen and speculating about Moreno's thoughts while on the bench. I certainly didn't expect someone that tied in with the Washington club to give an objective assessment of Gallardo's elbow to Landon Donovan.
Greg Lalas, meanwhile, has his own credibility issues, as not only a former Revs player, but as the brother of the LA Galaxy's GM, Alexi.
At least those with direct ties to the people in the league have an excuse for pulling punches - some announcers are just so neutral about every aspect of a match that it sounds like announcing via the school of court reporting. Who passed to whom and who scored without ever any nuance or insightful observation, or interesting tidbit, or anything.
But far and away the biggest sin for me is that American announcers all too often sound so terrifically bored. That laid-back style is fine for the pace of baseball, but in soccer, players are tearing up and down the field with the ball while an announcing team discusses trivia like they're feeding ducks at the park. It sets my teeth on edge.
Granted, I grew up watching a lot of soccer in Spanish, and the goal calls that annoy some people are a classic essential for me. Different strokes, I realize.
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"The Kid" converts

"El Niño" is Fernando Torres' nickname. In this cartoon, the stunned German says, "I thought it would be easy, like taking candy from a kid."

Torres (has to be him, he's the only blondie on the Spanish team) responds, "Idiot! Don't you know the Fury is ageless?" as he carts away the Euro Cup.
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Cover Boys

Yesterday, today and always, all with the Reds
MARCA 1-0 Spain-Germany
It's no longer a dream, it's real. . . We're Champions!


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Blattering about Plan B

If FIFA isn't looking to the U.S. as its number one Plan B option, they're truly incompetent. No other country has the infrastructure a World Cup demands ready to go. After all, the last time a World Cup needed to be rescheduled in a hurry (2003 WWC in China, because of SARS), that's exactly where FIFA turned.
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In the company of greatness

Marc Stein waxes worshipfully about his charity game experience with Steve Nash, Theirry Henry, etc.
I had to laugh at his description of Kalou, because when I met him at the Beverly Hills Hotel for his official intro as a Chelsea player, that's how he seemed to me. Just a shy teenager, albeit one making millions of dollars. Gotta love the enthusiasm of youth, going to play straight off a plane.
Also, don't ever tell Preki, but when Luis and I participated in the Chivas USA media game last year, we had our own "Omigod!" moments (internally, of course) stepping on the field while he played. Luis was his teammate, and I tried to play defense against him. After the game, we both talked about our favorite Preki moments in his playing career and how lucky we were to see him in action up close and to play with him for one game.
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Ladies who don't lunch

They play soccer instead, and think it may be the best thing about coming to America.

Though I've moved since then, MacArthur was one of my local parks when I got my first apartment in LA. That dirt field is beat to heck from all the games played there, but it's the center of a little feeling of community.
It's true that the U.S. offers women opportunities in soccer that they simply didn't have elsewhere. When I taught at nearby Belmont high school, a little freshman girl told me that she had to hide her soccer uniform from her mother, who was convinced playing the game would keep her daughter from ever marrying. What's interesting is that the girl had her father as an ally - he'd drop her off at practices and covered for her absences so that her mother wouldn't suspect the ruse.
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Achtung Chromoxid

1. New England Revolution - Nicol and Co. rise above the parity of MLS.
2. Columbus Crew - Ekpo adds another weapon to the Crew's arsenal
3. DC United - Unstoppable in June
4. Toronto FC - Still need to show something on the road.
5. New York Red Bulls - Grading on grit instead of style, this team is up there.
6. LA Galaxy - Wilt in the DC heat under a barrage of goals.
7. Chicago Fire - A point could halt the team's summer slide
9. Houston Dynamo - Ching and Co. could still use Jaqua
10. Chivas USA - Savvy Razov will almost always capitalize on gimme chances
11. FC Dallas - Take home the cannon as Cooper keeps scoring
12 - Colorado Rapids - Fernando Clavijo might be hanging on by a thread.
13 - San Jose Earthquakes - They hold on for an important point on the road
14 - Kansas City Wizards - Can't seem to score unless the other team helps out
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London Broil Rankings (June 30)

1. New England (9-4-3). Khelli Dube as influential in win as Steve Ralston.
2. Columbus (8-4-2). Effective Ekpo could give Columbus yet another dimension in already strong midfield.
3. DC United (7-7-1). Rout of Galaxy punctuates DC's return.
4. Toronto FC (6-5-3). Getting closer to success on road.
5. LA Galaxy (6-5-3). Thoroughly whipped by resurgent DC.
6. Chicago (6-5-2). This week's essay winner: 333 Minutes of Ineptitude, by Chad Barrett.
7. New York (5-4-5). Osorio getting the most from one of least talented sides in Eastern Conference.
8. Chivas USA (5-6-3). Can't rely on opposing left back's mistakes for offense every week.
9. Houston (4-4-7). At some point, those ties need to turn into wins.
10. Real Salt Lake (5-6-4). What a horrendous way to drop a road point.
11. FC Dallas (4-6-5). Kenny Cooper can't go it alone.
12. Kansas City (4-5-4). Win can't mask team's offensive struggles.
13. Colorado (5-8-1). Can Rapids just put Clavijo out of his misery?
14. San Jose (3-8-3). No quit... and, uh, no offense... in these guys.
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Week 14 Spotlight

Top XI

G: Joe Cannon Kevin Hartman
D: Bakary Soumare
D: Ramiro Corrales Claudio Suarez
D: Michael Parkhurst Frankie Hejduk
M: Emmanuel Ekpo
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Steve Ralston
M: Marcelo Gallardo
F: Kenny Cooper
F: Brian Ching
F: Luciano Emilio

Coach: Tom Soehn went right after the LA Galaxy's defense and kept the pressure on one of the league's worst defenses and never really let the league's top offense get on track. Sure, most teams don't possess the offensive weapons DC has, but Soehn and DC showed how best to play against the Galaxy.

Steve Nicol: Nicol righted the NE ship and sealed the deal to coach the MLS All-Stars for the second straight year.

Player: Luciano Emilio. A combination of Emilio miscues and Steve Cronin saves kept the DC forward from scoring more than just his two goals. As it stood, though, last year's Most Valuable Player is on a tear right now.

Top save: Joe Cannon had a pair of stellar saves late in San Jose's 0-0 draw at Chicago; he turned away Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe from close range.

Top goal: Emmanuel Ekpo's run through the heart of Colorado's defense and clinical finish from long range was the best of another batch of so-so goals.
Kenny Cooper pops in the goal with an untouchable header that wins "El Capitan" - he's proving he's not just good with his feet.
LOWLIGHTS

Many of San Jose's offensive woes can be traced to Kei Kamara. Saturday against the Fire, Kamara had a clear chance to bag what could have been a match-winner late in the game. Shea Salinas ripped a shot off the post and the rebound fell to Kamara. With Fire 'keeper Jon Busch woefully out of position, Kamara settled and had nearly half of an open goal to shoot at. Instead, Kamara pushed his shot wide. Seriously, are there no better options for San Jose? There has to be at least one capable forward in the USL-1, no?

San Jose's offense is lousy but for my money Kansas City has the worst attack in the league. When you consider their talent level (Claudio Lopez, Carlos Marinelli) and their output (11 goals in 13 games), KC's attack is easily the most inept in all the league. At least San Jose has an excuse; they are an expansion side, and expansion teams have struggled to score goals. What's Kansas City's excuse? The Wizards are a sad sack side that doesn't deserve to go back to the playoffs with their ineptitude up front.

The Western Conference continued to show their combined inferiority to the Eastern Conference. Western clubs combined for an 0-3-4 record this week with five goals scored and 10 goals allowed. Houston and FC Dallas tied 1-1 while the rest of the conference met up with Eastern rivals. Western leaders LA would be tied for fourth with Toronto in the Eastern conference and are the only Western teams among the top seven overall.

New York announcer Shep Messing on Kevin Goldthwaite's pass that led to Chivas USA's lone goal on Saturday: "That is one of the worst plays I've ever seen... Why in the world would you play a square ball during the waning seconds going into the locker room with the lead? That is sheer stupidity."

Brad Guzan didn't whiff on NY's free kick goal. He completely misjudged and missed the ball.

Tony Beltran's own goal in the 89th minute - a spirit-crushing moment for RSL that cost his team the draw.

Ante Jazic gave up a crucial PK - basically ran into an opponent from behind. Clumsy, clumsy.

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Has a sleeping giant awoken?

Long thought of as underachievers, Spain put the finishing touches on a tremendous showing at Euro 2008. Spain demolished the opposition in the first round and finally put their past to rest against Italy as Spain ousted the Italians via penalties. From there, a 3-0 semifinal win over Russia and Sunday's 1-0 win over Germany were somehwat anticlimactic. The championship was destined for Spain; all they had to do was claim it, which they did.

Given the abundance of Spanish talent available and the elite status of Spain's La Liga, it seems everything has long been in place for Spanish successes at European Championships and World Cups. Now that Spain finally has won a title, for the first time since 1964, has Spain joined the ranks of the upper echelon?

Is Spain a legit world power? Or do they still need to succeed at the World Cup? After all, Spain last reached the final four of a World Cup in 1950.

Spain could certainly pull a France and win two major tournaments in three years time. France beat Brazil to win the 1998 World Cup, then beat Italy to win Euro 2000. Spain will likely be considered one of the teams to beat entering the 2010 World Cup regardless of the draw and now that they shed their underachiever status, perhaps they can play with confidence they've not enjoyed for quite some time, if ever.
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Last chance to vote!

Final call for ballot help. I've got to turn my ballot in this week. The tally as it stands.

GK
Matt Reis 9, Jon Busch 8, Kevin Hartman 1

D
Bakary Soumare 11, Frankie Hejduk 9,Chad Marshall 8, Michael Parkhurst 8, Gonzalo Segares 8, Sean Franklin 5, Jimmy Conrad 3, Facundo Erpen 1, Marco Velez 1, Marvell Wynne 1, Abel Xavier 1.

M
David Beckham 18, Cuauhtemoc Blanco 16, Shalrie Joseph 12, Robbie Rogers 12, Javier Morales 5, Kyle Beckerman 4, Maurice Edu 4, Dwayne De Rosario 3, Guillermo Barros Schelotto 2, Andre Rocha 2, Marcelo Gallardo 1, Stuart Holden 1, Sacha Kljsetan 1, Justin Mapp 1, Pablo Mastroeni 1, Steve Ralston 1, Pablo Richetti 1, Laurent Robert 1, Clyde Simms 1, Andy Williams 1.

F
Landon Donovan 18, Kenny Cooper 15, Edson Buddle 2.
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Germany/Spain running blog

The final! Will Spain throw off the mantle of underachiever? Will Germany triumph, sending the momentum of its fans gained during the World Cup into a frenzy?
Funny how Foudy talks about how goalkeepers need games to be sharp in reference to Jens Lehmann. Foudy didn't say anything like that when saying she wouldn't want to play in front of Hope Solo after Solo protested getting replaced at the Women's World Cup by Scurry, who had hardly played.
There's a bunch of pregame stuff - including a song by Enrique Iglesias, the anthem of the Cup. Can you hear me? Doesn't seem too connected to soccer.
Here come the teams. Ballack is a starter. So is Cesc.
Spain: Casillas, Marchena, Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Capdevila, Senna, Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Silva and Torres.
Germany : Lehmann, Friedrich, Lahm, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Frings, Hitzelsperger, Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Klose and Podolski.
Spain stand stoically as their non-lyric anthem, the Royal March plays. Germany belts their song out, as do plenty of German fans in the stands.
Iker and Ballack shake hands.
Kickoff!
2 - Gray says that it's in the German nature to get the job done.
4 - So far, though, it's been almost all Spain possessing early, though they're not really penetrating. And Germany nearly steal one - Klose nabs a bad backpass, but his touch isn't great and he loses the ball.
7 - Gray cracks on Capdevila being far offside, calls it "ridiculous".
8 - Ballack shows he has some moves, beats Puyol, but his cross doesn't find a match.
9 - Hitzelsperger with a shot, but it doesn't really test Casillas.
12 - Torres is all alone up high. The announcers seem to think Spain going back to their old formation is a good idea. I'm not sure.
13 - Germany corner, Casillas punches it way out. It's served back in but Casillas has it.
15 - Almost an own goal - Iniesta in the box pokes in a cross that deflects off Mertesacker and Lehman has to save the goal-bound ball.
Germany clear the ensuing corner.
17 - FK for Spain, a ways out. Lehmann comes up with it.
18 - Torres in the box, gets dispossessed, goes down, no call.
19 - Gray wants Gullit to explain the Galaxy's loss. Did he see the game?
20 - Torres with some tricky play earns a FK deep on the right. When it's taken, Torres does get a head on it, but can't direct it well and it pops over the goal.
22 - Off the post! Torres nearly had the opening goal on a header where he out-jumped his defender. So close.
25 - Podolski gets a corner kick for Germany. the service is cleared, but it goes right back into the box, where Ballack takes a sideswipe at it, hitting Ramos in the side with the ball. Spain are able to clear, but that was also close for Germany.
28 - The game is back and forth with both teams taking advantage of the extra room on counters.
30 - Torres versus Mertesacker in the box, Torres can't get his shot off, but Mertesacker gives up a corner.
32 - Cesc with a shot - but Lehmann gets down and claims the ball.
33 - GOAL! Torres finally breaks through. Xavi sends in a pass, and Lahmn can't shield effectively as Lehmann comes out for it. Torres just gets there and puts the ball over the diving Lehmann. 1-0 Spain.
Torres celebrates with a classic knee slide.
36 - Ballack is off the field with a cut on his head.
37 - While he's getting stitched, Germany earn a dangerous FK. Ballack's not there to take it, and Schwiengstieger hoofs it way out.
39 - Ballack is sent off again, because his stitches are bleeding. Germany need to use the electrical tape that Justin Braun had on after his injury last night.
40 - Again, Germany earn a dangerous FK while Ballack is off. Germany get to retake the kick. Ballack gets on before the rekick. The FK is cleared for a corner. Casillas punches it out. Germany reclaim and continue the attack - another corner.
42 - Xavi prevents a German shot, and Spain try to clear.
43 - Gray is angry at the ref for not calling advantage and for not carding Ballack for his persistent fouls. Iker comes out to argue with the ref about it. Although he's the captain, the ref cards him for dissent, though Ballack also gets a yellow.
45 - Spain on the counter - Iniesta has the ball in the box, but doesn't pass to Torres in time, though he gets the corner. It's taken short, and Spain work the ball around, but can't get a shot off against the German defense.
Halftime!
Germany definitely look second-best at this point, but have time to show better in the second half and are only a goal down.
50 - Klose down for a bit - ran into a kick. Lahm is out this half, and Gray thinks it's due to injury, though I think Loew might blame Lahmm for the goal against Germany.
53 - "Little Xavi" as Gray likes to call him - cracks a shot that gets deflected for a corner.
Corner leads to a shot by Silva that's deflected wide.
55 - Torres in another footrace into the box, but this time, Lehmann is off his line quicker to smother the shot.
57 - The game is much more open, but this time Spain is conceding possession and striking back via counter.
58 - Frings boots ball away after he fouls, but the ref lets it go. Hitzelsperger is taken off for Karanyi.
60 - Ballack with a shot as the Spanish defense falters slightly - it's wide, but just barely.
61 - It's enough to revive the German fans, who are loud again.
62 - Ballack with a cross - Casillas outleaps Kuranyi to it. The Germans look dangerous again, attacking with more verve.
63 - Schweinsteiger with a shot - or a cross? Whatever, he walloped the heck out of the ball, and it ricocheted of Klose and went just wide.
64 - Cesc is getting taken off for Xabi Alonso.
66 - Podolski and Silva face off and Silva does nod his head forward slightly, but the ref missed it - could have been a send-off, but Podolski wasn't hit hard. It was away from the ball.
The FK for Germany is sent poorly by Schweinsteiger.
67 - Cazorla comes in for Silva. Spain have bent, but not broken under the recent German pressure.
68 - Spanish FK - Ramos gets free and sends a header straight to Lehmann. The corner results in a shot that Frings clears off the post. Another corner.
69 - Off the corner, Iniesta with a shot. Lehmann blocks, but can't hang on. It's out for a Spanish throw.
70 - Finally Germany are out of immediate danger - offside is called on Spain, though Gray believes it was passive.
71 - Casillas confronts a dangerous German FK with a solid punch that clears the ball far out.
72 - If I were a ref, I wouldn't give Kuranyi a call just for that pretentious facial hair.
74 - Spain looking for a safety cushion, Germany looking for the equalizer, Gray hoping that a bad call doesn't settle a close game.
75 - Torres fights for a header and gets booked with a yellow. Gray is horrified at the call and points out to Healey how poor it was.
76 - Torres on a break, puts ball past Mertesacker but within reach of Lehmann, who grabs it.
77 - On another counter, Spain manage to earn a corner.
78 - Torres is out for Guiza now. So far, Torres is the hero, but there is time left. Mario Gomez is coming in for the Germans, replacing Klose.
Long pass to Guiza brings Lehmann out of his box - replay shows he handled the ball just slightly after crossing the line, but it goes uncalled.
80 - Spanish counter brakes at the German box, weak shot by Capdevilla stopped by Lehmann.
82 - Senna with a chance to seal it, alone in front of the box, couldn't reach the knock-down header. So, so close.
83 - Metzelder pulls at the face of Guiza, leading to a Spain FK. It's taken square, and the shot rebounds off Metzelder and goes out.
84 - "It only takes a second to score," says Healey, presumably chiding slightly the Spanish fans that are already celebrating.
86 - Spain looks closer to scoring, but they haven't. Corner leads to FK for Spain.
88 - German fans join the noise of Spanish celebration - imploring their team to score.
CRAP! The signals skipped and went black twice just now. I thought they promised that wouldn't happen again.
Kuranyi late on a slide tackle to Senna. Gets yellow for it.
90 - Gray gives credit to Spain for continuing to attack. But Germany finally manage a counter and lob the ball into the box, where their tall forwards have a chance, but Gomez fouls.
90+ Three extra minutes - Germany with another chance, but the cross is overhit.
Screen cuts out again. Dang. Announcers don't mention it, so maybe it's me and my cable service. Picture is back now.
Desperate Germany continue to try to get forward, but Puyol heads the ball away from the larger German players.
Final whistle!
It's over! Spain wins! Spain wins! Torres' goal held up and the Red Fury finally came through. Germany fall just short. Nice. Spain really played the better soccer throughout the whole tourney and deserved to win.
"Que viva Espana," ventures Healey a little tentatively, but I give him props for the effort. Torres claims a Spanish flag from fans and wears it as a cape. The Spanish supporters are going crazy - they may not be able to sing an anthem before the game, but they're singing now.
Aragones is getting air-tossed by his team. Be careful with the old guy - dudes.
Tommy Smythe says "the demons are gone" for Spain. Foudy says Spain is "letting go of some of those jinxes".
"Si, si, si! La Copa esta aqui!" chant Spanish players holding the trophy. Yes, yes, yes, the Cup is here! "Spain reign." says Healey.
That doesn't leave much to say. "We are the Champions" blares over the stadium sound system as the coverage ends of Euro '08.


