An All-Star Game of their own

Why should MLS have all the fun? I guess what surprises me isn't that a player would be interested, it's that the press report on it isn't making merciless fun of the mere concept of aping an American event.
SV readers, what do you say? Would a Premiership All-Star Game be a total travesty? Who would they play?

California knows how to play

First of all, Rob Hues, it's Grahame, not Graeme. Also, I'd like to offer my own thoughts on what California offers soccer.
I mean, I'm not sure that I even understand the point of the recent article - is it that California allowed Jurgen to relax and Beckham to smile? That's all one can put together about the state and soccer? As the surfers here would say, lame.
California has given the U.S. national team, at every level, more players than any other state. It maintains three Major League Soccer teams responsible for four league championships in the 12 year history of MLS. The first goal in league history was scored in the state (Eric Wynalda, San Jose).
The weather allows players to practice and improve their skills year-round and attracts clubs such as Chelsea to train here. In the past ten years, more international teams have played exhibitions in the state than anywhere else in the Americas. California stadiums have hosted the finals of three FIFA World Cups.
California gave birth to AYSO, the youth organization that introduces millions of American children to the sport.
The player widely considered the best on the U.S. squad at present, Landon Donovan, is a native Californian who spent by far the bulk of his development and professional career here.
Notable players who have played on California teams include George Best (LA Aztecs and SJ Earthquakes), Johan Cruyff (LA Aztecs) , Teófilo Cubillas (LA Aztecs), Hugo Sanchez (San Diego Sockers), and Jurgen Klinsmann (Orange County Blue Star)
The soccer culture here is diverse, with obviously a large number of Mexican and Central American players, but also Brazilian expats, Argentine expats and English expats can be found at any park pickup game. The mix and meld of styles offers players of various talents chances to shine and broadens their understanding of the sport. More soccer leagues, more youth clubs and more adult teams exist in California than in any other U.S. state.
California contains the current national champions of women's university soccer, USC, as well as past champions Santa Clara. Men's colleges in the state have won the title eleven times, while one university, UCLA, has developed more players in the professional ranks, both at home and abroad, than any other U.S. school.
Klinsmann began his coaching career here, serving as assistant to then-Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid. Rinus Michels coached here (LA Aztecs), and Guus Hiddink played (SJ Earthquakes)before turning to coaching.
Of course California is a place to relax, and that philosophy is an integral part of the state of mind here. But Californians are also serious about their soccer, and Beckham's smile is only a very small part of that.

Making money on soccer

I called Traffic Sports today myself. They're in charge of running the Guatemala/El Salvador game here in LA this weekend, and I needed a credential.
They also own Miami FC, but as this article indicates, their soccer empire is far more wide-reaching.

Bush-league

Some people are probably wondering what happened to the Galaxy-Iran friendly I reported the team was setting up. The Galaxy had arranged the match with Iran's coach Ali Daei, and the USSF had granted approval and endorsed the whole venture. Everything was set - except for the visas needed by the Iranian players.
Officially, that's where things ended. Though no one went on record saying so, the bottom line is that the last thing needed for the event to proceed was State Department approval on the visas.
Apparently, approval to travel to the U.S. is just not happening these days for Iranian athletes.
So it's not hard to figure that the State Department basically killed the exhibition.

Soccer beats baseball

In Boston, no less. It's on the second page of this article. What's funny is that the first part depressed me a little. Economics nearly always does. The second part actually cheered me up, though.

South America's talent drain

The best and the brightest are leaving young.

Charlie Dempsey dead

A pioneer in a country that often viewed soccer as second-rate.

Feeling dis-guus-ted

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

Zuquit!

China does have excellent soccer coverage. After all, Luis Bueno writes for them!

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.

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.

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?

