June 2008 Archives

Needed a deep breath after the weekend (and spent the day writing Tuesday's column), so late blogging.

Chivas USA is one of 16 teams participating in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup at 7 p.m. Tuesday playing a game in Seattle against the Sounders you can see here. Chivas USA lost at this stage of the competition last year to Seattle.

Long Beach State sophomore-to-be Janet Mendez of Palmdale helped Mexico qualify for the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in November, starting and playing 72 minutes as Mexico beat Costa Rica 3-2 on penalty kicks over the weekend.

In the PDL Saturday it was:
Fresno Fuego 1 Los Angeles Legends O
Southern California Seahorses 1 Bakersfield Brigade
Lancaster Rattlers 1 Ventura County Fusion 1

Standings

W-League:
Fort Collins Force 1 Los Angeles Legends 1 (Saturday)
Fort Collins Force 0 Pali Blues 2 (Tonight)

Standings

Also this weekend (from the edited Galaxy press release):

In a top of the table clash with the Ventura County Fusion, the Galaxy Rios Under-20's lost 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Home Depot Center. The Fusion scored twice inside the final 20 minutes to move into a tie for first place in the league with Bakersfield.

Standings

WPSL
San Diego WFC SeaLions 0 Ajax America Women 3
West Coast FC 2 Los Angeles Rampage 0

Standings

If you're already waiting on the long weekend, note the Galaxy play Independence Day in Carson against the aptly-named New England Revolution.

Chivas USA play Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Spain 1 Germany 0

Spanish Eyes Are Smiling.

Just be glad ABC didn't show the Galaxy-D.C. United game after the Euro 2008 final.

The Galaxy froze on a sweltering day in the nation's capital, surrendering 4-1 to United.

Meanwhile, the Spain-Germany game is at half time.

Germany's inspirational captain and midfield powerhouse Michael Ballack will start in the final of the European Championship, according to this report.

The game starts at 11:30 a.m. on ABC.

D.C. United is beating the Galaxy 2-1 right now on the same channel, by the way.

The obligatory David Beckham update that passes for a Galaxy preview. Game begins at 9 a.m. on ABC.

Galaxy odds and ends.

The finale of Euro 2008 follows with Spain against Germany for whom Michael Ballack is a doubt.

The one saving grace of a game like this is that you can always count on the ever-quotable Jesse Marsch to put things in perspective with brutal honesty:

"I can only imagine what that game looked like," he said. "It must have been painful to watch because it was painful to play in."

Yes, Jesse it was.

The problem? Too many guys playing like crap, essentially:

"(We're) not getting enough good games out of guys," Marsch said. "At the beginning of the year it felt a little bit like we weren't getting many breaks, but right now it just feels like we can't get our rhythm going. We can't put any passes together. We can't dominate games. We're just not very sharp. Right now I'm at a little bit of a loss."

Which pretty much summed it up.

Preki said much the same thing: "We didn't play well," he said. "We created nothing offensively in the first half. ... Overall I don't think we created enough opportunities to give ourselves a real good chance of winning."

Incidentally, I failed to mention Jonathan Bornstein getting burned repeatedly by Dane Richards was the reason for the switches at half time (and somehow failed to mention Bornstein at all). Ahem.

Meanwhile, Red Bulls Coach Juan Carlos Osario is looking forward to reinforcements after losing Altidore (and Reyna and Angel) with two players on the way from South America.

Still, Ante Razov was fun to talk to especially since he was incredulous at his goal (the 111th of his career) that he saw coming from a long way out and actually had to wait until he made his move:

"I realized (Jeff) Parke (was) not paying attention to (full back Kevin Goldthwaite who was making the pass) and he's about to play a square ball. (Notes Parke started to move forward) I can't believe he's still going to play it and he played it and then it was just a race between me and Conway."

Check out the photos here.

These are two teams looking for a spark to their respective seasons. Chivas USA is fourth in the west, New York fifth in the east. Yawn.

Up next for Chivas USA: The USL Seattle Sounders in the U.S. Open Cup in the Pacific Northwest.

Updated: Game story.

This was a game that never seemed to get up to full speed, ending with the two teams still tied at one apiece.

Chivas USA Coach Preki took central defender Jim Curtin out at half time, pushed Bobby Burling into the middle of defense, moved Cary Talley to right back and inserted sub Atiba Harris into midfield.

That shuffling of the pack appeared to give Chivas USA renewed impetus at the start of the half, Razov hitting a cracker of a direct free kick from 25 yards that required a touch by New York goalkeeper Jon Conway to keep it out.

Two minutes later a Harris cross bounced off a New York defender and then off Justin Braun, a touch that almost beat Conway.

And that was about it.

Braun by the way played the entire second half with duct tape (useful stuff that) stuck to his head after he received a whack in the face from Boyens in the first half as the pair challenged for a ball. Braun required five stitches, which were hastily sewed on the sideline.

Back with more later from the locker rooms.

A choppy first half with neither team finding their rhythm ended with the teams tied at one apiece on two rather strange goals.

The first came from a direct free kick in the 26th minute when the speedy Dane Richards bested Jonathan Bornstein yet again down the right hand side to draw the foul.

Dave van den Bergh sent the resulting kick curling rather softly into the far corner of the net with Brad Guzan uncharacteristically rooted to the turf as a Chivas USA and Red Bull player attempted to get to it in front of him.

Chivas USA then came close twice within two minutes, Hunter Freeman clearing a chip off the line, then Claudio Suarez seeing a shot from six yards blocked. Chivas USA players appealed for hand ball, but it was clear the ball hit Andrew Boyens arm that was down by his side.

The teams ended the half with five shots apiece.

Chivas USA drew level in first half stoppage time, an errant New York free kick sent behind a Red Bull defender and Ante Razov, with only the goalkeeper to beat, opportunistically seizing on it for a relatively simple goal.

It's the ( 5-4-4) Red Bulls against (5-6-2) Chivas USA on a lovely night for soccer at Victoria Street.

Chivas USA Coach Preki has named a 3-4-3 formation, although indications are we'll see a 4-4-2 with Jonathan Bornstein (who is listed as a forward) actually playing at left back.

Brad Guzan is in goal as usual, while Jim Curtin is presumably drafted into the middle of defense alongside Claudio Suarez, leaving Bobby Burling at right back.

Panchito Mendoza is likely wide on the left, with Sacha Kljestan on the right and Carey Talley and Jesse Marsch in the middle.

Up front: Ante Razov and Justin Braun.

Raphael Wicky is a late scratch on the bench (right calf strain). Jorge Flores, Atiba Harris and Shavar Thomas are among the available subs.

For the 3-5-2 Red Bulls, it's Jon Conway in goal, Hunter Freeman, Jeff Parke and Andrew Boyens in defense; Kevin Goldthwaite, Carlos Mendes, the explosive Dane Richards, Dave van den Bergh and captain Seth Stammler in midfield.

Attackers: Sinisa Ubiparipovic and former Galaxy forward John Wolyniec.

No Juan Pablo Angel or Claudio Reyna, who are out with injuries tonight and, of course, Jozy Altidore is gone.

One press box wag has already observed it's a bunch of minimum wage players for the Red Bulls.

Here are the essentials for tonight's Chivas USA-New York Red Bulls game at Home Depot Center:

*NYRB are without Claudio Reyna, Juan Pablo Angel (both injured) and, of course, one Senor Altidore (sunning himself in Spain).

*Fear not. Chivas USA has Justin Braun.

*The Red Bulls are playing their fifth game in 15 days tonight, which could help Chivas USA avoid losing twice to New York in one season.

*Oh, and Mickey Mouse will perform the coin toss before the game.

Want more? Here's a longer preview.

And while we're at it here's a Galaxy-D.C. United preview (it's a nice try at a different sort of advance, but turns out to be a bit of a stretch since United's Marcelo Gallardo decided not to play ball). This may be the only preview posted here since the game kicks off on ABC at 9 a.m. and it's highly unlikely I will crawl out of bed early on a Sunday morning to actually blog. And don't forget the Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany follows immediately after on the same channel.

Friday scores:
Fort Collins Force 4 Ventura County Fusion 1 (W-League).
San Jose Frogs 3 Los Angeles Legends 3 (PDL).

Finally (and for no other reason than I could do with a laugh this morning) take five seconds out of your day and watch this contender (that appears to be from a league game in Russia) for the worst penalty kick ever.

Back this evening with more from the Chivas USA game.

New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel did not make the trip to Los Angeles and will not be available for tomorrow's game against Chivas USA.

Goals aplenty are expected Sunday when the Galaxy plays D.C. United on the road in a rare nationally televised MLS game on ABC that precedes the Euro 2008 final.

The official Galaxy blog has a video preview.

Speaking of Euro 2008, sports media columnist Tom Hoffarth had more today on the broadcast snafu that frankly ruined the first semifinal Wednesday between Germany and Turkey. The problem wasn't ESPN's fault and the network is due some props for hiring the likes of former Scottish pro Andy Gray to provide expertise, but it still has some serious credibility problems.