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A Goose in the press box

Saturday night's match at Home Depot Center brought about several former US World Cup veterans. Before the match, I went to grab my seat and sitting a few spots down from me was Jeff Agoos. Had Andrea been at the game, she would have sat right next to the former DC United/MetroStars/Quakes/USMNT defender. At halftime, I went downstairs and ran into Marcelo Balboa. On my way back up to the press box, I shook Carlos Llamosa's hands and said hi to the ex-Chivas USA defender. Then, of course, Preki talked to us after the match.

But as it stood, I spent the most time around Agoos. I'm not sure why Agoos sat in the press box. He was in his suit, took notes in his notebook and was constantly texting or e-mailing from his BlackBerry. He sat there for the duration of the first half but I was surprised that he stayed in the press box for the second half.

Agoos wasn't really animated. For the most part, he watched the match quietly, scribbled notes and punched keys on his phone. But there were a few times he showed some emotion. He slammed his fist after Seth Stammler picked up a yellow card in the second half. Several times, Oscar Echeverry had bad touches and Agoos picked up on them. Towards the end of the match, Echeverry put himself in good position to create some danger inside the penatly area. Had he been able to control a pass, he could have had an open look from about 16 yards out. Instead, the ball leapt off his foot. Agoos tossed his pen in front of him, snapped his head to his right (towards me) and grimaced.

However, Agoos did not react much to the horrid giveaway and subsequent goal at the end of the first half. After Kevin Goldthwaite essentially set up Ante Razov for Chivas' only goal deep in first-half stoppage time, Agoos didn't overreact or anything.

A colleague had some suggestions on what to say to Agoos after the terrible defensive effort.

"Reminds me of your f-ups."

"Happens to the best of us, huh Jeff?"

Needless to say, I didn't take him up on the suggestions.
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DC United/LA Galaxy running blog

Here we go, here we go now. I'm actually semi-awake. I even had a little breakfast (fried egg sandwich, tea).
Predictions, folks? Got a little while to get them in before kickoff to claim bragging rights.
LA: Steve Cronin (GK), Mike Randolph, Ante Jazic, Chris Klein, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Alvaro Pires, Abel Xavier, David Beckham, Ely Allen, Sean Franklin
"The hottest team in the league" says JP of DC.
Zach Wells, Gonzalo Peralta, Fred, Marcelo Gallardo, Luciano Emilio, Devon McTavish, Clyde Simms, Gonzalo Martinez, Santino Quaranta, Bryan Namoff, Jaime Moreno
Eek - the bumper hadn't turned off Harkes' mic, so as the graphic plays into commercial, we hear him ask, "Good?"
Hopkins interviewed Donovan about scoring so many goals this year - LD seems more concerned about making the playoffs.
It looks hot out in DC.
Kickoff!
1 - Beckham tries to cross the ball into the box, and catches Martinez (Harkes calls him Luciano) Emilio) in the tummy. Martinez looks in a lot of pain. And people wonder why defenders don't like to close him down on crosses.
3 - Quarenta with speed down the right, crosses into the box, but no one from DC is there.
5 - Penalty Kick! Jazic barrels into Quarenta from behind and Jair Marrufo points to the spot. Jaime Moreno takes it quickly, slotting it to the right as Cronin dives the other way 1-0. DC.
7 - Couple of half-chances as Buddle and Becks try to hook up - but nothing quite comes off.
9 - LD recieves a deep throw-in from Becks, gets pulled at, but doesn't get the call.
11 - Harkes, trying not to be a homer, says Emilio was offside as Luciano gets behind the defense and gets the pass. he's alone on Cronin, hits the ball low, but Cronin gets down for it. Cro gives up the rebound, though, but the Galaxy defense clear.
12 - CK for DC off another Emilio-led attack. Cleared, but the follow outside shot from Quaranta is wide.
14 - Pires in the box, can't really get a shot off - Pires gets kicked by Simms and goes down, but doesn't get the call. Counter going the other way, Luciano from Fred, this time he beats Cronin with his shot, but this time, the offside is called.
16 - Beckham gets a rough tackle from Moreno and sends a FK ball spinning into the box that everyone misjudges and misses, both on DC and LA.
17 - Wells catches a Becks cross.
19 - LA is conceding possession to DC - trying to avoid the counter, I suppose. But DC United prove they can build play up, working the ball around until Namoff takes a shot. It's wide, rattling the boards beside the net.
21 - Gallardo tries to beat X in the box. Doesn't quite come off.
NO GOAL - LD was just offside on the equalizer.
24 - DC with ball movement that the announcers ooh and ah over, but ultimately Cronin scoops up the soft shot from Simms.
JP, Gallardo did NOT play against Beckham in that infamous 1998 match. Becks was carded off before Gallardo subbed in.
26 - GOAL! Becks LD one-two, LD flicks the ball into the box and Buddle fights for the ball in the box, just getting a shot off as Wells comes in. 1-1.
28 - Burch in for Quaranta as DC has a dangerous FK. Gallardo takes, but Cronin gets there.
31 - Becks sends in anther cross that Wells catches.
Hopkins informs us that Q hurt his hamstring.
32 - LD in the box, tries to head ball over a charging Wells, but Zack is able to get a hand on the ball.
33 - Burch puts too much on his cross overhits Emilio in the box.
35 - Enough about the weather, announcers! We get it. Talk the game.
37 - GOAL! Luciano Emilio off a Burch cross. None of the Galaxy defenders in the box went up for the cross and the far post header beat Cronin. 2-1 DC United.
39 - Marrufo, one of the few fulltime refs in MLS, is letting a lot go this game. Becks gets nailed but no call.
42 - Gallardo elbows LD - LD is furious as he receives a yellow card. His nose is bleeding. Cotton is stuck in his nose. The ref and fourth official missed the elbow, but got Donovan for - I'm not sure - persistent infringement? No, dissent. TV only showed LD's yellow, but actually Jair carded both players.
45 - Gallardo tries to say something to LD, perhaps that the elbow was unintentional, but LD ignores him.
Halftime - Well, everyone expected goals and there are three so far, so at least the scoreless draw people were secretly dreading hasn't happened. The money men, Buddle, Luciano, and Moreno have gotten on the board as well. It will be interesting to see the second half.
48 - Galaxy corner - Becks finds Buddle, but Edson can't get it towards goal - the header pops up.
Hopkins reports that Ruud is frustrated with the officiating - believes Gallardo should have been red-carded for the elbow. If Andy Gray was calling this game, he'd be in a huge snit about that, too, I think.
51 - Dodgy defending around the Galaxy box, but they escape.
52 - Tudela gets a yellow, but the cameras don't show why. JP mentions Gallardo's yellow, seems to think that LD was upset that it took so long for the yellow to come out on Gallardo - no, it's that it wasn't a red card that upset him.
54 - The players are walking at various points now - the heat is definitely worse and wearing players down.
55 - Gallardo wide on a shot.
56 - SAVE! Fred versus Cronin, Cronin saves it. Harkes harshes on Fred's effort, not giving Cro much credit.
58 - Gallardo puts a shot over the top, after Emilio laid the ball back for him.
59 - GOAL! Gallardo in the box and this time he goes side netting. It looks like Emilio got a handball on that, but the refs don't call it. 3-1 .
61 - LD gets bumped in the box by Burch, but tries to shoot anyway and Wells parries. Marrufo doesn't call the PK.
63 - The Galaxy do get a corner, ball gets back out to Becks, Fred misses the clear and the ball hits LD, but bounces to safety for DC.
67 - LA looks exhausted - but the cliche is probably true - "It's not the heat, it's the humidity". It's not very humid at all in LA, and the humidity can really affect those who aren't used to it.
69 - GOAL - Emilio puts away the service from Fred, who took a touch pass from Gallardo.
Harkes is calling for Olsen to come in, waxing nostalgic about the all that Olsen's ankle has gone through.
74 - Harkes gets his wish. Olsen is coming into the game for Moreno. Harkes gets sentimental about the fans cheering for Olsen.
75 - Buddle with a wayward shot from way out.
78 - Buddle with another outside shot.
80 - It's mostly DC, though, as Emilio gets in the box again, Klein chasing, but Cronin saves and Klein clears the rebound.
84 - Cronin makes two saves in a row. He actually has 8 in the game, despite giving up four goals.
87 - The Galaxy try to work the ball up - they're stifled by DC.
88 - Buddle and LD in the box - can't quite hoot up and DC clear.
89 - Dyachenko goes wide and high on the counter.
90 - LD on the break, hits a shot that Wells saves - CK for LA. Header by Gordon is deflected for another corner. Becks sets up for this one. It's cleared for a throw in.
90 + DC counter, Emilio is in free, but Cronin saves it. Harkes makes some weird crack about how Moreno must want to be out there.
Final whistle.
DC an emphatic win at home. It might have been different if the call had been made for the elbow against Gallardo, but the home team took care of business.

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All speed, no glory?

Dane Richards played a key role in New York's 1-1 draw with Chivas USA on Saturday. He gave Chivas USA fits in the first half with his speed and play along Chivas' left side, as he drew a yellow card and set up the set piece that led to the Red Bulls' only goal.

Just how good is Richards?

Chivas midfielder Jesse Marsch isn't about to pencil Richards in on the league's Best XI anytime soon.

Marsch was asked what makes Richards tough to deal with after the match and said:

Speed. Pure speed. Not to discredit him in any way but he's just a fast guy. That's what he is. It's not like you're dealing with him being creative or him being alert or him being a playmaker. He's just fast. If you're smart and you understand how to play against speed, it's not difficult. How many times did you see Claudio (Suarez) get beat by him? Never because he knows how to play against fast guys.
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Preki post-game

Preki following Chivas USA's 1-1 draw with New York. His first remark was regarding the lack of scribes down in the post-match presser as there were four of us there when he started, though more joined in afterward and in the locker room.

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Marsch bite

Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch on Saturday's 1-1 draw with New York:

I can only imagine what that game looked like. It must have been painful to watch. It was painful to play in.
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Chivas USA/NY running blog

Sorry this is late. I couldn't find the TV channel for this at first.
"Andrea, why aren't you at the game?"
1. Gas is expensive.
2. I have no assignment to cover this match.
So TV running blog it is.
NY - Jon Conway, Kevin Goldthwaite, Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Seth Stammler, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dave van den Bergh, John Wolyniec, Dane Richards, Andrew Boyens, Jeff Parke
Chivas USA: Brad Guzan (GK), Claudio Suarez, Jim Curtin, Francisco Mendoza, Ante Razov, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein, Bobby Burling, Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun
15 - I love the matches in Spanish - the announcers usually sound much more serious about the game. Boyens with a header attempt on the set play - it's wide of goal.
16 - Announcers don't like the midfield of Chivas USA right now. "Poor touches and timing" they complain.
17 - Wow, flashback reference there. Justin Braun hits a pass for Panchito way ahead, and Jesus, the PbP guy, says, "Not even the son of the wind, Carl Lewis, could get to that ball."
18 - Dane Richards goes for a long pass, and has the ball when Bobby Burling falls over, the announcers get excited, but then trip over Ubiparipovich's name. They decide to call him Sinisa insteas.
21 - Burling is down on the ground again.
23 - Richards in the box, beats his defender well, closes in on Guzan, but shoots far post and misses badly! "He beat his defender with a move like Michel Platini, but he shot like Dane Richards, " says the announcer.
26 - FK for NY, courtesy of a foul on Richards.
GOAL! Van Den Burgh! Wow - Guzan is not getting to England with moves like that. Van Den Burgh serves the ball in, a looping ball that Kevin Goldthwaite charges and jumps for, but he misses. Guzan is rooted to his line, then moving toward the crashing players, while the ball drops and then merrily skips into the side netting untouched. 1-0 NY.
29 - Braun is down and the announcers have a conniption fit about the uncalled foul on Andrew Boyens, whose elbow landed on Braun's face.
32 - Panchito racing Dane to a ball, which seems a losing proposition, but Panchito just gets there and puts the ball out for a corner.
33 - Corner is cleared.
34 - Announcers are calling Panchito and Dave "speed demons". It sounds cooler in Spanish - demonios.
35 - SAVE off the line, Hunter Freeman! After the ball was chipped over Conway, coming off his line, Freeman just dinked it back.
36 - Handball! Twice over, it looks like - the last one off a Claudio Suarez scissor kick in the box.
39 - Chivas USA is playing much better than when the game was scoreless.
40 - Parke gets fouled by Razov, as Ante is trying to reach a long pass.
43 - Dane in the box, ball stays there for a while, but once the shot finally comes, it's a soft one and Guzan picks it up easily.
45 - FK for NY, Goldthwaite goes up for it, but heads it wide and crashes heavily.
45 + Chivas USA's energetic rush in reaction to the goal against them appears to be ebbing.
GOAL - The NY defense booboos big time - pass to the center defender just as he moves forward and so the ball goes behind him. Conway doesn't react quickly enough, and Razov pops in to sidefoot the ball past him into the goal. 1-1.
Halftime: It was Goldthwaite who hit the pass as Jeff Parke was moving forward - wow, what a blunder. New York must be disheartened, while Chivas USA is right back in this one.
60 - The wrapping around Justin Braun's head to keep his eyebrow cut from opening up looks like electrical tape.
65 - Not too much going on - back and forth but little in the way of clear chances.
72 - Freeman is fouled by Flores - Stammler takes a shot, but Guzan catches it well.
74 - Etcheverry is getting stick from the announcers for killing NY attacks. They can't stand his lack of understanding and connection with his teammates.
76 - This is a pretty messy sloppy game. Passes are going awry - it's not just the goals that are based on mistakes, it's a theme for this match.
80 - Sassano is coming in for NY's captain, Stammler.
82 - Magee with a pretty horrid cross attempt.
85 - Ck for NY - nothing comes of it. Announcers are having a go at Boyens who is down again, calling him a dirty player who fouls, pulls shirts and fakes injury a lot.
87 - Sassano pulls Panchito's arm on an attack - gives Chivas USA a FK in a good spot. On the FK, Braun doesn't get to the ball (Boyens is holding his shirt).
88 - Hamilton in for Braun.
89 - Ante gets cleated and goes down, but Sassano, I think, says something to him about it and Ante steps on his foot in retaliation. It's not much, but the ref give hims a yellow.
90 + CK for Chivas USA - it's cleared after some trouble.
Dane is down - having collided with Panchito - whose small size seems to be part of the reason the ref shows little pity when Dane stays down after the clash.
One last attack comes to nothing for Chivas USA - the teams split points as the ref blows the final whistle.

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Smarter than your average soccer nut

Are you? Haven't done any Major League Soccer trivia for a bit, so here goes. Don't look it up - just try to answer off the top of your head.
1 - Landon Donovan, who leads MLS with 11 goals, has how many game-winning goals?
2 - Which two coaches have the best win percentages in MLS history?
3 - Is this really a picture of Cesar Alvarado? It's from the MLS Fact and Record Book, by the way.
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Doing the little things

I have to admit, I've been ambivalent every time I read something about the Homeless World Cup. It felt a little exploitative - "Hey, homeless person, come play soccer instead of dealing with whatever problems led to your situation."
Then I read this article and started thinking about exactly what soccer provides. Soccer teaches the importance of teamwork, has these players learn something new, helps motivate them to combine together to succeed. Basic things like showing up on time, listening to instructions and appreciating others are all essential, but more likely to happen when people feel there's a tangible point and purpose. Everyone likes to be needed, and every player on a soccer team - especially when it's four-a-side, is important
Even the basic physiological benefits of exercise, excitement and yes, even a bit of an ego boost from any clapping fans counts for a lot.
If I could feel that way in my little rec league action, how much more might those feelings mean to someone without a home or support structure?
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The long and winding road

As the situation of Todd makes clear, it's not that the sport of soccer has lacked friends in high places (John Skipper of ESPN is supposedly a big fan), it's that these people apparently felt all alone for so long. How many other soccer followers are peeking out of the closet these days and realizing it's safer to come out?
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Possible injury absences

Davy Villa people already knew about - but now Michael Ballack may also miss the final.
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Seattle sounds good

I like coffee. I like rainy days and green is my favorite color. I even have family living near the city. Why not? It's sounding better and better.
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We few, we far too few

I'm sure our readers are aware that journalism is struggling as print media losses pile up. As news departments make cuts, soccer coverage is often one of the first beats to go.
On a personal level, it's weird to turn around in the press box and see the empty chairs of those who used to sit there. I miss the different perspectives of Larry Morgan (who covered soccer back to the LA Aztecs) Miguel Melendez, Jaime Cardenas and Billy Witz. Now the OC Register is axing their Galaxy coverage (Yep, in the middle of the season!), so Damian Calhoun won't be coming out for practices or games any more. I didn't know Paul Oberjuerge as well as Luis, but I read his soccer stuff all the time - he was let go from the Daily News Group.
When Frank Del Apa was out for the U.S. versus Barbados match in LA recently, he wasn't actually covering the game. He'd stopped by on his own, because he loves soccer, but he had to leave the game early to cover the Celtics. They are his new beat, not the Revs or U.S. Soccer.
According to LA Observed, hundreds of jobs are getting cut at the LA Times this week. It's just sad. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the number of soccer reporters continues to dwindle.
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It won't happen again, promise

Yeah, right. But it already happened, so the damage has been done.

UEFA apologized for the blackout during Wednesday's semifinal match between Germany and Turkey. A freak storm caused this freak incident which, officials say, won't happen again.

That's of little consolation to viewers around the world. As Andrea mentioned in her latest edition of Canales Corner, it's puzzling to think that there isn't a backup plan in place, in case something like this happens. Of course, everyone inside the stadium - players, coaches, fans - were oblivious to what happened so they can't exactly stop playing. I mean, it's not basketball where you take about a dozen TV time outs each half.

For me, the game was ruined. It's one thing if you miss a minute or two but to miss that much time and TWO GOALS on top of it, that's preposterous. What made it worse was Rece Davis acting like he was doing us a favor by describing the goals and putting emotion behind it. He should have been sympathetic to us at the very least but instead it was pouring rubbing alcohol over an open wound.

Paul Oberjuerge compared the mishap to the infamous "Heidi Game" that changed the way TV broadcasts NFL games, except Paul argues that it's much worse than that. Can't say I disagree.