Germany/Croatia running blog

Why not? I'm watching it anyway. The Germans have a nice show of unity during the anthem, they link arms over shoulders and sing away. Croatians gaze at flag and sing with hand over heart - or about half of them do.
Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Corluka, 4-Robert Kovac, 3-Josip Simunic, 22-Danijel Pranjic; 11-Darijo Srna, 10-Niko Kovac, 14-Luka Modric, 19-Niko Kranjcar; 7-Ivan Rakitic, 18-Ivica Olic
Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 16-Philipp Lahm, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 2-Marcell Jansen; 4-Clemens Fritz, 8-Torsten Frings, 13-Michael Ballack, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Mario Gomez
Kickoff!
The crowd is loud for this one. I wonder if Ante Jazic and Ante Razov are watching. Probably, the locker rooms in the HDC have lounges with big TVs.
Which reminds me - are there any Germans in MLS? I can't think of one off-hand. Could Lothar have ruined it for everyone else?
4 - Klose carries ball down the wing, passes into the box, but Fritz' flick pass gets cut off my a Croatian defender.
6 - Olic was down for a bit, but he's up now.
8 - Germany is controlling most of the play. Captain Ballack is running the show, getting the ball a lot.
10 - German CK, cleared.
12 - Another sportswriter and I were talking about players who run in unique fashion, making them recognizable even in a wide pan shot. Cuauhtemoc Blanco is definitely one. Klose is another.
13 - Lahm and Klose work the give'n'go, but Klose gets a weird touch on the return and loses the ball.
15 - Lehmann picks up a long ball on the edge of his box, snuffing a chance for Croatia there.
16 - Croatia FK to Croatia CK. Nice corner, but it gets headed parallel to goal instead of inside.
18 - Smythe speculates that Jogi Low has made Germany's style more conservative since Klinsy left.
20 - Too bad Mario Gomez couldn't be the DP for the Colorado Rapids - that would be amusing.
22 - I was looking forward to this game, but it's been deathly methodical so far. Gomez is offside again. Frings' cross into the box then gets cut off.
24 - GOAL! Croatia wake up, work the ball well into the German end, nice one touch passes, until the dipping cross comes in from the left, and Srna manages to reach it ahead of Jensen, poking it into goal. 1-0 Croatia.
27 - Srna fouls Podolski just beside the Croat box. Gets a yellow. German corner taken short, cross hits wall and Croatia escapes danger.
29 - Germany seem stunned at the turn of events. Croatia aren't having a letdown, they look more lively than at the start.
30 - Croatia in the box! Over the bar.
33 - Germany FK - Ballack fires it at Pletikosa, who stands his ground and parries it. Corner for Germany results in a deflected shot.
35 - Gray and Smythe discuss the MLS match up tonight - Houston versus Revs. I want Gray to pick a winner, but he just mentions that it's a rematch of the championship.
37 - Jansen's long cross to Klose is too high - he's not that tall.
38 - Rain has subdued the crowd somewhat.
39 - German CK. Ballack is arguing with ref. Kick is to be retaken. Second kick is again held up as ref is nitpicking about players pushing each other. Frings finally takes the kick and Metzelder puts it over the bar.
42 - SAVE! Lehmann on Kranjcar - who finishes off a sparking Croatian counter by catching the ball on his chest, turning and firing the ball out of the air, but Lehmann manages to stop it.
44 - Germany seem to score, but ref rules interference on the goalkeeper.
45 + Oooh, Klose was on the attack, but then Simunic touches it out, then puts an extra kick on the ball - gets carded for timewasting. Refs are cracking down on that - that's apparently what got Mastroeni his second yellow against Argentina. Players always want to push the envelope for stuff like that, though.
Halftime. Croatia didn't look deadly until they were. Germany looks good through the midfield, but it's falling apart - or not quite coming off - in the final third.
49 - Ballack misses high. Germany seem to have lost composure.
52 - Lehmann bobbles an outside shot a bit.
55 - Once again, Germany have the lion's share of possession, but can't connect the final shot for the equalizer. Not yet, at least.
56 - Forgot to mention, Odonkor came on for Jansen. Shot of Low looking pissy.
59 - If Croatia hang on, this will be historic - the only other win over the Germans was the famous World Cup victory in 1998.
61 - Gomez beats his defender, gets into the box, Klose is open, but Gomez puts the short pass behind him. It's funny, Gomez looks pissed and Klose resigned. The pass needs to be in front
63 - GOAL! Olic! Off a counter, against the run of play, a Croatian cross/long shot gets away, bangs off the post as Lehmann misses it, and Olic is dead center to clean up the present. 2-0 Croatia. Wow.
66- Gomez is taken off, Bastian Schweinstiger comes in.
67 - Frings fouls Kranjcar near the top of the arc. Dangerous - it's into the wall, though.
69 - Croatia still attacking hard on counters, making Germany look slow and tired. Corner for Croatia.
70 - Lehmann punches out for another CK. Cleared.
73 - Olic is subbed. Bastian shot. parried just slightly for a corner. Taken and kicked out by Kranjcar for another corner. It's cleared.
74 - Germany works the ball around the box until Lahm attacks in and crosses, but Ballack doesn't really get a header off, ball drops, then Ballack commits a foul trying to recover it.
76 - Kranjcar outside shot caught by Lehmann.
78 - Another German corner comes to nothing.
79 - GOAL! Podolski! Lahm serves it in, Kovac's header is a bad clear and it falls for Lukas, who bangs the volley home. 2-1 Croatia still leads.
82 - Kuranyi comes on for Fritz.
84 - Schweinstiger from outside, deflected by defender. Germany is circling the Croatian goal, but time is running out.
86 - Kranjcar is our, Knezevic in. Defensive move for the Croats.
89 - Croatian defense staying calm and organized, denying Germany.
90 - FK Croatia - cleared.
90 + Attack by Croatia comes close, Lahm puts the ball out for a Croatia corner - Germany wins the outlet. Schweinsteiger gets tackled from behind and retaliates with a hard push - RED CARD.
Final whistle - Croatia complete the ten-year cycle of German defeat. This really changes the European Championships. The favorites are in danger - or likely to meet Portugal next round.