(Climbs on soap box)

For one thing, if ESPN weren't so cheap they would have somebody at the game - so they don't have to solely rely on commentators in a U.S. studio in the event of an outage - who could provide an audio feed as the BBC apparently did.

Second, with the network crowing about its Euro 2008 ratings then their coverage must go to the next level and actually have their broadcast teams at the stadium. The crowd noise is noticeably lower because ESPN is not there live and that doesn't help the atmosphere of a game that's being aired.

(Climbs down).

Chivas USA continue their lengthy home stand Saturday with a game against the Red Bulls that features a special Disneyland half time show. Good time to point out that with every adult ticket purchased a munchkin 12 or under gets in free. Tickets start at $14.

The club has a video preview here.

An interesting article about Chivas USA forward Maykel Galindo rekindling a childhood friendship with a fellow defector who now plays for the Seattle Mariners is here. (Thanks to Bruce over at DuNord for unearthing that story).

Apparently John Thorrington, who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, was such a late choice for last weekend's World Cup qualifier he had not brought along a certain important document needed to travel and had to return home to Chicago to get it.

Finally, other local games set for this weekend include:
PDL
7:30 p.m. Friday San Jose Frogs at Los Angeles Legends at A.P.U. - Cougar Stadium.
7:30 p.m. Saturday Fresno Fuego at Los Angeles Legends at A.P.U. - Cougar Stadium.
7:30 pm Saturday Lancaster Rattlers at Ventura County Fusion at Buena High School.

W-League
8 p.m. Friday Fort Collins Force at Ventura County Fusion at Newberry Park High School.
5:00 p.m. Saturday Fort Collins Force at Los Angeles Legends at Azusa Pacific.

Enjoy your weekend and rejoin me Saturday for the Chivas USA game at Home Depot Center.

Galaxy defender Abel Xavier was fined $500 by MLS following comments criticizing the officials after last week's 3-3 draw with Columbus.

Xavier was given a yellow card by referee Mark Geiger and called for a foul that set up the game-tying goal in the 88th minute. Xavier was upset afterward and said his foot cleanly touched the ball first.

``C'mon, the referee is so bad,'' Xavier said after the game. ``The question of one of the things they must improve in this league is the referees. It is very clear my foot was on the ball. If someone has eyes, they see clear contact with the ball.

``I can name 15 wrong decisions with the ref on both sides.''

More on the unusual classified ad at the bottom of the post.

But first, a couple of other odds and ends.

Columbus Crew Coach Sigi Schmid, one of the South Bay's favorite soccer sons, talks about the long-distance relationship he has with his wife while he labors in Ohio.

The influence of Cal State Long Beach women's soccer Coach Mauricio Ingrassia, a native of Argentina, on the program is recounted here.

Finally, here's an ad you don't see everyday, culled from Craigslist and reprinted here exactly as it appears there:

Reply to: pris1224@hotmail.com Date: 2008-06-26, 5:09PM PDT

Our company are currently looking for Mandarin orCantonese speaking candidate to broadcast live soccergame at the following location:

CARSON, CALIFORNIA

If you know any friend that are located in thefollowing location, please have them contact me ASAP.It is a part-time position and flexible time. If youare looking for some extra income in a flexibleschedule, this is a very good opportunity. Pleasecontact me ASAP. $150 per game for 2 hours.

Almost worth learning Mandarin at that price.

Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit was absent from today's training session because he went to Holland for personal reasons, according to officials. Gullit is expected to rejoin the Galaxy in Washington, D.C., for Saturday's match with D.C. United.

``We won without David (Beckham) and Landon (Donovan) and then we won with Landon, so now we'll win without Ruud,'' Galaxy defender Chris Klein joked.

Germany narrowly beat Turkey 3-2 at Euro 2008 and will take on the winner of today's Spain-Russia semifinal (11:30 a.m. ESPN2) in Sunday's final. Let's hope today's game isn't marred by the technical problems viewers both here and around the world endured during Wednesday's game. I don't know about you, but the telecast missing two of the game's goals (and returning just in time to catch Germany's last minute winner) spoiled the excitement of the game for me.

Over in Galaxyland, The Washington Post's Steven Goff is reporting more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's game against D.C. United in the nation's capital, where he is fretting about L.A.'s status as the highest-scoring team in MLS and United's league-worst defense. He doesn't mention the Galaxy's penchant for blowing leads and defensive holes Luciano Emilio is capable of exploiting though.

Meanwhile, rookie Galaxy defender Julian Valentin has joined the world of blogging and fills us in on his trip to Costco (really) and his goldfish purchase.

The Red Bulls, heading west to play Chivas USA Saturday in Carson, beat the mothership 1-0 in Arizona Wednesday night where newly-signed former Galaxy draft pick Gordon Kljesten saw action for New York. Will he play against brother Sasha and Chivas USA this weekend?

Claudio Reyna won't play though and Red Bull fans are displeased to put it mildly.

Chivas USA learned Wednesday night that if they beat the USL's Seattle Sounders in the U.S. Open Cup they'll face either the Kansas City Wizards in Carson or USL team the Carolina Railhawks in Cary, N.C. on July 8 in the quarterfinals.

Lastly, in PDL action Wednesday the Southern California Seahorses finally got a win against the Orange County Blue Star in La Mirada.

The league table is here (scroll down).

Turkey, already a long shot to beat Germany in today's first Euro 2008 semifinal, (live 11:30 a.m. on ESPN) has several starters missing through injury or suspension and the Germans are in a confident mood. Derek Rae and Andy Gray will call the game, while the second semifinal between Spain and an entertaining Russian side follows at the same time Thursday.

The winners play Sunday on ABC in a game preceded by the Galaxy-D.C. United game at 9 a.m.

In another televised game today at 8 p.m. on Telefutura, CD Guadalajara plays the New York Red Bulls in a Phoenix friendly. The Red Bulls are heading west to take on Chivas USA Saturday night at Home Depot Center.

Meanwhile, Chivas USA learned Tuesday they will play the USL's Seattle Sounders in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup July 1 in the Pacific Northwest. The Sounders Tuesday thumped the amateurs of Hollywood United 6-0.

By the way, tickets to the 5 p.m. July 20 Chivas USA-New England Revolution game in Fullerton that is the third SuperLiga group game for both teams are now on sale. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

A look at the challenges faced by Chivas USA Under-18 player Omar Becerra is here.

In a PDL game tonight, Orange County Blue Star visits the Southern California Seahorses at 7 p.m. at La Mirada High.

Finally, if you're Jewish and can play soccer, the U.S. Jewish National Soccer Team wants to hear from you.

Details on the U.S. Women's National Team roster announced Monday that will participate in the Olympics was the subject of my weekly column.

Here's Coach Pia Sundhage on the attributes of USC striker Amy Rodriguez:

"She offers speed and not only speed, if you play to her feet she can turn on a dime and just go. That is important in international games. ... In a foot race she will beat many players.

The U.S. departs Friday for a pair of games in Scandinavia before returning home to play two more before the Olympics begin in August.

Landon Donovan was named MLS Player of the Week for the third time this season after his two-goal performance in the 3-3 draw with Columbus Saturday that gave him a league-best 11 goals in 10 games.

Donovan's second goal was the 75th of his MLS career, making the 26-year-old the youngest player to reach that milestone.

Also on the awards front, Edson Buddle has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Week for the second consecutive week.

The Galaxy Rios Under-20 demolished the Bakersfield Brigade 8-0 in a USL Super-20 game last weekend. The 3-1-1 Rios are currently tied for first place in the league with the Ventura County Fusion, who they meet 5 p.m. Sunday at Home Depot Center. Admission is free.

Finally, the studliest pen commercial you'll ever see:

U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage announced today her 18-player roster for the Olympics (with college, caps and goals in parentheses):

goalkeepers: Nicole Barnhart (Stanford, 9), Hope Solo (Washington, 64); defenders Rachel Buehler (Stanford, 11/0), Lori Chalupny (North Carolina, 70/6), Stephanie Cox (Portland, 42/0), Kate Markgraf (Notre Dame, 181/0), Heather Mitts (Florida, 78/2), Christie Rampone (Monmouth, 193/4); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Notre Dame, 92/18), Tobin Heath (North Carolina, 12/2), Angela Hucles (Virginia, 84/7), Carli Lloyd (Rutgers, 62/15), Heather O'Reilly (North Carolina, 90/19), Lindsay Tarpley (North Carolina, 96/26), Aly Wagner (Santa Clara, 121/21); forwards Natasha Kai (Hawaii, 48/19), Amy Rodriguez (USC, 19/4), Abby Wambach (Florida, 123/98).

Notable:

*Nine players on the roster were members of the U.S. team that won the gold medal four years ago in Athens, including team co-captains Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf, who will both participate in their third Olympics.

*At age 20, Heath is the youngest player on the roster, while Rampone (who turns 33 Tuesday) is the oldest. The average age of the squad is 26.

*Veteran goalkeeper Brianna Scurry, who was at the center of the controversy with fellow net minder Hope Solo at the last World Cup, did not make the squad. Sundhage said the controversy had nothing to do with her decision and the door remains open for Scurry in the future.

*Scurry was named as one of four alternates available in case of injury, as was UCLA's Lauren Cheney.