Unfortunately, the incident may have put a damper on the tournament. Instead of remembering Euro 2008 for the thrilling matches and surprise runs, the blackout could cast a pall over the tournament for some time to come.

Let's hope Spain and Germany put on a show that everyone can watch and overshadows the television disaster.
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Bits and pieces

Becks non-bash, for a change.

The Post is less persuaded by Becks.

Basher here, but he's not a convincing one - he's going to see Becks Sunday.

Crazy Americans

Sharapova's not the only one watching from Wimbledon
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Canales Corner #9

I'd borrowed a better microphone for some of these vlogs, but wasn't able to for this latest edition, so it's back to the crappy camera mic. Oh well. C'est la vie. On the plus side, I don't have to worry about syncing the audio up.

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Spain/Russia running blog

Rece Davis - says something about the Rolling Stones "with all due respect" one side will leave with satisfaction today. Dude, the Rolling Stones sang, "I can't get no satisfaction" not, "no one can ever get any satisfaction". If anything, the character in the song believes satisfaction is possible, and that's why he's frustrated. Anyway. Tommy Smythe said something, too. Wasn't listening, but he looked excited about it.
Pedro Gomez cracks about Davis' salary while informing us that each Russian player gets over 1 million Euros if they win here.
Spain are wearing their "unlucky" yellow uniform. Hmmm. They might be saving the red for the final. Former MLS player Donadoni has been fired as coach of Italy. Smythe calls his sack "unfortunate".
Davis is raising his voice a lot - but yet he doesn't sound excited. He sounds like a teacher trying to drown out students who are talking in class by talking louder then they are. That never works by the way.
A tango with the Spanish? No that's Argentina - the promo tease should be a paso doble with the Spaniards. That's like trying to order tacos in a Spanish restaurant.
The Spanish national anthem has no lyrics, so the players just stand there. Under Franco, some lyrics supporting him were written, but the song officially has no words, and so after his tenure, only the instrumental version is played.
Russian anthem, meanwhile, has changed lyrics more than once, including to remove references to Stalin.
The captains of the respective teams read an anti-racism message to the crowd.
Russia: Akinfeyev, Anyukov, Berezutsky, Ignashevich, Zhirkov, Zyryanov, Semak, Semshov, Saenko, Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko.
Spain: Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila, Senna, Iniesta, Xavi, Silva, Villa and Torres.
Of course, Spain beat Russia handily in group play, but Arshavin didn't play due to suspension. Yes, he makes that big a difference.
Kickoff!
3- FK earned by Villa, but it's way far out. Russia gets the ball back almost immediately.
5 - Torres earns a corner, but as he slides over the line, he lifts a whole section of the new=laid grass. Corner is cleared. Then Spain serves it into the box again and Ramos nearly, nearly reaches it on a header.
7 - Villa and Torres exchange passes in the box, Torres looses an awkward shot that Akinfeyev parries out. Spain have come out looking hungry.
8 - Aragones looks unhappy. Apparently, he really doesn't like the color yellow. He's off to coach in Turkey after this tournament.
10 - Russia's held off the early Spanish surge, and now look to strike, but Casillas is all over the low cross.
12 - Akinfeyev stops a long-range Spain shot as the Red Fury try to counter.
13 - Spain give up a corner. It's taken short and the the cross falls to Ramos, who shows total trust in Casillas as he chests the ball to him to catch.
15 - Torres in the box, reaching for the ball, the referee whistles for a foul against Torres. Gray gets upset about the call - which the replay shows did look like a foul on the defender.
16 - Perhaps as retaliation, Puyol tackles Arshavin hard going the other way, but the ref whistles this one. Tasty FK for Russia
17 - It's put over the bar by Pavlyuchenko.
18 - Aragones is off the bench, doing the "settle down" hand motions to his team, who might be frustrated.
19 - Torres in the box, trying to control the ball - now, if he'd planned the move to carry the ball on his back that would have been truly brilliant, but he didn't and he gets tangled up and loses track of the ball. Russia clears.
21 - Gray: That final ball is just missing for Spain at the moment.
Very true.
22 - But now Russia have a chance via FK, as the rain really dumps down. I'm ambivalent about the rain - sometimes it's part of a glorious, anything can happen game, other times, it just really changes the outcome too much. Soccer turns from a game of skill into mucking about in slop.
23 - Russia getting chances now - a corner, becomes a throw-in, but the ball is finally out over the endline. Goal kick for Iker.
24 - Spain with a deep throw-in, but as Ramos tries to hit the volley, the ball slips and weakens the shot. Akinfeyev catches.
27 - Semak fouls Marchena who tries to take a quick FK. Problem is, Semak is still holding the ball, which leads to shoving and a lecture from the ref for both of them, but no cards.
28 - Gray thinks Arshavin needs to get more involved - perhaps move up to forward.
29 - Silva is chopped down, but the FK is pretty far out for Spain. Villa gets it to Akinfeyev, who didn't have to move that much to stop it.
31 - Pavlyuchenko from distance takes a crack at goal - just wide. That's what Russia can do, no matter how good Spain look otherwise.
34 - Villa is down and looking very sober - might be a serious injury. Yep, he's off. Cesc Fabregas comes in.
35 - Pavlyuchenko in the box! Chests the ball down and nearly gets his shot off, but the ball is touched out.
36 - Pavlyuchenko now with a low header, it's wide, but Spain has lost all momentum. Rae mentions the MLS Texas derby - is it really a proper derby when the teams don't actually play in the same city? Can't he just say "state bragging rights" or "rivalry match"?
38 - As the match wears on Russia's youth and fitness should wear on the Spaniards. If Spain doesn't score soon, I'd say they are in serious trouble.
39 - Fabregas cuts in a sharp cross, but no one from Spain realy made the run and Akinfeyev catches.
40 - Gray thinks Spain suffers from overpassingitis. Yet at the same time, he says, they "lack the final pass"
41 - Both teams pressing as final five minutes of the half start to tick down. Casillas is out of his box to boot ball away.
42 - Arshavin is getting more involved on the right.
43 - Iniesta battles to cross, finally gets it off - Akinfeyev catches. The flow of the Spanish attack is getting blunted by the physical defense of Russia.
44 - Torres gets bearhugged - earning Spain a FK. It's a ways out, though. Xavi send is too high for a header and Akinfeyev catches.
45 - Puyol and Arshavin knock heads. I think Puyol's curly hair might give him a bit more protection. Both look ok, though. No blood like in last match.
Halftime: Spain looked better, or more stylish, going forward, but Russia had as many clear chances ( there weren't many for either side ) and nearly made them pay off.
I'm not sure it's a good omen for Russia that their big fan, Maria Sharapova, was upset today at Wimbledon. Perhaps not, as another Russian beat her. Speaking of, what happened to Spanish female tennis players? Is there anyone contending the way Aranxta once did?
47 - Adrian Healey is talking about Aragones "wise old man". Looks like the coach's rehabilitation after racist remarks about Thierry Henry is complete.
50 - Spain again the more probing team, but nothing yet. -
GOAL!
WAIT! Iniesta in the box, turns slightly shoots for the far post, Xavi pounces on it and redirects it into goal before Akinfeyev can react. 1-0 Spain
52 - Russia immediately turn up the heat, but the cross in is cleared and Spain counter. Torres in the box takes a shot form a tough angle - over the bar! Could have really drowned Russia hopes here.
55 - Spain again in the box via a quick counter - can't get a shot off.
56 - Interesting that the teams have switched roles - Spain is countering quickly, while Russia is now forced to build up play. Spain is actually pretty effective on the counter.
Bilyaletdinov comes in for Russia, Semchov specifically.
57 - Torres just barely offside. Saenko is off, Sychev on.
60 - Bilyatdinov tackles enthusiastically, but a bit late and gets a yellow.
61 - Spain opt for possession on the FK and work the ball around well, nearly resulting in a shot, but do get a throw.
62 - Torres with a shot. He's been unlucky there a bit, but he keeps trying on difficult angles.
63 - Torres again in the box - can't decide how to hit a ball and then the cross basically bounces off him badly.
64 - ooh, now the missed chance could prove costly. FK for Russia in very tasty spot and with a good angle.
65 - Zhirkov sends it into the wall, though.
68 - Spain on a great counter - Torres gets the ball in the box nearly in stride, but the defense closes him down. Zhirkov a mostly clean tackle that leaves Torres appealing in vain for a PK.
69 - Torres is taken out and Daniel Guiza comes in for Spain.
70 - Cesc with a knuckling shot earns a CK - Akinfeyev was forced to palm it wide..
71 - Off the corner, ball pops to Xavi, who cracks a shot on goal, but Akinfeyev blocks it back into play.
73 - GOAL! Guiza in as Spain execute well on the counter as Russia scrambled to set their line. Cesc dinked a pass behind as both Silva and Guiza broke through the line, the pass flew past Silva, but Guiza corralled it and sent it past Akinfeyev. 2-0.
75 - Russia try to come right back but Casillas wants to keep the shutout and takes care of the low ball.
80 - Spain haven't lost concentration or focus. They're harrasing Russia's wingers, cutting off crosses and keeping canny possession of the ball to limit Russia's hopes for a miracle.
81 - Can we hassle Hiddink for putting Arshavin on the right, where he saw little action and never affected the game? Hummm?
82 - GOAL! Silva off a great cross by Cesc! 3-0 Spain. Emphatic win for the Spanish.
85 - Well, well, the two finalists are the ones I called.
87 - "Spain have forgotten how to lose," Healy says. What a nice thing to forget.
88 - Ok, this one always surprises me, but I guess it's like how the England fans sing the heck out of "You'll Never Walk Alone" an American Broadway tune. The Spanish fans are raising thier voices in a loud chorus of "Cielito Lindo" which is a Mexican folk tune.
90 - Spain still pinging the ball around handily - while their fans are singing in the rain, which is staying mainly on the Spanish plain (since we're talking about Broadway).
90+ Sychev wide on a consolation attempt.
Final whistle - Spain's soldiers won the battle well, but the war is decided on Sunday - and the Germans are planning a blitzkrieg against the stylish possession game of the Spaniards. The final paso of the dance will go down then. So much for yellow - er, mustard - being unlucky.

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Question for Dallas fans

SoccerAmerica has a look at some overseas players who are apparently interested in a return to MLS, and one name that caught my eye a bit was that of Cory Gibbs. Now, I've seen Gibbs play great with the U.S. national team and think he's a talented player, if rather prone to injury. However, I also got the impression that he didn't put the same effort into his tenure at Dallas. Perhaps it was a case of MLS making a higher-skilled player look bad, but at times, Gibbs just seemed disinterested to me.

Obviously, I'm not watching Dallas exclusively, or even all that closely, so I'm asking Dallas fans - miss Gibbs much? Would you welcome him back with open arms if his allocation fell to you? Or maybe this is more of a general MLS question - fans of any team, who of the Americans on the list Soccer America has would merit an allocation from a team? A DP slot? Any American not on the list that should be trying to get more playing time in MLS?

Don't all fall over yourselves picking McBride all at once.
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Speaking of the charity game

Angel didn't play - he just made an appearance. Also, not to tell my ESPN editor what to title his own posts, but it looks like according to Theirry Henry, it should be called, "Jason Kidd can ball?" Yeah, and where's blogMaverick covering the things that really matter?
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Red Bulls Gore the Goats

Man, New York is king of the 1-0 win lately, no? Here's the view from the other side, as well.
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Liga takes first leg

Liga de Quito beat Fluminense 4-2 in Ecuador in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final. The club now just needs to draw or even lose by one to win their first-ever Copa title.

The final took a bit of a hiatus because of World Cup qualifying but the final is now taking center stage in South America.

Here are the highlights:

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Question

Pretend you're a forward, and get the ball in the box. A defender is closing in as you turn and touch the ball towards goal. He sticks out a leg to poke away the ball, but misses. His leg is now stuck directly in your path to the ball and the goal.

Do you

A: Move forward, initiating contact with the leg, falling over it in an attempt to draw a penalty kick?

B: Try to jump the leg and catch up to the ball in an attempt to score?

Explain your choice. Also, would any outside factors influence your decision, or would you make the same choice every time, in every situation?
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Turfed Out

Sometimes the topic for an article comes up unexpectedly. Went to interview Buddle after the Columbus game, because Ruud Gullit mentioned in his presser that Buddle has changed and become a "real professional." Gullit talked about how Edson came early and stayed late. So Scott French and I brought it up when we talked to Edson in the locker room. He seemed surprised by Ruud's statement

"Who said that, Ruud? He just met me for the first time this year. I’m always here. I’m in no rush. I enjoy being here. I feel like 2001 is around the corner, when I first came into the league. I embrace this."

We asked about his good run, and what he was doing differently to perform well.

"It feels good. I just want to maintain. I know it’s a long season and anything can happen. I want to treat myself well and keep playing. I am healthy. There’s always something, but nothing major that will keep me out.
I try not to change up anything. I just want to continue to do the same things and hopefully, the way the ball is rolling, it’s going my way. I just keep doing the things that prepare me for the game. I think if I do those things, it will add up to bigger things."

That was a bit vague, so Nick Green then asked if Edson could explain what he'd been doing wrong before this recent run of form. Buddle didn't hesitate.

"I was playing on turf, that’s what I was doing wrong. Last year and a half, I was playing on turf."

He went on a little diatribe against synthetic fields, which dovetailed nicely with Canada's national team objecting to playing at BMO field - voila - a rather timely topical piece.
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Of dives and men

From an email:
You failed to mention that Beckham dove on his penalty kick ;)

C'mon, you know the truth...

Truth? This reader probably can't handle the truth that the Beckham PK was about as legitimate as Robbie Rogers going down so quickly in the box from a Klein bump. Both players were fouled, in my opinion, both lightly. Both made a meal of it.

But isn't that part of the game - to call the ref's attention and try to ensure a call? If Paulo Ferreira had gone down after the push by Ballack during the Portugal/Germany match, would the goal scored by Ballack have been called back for the foul? It was a definite push, but the ref missed it. He might not have if Ferreira had made the foul more obvious.

If there is no competitive advantage for playing through a foul, a player actually does his team a disservice by trying to do so instead of making sure the contact is seen. It's contingent on the ref to make calls accurately and consistently.

I reserve the term "diving" for non-contact flopping, complete pretending that a player was hit. I despise that. However, I take the exaggeration of actual fouls as something of a necessary evil, considering the game's structure. I'm also loath to judge how much a player is actually embellishing, because a kick on a knee or stepping on a player's foot may not look like much, but completely ruins a scoring chance and can, depending on the bone or nerve hit, hurt like hell. A stubbed toe can actually hurt more than a fractured wrist (I say this from experience, as I didn't realize for days my wrist was injured, but I know the moment I stub a toe).

I've gone over this with others before - and at least some of it seems cultural, as in some countries, playing through fouls is considered a badge of honor, while in others, provoking contact and calling attention to it is considered an art form. It's part of the game, however, just like coaches and fans will always defend their own - "Our star gets hacked mercilessly" while always looking skeptically at any player on another squad who goes down. That's soccer.
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Germany/Turkey 2nd half running blog

Yeah, I know, where was I first half? Duty and the paying job called. Now I'm back - just in time to catch Reece Davis making a horrid "Thanksgiving in Turkey" pun. Eeach. Foudy does a better job breaking down Turkey's goal. Tommy Smythe is enthusiastic about Germany working itself back into the game, even if he's not completely coherent.
Foudy makes a comparison with Turkey/Russia "nothing to lose", plus, she knocks Spain's psyche a little.
Davis swings in an "Achtung, Baby" in the bump to commercial. Why? It just seemed really pointless.
46 - Rolfes and Akman knocked heads in the first half, Turkey's medics just staples Akman back into the game. Germany may not have had the same equipment or they tried to use stitches, because fixing Rolfes took much longer.
48 - Turkey has shown verve and surprising skill, given their absences. It's taken Germany by surprise.
49 - Lahm whistled for a foul. Turkey FK. Lehman catches.
50 - Turkey in the box!, but the final pass is missing.
51 - Lahm on the edge of the box - gets taken down. Gray thinks it's a PK, but the ref waves play on. Wow. No replay yet. Boos rain down.
53 - Ooooh, that did look like a foul on the replay. Sheesh. Turkey had a big escape there.
55 - What Turkey has lost here, though it was the ref's fault is the good will of the crowd. Germany fans were mostly silent, now they're horribly indignant and booing every Turkish touch. That might rattle the young team.
56 - For that matter, Germany are showing better resolve and possession. Hitzberger and others are teeing up on Turkey's backup keep, Rustu.
57 - Now Ballack goes down - Gray doesn't think it's a foul, but it was definitely from behind and he caught the right leg. Ballack doesn't do much with the FK.
Screen goes black. Great. They're showing the fan zone, of all things.
Rae finally admits technical problems. Gray is asked if he's been to a fan zone. He hasn't I have, during the world cup. There's a lot of beer and good-natured cheering. It's hard to see, there's nowhere to sit, and lots of carnival-type food is sold. In Germany, that means sausage on a stick.
Well, there's apparently a power outage. Joy.
Smythe, Foudy and Davis are desperately discussing the game even as it continues. Lame. This is horrible People are getting fired, right now. As they should.
Or maybe not - as it turns out lighting hit the TV tower - the signal went out worldwide, turns out.
66 - Well, no goals scored during the interim, at least.
67 - Turkey still battling, moving forward, but that final pass still isn't happening.
68 - Germany more organized than earlier, but concede a corner just now. It bounces high, gets headed about, until Sabri serves it back into the box - dangerous-looking, but no red shirts are there to make something of it.
69 - Kazim Richards gets his shirt tugged by Lahm and goes down in the box in hopes of something - hey, if the ref isn't calling a PK for Lahm at the other end, K-R isn't getting this one.
73 - Boral with a shot - Lehman catches. Going right back the other end, Hitzberger fires wide.
75 - Rae promos the MLS match tomorrow - the Texas Tussle between Houston and Dallas. Ok, Rae doesn't really say Texas Tussle. That was me.
77 - Great - the screen is blank again. Damn.
Davis wants us to sympathize with German fans who can't watch the worldwide feed. I'm not generous enough to feel their pain in addition to mine. I need chocolate to soothe my nerves.
Shit on a stick and crapola - Klose just scored, apparently. I'm cursed. This game has three goals and I've missed all of them. Damn the lightning. Foudy and the desk seem to think the game is over and Turkey can't come back. Oh, well, I guess I can't see anything to disagree with them about that. I mean, it's not like I can watch the game.
See this is where technology sucks - I mean, if Rae and Gray were at the Euros, they could call the game, radio style, but they're apparently in a studio watching the feed. Or not watching the feed, as the case is right now. Foudy got ready (for the third time, to do her call of the Turkey goal - the insight of "ballwatching") Klose's goal was apparently a header. The announcers are talking about it. We still see nothing. Now they're talking German politics. What the heck does Davis know about that? I don't trust what he says. They're showing the Klose goal - Rustu was caught out of position. As they roll the video, Turkey scores, apparently again. The cameras catch a bit of celebration.
Now they show the video. Sabri gets in behind Lahm, serves in a great ball to Semih, who pokes it in past a frozen-to-his-line-then-leaning-in-too-late Lehman. 2 -2 all square.
90 - Hells bells! I finally see a goal, and it's from my favorite German player, little Lahm, who has actually had a horrid game mostly. He gets a pass from Hitzberger as German players crash the goal and he roofs the ball emphatically. Dang that was a strong finish - his first international goal since the beauty that he struck versus Costa Rica in the 2006 World Cup. 3-2 Germany. (Hey, this match is like a Galaxy game, but with Lahm finishing better than Beckham.)