Big Phil takes on Big Blue

Chelsea, that is, and Scolari will no doubt collect a big payday.
It's interesting, the gravitation of Chelsea to coaches coming in from Portuguese soccer. Mourinho came from Porto, and Scolari has been the coach of Portugal's national team for five years. I'm sure their credibility is only enhanced by the slew of top players from Portugal these days - notably one Cristiano Ronaldo. It reminds me of how coaches in Holland and Dutch players were regarded back in the days of, well, Ruud Gullit, for one.
Now, the Dutch aren't looking too shabby these days, but has Portugal passed them by as the country regarded as the benchmark for skill in soccer?

White Hart move

Giovani Dos Santos is on the move.

The Mexican starlet is moving leagues as Barcelona and Tottenham have reportedly agreed on a deal for young Gio.

I don't know that the Premiership is the best option for Dos Santos, though if he wasn't going to play at Barcelona perhaps playing for Tottenham is a better option than not playing at all.

Jello vs creme brulee

He wants something else.
What does he want?
Jello.
JELLO! Why would he want Jello?
Because he's comfortable with Jello! Jello makes him comfortable.
I could be Jello.
No, you can't. Creme Brulee can never be Jello, YOU could never be Jello.
I HAVE to be Jello.
You're never gonna be Jello!

Martin Rogers had two friends from England visiting him during the Champion's League Finals. Both were full-on Fullham fans, but they were neutral about Bocanegra getting let go, more or less agreed with it, really. They figured Eddie Johnson should be given a little more time. Dempsey? Dempsey, they agreed, could be useful at certain points. Keller was considered a good stop-gap. But Brian McBride they simply worshiped. "He's brilliant!" they enthused.
Apparently, a lot of other Fulham supporters thought so, too.
Which got me to thinking - McBride never really lit up MLS, though he did quite well. Other players scored more, however. The argument could be made, though, that McBride's gifts were of the sort that translated well to a career abroad, while others were more successful on the MLS level because they were a better fit there.
Could it then work the other way? Are there players who are simply "too good" for MLS? Are there creme brulee players swimming in a sea of Jello, their incisive passes unanticipated, their runs never read, their defensive weaknesses exposed?
Logan Pause was quoted recently as saying that he tries to make sure Blanco, the star of the Fire, doesn't have to do "dirty running", which I presume means the defensive grunt work to break up attacks. If Pause wasn't so willing to be the "domestique" of the team leader, would the Fire be doing so well?
Is Christian Gomez really a better player than Marcello Gallardo, or is he simply a better MLS player? Is Gomez more Jello-like, or is he just more comfortable working with Jello?
To that end, do MLS technical directors and scouts need to modify their search for players accordingly? Instead of getting the best player they can find, do they need to look instead for players with styles and temperaments that fit a scrappy, physical league with a wide variety of skill among players? Do they need to say to these players, "Look, you've had creme brulee in the past, but we're Jello. Are you comfortable with that?"
Am I stretching this metaphor too far? Well, probably. Still, it's something to think about, and it's also making me hungry. I'm having cheesecake.

Speaking of making lists

Becks tops this one, no surprise.

Torres, Torres

"Maybe he should sprain an ankle. Isn't there a Spanish player with a sprained ankle? Maybe he's going to sprain an ankle soon."

When players attack journalists

It's not pretty.

Latvia, Lithuania, Lilliput, whatever

And you thought Americans were bad with geography...

Apparently, the Czechs aren't so handy with maps. On Wednesday, the Czech Republic displayed Latvia's flag and played the Latvian national anthem before their friendly against...

Lithuania.

To be fair, though, aren't all L countries the same in terms of soccer? Latvia, Lithuania, Libya, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Liberia, Lilliput... oh wait... Um, okay, that argument doesn't hold much water. Sorry, Czechs.

Perhaps Lithuania can play the Slovakian national anthem the next time the Czechs visit Lithuania.