Quotable: Captain Christie Rampone -

"It's been a long seven months, with Pia coming in and making a huge transition for this team, but everyone has been very receptive and willing to change. It's tough when you have limited time, but everyone trusted Pia and believed in Pia. She's done an amazing job with this team and in the way we have changed this system. We are a more possession-oriented team. Of course, there are times when we get away from it, but she believes in us and we keep trying to getting better on the field."

I'll have more on the roster selection and the run-in to the Olympics for the team in Tuesday's weekly column.

Coach Pia Sundhage will announce the roster in a teleconference at noon today, although few, if any, surprises are expected.

The roster is likely to be virtually unchanged from the just-concluded Peace Cup, which means Torrance's Shannon Boxx, USC's Amy Rodriguez and UCLA Lauren Cheney are anticipated to head to China.

While we await the official announcement, here's a few weekend leftovers:

*The Galaxy Rios, the Galaxy's youth team, holds three open tryouts next month in Irvine, Chino Hills and Glendale.

From the (edited) press release:

The LA Galaxy will be holding open tryouts for the Galaxy Rios, the club's official youth development program, for any male player born between 1990 and 1994 at three different locations throughout Southern California from July 11 through July 13. Players must register and pay the $30 fee by Sunday, July 6th for one of the three open tryout venues.

Players will play a seven v. seven, 50-minute game, while being assessed by Galaxy Rios Coaching Staff, including Galaxy Director of Player Development Trevor James and Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo. The top players from each of the three tryouts will be invited back to participate in a training session at The Home Depot Center for further evaluation by the Rios Coaching Staff.

All players must apply online and have a valid email address. More info is available here.

*Sixteen U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Champions won titles Sunday in Hawaii, with 12 teams representing the Under-14 through Under-19 boys and girls divisions earning spots at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships July 22-27 in Little Rock, Ark.

Among the championship highlights from the (edited) press release:

The Under-15 Girls Slammers FC earned their second shot at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship title Sunday after beating fellow California South team Real So Cal, 4-1. Last year the Slammers lost in the final game of the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships.

Under-16 Girls So Cal Blue is the only U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV team to return to defend its U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship and won 3-0 against Real So Cal.

Arsenal FC Under-14 Boys won the championship against the LA Rampage with a goal from Jake La Porte (34:00).

Other results involving teams from Southern California include:
Girls Under-13 - So Cal Blues 3 Real Colorado National 0
Boys Under-15 - Arsenal FC 0 Valley United 4
Boys Under-16 - FC Barcelona 0 Real So Cal Blue 2
Girls Under-17 - Eagles FC 0 Slammers FC 1
Girls Under-18 - Colorado Nike Rush 2 Slammers FC 1
Girls Under-19 - FC Portland 0 Slammers FC 3

*In the PDL Sunday:
Orange County Blue Star 2 San Fernando Valley Quakes 2

W-League:
Pali Blues 3 Vancouver Whitecaps 0

The U.S. beat Barbados 1-0 today to advance to the next round of CONCACAF qualifying 9-0 on aggregate.

Game story is here.

Still, if you were like me you were watching the rather dull Spain-Italy Euro 2008 quarterfinal. With that, the semifinals are set.

This is an excellent Sunday read on the trials of minor league soccer team the San Fernando Valley Quakes and its owner.

The Quakes play at 7:05 p.m. today at Calabasas High.

In Barbados, the U.S. Men's National Team is trying to stay focused on the task at hand. The game is at noon on ESPN Classic (opposite the 11:30 a.m. Spain-Italy Euro 2008 quarterfinal on ESPN one should note).

This weekend's World Cup qualifying so far.

In other PDL games, the Ventura County Fusion beat the Fresno Fuego Saturday (and Friday).

Other PDL scores:
San Francisco Seals 2 Los Angeles Legends 3
Orange County Blue Star 2 Lancaster Rattlers 4
San Francisco Seals 2 Southern California Seahorses 0
Lancaster Rattlers 2 Bakersfield Brigade 1

W-League:
Ventura County Fusion 0 Fort Collins Force 2

WPSL
Ajax America Women 1 West Coast FC 3
Claremont Stars 0 Los Angeles Rampage 3

Galaxy defender Abel Xavier was upset over the foul and yellow card from referee Mark Geiger that set up the game-tying goal by Columbus.

``C'mon, the referee is so bad,'' Xavier said. ``The question of one of the things they must improve in this league is the referees. It is very clear my foot was on the ball. If someone has eyes, they see clear contact with the ball.

``I can name 15 wrong decisions with the ref on both sides.''

So the Galaxy still haven't beaten a team with a winning record this season.

But at least they didn't lose after blowing a lead as Coach Ruud Gullit noted has already happened this season:

"At the beginning of the season we lost these games in the last couple of minutes."

Still, as Gullit and several players observed, it was a draw that felt like a loss:

"We gave the goals away," he said. "You have to win these games. It's two points thrown away."

Crew Coach Sigi Schmid was none too impressed with how Donovan snatched the first Galaxy goal with his challenge on goalkeeper Will Hesmer:

"That was an obvious push. ... Landon obviously pushed Hesmer. ... He gets a way with a great shove in his lower back."

Here's David Beckham thinking like a referee on the penalty he drew:

"He grabbed me around the waist. I felt that was enough contact for a penalty."

Landon Donovan, well, wasn't so sure - but wasn't complaining either:

"I wasn't sure David really got fouled, but whatever. It's the referee's decision to make.

Donovan believes the team isn't doing enough to protect the defense:

The issue is (opponents) are able to get from their defensive end into our attack in sometimes two or three passes and easily. It's not always just the back four that's struggling."

Here's Schmid on South Bay product Robbie Rogers:

"Sometimes Robbie dropped too deep at times. He's been too honest defensively. Now he's got to that point of learning how to cheat (going forward) and when to cheat and get forward at the right time. But still he's an important player for us and he had an impact on the game for us."

By the way, Beckham insisted he was 100 percent, but then conceded a left foot injury was bothering him in the first half until he got treatment at half time:

"I got a kick on it a couple of days ago in training and it was still playing up slightly."

The game story is here.

Finally, just to end things on the right (wrong?) foot, here's Beckham on his blazing miss that could have sealed the game for the Galaxy:

"I'm disappointed not to finish the game off there. I felt personally the ground gave way, the grass gave way as I hit the ball. ... When you get an opportunity like that in the last couple of minutes, it's disappointing not to score."

The grass gave way?

I dunno. He sure looks like he knows he screwed that up.

The Galaxy managed to blow two leads in the second half and in the end escaped with a 3-3 tie with David Beckham blowing a gorgeous chance to smash home the winner in the 90th minute. Afterward he slumped to the turf, hanging his head in shame.

Substitute Steven Lenhart was the hero for Columbus, poking home the ball in the 88th minute to make it 3-3 after Steve Cronin punched away a hard Frankie Hejduk shot.

Edson Buddle's ninth goal of the season had made it 2-0 for the Galaxy in the opening moments of the second half. But the Crew came back via a freakish Brad Evans goal in the 67th minute and Robbie Rogers drawing a penalty two minutes later that Barros Schelotto converted to make it 2-2.

Beckham drew a penalty in the 82nd minute that allowed the Galaxy to take a 3-2 lead after Edson Buddle's fine work down the left sideline had the Crew back-pedaling. He pulled it back to Beckham, who was tripped in the box by O'Rourke.

Back later with locker room reaction.

Defensive calamities for the Crew and a tepid offense combined to allow the Galaxy to take a one goal lead after the first 45 minutes.

A horrendous mistake by Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer in just the fourth minute gifted the Galaxy their goal, the Columbus net minder failing to hold a David Beckham cross when challenged by Landon Donovan who then turned and fired the ball home.

The Galaxy could have had a couple more, notably when defender Chad Marshall completely missed a pass from Hesmer, allowing Beckham to almost chip the goalkeeper.

Donovan also missed from eight yards when wide open and an unmarked Edson Buddle sent a ball from a diving header wide of the post, too.

The Crew's best chance came just before half time, Robbie Rogers almost nipping in to get on the end of a long through ball, but he got under it too much and put it over the bar from about 12 yards.

That was the most we'd seen so far from Rogers, who like Argentine star Guillermo Baros Schelotto, were largely kept in check by the Galaxy.

Beckham has also looked out of sorts and appeared to limp slightly in the 34th minute after an apparent problem with his left foot.

The Galaxy (6-4-2), the highest-scoring team in MLS and sitting first in the Western Conference plays the Columbus Crew (7-4-1), which is lying second in the Eastern Conference.

The Galaxy have won four of their last five games propelled by the scoring exploits of Edson Buddle, who has eight goals during that stretch.

In contrast, the Crew have won just once in five games and scored a mere three goals, which all came in their last outing against Kansas City.

Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit makes just two changes to the team that defeated San Jose last weekend with Josh Tudela dropping to the bench and Ely Allen moving back into midfield since Landon Donovan has returned from international duty to partner Edson Buddle up front.

Steve Cronin is in goal as usual behind an unchanged back four of Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier and Mike Randolph.

David Beckham, Alvaro Pires and Ante Jazic line up alongside Allen in midfield.