The greatest game of this tournament and we've missed about half an hour of it - Brutally cruel.
Full time, it looks like.
Germany move on, but Turkey goes home with their heads held very high. Amazing. Smythe gives Lahm a lot of credit for his strike. Foudy gives props to Turkey. Davis says something about Germany being soccer-mad, well, duh, all of Europe is. Davies says it like it's unusual or something.
Foudy, previewing Russia/Spain - wants Lucky Guus to be "damn good Guus". Hey, they say it's better to be lucky than good. I'm just saying. No real prediction, though, from the desk and finally, coverage ends.

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Bri disappointed

I'm not sure that Bri is referring to beating out Hope Solo for a spot on the team - it seems like she is arguing that she is a better choice than Barnhart. Who knows - but Bri is not going gently into that national team goodnight.
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Open scores

The U.S. Open Cup bid farewell to seven USL clubs and one USASA side and will welcome eight MLS teams now after a full slate of games on Tuesday. The remaining games will pit MLS teams against USL sides; Cleveland, Richmond and Baltimore are all USL-2 sides while the rest hail from the USL first division.

Here are the scores from Tuesday followed by the next round's matchups.

Harrisburg (USL-2) 2-2 (aet) CP Baltimore (USL-2); CP Baltimore advance on penalties, 3-1
Western Mass (USL-2) 1 : 2 Richmond (USL-2)
Rochester (USL-1) 3 : 0 Pittsburgh (USL-2)
Charleston (USL-1) 2 : 1 Charlotte (USL-2)
Carolina (USL-1) 1 : 0 Real Maryland (USL-2)
Minnesota (USL-1) 0 : 2 (aet) Cleveland (USL-2)
Miami (USL-1) 1 : 0 Atlanta (USL-1)
Seattle (USL-1) 6 : 0 Hollywood United (USASA)

Carolina Railhawks vs Kansas City Wizards
Richmond Kickers vs New England Revolution
Cleveland City Stars vs Chicago Fire
Rochester Rhinos vs DC United
Miami FC vs FC Dallas
Charleston Battery vs Houston Dynamo
Crystal Palace Baltimore vs New York Red Bulls
Seattle Sounders vs Chivas USA
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Leftover LD

On the Columbus game:
It seemed like little bounces didn’t go our way and we didn’t make plays. We were in a great position at 2-0 to close up shop. Then they got the first goal. We stopped playing and we paid for it. Then we did good to get back in it and we let it get away again.

On why the Galaxy give up goals:
Usually when that happens, the tendency is to say that the back four or the goalkeeping isn’t well, but the issue is that they’re able to get from their defensive end into the attack in about two or three passes, easily. That makes a big difference, when you have guys running at you – three, four guys running at the back four, that makes it difficult. That said, we should have done a little better, clearing some balls out and doing better there tonight. But it’s not always just that the back four is struggling.

Analysis:
In the first half, we actually did a fairly good job of being hard to play against – we really limited their chances. In the second half, the game opened up a lot and we weren’t as compact and therefore they had more space to play. They’re a good team. If you give them space, they’ll make things happen. They’ve got a lot of solid, hardworking players. Like most MLS teams, they have a few guys who can hurt you. In between Schellotto, Rogers, Alejandro, they make it difficult. And they’re good on set pieces. That’s usually a good recipe, obviously.

On Ale:
He played well. Probably should have scored at least once. He’s always a handful.

On the penalty call on Beckham:
I couldn’t see it from where I was. It’s hard to tell. On their penalty, I wasn’t sure that [Rogers] really got fouled. On ours, I wasn’t sure that David really was fouled. But whatever. That’s the ref’s decision to make.

On whether Beckham was fit, as he seemed uninvolved at times:
I think he’s fit. There’s points in a game where you want dangerous players to even cheat a little bit, because you want them to get the ball. Other teams do it. Schelotto doesn’t defend. Alejandro doesn’t do anything. He sits around and waits for ball in good spots, so it kind of happens. I don’t know.

Why do the Galaxy blow leads?
One is, we’re young. There’s no denying that. We have a young goalie, a young leftback and a young centerback. That’s part of it. We work on things in training. You’re got to turn on the part of your brain that senses danger, you’ve got to put out fires. You’ve got to learn how to win. Some of these games, we’ve been giving away points. It’s funny, we could be eight points clear. We clean that up, we could be very good. But we’ve still got a ways to go.
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More ballot help!

Alright, here's the updated voting as it stands. I want our readers to fill out my All-Star ballot. We got eight responses last week and thus far have enough for a team. However, with the deadline a week or so away there is still time to get in more ballots.

As venerable readers Ed The Red pointed out, it may have been best to hold out. Some players, such as Ed's boy Luciano Emilio, have turned up the heat in recent weeks and have at least put themselves in the discussion.

Anyway, vote if you would and help me figure out my ballot.

GK
Matt Reis 5, Jon Busch 3

D
Bakary Soumare 5, Chad Marshall 4, Michael Parkhurst 4, Gonzalo Segares 4, Frankie Hejduk 3, Jimmy Conrad 1, Facundo Erpen 1, Sean Franklin 1, Marco Velez 1

M
David Beckham 8, Cuauhtemoc Blanco 7, Shalrie Joseph 6, Robbie Rogers 4, Javier Morales 3, Andre Rocha 2, Maurice Edu 2, Kyle Beckerman 1, Marcelo Gallardo 1, Stuart Holden 1, Justin Mapp 1, Steve Ralston 1, Pablo Richetti 1, Laurent Robert 1, Clyde Simms 1

F
Landon Donovan 8, Kenny Cooper 7, Edson Buddle 1
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Reactions to roster

From the LA Times Olympic blog.

From Grahame

From the NY Times

From Beau

Local angles:

SJ
Detroit
St. Louis
Hawaii
OC
Jersey

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Gaining acceptance

Turkey's World Cup semifinal run in 2002 may have been written off as a bit lucky but the Turks are back in the final four of a major tournament. And if Germany eases up on Turkey for even one minute as Croatia did, it could cost them a spot in the final.

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports takes a look at Turkey's run.
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Central America or the Caribbean?

In seeing many predictions around the web as to which teams will make up the final six, I've come across some similarities. The three teams most expect to see through to next year's Hexagonal are the US, Mexico and Costa Rica. Canada also is getting a lot of love but is, along with teams from the other two groups, part of a seemingly interchangable group.

It's nearly split between Trinidad and Guatemala while Honduras and Jamaica are also getting picked out of Group B. Haiti seems to be a shaker as well with few if any think Suriname will get through.

It seems, though, that beyond the top three, Central America and the Caribbean will fight for spots head-to-head. With apologies to La Habana, Cuba's already been given up for dead, thus leaving Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago to fight for one spot. Honduras and Jamaica might have to worry about more than just Mexico as Canada is seemingly strong but they will have to face off against each other as well, while El Salvador and Haiti could determine the second spot in Group C.

It leads me to wonder which is the better region of CONCACAF, Central America or the Caribbean? Central America boasts Costa Rica which has reached the last two World Cups and Guatemala and Honduras can each be strong. However, both Guatemala and Honduras can be prone to horrendous letdowns as well.

Trinidad reached the World Cup last time around and reached the Hex in 2001 before collapsing, but Trinidad beat Honduras in Honduras late in the Hex, a result that helped the US and Mexico. Jamaica doesn't seem as strong as it did in the late 1990s but a trip to The Office could be tricky while Haiti, well, it's not exactly a vacation destination.

So which region is better - Central America or the Caribbean? Would the US and Mexico be better off having teams like Trinidad and Jamaica in the Hex or would Guatemala and Honduras be preferable? Or will Canada make this discussion moot?
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CC#8

Technical difficulties - hopefully, this vlog works out. OK - I got some advice via email and I think the volume problem is better now (Thanks, more technically proficient readers!). By the way, people can view earlier Canales Corner editions (sleeves!) if so inclined.



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Going abroad

Europe becomes a developmental option for young players, but not in the sport one might assume.
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Dropping names

Greg Lalas gets the scoop on agents planting stories to drum up interest - via the Galaxy's situation - from his brother.
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Midseason form

Russia has been nearly unstoppable in Euro 2008. Since losing to Spain 4-1 in the opener, Guus Hiddink's team has ripped off three consecutive wins, each more convincing than the last.

Some have said that the Russians' season has helped the national team as the Russian Premier League season runs from spring to fall, much like MLS.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I'm some sort of soccer encyclopedia. I don't know a whole lot about Russian football. So I investigated the league a little and realized one thing that MLS suits should pay attention to.

Russia - get this! - is taking a break during the European Championship! Wow! An actual break! Thus, Russian fans don't have to choose between watching Zenit St. Petersburg-CSKA Moscow or watching the Russian national team play meaningful competition.

That's amazing!

Well, actually, it's not. It's what leagues are supposed to do.
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Can't get past blahs

Maybe it's the summer heat. It's 93 degrees here in Riverside, which is actually 12 degrees cooler than it was on Sunday. But I'm taking yet another break from writing because nothing's coming out.

Actually, I switched up my topic. I was going to write about Euro 2008 as a whole and Germany is the only team that hasn't surpassed expectations by reaching the semifinals but I wasn't feeling it. Instead, I'm focusing on Spain.

Anyway, instead of throwing my now-useless column in cybertrash, I figured I'd put it up here so you can see it before I aborted it.

---
Every four years, the European Championship captures the world’s attention even though only 16 nations participate. Outside of Argentina and Brazil, the best nations in the world regularly put on a show during Europe’s quadrennial regional tournament.

This time around, though, the only shows the powers-that-be are how spectacularly they have collectively crashed out of the tournament. Disorder certainly reigns in the Old World.

Of the four semifinalists only Germany can claim that their run thus far has not been a fluke. Russia, Turkey and Spain are trying to shed their previous failures in this tournament and pull off a shock similar to what Greece did four years ago in capturing Euro 2004.
---

So I got there and asked myself "now what?" And I couldn't respond to myself so I said #@!& it. Actually, I said the seven dirty words. It was impressive. Should have been there.
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Scurry Era may be over

At least on the national team level - with the Women's Professional League starting up next year, I don't expect Bri to retire from the sport itself, but she could say goodbye to the WNT.
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Count 'em

Yes, I know soccer is a team game and that final results are what really matter, but I grew up with fans in baseball stands posting K signs for strikeouts or in other ways keeping track of certain important stats in the stands. So I got a kick out of some Galaxy fans setting up a "Goal Counter" for Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. I took the pic in the first half, but by the end, obviously, the counter was up to 11 and 9, respectively. What's also interesting about LD and Edson topping the MLS goal table is how many games less they've played than other contenders.
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A Chance rankings

1 – New England – Points clear away from the pack means a blip in form still equals league lead

2 – Columbus Crew – Last year’s team would never have fought like this, and not have succeeded

3 – Los Angeles – Goals in buckets – concessions like the proverbial holes inside them.

4 – Toronto FC – Home is a fortress for TFC

5 – DC United – Even the defenders are scoring now.

6 – Real Salt Lake – Could make history and have winning record for the first time in team history next match.

7 – Chicago Fire – Slumping, wasting Blanco’s skill and looking out of sync

8 – New York Red Bull – Somehow, someway, getting it done without the big guns.

9 – Houston Dynamo – Still looking for solid production from forwards.

10 – Chivas USA – Have Chicago’s number well in hand

11 – Colorado Rapids – Uninspiring, but especially so in scoreless matches.

12 – FC Dallas – Hyndmann is working with some talent, but a new system is disruptive.

13 – Kansas City Wizards – Can’t seem to remember how to win.
14 – San Jose Earthquakes – At least they scored.
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El Salvador goes through

Highlights of El Salvador's triumph over Panama on Sunday.



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Write-free morning

I'm trying to write my Press-Enterprise column but nothing's coming out. I don't exactly have writer's block, just a case of the blahs.

Anyway, while I try and break out of the Monday morning doldrums, here are some links to keep both of us occupied:

Goal.com's Kyle McCarthy looks back at the weekend in MLS and breaks down the Galaxy's defensive miscues. It's always good to get an outsider's view of the local sides because it either reaffirms what we think or makes us wonder what the hell they're watching. In this case, it's reaffirmation of what I feel plagues the Galaxy's defense.

Soccernet's Jeff Carlisle's take on the US-Barbados game. Not much of a game, really. There wasn't really any intrigue and the players lacked cohesion and rhythm, which is what you would expect from a team that was thrown together during the week. You've got to wonder if MLS is hampering the development of the US national team some by playing a full slate of games during such international weekends. Would it have been necesssary to take the same team that whipped up on Barbados 8-0 down to the Caribbean to finish off the job? Obviously, that wasn't vital in helping the US advance. But it would have helped the players from some sort of continuity. I mean, you only get so many chances to have your full squad together but you can't because Houston plays at Colorado and the Galaxy hosts Columbus but since Chicago played Thursday you are able to bring in Chad Barrett who doesn't deserve to go anywhere near the senior team with the way he's playing.

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Tired out

Last week, we got into a little discussion here about soccer athlete's top-notch physical conditioning as opposed to other sports, baseball actually.

Here's a post from Paul Oberjuerge's blog about the topic of fitness. If you're not familiar with him, Paul was sports editor at the San Bernardino Sun for many years before he was unjustly fired earlier this year. Paul's covered multiple World Cups - four or five I believe - and gave me my start in journalism 11 years ago. Oberjuerge.com is a great blog which you should definitely read quite often, as I do.

Anyway, Paul partially blames fatigue for Holland's ouster from Euro 2008 on Saturday and says that Holland players are only human for tiring.
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Week 13 Spotlight

Top XI

G: Kevin Hartman Brad Guzan

D: Hunter Freeman Tony Beltran
D: Claudio Suarez

D: Gonzalo Martinez
M: Carlos Mendes
M: Clyde Simms
M: Sacha Kljestan
M: Marcelo Gallardo
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
F: Ante Razov
F: Landon Donovan Edson Buddle

Coach: Sigi Schmid. Between switching formations and subbing in Stephen Lenhart, Schmid pulled all the right strings to get his Crew side back from a pair of deficits.

Top goal: Gonzalo Martinez's powerful blast against San Jose on Sunday was the best in a week of decent-to-average goals.

Edson Buddle's move past Danny O'Rourke, his control in the box and clinical angle on the far-post finish was top shelf.

Top save: Kevin Hartman turned away a point-blank shot from Amado Guevara that kept Toronto from scoring late in the second half.

LOWLIGHTS

Even in a week that saw eight shutouts, ghastly defensive performances were rather abundant.

Consider:

Chris Klein had his worst night as a member of the Galaxy. He tripped up Robbie Rogers inside the box that led to an equalizer and was just slow defensively overall.

Nat Borchers and Nick Rimando made a mess of a long kick from New England goalkeeper Matt Reis and Adam Cristman capitalized. It was only offset by...

Jay Heaps' lousy clearance attempt. On a set piece, Heaps rose and headed the ball right into his own net.

Zach Wells has been the league's worst goalkeeper this season. Yes, Tony Caig has been gawdawful but Wells has played in all but one game this year, and allowed 21 goals in 13 games. His attempt, or whatever you call it, to parry a cross away that led to John Cunliffe's goal is typical of his effort this season.

William Hesmer also had a head-scratching moment. What exactly was he trying to do on the play that led to the Galaxy's first goal?

Adam Smarte also had a brief momentary lapse of judgement late in San Jose's 3-1 loss to DC as he gave away to Marcelo Gallardo inside his own penalty area. Needless to say, it wasn't a very smart move.

No defensive gaffe could compare to the shock and horror of some offensive misses this week.

Consider: Chad Barrett heading wide right in front of goal, missing wide on what should have been a straightforward kick, missing an empty net with an angled shot, and blocking a teammate's shot on goal by getting in the way of the ball.

Honorable mention: David Beckham missing the goal by miles while only a few feet in front of the goal.

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Laurie Berkner Rankings (June 23)

Hey Victor
Hey Freddie
Let's eat some
Spaghetti

1. New England (8-4-3). We'll give them the benefit of the doubt against RSL, having played at home just three days prior to the loss.
2. Toronto (6-4-3). Yes, they can't lose at home but can they piece together consecutive high-scoring games? Answer for now is, NO.
3. LA Galaxy (6-4-3). New Galaxy mantra should be: If we score five goals or more, we can't lose!
4. Columbus (7-4-2). Just change his name to Stephen Lionheart.
5. DC United (6-7-1). Won't win jack with Zach in the back.
6. Chivas USA (5-6-2). No goals for Ante but Razov played key role in attack on Thursday.
7. Chicago (6-5-1). Remember when the Fire had the league's best defense?
8. Real Salt Lake (5-5-4). Could this be the year RSL makes the playoffs for first time? First, they've gotta get some consistency on road.
9. New York (5-4-4). Osorio needs to work miracles with no Angel, Reyna and Altidore.
10. Houston (4-4-6). Hardest-working average team in league.
11. Colorado (5-7-1). Here's a team that could use a coaching change.
12. FC Dallas (4-6-4). Bring back Ferruzzi!
13. Kansas City (3-5-4). Won't claw up standings without scoring on goals.
14. San Jose (3-8-2). Even their goals are ugly.
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Feeling dis-guus-ted

Turns out American fans aren't the only ones kicking themselves over Guus Hiddink.
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Even dozen

Despite Trinidad's best efforts to collapse, form pretty much held during this most recent round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The U.S. and Mexico each went through rather easily as expected while Honduras, Guatemala and Canada surged to blowout victories as well.

The only "surprises" possibly were Panama losing to El Salvador and Guyana losing to Suriname, but that's like being surprised that the rotten eggs smelled worse than the spoiled milk.

Here's the semifinal qualifying groups as they stand:

Group A
United States
Guatemala
Trinidad & Tobago
Cuba

Group B
Mexico
Jamaica
Honduras
Canada

Group C
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Haiti
Suriname

It looks like the team everyone will take turns beating up in next year's Hex will come from Group C. Costa Rica should get through, and so will either El Salvador, Haiti or Suriname. Probably either El Salvador or Haiti will go through.

Group B is the toughest. Conventional wisdom says Mexico will get through but some suggest that Mexico could struggle. It's hard to imagine Mexico not reaching the Hex, no matter how tough the group seems to be. Mexico is virtually unbeatable at home in qualifying, so short of Mexico dropping a home game El Tri will probably get through.

Yes, the U.S. has some tough opponents. Well, not really actually. Guatemala did not score in two games against the US last time around. Trinidad nearly pulled off a surprise against the US in the opener last time around but the Americans still won. The only intrigue will be when the US goes to Cuba, but that's mostly for political purposes. That story may actually get picked up by the mainstream press, not the mainstream sports press but the mainstream press in general.

Early, early predictions for the Hex...

United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti.
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The squeeze

Russia turns the screw on Le Oranjie.
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Viva España!

They change history, says MARCA.
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Landon on Euro '08

Landon shares his thoughts on the European tournament.
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Spain/Italy running blog

Finally! Connection problems, folks.
But we've only just begun.

Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol, 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 19-Marcos Senna; 6-Andres Iniesta, 8-Xavi, 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa, 9-Fernando Torres

Italy: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 19-Gianluca Zambrotta, 2-Christian Panucci, 4-Giorgio Chiellini, 3-Fabio Grosso; 22-Alberto Aquilani, 10-Daniele De Rossi, 13-Massimo Ambrosini; 20-Simone Perrotta; 18-Antonio Cassano, 9-Luca Toni

4- Spain with most of the possession so far. Italy defending well. Shocker.
5 - Villa defending. He wants this bad, then.
11 - Torres getting into it with a ref.
12 - Now the ref pulls a yellow for Iniesta. He's not happy with the Red Fury.
18 - Torres in the box - doesn't get to aim it well and it goes wide.
19 - Ambrosini header - bounces in front of Casillas and he gets it, but Italy is now created chances, slowly imposing their will on the match.
24 - Del Rossi gives up a FK in a likely spot. Spain set up. Villa takes it and tests Buffon a little, but Gigi handles it.
27 - Villa in the box, but the Italian defense recovers.
30 - Silva botches a clear, giving Italy a chance, but a pass goes awry and Casillas picks up the loose ball.
31 - Offside on Spain going the other way. Then yellow for Ambrosini as he tackles late and gets nothing but the player.
32 - Silva tries a low outside shot that forces a diving catch from GiBu.
33 - Xavi's shot creates the first corner of the match. Nothing much comes of it - Spain gets whistled for a push.
39 - Italy FK, off a Puyol foul. Casillas adjusts his gloves. The ball gets served in an headed out for Italy's first corner. I can hear Casillas yelling, "Fuera!" That means, "Away!".
42 - Silva taken down - he gets stepped on. Gray is spitting in Scottish rage at the referee's unwillingness to call the infraction.
Halftime - Spain have controlled the ball, Italy have countered. The ref has missed plays. The sun also sets in the west. The natural order of things would have history win out and Italy find a goal in the second half and bunker well against the Spanish attack for a 1-0 win.
48 - Spain are looking decent in the second half so far, getting in a little deeper.
50 - Gray bemoans Silva taking a touch in the box - wasting a chance to shoot on goal, in Gray's opinion.
52 - Cassano's pass on an Italy break is too strong and Ambrosini is furious about it.
56 - Torres in the box! He crosses instead of shoots, though, and it gets blocked out for a corner. The shot off the corner is way high.
59 - Xavi sets up for the corner - Bufo punches it out and the rebound shot is way wide.
60 - Fabergas comes on for Xavi. Iniesta is out for Cazorla.
61 - Italy all over the box! Casillas' leg saves a goal as Camoranesi, just in for Perrota, shot through traffic.
65 - Spain keeps crossing into Italy's box as if their forwards are as tall and big as Italy's. They are not. Italy clear our cross after cross and wait for the deadly counter.
69 - Villa gets fouled - Spain have a FK in a decent spot. Villa deflects it off the shoulder of someone in the wall. The corner comes to nothing, because Italy's big guys clear the ball out well.
71 - Toni on a counter gets a contested header - puts it wide.
72 - Villa gets booked for a dive and Gray snits at the ref for the call, thinking it poor, more that Villa fell over than that he dived.
73 - Ramos from distance. Wide. Spain look frustrated. Italy look in control, even without the ball.
76 - Spain stymied time and again at the Italy area. Fabergas FK leads to corner. It's taken short and the service falls to Ramos, who actually cuts the ball off from a better positioned Torres. Ramos ends up trying a backwards chip that GuBu catches easily.
79 - Another corner dropped in well by Fabergas, but Italy clear. Gray gloomily forecasts a smash-and-grab by Italy. Tire out smaller, skilled Spain and then crash the area for a set piece goal late in the match after Spain are disheartened.
80 - Spanish FK on target, but blocked out by Gigio.
81 - Buffoni spills the ball on a long shot, but as it spins towards goal, the post helpfully knocks the ball back to the goalkeeper. Spain have no luck here this game.
82 - Inspired, Italy attack Spain's goal hard. Spain get numbers back, but the Italy players are bigger. Spain escapes the danger this time.
83 - Toni saves Spain. Inadvertently, of course. He doesn't notice Grosso crashing in far post for the cross and tries a weird high kick, getting a touch enough to deflect it away from Grosso.
Wow.
85 - Torres is coming off as Aragones makes his last change, sending in Guiza.
88 - Villa crosses to Guiza in the box - who forgets the most basic rule of the game and uses his arms to cradle the ball and bring it down for a shot. Crazy stupid.
90 - Villa in the box - but gets taken off the ball fairly easily. He looks tired. I expect Italy to score soon, though they've seen far less of the ball.
90+ Gray is pissed that Toni stays down until he gets an injury whistle, though there was no foul on the play where he lost the ball.
Spain with a last attack in the box - same result as all the others.
Final whistle
Extra periods to follow.
93 - Silva shot is just wide! So close. The jinx continues and Spain can't get a break.
95 - Italy off a throw-in, the cross in the box - DiNatale out jumps the shorter Puyol and the header is just barely high. The corner is deflected out for another corner. Spain are in trouble.
96 - Toni's near post header nearly goes in. Spain have had far more chances, but Italy have had a few dangerous ones.
99 - Zambrotta cuts off a Fabregas run in the box. Perfect stifling defense by Italy.
103 - Marco Senna is down, but Aragones has no subs left, so Senna limps back up.
105 - Gray says "Van Basten" when he means "van Nistelroy", but it's part of a compliment to Casillas, who catches a FK into his box well.
Gray notes that only Spain have really tried to win the game as we head into the second extra period.
110 - Villa in the box again, but his first touch fails him and Lufo is out to block the ensuing shot for a corner. Header from Fabregas is off-blance and the ball goes way wide.
113 - Cazorla booked for dissent after being denied what looks like a clear corner.
114 - Gray grimly notes how effective Italy's defending is. True, but even though i played as a defender, it depresses me. It's all about killing chances, not creating them, clamping down on the game, organized, not creative. It's maddening, though it works. It's like an American car versus an Italian one. The American one is usually ugly, but it works, whereas the Italian one looks great, but breaks down. Anyway, I drive a Japanese model - trying to find a balance between the two extremes. But I used to drive a Lancia. And then a Geo Metro.
118 - Casillas with a poor clearance gives Italy a chance, but Spain recover. Italy looks livelier now, right when Spain look really tired.
So who has the advantage in penalties? The cagey vet Buffolini, or Iker?
120 - Guiza kills Villa's spirit, taking a pass in the box and knocking a cross just a bit too hard for the arriving Villa. Seriously, Davy is in tears over not getting a chance to finish that.
Final final whistle. Penalties are next.
Gray waxes eloquently epic about the pressure of penalties.
Villa is up first. He will get to knock into net what was denied him during the game. I wonder if he's regained his composure yet. Yes he has! 1-0 Spain
Grosso for Italy. Casillas guessed right but it was too good. 1-1
Carzola next. He fools Buffon to score. 2-1 Spain.
De Rossi up - Casillas SAVES! 2-1 Spain.
Senna up for Spain to secure the advantage. He makes! 3-1 Spain.
Camoranesi up to keep Italy kicking. He roofs it calmly. Nice PK. 3-2 Still Spain
Guiza versus Buffon. Gray has a bad feeling - and he's right! Guiza goes low and a little slow and Buffon gets there. 3-2 Spain.
DiNatale to put Italy level. SAVE! Casillas does it! Spain has a chance to advance! 3-2.
Cesc to put Spain through. Fabergas steps up. He has an extra long run-up and he slots it low, with Buffo going the other way. 4-2. Spain is through! Their fans go crazy, and Gray says the Spanish Fury deserve it. They went after the game, they kept fighting, and they held their nerve in the penalty kick trial of fire. So it's Turkey/Germany and Spain/Russia.

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Zuquit!

China does have excellent soccer coverage. After all, Luis Bueno writes for them!
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The unifying power of the game

And a little shot at Real Salt Lake.
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Mounting an attack

How far would Canada's players go to perform on their preferred pitch? Would they strike? It's possible.
At the very least, while it's not surprising how much the players love grass, it's embarrassing for the league that the new MLS stadium isn't where players want to be. I wonder what West Ham will think of the surface when they show up for the All-Star Game. Somehow, I get the feeling that they won't be contacting their agents to push for any MLS deals.
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Turning over the Maple Leaf

Will Canadian fans merely "eh" about their soccer team?

Canada enters the CONCACAF group of Death next, with Mexico and Honduras looking tough. But if the team can hang with Brazil - it could probably do so with any one.
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Soccer player goes Tyson

On a ref.
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Guatemala wons

It's not often that Luis and I both miss an international match played in LA, but we weren't at the Coliseum for this one.
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Blanco and the beggar

"The story of the blind man" has as the main punchline Blanco changing his sign from "I'm blind, have compassion" to "They offered me work as a ref, but I prefer to be an honest beggar." A former MLS player makes a cameo - who can name him?


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Becks leaves his heart - er, a picture

In San Francisco.

It's a very big photo.
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Journalism and blogging

The LA Times takes a look at the future of sportsblogging.

Luis and I are in a bit of a different position here. We're journalists, but as freelancers, we don't get paid to write our blog. If anything, the blog costs us money, because time spent on it could be spent writing an article that would pay. I'm honestly not sure why we keep doing the blog anyway, other than that most of the time, we enjoy it and like getting out some extra info to fans of soccer.
It's also true that after trying hard to write something that will please an editor or an outlet, it's sometimes nice to just have a thought about something and be free to post it here without needing someone else's approval.
Because we are journalists, though, and we use our names on this blog, our reputation is on the line with every post. Sometimes I don't post stuff because I don't have the time to spend looking up what I'd need to find to make all the info completely accurate. Sometimes I don't post things because I don't want to deal with the blowback of being considered "girly" or the "We don't care about that, stick to soccer" comments.
Other times, I rebel against my self-censoring and post anyway, because if people don't want to read what I think, well, perhaps they shouldn't be reading this blog.
As far as whether or not to post rumors, though, I don't have too much trouble deciding where to draw the line there. If I have specific knowledge about something, I'll pass it along, otherwise, I don't bother. I'm not going to drive myself crazy wondering about the blog's reputation, though. Either people trust us to be honest with our observations or they don't.
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Say you want a Revolution

The Revolution want their Euro TV!

Here's the story from Liz Summers, press officer for the squad.

The Revs were flying to Salt Lake City through Cincinnati, the flight schedule for 4:45. We'd missed the kick-off of Croatia-Turkey on the first leg of the trip and pretty much had assumed that the game was over when we landed in Cincinnati.

When we boarded the second flight, we saw we had TVs in the seats and after we were in the air a few minutes, the guys were flipping through and found the game (scoreless in the 115th minute). Within seconds, the entire travel group had it on each screen. Well, that's when the flight attendant chose to make in-flight announcements, at which time all the TV screens went blank and her audio came over the headsets - and don't think the team didn't make its displeasure known. By the time she was finished, we saw the Croatia player running around cheering his goal, with one minute left in extra time. Thankfully, we all saw what happened next - Turkey's tying goal and then penalties - and the whole team was cheering Turkey on through kicks.

We raised a few eyebrows on the plane because of the cheering and hooting and hollering, but it was taken well when people figured out why. The flight attendant even apologized for interrupting our viewing.
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Galaxy lament lost points

Though they didn't lose, the Galaxy left two points on the field yesterday.
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Beckham comments

Beckham shares his take on the match.

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Ruud looks back on game

Ruud's take on the draw with Columbus.

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Brad Evans soundbite

Brad talks about the game.

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Sigi says he's proud

After the game, Sigi Schmid shared his thoughts on the 3-3 draw.

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Galaxy/Crew running blog

The California heat wave welcomes MLS soccer this evening.

Crew: William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Ryan Junge, Brad Evans, Guillermo Barros Schellotto, Brian Carroll, Nocolas Hernandez, Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Moreno

Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, David Beckham, Ely Allen, Alvaro Pires, Ante Jazic, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan

Actually, the sun has dropped enough that none of the seats get hit directly, and there's a cooling breeze - perhaps from the ocean. It's not tooooo hot, in other words. Course, I'm just sitting in the press box.

The Crew have added a lot of black to the jersey they have on - the yellow is reduced to a big vertical stripe down the center. It looks slimming from the front, but then there's a yellow square on the black back of it, on their butts, practically. That seems like a target. Or something.

Kickoff!
1 - Ale Mo is running to goal, but he's not fast enough to outrace Randolph. Ale boots ball forward and Cronin collects.
3 - Crew corner, Guille takes it, strikes it far. Beckham clears.
4 - GOAL! Beckham high-kicks a cross, and Donovan challenges Hesmer for it. Hesmer is a good goalkeeper, but he drops the ball, and Donovan pokes it into the net. 1-0 Galaxy.
6 - Pressbox is discussing Hesmer's bobble. They describe it as a Tony Caig moment. Poor Caig. Even mistakes he doesn't make have people referencing him.
7 - Crew on the attack in the Galaxy area, but the corner gets cleared.
9 - Cronin goes high to catch a throw-in. He falls, but hangs on to the ball. Hesmer takes note.
10 - Beckham to an overlapping Klein, who whips a cross in to Donovan, who makes a hash of the redirect - ball goes wide.
15 - It's been back and forth, but no clear chances for either side for a while.
16 - Ely in the box, but gets tentative on his cross, which is cut off for a corner. Donovan takes it. It's a good kick but Hesmer is interfered with.
18 - The call and response of "LA!" "Galaxy!" on the ends of the stadium is going on.
20 - Crew corner. Donovan gets the clear, tries to hit Beckham with a long pass, but doesn't have the skills of Becks there. Crew recover, but are then called offside.
22 - Ale in the box, beats Randolph, crosses, Xavier, clears, nearly an own goal. Corner falls invitingly, but the Galaxy eventually clear.
23 - Bad Crew pass leaves Becks with the ball and he tries to catch Hesmer off his line. Misses high.
24 - Guille in the box - lays pass off for Rogers, whose sliding shot gets deflected outside netting by Cronin. Corner causes problems for the Galaxy, but they eventually clear.
26 - A crush of bodies near the edge of the area, and Franklin's tackle takes down Guille. Sean gets a yellow for that.
28 - Neither team has any decent rhythm right now. It's a choppy game. Passes are nearly as likely to go to the other team, it seems. That's partly due to the pressure defending from both sides.
30 - Becks to Buddle! But Edson's header is just wide.
32 - Jazic gets taken down hard by Frankie, but no card. Geiger has a chat with him, though. Becks lines up the free. Hesmer catches it.
34 - Guille is in deep, crosses, Cronin catches.
36 - Pires gets fouled, but it's too far out for Beckham to even bother. Franklin takes it.
38 - Buddle is down in the box, but Geiger isn't buying.
39 Buddle on the break, but screws it up. The Crew are scrappy defenders, not that I expected any less from a squad with O'Rourke.
41 - The Galaxy players seem to be off - Donovan hits a pass to Beckham, Beckham loses the ball, there's very little precision here.
42 - Jazic nearly on the breaks from a Becks pass, but Hesmer is out of the area to boot the ball back.
44 - Ale finally drops in a bit of skill - a perfect loft pass to Rogers to run on to int the box. Cronin comes out and Rogers tries to chip him - nearly worked.
45+ Another deep FK, but Becks takes this one. It's knocked out for a throw, but the whistle blows.
Halftime - The Galaxy are off tonight for some reason, but the Crew's one major error means LA has the lead.
47 - GOAL! The Galaxy start the second half fast. They keep the ball out on the left for a while, working short passes against the defense of the Crew, who seem to be expecting a switch to Becks at any moment. Instead, Buddle beat O'Rourke to a ball and gets into the box, where, he puts the ball away far post when Hesmer comes out. 2-0 Galaxy.
50 - Ale handball in the box kills a Crew attack.
51 - Becks long pass to Donovan - LD corrals it in the box and crosses, where it gets put out for a corner. LD to take. Hesmer catches it.
54 - Marshall header from a Guille corner - wide by a bit.
55 - Crew earn another corner for a Frankie effort. It's cleared for a deep throw. Cronin punches that out, and LD harasses Hernandez into shooting wide.
57 - Another Crew corner. This one is dangerous, but the Crew can't get a shot off. The Galaxy have lost momentum, and the Crew is pressuring hard.
58 - Becks on a break, but his cross is behind Buddle, and the Crew reclaim possession.
60 - Guille fouls Xavier, who is down for a bit.
62 - Ale in alone - Galaxy backline expected offside, but no call. Cronin comes out, Ale misses! He shoots far post and goes wide. Yikes. The chance to ruin Cronin's shutout was right there.
64 - Ale tries to atone on the throw, but Cronin punches the ball out to Becks for a counter. Ball eventually works its way to Ely, who puts a move on his defender in the box, but then his shot is deflected.
66 - Rogers low shot from outside is deflected. The breeze in the stadium has died, so it's actually hotter now than when the game started. Stifling.
67 - GOAL! Cronin loses the shutout. Guille serves the ball into the box and it drops for Evans, who strikes it into the goal. 2-1 Galaxy. Gordon comes in for Jazic.
71 - Penalty! Klein brings down Rogers in the box. Guille steps up to the spot. He puts it away hard. 2-2 Tied up.
73 - Once again, the Galaxy defense lets opponents back into the match. Gordon takes an outside shot that is high.
74 - Becks crosses, Frankie puts it out for a corner. LD takes - it's cleared to Becks, who pops ball back to LD, whose pass gets cut off for another corner.
75 - LD takes - Gordon heads it down - just misses the net. So close. Steven Lenhart comes in for Nico Hernandez.
77 - Crew circle the Galaxy goal, pinning them back.
79 - This is why no one can leave a Galaxy game early. Ya never know.
82 - Penalty! Becks in the box gets brought down. LD goes through his ritual. Hesmer has saved a bunch of PKs this season.
83 - GOAl! Not this one. LD puts it away. 3-2
85 - Gulle FK - it's cleared, but Crew recover ball and earn a corner.
86 - Becks starts a counter, ball to Ely, then a pass for Gordon, but Hesmer gets there first and passes to start a Crew counter.
87 - Xavi slide-tackles the ball on the edge of the area. It looked like he got ball, but he gets a yellow card.
88 - GOAL! FK goes to the top of the area, and Cronin blocks that shot, but he can't control the rebound and the Galaxy can't clear. Lenhart knocks it in. 3-3 All square again.
90 - Press box debates the call on Xavie. They're split.
Galaxy attack! Becks is in the box, he beats his defender, he shoots! Wow. Way high. Yikes.
90 + Lenhart in the box - shot goes wide.
Randolph fouls Guille but is hurt on the play and limps off. Franchino gets set to come in, but Crew get to play a man up for a bit.
Final whistle. The crowd hates the ref. I called a draw for this game, but I never expected six goals. Cronin's GAA continues to stink.