On the bench: Joe Franchino, Alan Gordon, Brandon McDonald, Troy Roberts, and Greg Vanney.

Crew Coach Sigi Schmid makes three changes with Frankie Hejduk returning from international duty with the U.S. to slot into the defense in place of Andy Iro, while Brad Evans and Nicholas Hernnandez move into a five-man midfield in place of Duncan Oughton and Emmanuel Ekpo.

Former Galaxy forward Alejandro Moreno will play as the lone striker as Schmid seeks to slow the rampant Galaxy attack by clogging up the midfield.

Rolling Hills Estates Robbie Rogers, who has five goals so far this season, starts in midfield.

It's finally cooling down in Carson, so hopefully the heat wave won't interfere (too much) with the game.

I'm on Barbados time, so late blogging this morning.

The Galaxy face the Crew at steamy Home Depot Center (7:30 p.m. live on Prime) later today. Game previews are here and here.

The U.S. women (narrowly) won the Peace Cup overnight.

On the men's side, CONCACAF World Cup qualifying resumes this weekend. The U.S. is in Barbados for the second leg where the weather is typically tropical.

Back with more tonight from Carson.

Bob Bradley named his squad today for the irrelevant return World Cup qualifying leg in Barbados Sunday (caps and goals are in parentheses): goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (out of contract: 0/0), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA: 1/1 SO), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake: 0/0); defenders Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract: 12/1), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland: 1/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 0/0), Drew Moor (FC Dallas: 0/0) Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 8/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 1/0); mikdfielders DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 15/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 1/1), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 18/2), Danny Szetela (Brescia: 0/0), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire: 0/0; forwards Freddy Adu (SL Benfica: 1/0), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire: 0/0), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire: 0/0).

Out: Tim Howard continues to rehabilitate a lower back sprain suffered prior to the Barbados match. Eddie Johnson is ill.

Even if the lopsided score of the first leg meant Bradley didn't have to name his strongest squad, it was still a huge achievement for John Thorrington to win a recall with his fine form this term after almost quitting the game due to chronic injuries.

The above stats for Thorrington, who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, are wrong by the way. John played 19 minutes as a sub in a game against Ecuador in 2001, according to my 2008 U.S. MNT media guide (and confirmed by John). He said he had "fond memories of the experience."

"The good times are that much sweeter because a year ago I wasn't even playing. I'm certainly not going to get carried away with it. It is what it is."

Meanwhile, USC's latest NCAA champion teams will visit the White House Tuesday. The USC women's golf and soccer teams each captured NCAA titles in the past year, bumping the total of national titles claimed by USC teams to 108.

U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage will name the Olympic team Monday,

The U.S. Women are playing Canada in the Peace Cup final as I write this: the score is 0-0.

Here's Landon Donovan after today's Galaxy practice:

On following the Galaxy while playing for the U.S. national team: ``I was watching like every other fan, online.''

On the Galaxy being in first place: ``It's early. But this can help us if we get home-field advantage.''

Beat writer Scott Wolf will contribute to the 100 Percent Soccer blog while yours truly is otherwise engaged.

Here's David Beckham after today's Galaxy practice:

On the return of Landon Donovan: ``It's always great to have all of your teammates back. It's important to carry on this run.''

On being able to score goals in Donovan's absence: ``That was one of the worries, but not from the players or the team. As long as we have confidence in each other, there's a good chance of us scoring goals.''

On Euro 2008: ``I haven't seen much of it. The time difference is tough. It's still something I don't enjoy (watching without England). I've seen the majority of Spain because I have friends playing.''

Hot soccer, hot weather.

Two of the best teams in MLS, the Galaxy - who sit in first in the West - and second place Columbus in the East clash Saturday at Home Depot Center. I'll have a complete preview of the game Saturday.

Things are heating up for local PDL teams, too, as the season hits the halfway mark, while in a case of bad timing the Ventura County Fusion leave the cool air of coastal Ventura for the steamier Conejo Valley for their game tonight against the San Jose Frogs.

In other PDL games in the Los Angeles area this weekend:
On Friday - Orange County Blue Star at Lancaster Rattlers at 7 p.m. at Pete Knight High.
San Francisco Seals at Los Angeles Legends at 7:30 p.m. at A.P.U. Cougar Stadium.

Saturday - San Francisco Seals at Southern California Seahorses at 7 p.m. at La Mirada High.

Sunday - Orange County Blue Star at San Fernando Valley Quakes at 7:05 p.m. at Calabasas High.

In the WPSL Saturday - Ajax America Women v West Coast FC at noon at Nansen Field in Rolling Hills Estates.
Claremont Stars v Los Angeles Rampage 5: 30 p.m. at Claremont High.

Sunday - Los Angeles Rampage v Ajax America Women at 5:30 p.m. at Granada Hills.

Finally, former U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team coach John Ellinger has resurfaced at Dallas after leaving Real Salt Lake.

Stay cool.

The biggest crowd of the year so far for a Chivas USA home game - 24,143 - saw a 2-0 win by the hosts Thursday over the Chicago Fire that was thoroughly entertaining to watch.

Actually, it was fun to ask (most of) the participants questions about it too, although Chicago players were obviously not happy.

Here's Sasha Kljestan on his goal celebration that incorporated a Blanco goal celebration routine:

"I was sitting with my friend Benny Feilhaber yesterday and he said if I scored I had to do something about Blanco. He's obviously a bit of a rival for us. No disrespect to Blanco, he's obviously a great player. But I like his (goal) celebration, so I thought I would add it into my little karate celebration. I thought it was kind of funny."

On the crowd:

"It was probably 50-50 out there tonight, if not more Blanco fans. I was trying to get our fans involved early on. We ended up getting the lead and I was happy the fans were into it. ... We haven't had the best home crowds here so far this year. ... The feel inside the stadium just makes the game a little faster. We get pumped. We're excited about these big games and we want to please our fans. Everything just gets a little more buzzed almost when you play a game like that. It changes the game."

On the second half:

"We knew what the second half was going to be like and I thought we dealt with it very well. (Goalkeeper) Brad (Guzan) didn't have to make any huge saves. It was a good team effort."

On his attacking runs in the first half:

"Going at Diego Gutierrez was something I felt I could do tonight, so I tried to make the best of it, tried to make those runs behind him. Just try to use my youth, I guess, a little bit against him. It worked on the one play for the goal so that was good."

Jesse Marsch on what the game meant to Chivas USA:

"This is a big victory for us. More than anything we need to get on a roll. ... I hope we can play like this more often. I hope we break through here and capture the momentum."

Last year Marsch was not happy with the calls Blanco was getting and the refereeing and although he tried to be diplomatic, was similarly unhappy this year, calling one hand ball called against him (Blanco struck the ball) "shaky":

"I'm just running and the ball hit me. .. I have some issues with the referee, but I'd rather not air them. ... In this league I've always seen some of the bigger names get calls. ... Good players get calls sometimes. Refs are fans .... The Blanco thing I think is an issue a lot of teams would bring up about the referees."

Chicago Coach Dennis Hamlett on why his team didn't respond in the second half:

"We felt when it was 11 v 11 we had some very good looks that we didn't finish and now you'd think having a man advantage you were going to get some more chances. We weren't all on the same page as far as getting the ball out wide because the space was there. We just kept forcing things down the middle, playing balls in the air. When they have two guys who are pretty good in the air with (central defenders Claudio) Suarez and (Bobby) Burling it just played into their hands. We needed to get the balls out wide and create some one on one's and whip some balls in. You're going to create some chances because that's what the defence is giving you."

There was none of that a two goal lead is the most dangerous one in soccer from Preki:

"We were very professional, we knew how to play the game with a two-goal lead - a very good performance by us."

On Nagamura's red card:

"I thought it might have been a little bit harsh. I thought his first yellow was a little bit harsh because it was his second foul of the game .. I advised him to be a little bit smarter next time, you can't take a risk like that."

On goalscorer Justin Braun:

"The kid is working his butt off. He has a good mentality. He works hard. He looks for the ball in tough spots. For a guy who was playing amateur soccer three months ago he's doing extremely well and can only get better."

The game story is here.

Highlights:

The second half was exactly as one might expect with Chivas USA up two goals and the Fire enjoying a man advantage; constant Chicago pressure, with Chivas resolutely defending.

Still, the Fire didn't boast too many clear-cut chances that would allow it to cut the 2-0 deficit, with shots going wide or goalmouth scrambles going nowhere.

One could even argue Chivas USA had the better opportunities, Sasha Kljestan almost snatching one with the end of regulation time looming.

The game undoubtedly suffered from the ejection, but the crowd of 24,143 sounded as if they savored every moment from Blanco's yellow card to Kljestan's mocking impression of Blanco's goal celebration after the Chivas USA midfielder had scored in the first half.

The win lifted Chivas USA to a tie with Houston for second in the Western Conference behind the Galaxy.

More later from the locker rooms.

First off, this is a pulsating game, the players being spurred on by a large and boisterous crowd, which makes all the difference.