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Holland/Russia running blog

It's the Dutch versus one of their own, Guus Hiddink, coaching a spry Russian squad trying to make history and reach the semifinals.

Netherlands: 1-Edwin van der Sar; 21-Khalid Boulahrouz, 2-Andre Ooijer, 4-Joris Mathijsen, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 17-Nigel de Jong, 8-Orlando Engelaar; 18-Dirk Kuyt, 23-Rafael van der Vaart, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 9-Ruud van Nistelrooy. Subs: Timmer, Stekelenburg, Heitinga, De Zeeuw, Van Persie, Robben, Melchiot, Bouma, De Cler, Huntelaar, Afellay, Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeyev; 22-Alexander Anyukov, 8-Denis Kolodin, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 11-Sergei Semak, 20-Igor Semshov, 9-Ivan Saenko; 10-Andrei Arshavin, 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko. Subs: Gabulov, Malafeev, Vasili Berezutsky, Yanbaev, Alexei Berezutsky, Adamov, Torbinsky, Ivanov, Shirokov,
Bilyaletdinov, Sychev, Bystrov.

Maria Sharapova is talking about Russia's chances versus Holland. She acknowledges that it will be difficult. Prescient observation.

Russia's national anthem - the players sing along, arms linked over shoulders. Said Hiddink earlier;“I don’t know the words to the Russian national anthem. But I like the melody, so I will mime along. If I’m going to be a traitor, I might as well do it properly.”

Holland's anthem is cheery, and the orange jerseys add a pop of unusual color to the proceedings. I know Hiddink knows the words to this song, but he's not singing. Marco Van Basten has to be the best-looking coach on the national team level. He looks like he could throw on a jersey and still contribute to Holland's depth.
Kickoff!
Ooh, interesting detail - the grass for the game was imported from Holland. Home-soil!
2-FK, Russia, Arshavin was fouled. Russia mount an attack, but the ball gets knocked over the endline before they get a shot off.
3 - Van Bronkhurst sends in a cross, Kuyt can't quite reach it far post.
5 - Boulahrouz had his prematurely born daughter pass away just four days ago. The black armbands the Dutch now sport are in her honor.
6 - Arshavin earns another FK, this one closer to the Dutch goal. Zhirkov cracks it on goal near post, but Van Der Sar gets there with a two-handed push to save a goal. Two corners by Russia follow, but the Dutch resist.
8 - Pavlyuchenko with a header over the bar - Russia looking lively here. Sharapova must be happy - well, except for the missed shots.
11 - Russia's speed is putting a lot of pressure on the Dutch defense. The midfield of the Netherlands isn't seeing much of the ball at all.
13 - The Dutch begin to pick it up, adjusting to Russia and controlling the ball more. Russia caught them by surprise a bit, but no longer.
15 - Another foul on Arshavin - FK for Russia. Zhirkov mishits it, and it pops way high.
18 - Boulahrouz down for a bit.
20 - Snjieder in the box, but his shot is blocked.
24 - Another FK for Russia. It's cleared.
28 - I can't think of Russia without remembering the move of MLS striker Damani Ralph to that country. It didn't work out that well for him.
29 - A foul on Van Nistelroy leads to a FK - Van de Vaart takes it, nicely swings the ball right in front of goal - Van Nistelroy somehow misses it. Ruud Gullit is probably still shaking his head over that one.
31 - Arshavin on the counter, in the box, shoots - Van der Sar save - he just pushes it wide with his fingertips.
32 - Off the corner, ball falls to Kolodin, who winds up a hard shot from a ways out - on target, but Van Der Sar pops the rocket shot over the bar.
33- Another shot soon after the corner by Kolodin, but this one is wide. Russia have come to play, but so has Edwin van der Sar.
35 - Arshavin hits a great cross, but the Dutch defense boots it safely out.
37 - Now the Dutch have been reduced to countering, but nearly succeed with an attack in the box, but the cross is knocked out with a desperate tackle.
39 - Dutch FK, Snjeider takes, but it deflects up and Akinfeyev catches.
41 - Van de Vaart lofts in another FK - oooh. close, but just wide - it wasn't a shot, really, but no one from Holland was quite able to get there.
44 - Van de Vaart with a straight shot from the run of play, off a Kolodin bad pass, but Akinfeyev is there for that as well.
Halftime - After looking dominant early in the tournament, Holland has hit a hiccup versus Russia, who are using their speed and fitness well. It's anyone's game in the second half.
47 - Van Basten is looking to spark Holland, he's thrown in Van Persie.
49 - Dutch FK - Van de Vaart sends in another good 'un, all it needs is a touch and it's in goal, but the ball skips merrily just past Van Nistelroy.
51 - Boulahrouz sees yellow for a tackle on Arshavin, who touched the ball just out of reach of Boulahrouz.
54 - Boulahrouz is now off - Heitinga in - perhaps a good move, because perhaps Boulahrouz, with everything he's dealt with, is having trouble keeping his head in the game. Plus he has a yellow.
55 - So does Van Persie, now. Russia's free kick goes barely wide.
GOAL! Russia attack right off the goal kick, Arshavin passes to Simek, who crosses to Pavlyuchenko, who redirects beautifully into the net. Nice. 1-0 Russia.
57 - The goal would be a shocker, except Russia have looked the better team this whole game. Sharapova is probably very happy right now.
60 - Saenko getting treated for a head injury - a slight cut, looks like.
62 - Baby-baced Afellay coming in for the Dutch, replacing Engelaar. The Oranjie fans look grim and quiet.
65 - They rally a bit for this Dutch corner, but Van Persie misses the ball.
67 - the Dutch with a good bit of possession around the Russian box, but they can't get a shot off.
69 - De Jong cuts off a final pass in the box, but the Dutch concede a corner. Bilyaletdinov comes in for Russia, replacing Semshov
71 - Russia nearly puts the game away with a second goal, but Van der Sar stops the shot. Going the other way, Nistelroy gets a call - yellow for Kolodin for a foul on the edge of the box.
72 - Van Persie wastes the FK, shooting it way high.
75 - The Dutch are looking both desperate and yet unimaginative. bad combo. They keep getting stuck around the Russian box.
76 - Snjeider misses wide. Dutch fans look like their team - scared.
77 - Van de Vaart takes an outside shot - easily caught by Akinfeyev. The Russians counter immediately and Van de Sar has to make his own catch on the other end.
78 - Russia earn a corner. They keep the ball for a while, until Saemek sends his cross skipping along the top of the crossbar.
86 - GOAL! Just when it seemed like it couldn't be done, when Dutch heads drooped very low, a FK mades all the difference - Ruud Nistelroy gets around his defender in the box, just enough to send it to goal. 1-1 All square.
88 - Ooijer clears a cross in the box as Russia tries to come right back.
90 - Kolodin is booked - but not sent off immediately. The ref pulls a yellow for Kolodin - which would be his second, but then rescinds it after talking with his linesman. It didn't look like a bad foul - or even really a foul, at all.
Extra time - the Dutch might have the momentum now, but Russia are still very much in it.
92 - Snjieder from distance. Akinfeyev has it.
93 - Arshavin sneaks a low shot in, but van de Sar gets down for it. Going the other way, Van Nistelroy tries his luck - misses just high.
95 - Akinfeyev catches a Van Persie shot.
97 - Pavlyuchenko off the crossbar. He smacked that - so close.
100 - Torbinsky redirects an Arshavin pass - Van der Sar gets down for that one, too. Russia are scrapping for it, not merely waiting for penalties.
101 - Foul on Arshavin, the Russina devil for the Dutch, sets up a FK - that goes quite close. Kolodin put some wicked bend on that.
107 - Almost a PK for Russia, but the ref waves play on.
109 - Almost a goal for Russia as Van der Sar gets hung out to dry by his defenders, but the cross in front of the goal skips by unmolested.
111 - Torbinsky gets called for the late tackle on Van de Vaart - yellow card.
112 - GOAL! Russia will not leave it to penalty kicks, Arshavin attacks again. He's almost out of room on the left side when he sends in the cross, which somehow stays in and Torbinsky gets a foot on the ball to put it into the goal. 2-1 Russia. What a shocker! Now the Dutch are chasing again.
114 - Pavlyuchenko comes out for Sychev.
116 - Sychev sends a shot high.
117 - GOAL! Arshavin nutmegs Van der Sar to extend the lead. Wow. Great stuff. 3-1 - Russia. Sharapova is probably trying to find out if Arshavin is single.
120 - Russia keep the pressure on the Dutch, who have all but surrendered.
120 + Traitor Guus looks to have done it.
Final Whistle! The Russians say "Spasibo" to the Dutch and move on.

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Otro clasico

Chicas version. The U20 teams of Mexico and the US clash on Sunday to determine the group winner. Right now, the squads are tied, with the Americans' +13 goal differential edging out Mexico's +10.
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Champions of Peace

The Peace Queen Cup, that is. The U.S. women win the tournament. While this article credits Angela Hucles for the late winning goal, U.S. Soccer's website has Lauren Cheney as finishing off the play.
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Se magnifique!

Carlos moves to France.

Rennes is in Brittany (my favorite region, of the ones I've visited, in France). Partly due to proximity to England, perhaps, quite a few people there speak English. They also consume a lot of delicious crepes, both sweet and savory. Good stuff. If Carlos sticks around long enough, he can learn French and use it, perhaps even during games, with Oguchi Onyewu, who speaks the language well due to his years playing in Belgium.
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Last gasp

Well, my dark horse pick to win the tournament, Croatia, is out of Euro 2008. Turkey seems charmed even if they're practically throwing the equipment guy on in the next match.
That leaves my sentimental pick, Spain, but I have absolutely no confidence in their intestinal fortitude. Skill they have in spades, but I doubt any other top soccer country has as fragile a psyche. History and tradition are solidly against them. Sentimentality isn't common sense, though, and I'm sticking with Spain to the bitter end (and it's always bitter and sour, like over-pickled gazpacho).
David Beckham, by the way, is also pulling for Spain. He has friends on the squad. His support didn't really help the Lakers versus the Celtics, though.
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Rating Razov

So Fortune figures Ante Razov is overpaid, citing his salary relative to his low playing time this year. They're looking at minutes, though, and don't mention that in the 582 he's spent on the field, Razov has a goal and two assists.
Really, in the last game versus Chicago, his old team, Razov's pinpoint passes picked apart the Fire and contributed a huge amount to the win by Chivas USA. Yes, Razov's not as fast as he once was, and he was injured to start the year, but he's cagey, smart and can strike the ball well for a goal or a pass. Youth is no guarantee of fitness, either - witness that Razov has played more minutes than the much-younger Maykel Galindo. Along with another former Fire alumn, Jesse Marsch, Razov has been a big part of Chivas USA's turn-around these past two years.
Overpaid - or just tagged so by a surface evaluation that doesn't rate true value?
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World's Strongest for Sale

Though Alexi Lalas has dismissed reports that the Galaxy tried to bring in Ronaldinho as "pure speculation", Barcelona isn't counting on him anymore and he's likely to be sold. Still, he gets props as the top soccer player in this report.
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Neven fans unite!

I met Neven Subotic while he was with the U.S. U17 squad and he seemed a bit more reserved than most of players. He's got his own site now, though (or maybe it's a fansite - I'm not sure), so this is presumably where Neven supporters can gather to cheer their boy on or plead with him to play for the U.S. or tell him to keep his chin up and his cell phone on for the eventual call from Bob Bradley.
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The return of Nogueira

There's more in this picture than just a U20 forward taking a practice turn as goalkeeper. Casey Nogueira is the daughter of the foremost goalkeeper in indoor soccer history, Victor. Incidentally, Victor had his own successful stints as a forward, too.
The U20 women's team is down in Mexico for their World Cup qualifying, playing today versus Cuba.
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Music of the heart

So I'm not the only soccer writer who hears an internal song or two when thinking of the beautiful game.

It's good to know at least a few of us are weird like that.
What about our readers? What songs come to mind with soccer? Any songs to associate with specific games? Players?

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Beckham barters

In a new ad for Sharpie, Becks gives a fan the shirt off his back - for a price. What's interesting is that the commercial also shows a bit of what Becks does in LA these days. He picks up coffee, he drives around with the top down on his convertible, he gives that smile to people who recognize him on the street. He signs autographs, but no one really mobs him - it's just not an LA thing to do. Unless Blanco is in town. Then mobs are sure to follow Temoc.

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Shaka, not stirred

It seems that as the actual quality of Shaka Hislop's columns on MLS improves (more informative, interesting opinions, solid points, less inaccurate info) the comments on his blog become more snarky about why he is even writing about the U.S. league.
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Blanco business

Temoc needs a presser. Seriously - in Los Angeles, Blanco is at least as big a draw as Beckham, if not bigger, so there really needed to be a better way for the reporters crowding into the visitors locker room to get quotes.

Translation is difficult in that situation. In a press conference, it's more organized, and there can be a more equal distribution of questions as well, rather than only the pushy reporters (we're not all like that) getting to have a say.

Finally, Blanco has a low, soft voice that could really use a microphone. Unless one shoved around to be standing right in front of him, nothing came through on a recording. Last year, the same thing happened and it really should be less of a frustrating mess for everyone involved.

Beckham has a presser after every match in which he plays, win or lose, because there is such demand for him. I'd say Blanco requires the same - the biggest Spanish-speaking star in the league deserves no less (and the media covering him could use the help).
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Canales Corner #7

Predictions, and a look at what the upcoming Barbados match means. (Spoiler - not a lot) .


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Brad and Sach

Join the national team tomorrow in Miami before heading down to Barbados with the rest of the squad. Sacha missed out on Sunday's game here at HDC but now will have a chance to play his first qualifier.
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Fire/Chivas USA running blog

"Mexico, lindo y querido!" the unofficial anthem of Chivas USA is being sung by a guy with pink shoes and a woman wearing an armband bandage.
This game is not a sell-out, but they are putting people in the upper deck, which is very good for Chivas USA on a Thursday night. There are a considerable number of Blanco Fire jerseys here. Most of them are the home version.