Chivas USA is leading 2-0 with Ante Razov playing a massive role in creating both, but Paulo Nagamura was sent off after receiving a second yellow card just before the end of the half, likely changing the whole complexion of the game.

Chivas USA had the better of the first half, landing four shots on target to the Fire's one, but Chicago have also looked promising going forward, with John Thorrington linking up well with Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Razov and Sacha Kljestan combined for a give and go for the opening goal in the seventh minute, Kljestan outrunning a Fire defender to fire the ball home from about seven yards.

The second arrived six minutes later, Francisco Mendoza sending a ball down the left win to Razov who sent a quick cross over that was met by Justin Braun at close range. It was the second goal of his short MLS career.

Chad Barrett had a chance to pull one back four minutes after that, receiving a ball in what looked like an offside position that allowed him to get behind the entire Chivas USA defense and forced goalkeeper Brad Guzan to come outside his box in an unsuccessful effort to stop him. But Barrett was unable to apply the finishing touch with the goal open and the Chivas USA defense scrambling back.

Incidentally, Legion 1908 arrived in two buses with a police escort and requested tighter security around them, fearing they could be targeted by Club America fans.

Nothing like a healthy hatred for Cuauhtemoc Blanco to bring out the Chivas USA fans.

A crowd in the low 20,000 range is expected tonight, which would be the biggest crowd for Chivas USA so far this year.

Brad Guzan has returned in goal for Chivas USA (4-6-2) from international duty, relegating backup Dan Kennedy to the bench.

The defense sees the return of Claudio Suarez in favor of Jim Curtin partnering Loyola Marymount product Bobby Burling in the middle, while Cary Talley and Francisco Mendoza retain their full back slots. Jonathan Bornstein, who started the last game as a forward before being substituted at half time, apparently can't win back his left back spot and is on the bench, too.

In midfield, former Swiss international Raphael Wicky is preferred to Atiba Harris in midfield, while Sacha Kljesten (who also will join up with the U.S. team), Jesse Marsch and Paulo Nagamura start as usual.

Up front it's Ante Razov and Justin Braun, who impressed Preki in last week's loss to Real Salt Lake.

Jorge Flores and Shavar Thomas are also on the bench.

Chicago (6-4-1) starts Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe up front, both of whom we learned earlier today, are in the U.S. squad for the Barbados game this weekend.

John Thorrington, who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and has also been called in, starts in midfield alongside Blanco, Logan Pause and Justin Mapp.

The defenders: Brandon "I'll take a vowel for $500 please, Alex" Prideaux, C.J. Brown, Bakery Soumare and Diego Gutierrez man the back line in front of goalkeeper Jon Busch.

The game, in case you forget, is on ESPN2.

So my wife is taking the day off work to watch the Portugal-Germany Euro 2008 quarterfinal (11:30 a.m. ESPN).

I'm going to work in part because of tonight's Chivas USA-Chicago Fire game at Home Depot Center (7 o'clock ESPN2).

What's wrong with this picture?

A preview of the MLS game tonight is here.

Meanwhile, as U.S. Coach Bob Bradley tries mightily to persuade MLS clubs to release players for the largely pointless second leg of the World Cup qualifier Sunday against Barbados, names are filtering out although the complete squad apparently won't be released until Friday.

There have already been Chris Seitz and Danny Szetela sightings at the U.S. camp in Florida and the Chicago Tribune's Luis Arroyave is now reporting on his blog that a trio of Fire players including John Thorrington (Chadwick School) and Chad Barrett (UCLA) will join the team after the Chivas USA game.

Over in Galaxyland there have been sightings in Carson of the mercurial Clint Mathis, former Dutch international Edgar Davids and um, Brian Perk. More at the official Galaxy blog.

Meanwhile, I had hoped to ignore this one (much as I did the baseless rumors about a certain Brazilian joining the team - I'll let you guess the name).

The only problem with the story?

Galaxy officials told me Wednesday they don't have a player with a Brit wife. Except David Beckham. And he's too busy selling underwear to go to mighty Scunthorpe.

Lastly, as expected, the U.S. women beat Italy 2-0 overnight in Korea and advances to Saturday's Peace Cup final against Canada. More here.

Chicago Fire star Cuauhtémoc Blanco isn't doing a pre-game press conference as he did last year to take advantage of the post-Lakers hangover, so the nationally televised 7:30 p.m. game Thursday against Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center will come in with a whimper rather than a snarl.

I'm guessing the hope is Chivas USA doesn't have a pathetically small crowd on ESPN2 before Thursday's prime time game.

Both teams are seeking to end two-game losing streaks and free foam fingers are on offer for fans. (Yes!).

From the (edited) Chivas USA press release regarding defender Claudio Suarez in his final season as a pro:

On Wednesday, Chivas USA announced they would be celebrating The Year of the Emperor', honoring the 20-year career of Suárez.

Known as 'El Emperador' ('The Emperor'), Suárez was for years a mainstay as Mexico's captain, and is currently number two overall in international appearances among male soccer players worldwide, having played for Mexico 178 times from 1992-2006.

Suárez was also a member of Mexico 's World Cup squads in 1994, 1998 and 2006. He was a key player at top Mexican First Division clubs Pumas, Chivas and Tigres, in addition to captaining Chivas USA in MLS since 2006.

Starting with Thursday's match versus the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA will display a series of video tributes prior to its MLS home games at Home Depot Center highlighting important moments from Suárez's career.

In July, during the lead-up to Chivas USA's international debut in SuperLiga, Suárez will officially launch his new biography, 'The Story of a Warrior', which traces his career.

In August, Suárez will throw out the first pitch before the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Meanwhile, a suburban Chicago newspaper caught up with Chivas USA striker Ante Razov, who reflected on his career in the Windy City.

In other news, the U.S. Women's National Team faces Italy in Korea in the Peace Cup early Thursday morning our time.

From the U.S. Soccer press release;

The USA needs a win or a tie against Italy to win Group B and earn a spot in the Peace Queen Cup championship game against Canada, which won Group A today with a 2-0 victory over New Zealand. The USA would qualify for the championship game before kicking off against Italy should Brazil and Australia tie in the match that will begin at 2 p.m. local. The USA won its first two Peace Queen Cup matches by one goal, downing Australia, 2-1, and Brazil, 1-0. Italy has dropped both of it matches so far, falling 2-1 to Brazil and 3-0 to Australia.

Finally, Josh Green, a former assistant coach at Minnesota State, Iowa, and Pepperdine, has been named to the same position at Loyola Marymount University, with an emphasis toward recruiting.

Chivas USA learned Tuesday they will play their third group game in SuperLiga against the New England Revolution at 5 p.m. Sunday July 20 at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium.

If I recall correctly, Cal State Dominguez Hills, upon whose land Home Depot Center sits, restricts the number of games on "week nights" on campus and Chivas USA came up against a number game.

Of course, the Chivas USA SuperLiga game against an American opponent will draw fewer fans than those against Mexican teams.

Chivas USA probably could play the game at the HDC's Track & Field Stadium and comfortably accommodate all fans. But then the lights would bug the neighbors and that's a no-no, too.

From the (edited) Chivas USA press release:

Chivas USA opens its participation in the 2008 SuperLiga on Sunday, July 13, facing Santos Laguna, the current champions of the Mexican First Division, at Home Depot Center. The Red-and-White will then face 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup winner Pachuca, also at Home Depot Center, on July 16.

Chivas USA hosts Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Chicago live at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2.

Meanwhile, the Deseret News caught up with former Real Salt Lake defender Cary Talley (presumably before he was nailed for the lone and winning goal his old team scored against Chivas USA last weekend) here.

After demolishing Barbados 8-0 Sunday in Carson, U.S. Soccer apparently decided not to continue to piss off some MLS teams and released 10 players from the squad ahead of Sunday's return World Cup qualifying leg against Barbados.

From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The 10 departed players are Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundulo (Hannover 96), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids) and Matt Reis (New England Revolution).

Six out of the 10 players started in Sunday's first leg match against Barbados and three players notched five of the eight U.S. goals. Dempsey's goal put his name in the record books, scoring the fastest goal for the U.S. in FIFA World Cup qualifying history, just 53 seconds into the match.

Answer to Monday's trivia question from the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

Former president of the U.S. Soccer Federation Werner Fricker was honored during a ceremony on Sunday before the U.S. Men's National Team's World Cup qualifying match against Barbados.

A memorial located at the northeast corner of Mooch Myernick Field at Home Depot Center was unveiled during the ceremony. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati unveiled the bronze bust and presented a commemorative plaque to Werner Fricker's children: Werner Fricker Jr., Marlene Fricker and Janet Malofiy (nee Fricker).

Werner Fricker, who passed away in 2001, served as President of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1984 to 1990, during which time he led the successful bid to obtain the 1994 World Cup for the United States.

Fricker was born in Yugoslavia and raised in Austria, but emigrated to the United States with his family in 1952. He lived his adult life in Pennsylvania, where he was a star midfielder and captain for the United German Hungarians of Philadelphia soccer club from 1954 to 1969, leading the team to the National Amateur Cup in 1965.

He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y., in 1992.

The opening round of World Cup qualifying last weekend prompted me to take a look at the differences between the U.S. and Mexico given the disparate results the two nations achieved.

Read my weekly column here.

The U.S. Women's National Team, playing overnight in South Korea, notched its second successive victory at the Peace Cup with a 1-0 win over Brazil. USC striker Amy Rodriguez scored the winner just before half time. It was the first game between the two nations since the U.S. lost to Brazil 4-0 at last year's World Cup.

Next up for the U.S. in its final group game in the tournamant: Italy.

Chivas USA learned its group opponents in the CONCACAF Champions League today (providing it gets by Panama's Tauro FC first).

From the (edited) Chivas USA press release:

The winner of the Chivas USA vs. Tauro F.C. pairing will play Santos Laguna of Mexico, either Municipal or Deportivo Jalapa of Guatemala, and the winner of the preliminary round matchup between LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica and the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL First Division in Group D.

Chivas USA also learned today it will travel to Panama City for the first leg of the home-and-home series against FC Tauro Aug. 26 and then will host Tauro one week later, on Sept. 2, at a Los Angeles location to be determined.

Full details here.

Over in Galaxyland, backup goalkeeper Josh Wicks, who has yet to start an MLS game, went under the knife today in Santa Monica for left knee surgery. The San Bernadino native is out 4-6 weeks. Vito Higgens will deputize.

Edson Buddle was named MLS Player of the Week today for his three goals Saturday against San Jose.

Meanwhile, David Beckham was in Long Beach Sunday for a special event.

The U.S. women face Brazil in the second game of the Peace Cup in Korea tonight, which kicks off at 10 o'clock our time.

The U.S. beat Australia 2-1 in the first game, which began at 10 p.m. Saturday our time.

Three teams from Southern California are participating in the U.S. Youth Soccer 2008 Region IV Championships, which started today in Hawaii.

Local teams playing are the Real So Cal (Calabasas) Under-14 and Under-17 girls, Under-16 L.A. Rampage Blue Premier (Granada Hills) and the DMS11 (pasadena) Under-18 Boys.

From the U.S. Youth Soccer Press Release:

The teams will be among the more than 248 top boys and girls U.S. Youth Soccer teams from 14 (Western) state associations competing for the regional title.

A little weekend catch-up with results from the PDL Saturday:
San Fernando Valley Quakes 2 San Francisco Seals 1
Fresno Fuego 3 Orange County Blue Star 0
Ventura County Fusion 0 Bakersfield Brigade 2

On Sunday:
San Fernando Valley Quakes 2 San Jose Frogs 0
Southern California Seahorses 0 San Francisco Seals 0

In the W-League Sunday:
Vancouver Whitecaps 0 Pali Blues 4

In the WPSL Saturday:
Ajax America Women 3 San Diego WFC SeaLions 1
Los Angeles Rampage 0 West Coast FC 2

On Sunday:
Ajax America Women 3 Claremont Stars 0
Los Angeles Rampage 1 SD United 2

Finally, trivia time: U.S. Soccer unveiled a memorial this weekend at Home Depot Center to which former U.S. Soccer president?

Answer Tuesday morning.

Here's a selection of post-game quotes from the U.S.-Barbados World Cup qualifier (and no, none from Coach Bob Bradley - he's a terrible quote):

Brian Ching on the importance of the opening goal in the first minute:

Clint (Dempsey) opened them up in the first minute. ... We capitalized on that the rest of the game."

Landon Donovan on the quick free kick that led to the goal:

"We don't want to wait for the whistle. (The referee) got the ball and makes sure you are set. He said 'you can play if you want.' It's a freebie. We'll take it."

On the progression of the game:

"We felt confident as the game wore on fitness would be an issue. With each goal it gets a little easier because they die a little more. We didn't want to go (to Barbados) having any doubts."

DaMarcus Beasley on the team's progress:

"We're starting to know each other much better. We're not the finished product yet. ... We're supposed to win these games decisively. We're not going to get a false sense of hope."

Clint Dempsey on the same subject:

"We're moving in the right direction as a team, but it's difficult to score against the best teams in the world," he said. "We'd like to score more goals against those kinds of teams.

Quote of the night goes to Dempsey:

"We've got to Barbados and make sure we don't get beat 9-0."

The U.S., by the way, leaves Southern California Monday and travels to Miami where they'll train before leaving for Barbados.

The second leg of the two-game series against Barbados will be played noon Sunday at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados live on ESPN Classic.

Here's a roundup from CONCACAF of today's World Cup qualifiers.

The U.S. will likely face Guatemala, Cuba and the winner of Bermuda-Trinidad & Tobago in the next round.

Read about what Landon Donovan is celebrating here.

U.S. lineup: 18-Brad Guzan; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra, 15-Heath Pearce; 10-Landon Donovan (9-Eddie Jonson, 81), 12-Michael Bradley, 4-Pablo Mastroeni (16-Freddy Adu, 26), 17-DaMarcus Beasley; 11-Brian Ching, 8-Clint Dempsey (7-Eddie Lewis, 72).
Subs not used: 1-Matt Reis, 2-Frankie Hejduk, 13-Maurice Edu, 14-Danny Calif.

The U.S. got its biggest ever win in Carson today, hammering a largely helpless Barbados 8-0, with Brian Ching (almost) netting a hat trick. They gave "his" second goal to an unfortunate Barbados defender for an own goal.

The U.S. must still visit the island nation for the second leg of course, but that will be largely an obligatory exercise and not much more.

Landon Donovan got the fourth (and the 36th of his U.S. career) direct from a quickly taken free kick that took Barbados by surprise in the 59th minute.

Dempsey made it 5-0 four minutes later, sliding home a rebound from 12 yards after Ching had a shot blocked.

The sixth came from an Eddie Johnson header one minute after coming on as a sub for Landon Donovan. He now has 12 goals in 36 games for the U.S.

Brian Ching got the last two, the final goal coming just one minute from the end of regulation time.

More from the dreaded mixed zone later.

The U.S. leads 3-0 after the first 45 minutes and while it's not exactly shooting practice, this can hardly be construed as a competitive game either.

The U.S. went ahead after just 54 seconds, Carlos Bocanegra crossing to Clint Dempsey for the easy goal with Barbados still mentally snoozing on a Caribbean beach.

The U.S. made it two after 13 minutes, a toe poke from Brian Ching being blocked and Michael Bradley following up for the goal.

The third duly followed in the 20th minute, a 21-yard shot from Pablo Mastroeni deflecting off Ching who was in the penalty area. Ching didn't know much about it, but got credit for the goal.

The U.S. eased up after that, playing possession soccer and patiently awaiting the inevitable Barbadan defensive breakdowns.

Mastroeni came off in the 26th minute, apparently with a muscle strain in his left leg and was replaced by Freddy Adu.

The lone "concern" for Coach Bob Bradley: an unnecessary yellow card given to defender Oguchi Onyewu for a bit of argy bargy with Barbados playmaker Norman Forde, who also got a yellow.

For those keeping count at home: the U.S. leads 10-2 in shots.

Gorgeous afternoon and a sparse (but hopefully enthusiastic crowd, observe U.S. Soccer officials) for this afternoon's game in Carson.

Turns out goalkeeper Tim Howard hurt his lower back during practice Friday, which is why Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan earns his eighth cap.

The rest of the starting line-up for the U.S.: at full back are Steve Cherundolo and Heath Pierce, while Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra are in the middle.

In midfield, it's Pablo Mastroeni, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and DaMarcus Beasley.

Up front are Brian Ching and Clint Dempsey.

Coach Bob Bradley has thankfully left the misfiring Eddie Johnson on the bench alongside Freddy Adu.

The Barbados team is littered with the likes of midfielder Jonathan Forte (Scunthorpe United) and Jonathon Nurse (Dagenham & Redbridge) from the lower divisions in England.

The man to keep your eye on for Barbados: playmaker and captain Norman Forde.

Landon Donovan is being honored before the game after collecting his century of caps.

The game is on ESPN2.

It starts here.

Did that get you in the mood for today's U.S.-Barbados qualifier at Home Depot Center?

The game begins at 2 p.m. live on ESPN2 and Galavision.

Here's a game preview from the U.S. perspective and another from the view of Barbados wherein we learn the name of Barbados' playmaker: Norm.

Here's an update on the rest of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers this weekend, including four goals by Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz for Guatemala against St. Lucia.

Meanwhile, Galaxy striker Edson Buddle was similarly pumping in the goals - but for L.A. in Oakland Saturday against the Earthquakes.

Well taken goals, too, judging by the highlights.

Of course, the largest crowd ever to see an Earthquakes game in the Bay Area didn't come to see Buddle - or San Jose for that matter.

Game story here.

Happy Father's Day.

I'll rejoin you later from Victoria Street.

An inexperienced goalkeeper, missing bodies that finally caught up with the team and players who weren't on form collectively contributed to the first-ever Chivas USA loss to Real Salt Lake in Carson.

"I don't think we were sharp, we had quite a few guys that weren't sharp and I didn't think the commitment was good from the get-go," said Preki, adding that's why he hauled off Jonathan Bornstein and Atiba Harris at half time. "Those guys were not sharp."