Chicago: Busch, Prideaux, Brown, Soumare, Guiteirrez, Thorrington, Blanco, Pause, Mapp, Barrett, Rolfe.
Chivas USA: Guzan, Tally, Burling, Suarez, Mendoza, Klejestan, Marsch, Nagamura, Wicky, Braun, Razov.
No one on either team gets a bigger cheer than Blanco during the intros.
1 - Temo! Temo! The crowd is chanting for Blanco at kickoff.
2 - Trivia - who is the shortest starting goalkeeper in MLS?
3 - Barret feeds Rolfe, but Rolfe gets no mustard on the shot and Guzan catches easily. Going the other way, Kljestan lets loose with a shot. This one is harder, but Busch parries it and the Chicago defense clears.
4 - Blanco to Mapp to Barrett, who only has to touch it into net, but somehow manages to put it side. He's horrified, and he should be. Bad.
6 - Corner for Fire. Chivas USA clear. Blanco gets it back, but no one gets on to his pass into the box and Guzan catches.
8 - Braun is big. There aren't many guys who can make CJ Brown look small. Corner for Chivas USA. Wicky takes it short, then it's crossed in. Everyone misses it, the ball drops, players kick wildly and the ref calls a foul. Goal kick.
10 - Kljestan gets called for standing still while Thorrington goes high for a header and keels over Sacha's back.
11- Chicago pass the ball around near the arc, don't get shot off.
12 - Chicago with a long run of possession, but no shot. Ball finally goes out for goal kick.
15 - Wicky with a shot just outside the box - it's wide. Barely.
16 - CK Chivas USA - Razov takes it, Braun misses the header, but Marsch collects it next to far post. Problem is, he's facing the wrong way. He half-turns to get the shot off, but he doesn't put enough angle on it and it flies across the goal instead of in. Chicago are able to clear.
19 - CDCUSA with the good stint of possession now. Fire pinned back in their half. Marsch has ball in box, for some reason crosses instead of shoots. Fire clear - barely.
21 - Gutierrez shoulders Razov off the ball, takes it toward midfield, gets fouled hard.
22 - Chivas USA freekick off a Rolfe foul. Kljestan has to wait because players are shoving in the box. Header attempt by Talley is caught by Busch, but was offside anyway.
25 - Fire free throw deep, but the Chivas USA defense soon breaks up the play.
26 - GOAL! Klejestan takes a touch pass from Razov into the box, has Gutierrez on his shoulder, but holds him off and slides his shot past Busch far post. Then he runs over to the corner flag and celebrates by kneeling down and parodying Blanco's gun stance. Cheeky! 1-0 Chivas USA.
30 - Nagamura fouls Blanco - who goes down for a bit.
32 - GOAL! Nice interplay by Chivas USA - Mendoza to Razov, who chases down the ball on the left of the box and knocks in a dead-straight cross in front of goal for a sliding Braun to push past Busch.
34 - Nagamura sees yellow for a foul on Mapp. Fire FK comes to nothing.
36 - WOW! Barrett on a breakaway, beats Guzan coming out of the area for the ball, has the whole goal, but misjudged the angle. Wide, and on the outside side netting. He's more horrified than he was with his first miss. He should be. Yikes.
40 - Razov and Braun nearly connect again, but this time, Braun leans in for a header and just misses it.
43 - Suarez karate-kicks a Blanco pass to keep it out of the area, but Blanco just gets it back and dribbles in this time, then dumps off a pass that Guzan is able to collect just before Rolfe.
44 - Blanco knocks another pass in for Rolfe - Guzan goes down again, just snatching the ball off his foot.
45 + Red card! Nagamura is sent off for his second yellow - a foul that sent Barrett tumbling. Blanco lines up the FK - he doesn't wallop it, though, sending a soft chip over the defense to Prideaux, whose header attempt pops over the crossbar.
Halftime: Well, if Barrett can't score, he can at least affect the game by helping the Fire get a man advantage. Course, it didn't really help the Fire in their last game with a man advantage - they lost to DC.
48 - The pressbox is debating the merits of the second yellow to Nags. They are split.
49 - Wicky is out for Bornstien, a move neither Luis or I like.
51 - The Fire thave more possession, but Chivas USA are playing smart defense and countering when they can.
53 - A whole section of yellow-clad America fans have banded together to stand and cheer Blanco on.
55 - Besides Blanco, the incisive passes to open up the Chivas USA defense are missing from the Fire players.
57 - I wonder if Bob Bradley is reconsidering calling in Barrett - perhaps thinking about Braun instead. Seriously, it might be that callups were a distraction, because the Fire trio called in haven't looked good tonight. Thorrington, Rolfe, Barrett. Thorrington gets a yellow.
60 - The Fire don't look like they have a man up. Gutierrez sends in a cross that Guzan catches easily.
63 - Brown lays out Kljestan, no call.
64 - Blanco gets yellow for dissent.
65 - Blanco tries to cross off a Mapp pass, but it hits Marsch's hand. FK for Fire - ball gets cleared for Thorrington to take a crack at it, but his shot is wide.
67 - Razov goes out for Atiba Harris.
68 - Rolfe comes out for Frankowski.
69 - Blanco backheel sets up Thorrington, who gets fouled, FK taken fast, but the shot goes outside side netting.
70 - Corner kick, Chivas USA. It's cleared, though Chivas USA regain possession for a bit in the corner to kill time. Crowd is doing the wave.
73 - Andy Herron (replaced Prideaux) heads the ball over the goal. He's gained weight.
75 - "If he's not missing goals, he's blocking them." Luis says about Barrett, who just got in the way of Herron's shot. Ball bounces off Barrett's back.
77 - Brown leaves, handing off armband to Pause - Nyarko comes in. Corner drops the ball right in front of goal, but somehow Chivas USA escape danger again.
78 - Sueno! Jorge Flores replaces Justin Braun.
80 - Flores beats the defense of Blanco to start a breakaway.
81 - Thorrington is still running, at least, chasing down a pass that was meant for Flores. FK goes to Busch.
83 - the Fire are stuck on the edge of the box, where the defense line is set. They can't seem to over come that. Chivas counter results in a Harris shot right to Busch.
85 - Bornstein takes a shot near the top of the arc. It's wide.
86 - Kljestan comes in on goal, only Thorrington chasing. Thorrington slips in the box. Busch all alone stones Sacha's shot, starts counter going other way. Chivas USA's defense snuffs that, though.
88 - Harris in the box slips cross past Busch - Thorrington clears - barely misses an own goal. Corner for Chivas USA - they're taking their time with it. Thorrington in frustration kicks ball toward boards.
89 - Gutierrez gets a yellow for foul on Harris.
90 + Fire with a last-gasp corner. It's cleared.
Blanco passes in to Barrett. Guess he's a sucker for punishment. Barrett pops header wide. Another corner. Herron puts header barely wide, after Guzan was beaten.
Final whistle. Blanco is having a chat with the ref.

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Portugal/Germany running blog

I'm switching back and forth from ESPN Deportes and regular ESPN for this, the first major clash of the quarterfinals.
The nearly-consensus #1 player in the world and his posse versus the German machine of soccer efficiency.
Mario Kempes is calling out Ballack and Ronaldo, saying they have to step up for their teams.

Portugal: Ricardo, Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira, Petit, Joao Moutinho, Ronaldo, Deco, Simao, Nuno Gomes. Subs: Nuno, Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Fernando Meira, Raul Meireles, Hugo Almeida, Miguel, Jorge Ribeiro, Quaresma, Veloso, Nani, Postiga.

Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Rolfes, Ballack, Hitzlsperger, Klose, Podolski. Subs: Enke, Adler, Jansen, Fritz, Westermann, Frings, Gomez, Neuville, Trochowski, Borowski, Odonkor, Kuranyi.

Predictions - get them in quick! I say, 2-1 Portugal - Goals by Ronny, Simao and Podolski.

Anthems - the Germans all sing along, arms linked. The camaraderie from the Klinsy era looks to have carried over, even though coach Jogi Low is stuck in the stands for this match.
Portugal is also singing their anthem, which seems to have a chorus of "Huzzah" somewhere towards the end. Their uniforms are bright red - I miss the former wine color a bit.
No hardman Torsti for this game, he's suspended. Lehman is literally pulling up the field - it must have been laid yesterday. He pats pieces back down.
Kickoff!
1- Lahm on the attack, fouls. Portugal ball.
3 - Ricardo out of the box - takes ball on his thigh and runs forward before booting it clear. Weird. Podolski fouls Simao.
4 - Ronny on the counter - on the edge of the box - takes shot. Lehman has it.
6 - Lahm's pass into the box cut off, but Germany quickly regain possession. They've looked more in control so far, but that didn't last versus Croatia.
8 - Germany FK comes to nothing.
10 Hitzberger - outside shot, hits the outside of the side netting.
11 - Portugal in the area - get snuffed by German defense. Mario calls out Ronaldo for not showing any "magic" yet.
12 - Metzelder and Petit in the Portugal area go down grimacing - it's a wash as to who gets the call. Portugal.
14 - Klose overlaps forward, but he's not much fro dribbling past people and loses the ball on the edge of the box.
17 - Germany still with most of the ball - Portugal settling into a rhythm on their counter attempts.
18 - Germany counter. Ballack puts the service wide and high.
20 - Ronny earns a Portugal corner, which Simao puts over everyone in the box, but Portugal get the bal back and Bosingwa puts a great ball in for Moutinho, who blows it by not getting down to head the ball properly. The cross bounces off his thigh and pops up over the crossbar.
22 - GOAL! The Germans strike first. Podolski makes a run, pushes off to get the space for the cross and Schweinsteiger puts it away. 1-0 and it's looking like WC 2006 all over again.
25 - Boom, boom, opportunity lost for Portugal, opportunity cashed in by Germany. That's the way it goes. Moutinho was down for a bit with an injury - or perhaps heartbreak over his miss.
26 - GOAL! Schweinsteiger puts the ball in well from a FK, Klose loses his mark (Ronaldo, apparently) and nails the ball in over Ricardo. 2-0 Germany.
29 - Deco on the attack, to a chorus of boos. Apparently the Swiss and Austrian hosts have adopted the Germans - or the Germans bought out most of the stadium.
31 - Portuguese attack keeps getting held up at the edge of the box. Simao puts in a free kick. Germany clear.
32 - Ronaldo and Simao in the box, pass in, gets cut off for corner. Could have done better there. Corner gets cleared.
36 - Now Portugal claim most of the ball, while the Germans are content to counter, saving energy to defend stoutly.
38 - Corner to the Portuguese - caught by Lehman.
39 - Ballack is down, took a bit of an elbow to the clavicle, but Gray is grousing about the dramatics, not seeing it as a valid injury of any kind.
40 - GOAL! Ronaldo gets free from his defender and receives the ball in the box. He shoots quickly, and Lehman dives to stop the low, hard attempt, but can't hang on to the rebound. It's behind Gomes, but he turns for it quickly and shoots it into the net before Lehman can get up or other defenders close him down. 2-1 Germany. My scoreline, but in the wrong direction.
45 - Lahm dishes to Ballack, who brings ball to edge of box and shoots near post, forcing a save from Ricardo.
45 + Ronaldo - going the other way, goes barely wide with a far post shot. Is Jogi Low picking his nose? It's hard to tell with the fuzzy shot of him behind the class. Maybe he was just scratching his nose or rubbing his upper lip.
Halftime - Germany deserve the lead, they attacked a bit more and put away their chances, but Portugal sparked to life late, so the second half should be a dynamic one.
46 - Ronaldo gets past Friedrich, who gets called for a foul - yellow.
49 - Lahm gets a yellow for grabbing at Simao after Simao also picks the ball off him.
52 - Portugal look far more lively so far than the Germans, who seem a bit surly that their lead has been halved.
54 - Ronaldo bangs heads with Mertesacker in the box. He's rubbing it with scowl, like a little kid who got bumped.
56 - Ronaldo sends the ball into the box, but Lehmann is out for it and catches.
57 - Corner for Portugal - Deco flicks it on, Pepe's in front of goal - pops it over. Yikes. That wasn't perfectly easy, but it was a pretty simple finish.
59 - Another corner for Portugal - but it pops out quickly. Pepe takes down Klose and gets a yellow. Gray doesn't see consistent calls from the ref. Schweinsteiger changes his shoes while Klose takes a break.
62 - GOAL! Schweinsteiger sends the ball in - Ballack pushes off slightly in the box and beats Ricardo to the ball - into the net. 3-1 Germany.
64 - So much for the momentum of Portugal. Once again, the German took place right after Portugal missed a golden chance the other end. It apparently makes them lose focus, while the Germans gain concentration and urgency to make a play. Gray is going on about the poor free kick defense of Portugal. It is pretty tragic.
67 - Scolari takes Gomes off, Nani comes in. Ronaldo takes the armband.
68 - Portugal free kick - Ronny sends it over the wall and over the bar by a good margin.
69 - Nani in the box, got there by hard work, but loses the ball once he gets there.
70 - Lahm wide from edge of box. Germany moving the ball with confidence, now that their two-goal lead is restored.
71 - Deco takes an outside shot on the other end. Lehman has it.
73 - Borowski comes in for Hitzberger. Portugal set up for a corner. Postiga comes in for Petit. Corner over everyone, and negated by a foul anyway. Goal kick.
75 - Nani high and wide from outside. Portugal are not making good choices here.
77 - Almost everyone is back for Germany, pushing back against the pressure from Portugal.
78 - Deco hits a weak shot, Lehmann has it.
79 - Germany have a corner. It's cleared, but trickles out to Podolski, who takes a Blanco-like run toward it, connects with force and rockets just wide. Sheesh.
81 - Portugal's passes have lost their crispness. Another corner for Germany. It's cleared out for a Portuguese counter and they have numbers on the break, but then Simao pops off from outside another cruddy miss.
83 - Corner for Portugal. Schweinsteiger is out for Fritz. Schweinsteiger gets a big cheer.
84 - Grey laments the missed chances of the Portuguese and their sad defending of set plays.
85 - Dang! Little Deco hip-checks Fritz over the sideline, killing a German attack and starting another attack for Portugal.
86 - Postiga tries to reach a ball - runs into Lehmann. He's down. Where's Gray's complaints about injury exaggeration now? Oh, here he goes, says he doesn't blame Lehmann for taking his time - anyone would do that.
87 - GOAL! The Portuguese refuse to die! Simao can't shoot, but dang, his cross to Postiga is perfect and Postiga can smack a header, which he does. 3-2. Germany still lead, but Portugal are within shouting distance.
89 - Klose is out for Jansen as Germany go uber-defensive trying to hold on.
90 - Postiga sees yellow for a late tackle. Germany in the box, but ball is wide for goal kick. Portugal get it back, are circling the German goal, where defenders are making a wall around the box. Nani goes high and wide. Gripping stuff - Portugal with the ball, Germany with the numbers back. Nani serves ball in, but Postiga pushes off. Goal kick. Portugal is almost out of time - one last attack, but they're having trouble getting the ball forward. Ronaldo chases a pass down, but his cross is cleared far back, again a cross, cleared to Podolski - who pushes forward. He doesn't go to corner, he takes the ball to goal and shoots. Ricardo catches, and kicks it out, but as the ball falls, the final whistle blows. 3-2. Germany advances. Scolari is off to coach Chelsea. Low will be back on the bench for the semi.

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Scunthorpe rumor

Scunthorpe may be using their contacts with the LA Galaxy to check out an MLS player, but their description doesn't match anyone presently with the team.
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Freddy taking flight?

Perhaps.
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Angel chat, part 1

JPA did an ESPN Deportes chat, which I've translated here. One notable aspect was not a single question concerned his current team. Red Bull New York.

JPA: Hi everyone, I'm happy to be here to chat, so let's get to the questions.

Jesus: Do you think that Colombia has the roster to be able to qualify for the 2010 World Cup?

JPA: Without a doubt. We have things we need to improve, but if the team continues with the form it now has, there's time for that work.

Alex: What are the chances that you'll return to wear green? We need a goalscorer like you.

JPA: I would love to return, but I've got a contract with the league and my team that I have to complete.

Cabimas: What was your experience in England like?

JPA: Incredible. I grew a lot as a professional and as a person. It's the most difficult league in the world.

Plata: Angel, come back to River, you're an idol.

JPA: I would love to return to River. I've always said that the team has a special place in my heart.

Alejandro: How do you feel that Pinto didn't call you in when you were having a great year in 2007?

JPA: It gives me a little bit of nostalgia, but like always, I support the team in good and bad and whatever players are called in.

Alfonso: Would you like to return to England?

JPA: I see that as very unlikely. I consider that chapter finished.

Pablo: That goal you scored against Boca in 1999 - was that the most unforgettable?

JPA: It was unforgettable and it's one of the goals that I celebrated the most.

Carlos: Would you like to return to the national team?

JPA: Of course I'd like to return, but I do think the players there now are the perfect age to prepare for the World Cup.

Roberto: Do you think Honduras has the team that can beat Mexico and get to the World Cup?

JPA I like Reinaldo a lot, and the players do have what it takes to get to the World Cup. It's possible to beat Mexico. Against Belize, Mexico won and that's what matters in these types of matches.
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JPA on ESPN

Juan Pablo Angel was introduced with a clip show of his MLS goals. Most were scored last year, of course. Sitting in the ESPN studio, Angel says he's impressed by Croatia. Foudy asks him about his injury. "It's been a difficult season for me," responds Angel. He wants to play in Saturday's game. He mentions Jozy has left and that Claudio is injured. It's actually gloomy news.
Angel looks sharp in a dark suit - very movie-star playing a lawyer look. (Actual lawyers rarely look like movie lawyers).
Angel thinks Spain and Holland are playing the best. He also thinks C. Ronaldo is the best in the world right now. That's pretty much all JPA gets the chance to say.
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Guus goes through

Guus Hiddink has done it. Russia reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2008 after beating Sweden 2-0. Russia now faces the Netherlands, and you've got to believe that Russia will have a shot against the Dutch.

Obviously, Hiddink can manage. He took South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup and then got Australia to the second round of the 2006 World Cup. Now, he's got Russia in a position few picked them to be in.

South Korea, Australia, Russia... none of those teams have talent like the world's elite, but Hiddink works his magic there yet again.

Do you think Hiddink would get the US through to the second round or beyond at the World Cup? Do you think Hiddink could tap into the United States' potential? Or do you think Bob Bradley is the man to do both?
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LD mentoring Martinez

Carlitos takes tips from Landon.
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Speaking of fans. . .

Apparently Mexico's fans were too loud. Plus, they threw paper.

Frankly, I've always found it a weird custom that some stadiums play the U.S. national anthem at international friendlies where the U.S. isn't involved. Why bother? That equals three anthems when everyone just wants to get the match going. I'm not surprised that fans don't really acknowledge it under those circumstances. Think about it - at the Olympics, do they play the host's national anthem before every medal ceremony just because that's where it takes place? Of course not. Yet this writer is upset about that - and also apparently upset that game announcements were made in Spanish. During an Argentina/Mexico match.
Seriously, that's pretty ridiculous and petty. I read the headline and expected that fans had trashed the place, somehow negating the millions made off the match (and what is implied by the discount pricing subheader? That these fans are cheap? The Arg/Mexico match wasn't a cheap ticket). Depressing.
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Americans impress

How exactly could this writer believe that it was Argentina's U23 team versus the United States in Giants Stadium? Sure, Sosa, Gago, Messi and Aguero are u23 eligible, but the majority of the squad that played that day was not.
Other than that quibble, it's an interesting look at how U.S. fans come across to others.
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Protecting the Egoal

"Ego defensiveness" is apparently what is behind raging soccer parents. (Nothing implied about Martin, here, it's just coincidence he's now a new dad.)

I have to laugh at the coping strategies, though. Sucking on a lollipop? Picturing Elton John? Of course, if it works, I have no complaints. I've covered enough youth soccer games to know that crazy parents do exist and it ruins the experience of participating for many.
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Congrats, Martin!

Little Max Rogers has arrived, probably kicking and screaming, into the soccer world.

From Martin:
Hi guys, Max Joseph Rogers born at 2.03pm UK time on Monday. 7lb7oz - 16 days early!
Back home already and doing really well. Hope all's well with you guys.

Sorry, U.S. fans, Max was born in England, so he's probably already sporting a little Three Lions onesie. Martin is across the pond right now to be with his wife and new baby (and also cover some of Euro '08).

We'll see his progeny when the family returns Stateside to their OC home. I'm not surprised that Martin dropped in on our blog to share the news, he knows Luis and I check here about as often as we do our email. It's good to know Max is hale and hearty, and it's not surprising that he wanted out before he missed all of the tournament!
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Mind-meld

Bob Bradley and me - thinking alike!
Well, so far, at least. Bradley has started bringing in the new players for Barbados, and the first two, Danny Szetela and Chris Seitz, were ones on my list. Now, if he picks the rest of the eight I had, well, that would be a little eerie.
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Bunch of sissies?

I've always felt that soccer players were superior athletes. It's one thing to kick a ball with accuracy and know the game and all that, but the amount of running and fitness levels soccer players need to compete at the professional level is insane. Watch one training session and you will know just how hard soccer players work.

I suppose that's one of the reasons why I've soured on baseball in recent years. There are a lot of issues that plague the sport, including steroids and overpaid players and all that. Or maybe I've soured on it because the Dodgers have fucking sucked for years. But baseball players in athletic terms just don't compare to soccer players. They don't. Some (many?) probably do, but overall soccer is a much more demanding sport than baseball. Yes, it's hard to throw a ball 60 feet, 6 inches and it's even harder to hit it. But the ability to throw and hit isn't necessarily based on a person's athletic prowess.