So why didn't Preki bring in Jorge Flores, who has three goals in the last four games, but couldn't even get on the field tonight for some reason?

"He's not a forward," was Preki's simple answer, although he has sure looked like one. And, um, sharp, too.

Did the absence of regular starter Brad Guzan contribute to the loss? "It could have been different, yes."

Not surprisingly, Preki joined Toronto's John Carver and the Galaxy's Ruud Gullit (what else do these three have in common?) in criticizing the decision by MLS to continue its season as if the rest of the planet was irrelevant despite the World Cup qualifiers that have winnowed the ranks of the best players in the league.

"I'm not in favor of (scheduling games on World Cup qualifying days) although I don't have much say," he said "Nobody is asking me."

Which is part of the problem. It's an arrangement that makes MLS look bush league and gives Euro Snobs yet another reason to doubt its credibility.

Preki only discovered Sasha Kljestan was available for selection at 4 p.m. Saturday leading one to believe he will not even dress Sunday for the World Cup qualifier: "Maybe I'll play a role off the bench," he said hopefully.

Or maybe not.

Kljestan observed once Bob Bradley learned Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley were healthy, he was allowed to play for Chivas USA.

Any positives, Preki?

"At least it's good to see some of these guys on the way back. It's going to take a few weeks until they are sharp. We don't have a few weeks."

Jesse Marsch agreed with the boss that the team didn't look (ahem) sharp:

"First half was lackluster. ... Even though at times it looked like we had the ball a lot and were pressing the game we didn't have enough guys who had high quality games.

Marsch seems to sense the season is threatening to slip through the fingers of Chivas USA already, with just over a third of the season gone. Chivas USA now has six losses on the year, just one fewer than they had all of last season.

"It's frustrating losing at home and not really finding our way other than the three-game stretch (of consecutive wins)," he said. "It has been a tough year for us."

The (misleading) stats.

Game story
(from an RSL perspective).

Chivas USA Coach Preki took off Jonathan Bornstein and Atiba Harris at half time, replacing them with Justin Braun and Raphael Wicky.

It didn't help.

Statistically, Chivas USA held the edge over RSL in the second half in terms of shots. But not on the score board.

Final score: 1-0 RSL.

The Galaxy, meanwhile, defeated San Jose 3-0 with Edson Buddle scoring all three goals for his second hat trick of the season. That's eight goals in nine goals for Buddle this season.

Back with more later.

Real Salt Lake, looking for their first-ever win against Chivas USA in Carson (and their first on the road this season), found something to build on in the first half, taking a 1-0 lead through Robbie Findley, for his third goal of the season.

RSL, which showed more attacking initiative than Chivas USA, deserved the lead. Indeed, Chivas USA were held to zero shots on target.

Chivas USA were fortunate not to be down by more, Dan Kennedy denying a Kenny Deuchar header from seven yards by tipping it over the bar with his fingertips.

The goal came in the 33rd minute, a long cross from Javier Morales finding Findley, who used Carey Talley as a diversion and lured the inexperienced Kennedy from his goal line to score.

Findley almost had a second in first half stoppage time, but this time Kennedy correctly and smartly came out of his box to stop the breaking striker who had got behind the entire Chivas USA defense.

The best Chivas USA chance came from a corner kick, Jonathan Bornstein crossing to a wide open Talley, who managed to scoop his shot harmlessly over the bar in the 38th minute.

The Galaxy, by the way, are leading San Jose 1-0 in Oakland early in the second half, with Edson Buddle scoring his sixth goal in nine games.

David Beckham and Josh Tudela were credited with assists.

A curious line-up this evening for Chivas USA Coach Preki.

Dan Kennedy makes his MLS debut in goal, while Sacha Kljestan also starts.

Does that mean Brad Guzan starts in goal Sunday for the U.S. against Barbados instead of Tim Howard? Does it also mean Kljestan won't even dress tomorrow for the World Cup qualifier?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Also, Jonathan Bornstein returns from injury for the first time since early May - and starts at forward (albeit a withdrawn one apparently) just behind a similarly returning Ante Razov. It's the first start up front for Bornstein since 2006.

On defense, it's Carey Talley and Francisco Mendoza as the full backs, with the central defensive partnership of Bobby Burling and Jim Curtin keeping Claudio Suarez and Shavar Thomas on the bench.

In midfield, it's Kljestan, captain Jesse Marsch and Paulo Nagamura, while Atiba Harris is also named as a forward.

Former Swiss international Raphael Wicky returns from long-term injury and is on the bench, while Jorge Flores drops out of the starting 11.

Real Salt Lake (3-5-3) starts virtually the same line-up that played to a scoreless draw against the Wizards in their last outing, with Argentine Matias Cordoba replacing Andy Williams, who is on international duty with Jamaica.

The game is on KAZA (channel 54).

The starting 11: goalkeeper Nick Rimando; UCLA product Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave and Chris Wingert on defense; midfielders are Dema Kovalenko, Cordoba, former Galaxy forward Robbie Findley and Javier Morales; Kyle Beckerman and Kenny Deuchar are up front.

Pasadena City College's Yura Movsisyan is on the bench.

Distracted as I am with Euro 2008 and this morning's compelling Spain-Sweden game, there's plenty of soccer to watch this Father's Day weekend and the difficult part will be taking it all in.

Let's try.

The Galaxy are on the road in San Jose where the Earthquakes will actually play at the Oakland Coliseum, which is much larger than Buck Shaw Stadium.

A large contingent of Galaxy fans took a bus up to the Bay Area, but hopefully won't spend the game playing spot the striker.

Fans who didn't make the bus will meet at Grunions Sports Bar in Manhattan Beach at at 7 p.m. to watch the game.

Meanwhile, on a decidedly more sober (literally) note former Galaxy midfielder Santino Quaranta details the excruciating depths he plumbed while in L.A. (and elsewhere) in this bare-all account.

Sadly, it's clear the pill popping and boozing (which was suspected by most of us in the press box) accounted for his erratic form while with the Galaxy. At least he's alive.

Chivas USA is similarly challenged with its starting line-up, but at least they're facing a team in Real Salt Lake that have a woeful record at Home Depot Center. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan will suit up for two games in two days though, while Jonathan Bornstein returns.

Incidentally, a special Kid's Pack is available that starts at just $14. For each adult ticket purchased, one child aged (16 or under) gets into the match free.

Coverage begins at 7 p.m. on FSN.

Sacha Kljestan is among the missing for Chivas USA, since he is on national team duty and gave this interview to the MNT blog.

What with the Lakers, the U.S. Open, Father's Day and Trucks Cool City Customs 200 (ahem) going on this weekend, an embarrassingly low crowd is expected for Sunday's U.S.-Barbados match at the HDC so let's pander to the huge expat Barbados population locally: here's your team, lads. Meanwhile, Barbados is as short on depth judging by this help wanted ad as the U.S. is on fans.

In women's soccer news, the international class of Tiffeny Milbrett showed Friday night as she pulled out all the offensive stops for the Vancouver Whitecaps in their W-League victory over the Ventura County Fusion.

In the PDL Friday, the Southern California Seahorses lost 2-0 to the San Jose Frogs.

Very quickly this morning:
*With the Galaxy on the road against intrastate rivals the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday (7 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel), Chivas USA takes center stage locally with a game against Real Salt Lake at Home Depot Center.

A preview from the official Chivas USA blog is here.

Chivas USA, still seeking to draw fans, has a ticket deal for the game.

*Meanwhile, CONCACAF begins World Cup qualifying this weekend and in addition to the U.S.-Barbados game at Home Depot Center Sunday (plenty of tickets are still available) there's a full slate of action.

Mexico's game against Belize airs at 1:30 p.m. on KVEA.

*In the WPSL there are four local games this weekend with Ajax America Women meeting the San Diego WFC SeaLions at noon Saturday at Nansen Field in Rolling Hills Estates and the Claremont Stars at home at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Los Angeles Rampage also host a pair of games: West Coast FC at 7. p.m. Saturday in Granada Hills and SD United at 6 p.m. Sunday.

*In the W-League former U.S. Women's National Team star Tiffeny Milbrett and the Vancouver Whitecaps visit the Ventura County Fusion tonight.

The Whitecaps also play the Pali Blues 1 p.m. Sunday at Palisades High School.

*Lastly, in the PDL Saturday, the Fresno Fuego visit Orange County Blue Star at 5 p.m. at Concordia University.

Have a great weekend and if you can't make it out to a game, I'll be blogging from both the Chivas USA and U.S. games so check back for more details.

(Very) late blogging this evening, but wanted to pass along that:
* Maykel Galindo, who has played in discomfort all season long finally underwent a second hernia surgery Wednesday and is likely lost until early August, the club said Thursday.

From the Chivas USA press release:

Galindo's surgery was performed by Dr. Richard Cattey at St. Mary's Ozaukee Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Galindo played in Chivas USA's 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution on May 11, and has been sidelined since with pain in his right groin. Prior to this season, Galindo underwent surgery with Dr. Cattey in January for a sports hernia on his left side.

Yeah, and that wrecked the end of the season for Galindo and Chivas USA; don't want that happening again to their leading goalscorer (12 goals) last year.