Anyway, I was reminded of the fragility of some baseball players by a recent pair of injuries. On Monday, Red Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon hurt his back swinging a bat and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Over the weekend, Yankees pitcher Ching-Mien Wang partially tore a ligament in his foot running the bases.

Maybe those are freak injuries that have little to do with the player's fitness levels (although Colon's gut probably contributed to his injury). But I suppose it just serves to remind me of just how fit soccer players have to be in order to compete at the highest level.
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Drafting plans

Most of Mexico's offseason moves are limited to one day, draft day.

Now, the Mexican "draft" is not a draft like in MLS or other American leagues. The Mexican draft is really more like a swap meet or a rummage sale, where teams pass players off to fellow teams via loans or outright transfers.

The entire list is here, but some of the moves are significant.

- Alfredo Moreno joins America on a transfer. Moreno had 26 goals in two seasons with San Luis, including an astonishing 19 goals in the Apertura 2007 campaign. Moreno gives America another talented striker to go along with Salvador Cabanas.

- Juan Carlos Cacho moves from Pachuca to Pumas. It's a natural move for both sides. Pachuca already inked Bruno Marioni while Pumas lost both Esteban Solari (Almeria) and Ignacio Scocco (AEK Athens) in a few days.

- Pachuca dealt away several players overall, including Luis Gabriel Rey (transfer to Atlante), Marvin Cabrera (transfer to Morelia), Fernando Salazar (transfer to Morelia) and Andres Chitiva (loan to Indios).

- Oscar "Conejo" Perez went on loan to Tigres. Perez has been with Cruz Azul his entire career, and while he's nearing the end of his playing days it will still be a bit surprising to see Perez with another team.
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In Fullerton

I thought the days of MLS teams playing at Cal State Fullerton were over. I figured HDC would be the only place we'd see MLS teams play with the exception of the rare game at the LA Coliseum.

Turns out, Titan Stadium is still an option. Chivas USA and New England will play a SuperLiga match at the stadium on Cal State Fullerton's campus on Sunday, July 20.

Not sure why HDC was not an option. Perhaps the X Games are taking over, though they won't start until July 31. It seems HDC will be quiet, in terms of soccer, from July 16 (Chivas USA-Pachuca) to Aug. 14 (Chivas USA-Galaxy).

For me, Cal State Fullerton is actually closer, a lot closer than HDC. The game starts at 5 p.m., so I could leave my house at 4 p.m. and could still get there in time. However, the stadium is not exactly a fun place for soccer, especially when you have been accustomed to HDC. Back in the day, it was a nice, intimate setting for Galaxy games but that was compared to playing at the Rose Bowl.

New England, of course, has played there before. The Galaxy beat New England in the US Open Cup final in 2001. Chivas USA played a friendly there this year, beating Real Espana of Honduras a week before the season started.
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Ruud remarks on Euros

Ruud! Ruud was just interviewed on ESPN about the Dutch team via a remote feed. Galaxy players train in the background. It's not a profound interview - he gets asked about his look back in the day and ruud jokingly calls it "porn star".
He also talks about the Galaxy this season, mentions difficulties of travel, altitude, heat and playing on turf. Says the difference is improved consistency.
He says that the Dutch had a good feeling about the potential of the squad. He doesn't talk to Van Basten right now and hopes it wasn't a mistake for Holland to defeat Romania.
"The Italians don't need to play well to win a tournament." Good point, Ruud.
He signs off by giving Julie Foudy props (though he doesn't seem to know her name) saying she knows the game.

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France/Italy running blog

Azzurri - Les Blues! Do or die! The World Cup finalists on the edge of elimination in Euro 2008.

France: Coupet, Clerc, Gallas, Abidal, Evra, Govou, Toulalan,
Makelele, Ribery, Benzema, Henry.
Subs: Mandanda, Frey,
Boumsong, Vieira, Malouda, Anelka, Nasri, Thuram, Squillaci,
Gomis, Sagnol, Diarra.

Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso, Pirlo,
De Rossi, Gattuso, Toni, Perrotta, Cassano.
Subs: Amelia, De Sanctis, Gamberini, Barzagli, Del Piero, Di Natale,
Borriello, Ambrosini, Quagliarella, Camoranesi, Aquilani,
Materazzi.
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)

Anthems - Still love France's, and most of the players are singing along. Arms are all linked over shoulders. France is in blue, Italy in white, so the Blues won the battle of the blue uni.
Kickoff!
1 - Pace begins quickly, with Italy looking far more aggressive than is their norm.
2 - Yet it's France with the first shot - Ribery from distance, deflected for a corner. Ribery takes it and it's cleared out.
3 - France FK, chipped into the box, but cleared out by Italy.
4 - Long ball to Luca Toni, who clears his defender and is at the top of the area with the ball on his foot with only the goalkeeper to beat. He boots it quickly, and it's wide.
6 - Ribery and Henry work together to bring the ball up into Italy's box, but then Ribery's cross flies parallel to goal with no one on the end of it.
8 - Ribery is down and calling for a sub. He was trying to shoulder charge a player, but then he came down badly on his left foot. Big blow for France. Ribery gets stretchered off.
9 - Nasri comes in for Ribery.
10 - Italy FK leads to CK
11 - Panucci header - Makalele knees it off the line!
13 - Hard tackles flying everywhere. The air of desperation is evident.
15 - Benzema from distance with a low, spinning shot that's wide.
18 - Evra fouls Cassano from behind - sees yellow, while Cassano is down for a good while.
19 - Pirlo takes, Coupet punches it out. France on the counter. Henry in the box, but he doesn't get the pass.
22 - Pirlo puts in a dangerous pass - Perrota muffs it, though.
24 - Abidal fouls Toni in the box - Yikes! That's a PK, and Abidal gets sent off for being the last man.
25 - GOAL! Pirlo puts it away. France looks doomed. They seemed in for a bad day since Ribery went down. Of course, if Romania win, it doesn't matter what Italy does. 1-0 Italy.
26 - Boumsong comes in for Nasri as Domenech tries to adjust to the dire situation.
27 - De Rossi shoots high - Italy going for the coup de grace.
29 - Toni with a shot. Wide again, yet France is up against it.
30 - Pirlo pass over the top reaches Toni, but his toe touch goes wide.
31 - France look completely disoriented.
34 - Henry with a chance, but the ball skips wide of the goal.
37 - France with a few attacking plays, but the stout Italian defense holds them off. However, at least Les Blues have snapped out of their shell-shock of misfortune.
38 - Henry earns a FK just to the left of the arc. Benzema and Henry stand over it. Benzema takes it right into the wall and a try off the rebound is way wide.
43 - Bensema with a nifty move on the left loses his defender and sends in a cross - misses Henry.
44 - Italy counter. De Rossi gets fouled by Toulalan, just outside the box. FK is - off the post! Wow. Coupet got a slight touch on it to push it out to the post. On the counter, Pirlo fouls and gets a yellow.
45 - Buffon comes up with the ball off the French FK.
45 + Evra suffers a hard foul, but is back up after a bit. Chellini fouls Henry - gets a yellow. The FK is cleared - last kick of the half.
Halftime - Italy gets help from fate, but also attacked more than is their wont, and looks up to holding the lead.
55 - Holland scored! Italy are in if results hold.
59 - Handball! ref doesn't see it, though, and play goes on.
60 - Coupet out of the box to boot out a ball intended for Toni.
62 - GOAL! Italy FK. It's taken by De Rossi and Henry sticks out his foot from the wall, deflecting the ball past a diving Coupet into the goal. Ouch. 2-0 Italy.
64 - Coupet was going the right way of the original ball trajectory - he'd probably have had the ball if not for Henry changing the direction. He probably wanted to knock it out for a corner, but that didn't happen.
70 - Though Anelka is now in the game, France can't seem to generate any offense.
71 - Cassano is down and spending a lot of time getting sprayed.
73 - For all the build-up, this match is kind of a bust. France got unlucky with the Ribery injury, and things went downhill from there, but it's not as if Italy was dominant. They've been their usual defensive squad, but that's it.
74 - Benzema with a good crack at the ball, but Buffon is up for it and dives to just palm it out.
75 - I guess what I mean is that Italy will happily take the win, but there's no glory in a PK or a deflected FK goal.
77 - Gallas is down after a hard collision. Back up now.
81 - So Italy will meet Spain in the next round, it looks like.
83 - Gattuso comes out for Aquilani.
84 - Coupet another fine save. It's not his fault things turned out the way they have.
85 - Henri sees yellow for a tackle on Zambrotta. Might as well go down fighting, I guess.
87 - Italy corner - taken short, Coupet catches the shot.
90 - France with a couple of last-gasp corners - they come to nothing.
Final whistle. Italy is through.

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Homecoming

With the big 8-0 lead leaving no doubt about the return leg to Barbados, a number of players have been excused by Bob Bradley for a break or to return to their MLS clubs.

10 new spots open up on the roster.

Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, Landon Donovan, Brad Guzan, Frankie Hejduk, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Pablo Mastroeni, and Matt Reis have been released.

So, who would be the ten to fill in?

Here's my list: Jozy Altidore, Kenny Cooper, Edson Buddle, Robbie Rogers, Chris Seitz, Chad Marshall, Frank Simek, Lee Nguyen, Bobby Convey, and Danny Szetela.
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Up next, 12-0?

The U.S. destroyed Barbados by an 8-0 score on Sunday. Though it reflects what should happen when a good opponent faces a substantially inferior opponent, it also shows somewhat how far the U.S. has come. It's the largest margin of victory ever for the US, let alone qualifying.

It also got qualifying off to a good start, which is expected nowadays but wasn't always the case.

How did the U.S. fare in their previous first qualifiers?

6/13/04; 3-0 win vs Grenada in Columbus
7/16/00; 1-1 at Guatemala
11/3/96; 2-0 win vs Guatemala at RFK
7/24/88; 0-0 at Jamaica
9/29/84; 0-0 at Netherlands Antilles
10/25/80; 0-0 vs Canada in Ft. Lauderdale
9/24/76; 1-1 at Canada
8/20/72; 2-3 loss at Canada

Yes, there are more qualifiers but I stopped at 72. The bottom four efforts ended in failure while the top four ended with the US reaching the World Cup. Even in 96, there was still some doubts to whether the US could qualify. In 2000 and 2001, the US took a great step forward in qualifying by beating Mexico at home and also taking care of Costa Rica at home and Honduras on the road but had to hang on to ultimately qualify.

This time around, it doesn't seem as difficult. In 2004 and 2005 it didn't seem difficult either, and it wasn't too challenging.

Anyway, just wanted to put Sunday's win in some sort of historical context.

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Qualifying cake walk

My take on World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF for The Press-Enterprise.
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U.S. wins "otro jogo"

The rematch of U.S./Brazil went to the Americans, but just barely. A goal by the youngster, A-Rod, was the difference.
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Heath's the one?

Steve Davis is grumbling about the U.S. left back conundrum, but I think Heath Pearce has stepped up to the role quite well. He's fast enough to limit attacks, he's scrappy on tackles, and he gets forward well. Plus, his crosses are some of the best I've seen from any U.S. player rotating into that position. Witness his assist in the last match to EJ. By the way, here's what Heath had to say after the Barbados match.
Soccer yields different perspectives, though. Who do our readers prefer in the left back slot, and why? Make the case.
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Fill out my ballot

MLS opened its voting for the MLS All-Star game to us media hacks, so instead of wasting my ballot with my own picks, I figured I'd put it to good use and allow the readers here to help me fill out my ballot.

Let me know who you think is most deserving. I've got to fill out a 3-5-2 formation, so space is limited.

State your case on a player or just drop a name or three or 11. We've got until July 2 so there's time.
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La Bufadora Rankings (June 16)

1. New England (8-3-2). A healthy Taylor Twellman would make this team downright scary.
2. LA Galaxy (6-4-2). Six goals without Landon Donovan.
3. Toronto (6-4-2). An impressive 17 points at BMO Field.
4. Chicago (6-4-1). Suddenly offense is sputtering. Can McBride save the day?
5. Columbus (7-4-1). Chad Marshall breaks scoreless streak, Alejandro Moreno breaks Wizards' backs.
6. DC United (5-7-1). Finally, my pre-season MLS Cup pick comes to life!
7. Houston (4-4-5). Week 12 lowlight: 'keeper Tony Craig forgot for a moment that he can use his hands.

8. Chivas USA (4-6-2). Bring back Flores!

9. FC Dallas (4-5-4). Another week, another coach. Will players play for Schellas?

10. Real Salt Lake (4-5-3). Unbeaten at home, and finally picked up a road win.

11. Colorado (5-7-0). Thoroughly whipped at Toronto.

12. New York (4-4-3). What's worse, an overrated team with little talent...

13. Kansas City (3-5-3). ... or an overrated team with some talent?

14. San Jose (3-7-1). It's all falling into place now: 'Quakes dead-last with a minus-8 goal differential.

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CONCACAF Champions League draw

The draw for the first CONCACAF Champions League was held today. Now that the tournament is finally starting to take shape, it looks interesting. We'll see how it shapes out and whether or not MLS can get four teams in (New England and Chivas USA need to get past Joe Public and Tauro FC, respectively).

Anyway, here's the draw, which still has quite a few holes filled.

Group A
DC United (USA)
Saprissa (CRC)
Hankook Verdes (BLZ) or Cruz Azul (MEX)
Isidro Metapan (SLV) or Olimpia/Marathon (HON)

Group B
Houston (USA)
Luis Angel Firpo (SLV)
San Francisco (PAN) or Jalapa/Municipal (GUA)
Harbour View (JAM) or Pumas UNAM (MEX)

Group C
Atlante (MEX)
New England (USA) or Joe Public (TRI)
Olimpia/Marathon (HON)
Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver (CAN) or Nicaraguan champ tbd

Group D
Santos Laguna (MEX)
Chivas USA or Tauro FC (PAN)
Municipal/Jalapa (GUA)
Alajuelense (CRC) or Puerto Rico Islanders (PR)
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International absences

In most countries, when the national team plays a World Cup qualifier the league shuts down. But the US is not most countries and MLS plowed on through its league schedule as if the US national team did not have its most important activity in about a year.

Consequently, MLS teams had to deal with international absences. Here's how Chivas USA handled theirs.
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Schellas gets it

FC Dallas makes it official.

From the press release: FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that Schellas Hyndman has been hired as the team’s head coach. Hyndman replaces Steve Morrow, who was relieved of his coaching duties on May 21.

News conference to introduce Schellas will be tomorrow.

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Alternating Conclusions Ranking

1. New England Revolution - The class of the league.
2. Los Angeles - Buddle and Beckham get the job done without Donovan or Ruiz.
3. Toronto - Still have trouble on the road, but are solid gold at home.
4. Columbus - Sigi managed to shake the Crew out of their slumping slumber.
5. Chicago Fire - Perhaps they do need Brian McBride after all
6. DC United - He's alive! Luciano Emilio is back in a big way.
7. Houston Dynamo - At least they beat the Revs when it really matters.
8. FC Dallas - A respectable stint for Marco Ferruzzi.
9. Colorado Rapids - Can't derail the Toronto home juggernaut
10. Chivas USA - Loss to brother expansion side RSL especially stings
11. Real Salt Lake - A rare road game win should be savored
12. New York - Granted, no Altidore, Angel or Reyna, but NY should manage more attack.
13. Kansas City - KC was supposed to be happy at home, but that was ruined this week.
14. San Jose - Dead last again.
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Freddy wasn't ready

Freddy after the Barbados match explained that going in for Mastroeni was unexpected. He recovered, though, and went on to play well in the second half of the match.
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CC #6

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Landon drug delay

Landon Donovan was the last player out into the mixed zone after the Barbados match, because he'd been picked for the random drug testing FIFA requires. Players have to give a urine sample after a match, and that's not easy to do after losing fluids sweating during a game played in the hot SoCal sun.
There's no pic of LD here, then, because Luis had already left the mixed zone to file his story, but here's the audio of Landon answering questions.
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Week 12 Spotlight

Top XI
G: Matt Reis Steve Cronin Ok, he only made one good save, but the way the Galaxy defense has given up goals, a shutout is notable. For Reis, its par.
D: Chris Wingert Ante Jazic - Passing is usually rusty after a long injury layoff, but Jazic was pinpoint
D: Chad Marshall
D: Drew Moor
M: Rohan Ricketts
M: Andre Rocha Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Steve Ralston Clyde Simms
M: Robbie Findley
F: Alejandro Moreno Kenny Cooper
F: Edson Buddle
F: Luciano Emilio

Coach: Jason Kreis, Real Salt Lake. Yes, Chivas shot themselves in the foot more often than not in the second half but credit to Kreis for pulling the right strings and holding on for their first road win.
Ruud Gullit, Los Angeles Galaxy. He complained about missing players for international games, but he had the young talent of the squad ready to break down San Jose's stingy defense.


Top player: Luciano Emilio. It's like 2007 all over again - Emilio filling the nets in DC victories.
Edson Buddle - Second hat trick of the year - and none of the goals came directly off a feed from Beckham. Buddle put on a finishing clinic.

Top game: DC 4, New York 1. DC's demolition of New York was grand.
Columbus snapping a losing funk on the road in dominant fashion over KC was impressive.

Top goal: Luis couldn't pick a fave, so here's mine: Clyde Simms from distance with a low hard shot.

Top save: Matt Reis stopped a penalty kick in the second half of New England's 2-0 win at Houston that kept the hosts from scoring.

LOWLIGHTS

Major League Soccer for not finding a way to pause or at least slow down the schedule on the same weekend as a U.S. World Cup qualifier.
SJ's offense was pitiful. They need a solid forward in the worst way.

Kansas City and New York both gave little reason to feel that either side is going to contend for a playoff spot.

Chivas USA had their problems finishing, in particular Justin Braun. His breakaway in the second half and subsequent shot straight to RSL keeper Nick Rimando was ghastly.
Chivas USA's attendance on a summer Saturday night - sad.

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More from the game

Some match reports from several different outlets on Sunday's 8-0 US win over Barbados:

- Grahame Jones of the LA Times talked to Barbados goalkeeper Alvin Rouse after the match. I think he was the only one who stopped Rouse, who had one great save off an Oguchi Onyewu header but otherwise was helpless to stop the U.S. attack.

- Ivan Orozco of the San Diego Union-Tribune talked to Brian Ching about his first goal, which deflected off a Pablo Mastroeni shot.

- Jeff Carlisle of ESPN has his story followed with player ratings. Two guys got a six, the rest were sevens and eights.

- My story for The Press-Enterprise. Michael Bradley said it was "surreal" the amount of time they had on the ball on Sunday, which probably seemed like hours compared to their opponents in the run-up to the game.
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