*Chivas USA also learned Thursday that they will face either the Seattle Sounders or - wait for it - Hollywood United in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The (edited) press release:

U.S. Soccer has announced the possible third round pairings for the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, with Chivas USA facing off against either the Seattle Sounders (USL1) or Hollywood United (USASA). Results from the second round of play on June 24 will determine the potential matchups and venues for the third round to take place on July 1.

The Sounders and Hollywood United will play in Seattle on Tuesday, June 24, with the winner determining Chivas USA's opponent for the July 1 match. If Seattle wins, Chivas USA will travel to face the team in the U.S. Open Cup for the second consecutive season, while if Hollywood wins, the Red-and-White will host the team in the third-round match.

The second round of play includes a total of 16 teams from the United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division, USL Second Division, Premier Development League (PDL), and United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) set to compete in the U.S. Soccer Federation's National Championship, the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation's National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.

Thought that headline would get your attention.

But before we get to that revelation, a second female U.S. soccer player has gone down with a serious injury and will miss the Olympics. Find out who here.

OK, onwards with the trivial journalism of the day including this "report" from Forbes Magazine, (whose major contributions to journalism these days seems to consist of pumping out lists) which names David Beckham as the world's fifth most powerful celebrity.

The only other soccer player on the list is Ronaldinho at No. 38, for those who can't be bothered to sift through the entire list.

And here, as promised, is Beckham's take on English cuisine from The Jimmy Kimmel Show earlier this week. (Warning: complete time waster). And thanks Becks, for perpetuating the myths about weird English cuisine.

Finally, this is trivial too, but at least it's for a good cause: if you're in Carson or close by this afternoon a team of Galaxy players will take on a team of Avengers (that's an arena football team for the pigskin impaired) players in a race around a local supermarket grabbing food for a local food bank.

More here from the (edited) Galaxy press release:

"Dash for the Hungry" - a race where players from the LA Galaxy and the Los Angeles Avengers "dash" around Albertsons pushing grocery carts and collecting food to feed the hungry will be held at 3 p.m. today at a store at 200 E. Sepulveda Blvd. (at the intersection of Main Street) in Carson. With only five minutes on the clock, the goal is to collect as much product as possible and raise plenty of money to benefit families and residents who rely on the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank for assistance.

Galaxy players set to race: forward Edson Buddle, goalkeeper Steve Cronin, forward Alan Gordon and defender Julian Valentin.

Chivas USA learned today it will play Panamanian team Tauro FC to open its CONCACAF Chamions League campaign in a two-game home and away series in August and September.

Full details here.

A few quick items to pass along this morning:
*Chivas USA learns its first CONCACAF Champions League opponent today, so check back here for more on that later. The complete schedule will be released Monday.

*A pair of Chivas USA Under-18 players have signed letters of intent with Division 1 college programs. Defender Rod Fahmian (Riverside) will attend UC Santa Barbara, while defender Omar Elmasri, (Arcadia) has opted to play for the University of San Francisco

Meanwhile, Chivas USA has announced the schedule for its youth summer camps, with most costing $75. More info here.

Over at the Home Depot Center's other team, Carlos Ruiz may have only just returned to the field for the Galaxy after injury, but he's on the roster for Ruiz Guatemala's World Cup qualifier against St. Lucia Saturday in Guatemala City.

A bit more about Ruiz' national team and World Cup qualifying exploits from the (edited) Galaxy press release:

Ruiz has appeared 73 times for Guatemala, scoring 35 goals to make him the co-all-time leading scorer, along with former Guatemalan international Juan Carlos Plata. He played his first game with the national team in nearly a year last week when he started and played the full 90 minutes in Guatemala's 2-0 loss to Chile in South America. Ruiz was the third leading scorer in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying ahead of the 2006 World Cup, scoring nine goals as Guatemala narrowly missed out on reaching the World Cup for the first time in their history.

A couple of local minor league teams were playing in the U.S. Open Cup Tuesday with Hollywood United (no, not the version ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones is on) led by two goals from former Chivas USA striker Matt Taylor downing professional opposition and the PDL's Los Angeles Legends losing to Crystal Palace Baltimore.

And don't forget, the second round of Euro 2008 group games begins today at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.

The 21-man squad for Sunday's game against Barbados is exactly the same as the 19-man squad named for the Argentina game with the addition of Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching (rewarded for his five goals and three assists in 12 MLS games so far this season) and defender Carlos Bocanegra.

That means goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan all retain their places, as does Fontana's Maurice Edu.

Unfortunately, that also means AWOL striker Eddie Johnson retains his place, despite the U.S. failing to score in any of its last three games.

The full squad with caps and goals in parentheses: goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (out of contract: 0/0), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 3/2 SO); defenders Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract: 11/1), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland: 1/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 14:0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 0/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 11/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 7/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 0/0); midfielders Freddy Adu (SL Benfica: 0/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 14/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 0/0), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC: 0/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 17/2), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 9/0); forwards Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 6/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/7), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 7/0), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC: 7/7).

Seven of the players on the roster started the last U.S. World Cup game two years ago against Ghana, but eight players have never played in a World Cup qualifier.

The team began training in Carson today.

Thoughts?

Tuesday's column combines your basic World Cup qualifying primer with a look at the U.S. progress internationally since the last qualifier in the LA area almost 20 years ago.

Read it here.

The U.S. roster for the game will be announced later today by the way.

Just a quick post between Euro 2008 games (and let's hope today's second match between Holland and Italy is a helluva lot more compelling than the drab France-Romania encounter that just ended) to wrap up the weekend.

A 10-man U.S. held No. 1-ranked Argentina to a scoreless draw Sunday in New York in it's last game before World Cup qualifying begins Sunday in Carson.

Notable:
*Argentina was held to zero shots on goal in the second half.
*Pablo Mastroeni was ejected in the 70th minute after receiving a second yellow card for "unsporting behavior" when teammate Maurice Edu was also given a yellow for an aggressive take down.

Quotable:

"I think we're getting stronger," said Coach Bob Bradley. "We are understanding what it takes to play in the better games. The first half we had to deal with a lot tactically, and Tim Howard of course made some very big saves. The second half we showed some real resolve, both handling the red card and adjusting to different things tactically at different times. It means that at the end we feel very good about getting a result tonight. We feel good about the depth that we have and these are things that we are building to put is in the right direction."

The U.S. lineup: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 22-Oguchi Onyewu (23-Jay DeMerit, 61), 5-Danny Califf, 15-Heath Pearce (7-Eddie Lewis, 78); 4-Michael Bradley (26-Maurice Edu, 46), 25-Pablo Mastroeni; 8-Clint Dempsey (19-Freddy Adu, 61), 10-Landon Donovan (capt.), 17-DaMarcus Beasley (2-Frankie Hejduk, 91+); 9-Eddie Johnson (12-Sacha Kljestan, 74). Subs not used: 18-Brad Guzan.

I'll have more in my weekly column Tuesday about the start of World Cup qualifying, incidentally.

Meanwhile, in local PDL and W-League action, the San Fernando Quakes came from behind to win, while the Ventura County men and women both won.

In other PDL games this weekend it was:
Fresno Fuego 4 Lancaster Rattlers 1
Los Angeles Legends 2 San Jose Frogs 1
Orange County Blue Star 0 Bakersfield Brigade 2

In the W-League:
Pali Blues 2 Fort Collins Force 1
Pali Blues 5 Real Colorado Cougars 1

More than 70,000 are expected at Giant's Stadium for today's game against the world's top-ranked team and wunderkid Lionel Messi in the final test for the U.S. before World Cupqualifying begins next weekend in Carson.

If you can't get up for this, you're not a fan.

But it's a daunting task: Argentina tuned up for the game by thrashing Mexico 4-1 in front of 68,498 fans in San Diego.

Preview here and more details from the U.S. men's National Team blog here.

Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

U.S. Soccer noted:
*Kenny Cooper, Landon Donovan, Drew Moor and Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan are the four additions to the roster from the England match, while Carlos Bocanegra, former Galaxy forward Nate Jaqua and Josh Wolff were released. Bocanegra and Wolff were excused for family commitments. Cooper and Moor were added late, arriving on Saturday and bringing the roster to 21.

*Four-time World Cup veteran Kasey Keller will be recognized prior to the Argentina match to honor the achievement of reaching 100 caps. Currently with 102 appearances to his credit, this is the first match on U.S. soil that Keller has been available to be recognized since reaching the milestone in the USA's 2-1 win against Canada on June 21, 2007, in the semifinal of the Gold Cup.

*Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan has logged more than 20,000 air miles since May 24 flying back and forth from the U.S. to Europe for club and country duty.

Croatia just beat Austria 1-0 by the way with a suspect penalty call (although Croats will disagree).

An unusual number of good one-liners today, especially from a happy Ruud Gullit who finds his team first in the West.

But in some respects the game bore a strong resemblance to a defeat given the poor second half performance.

"It was a crazy match for a coach," Gullit said. "The second half instead of being 4-0 up you make it difficult, unnecessary. ... We failed I think to close the game earlier.

"The thing is we won the game," he reminded himself. "I have a feeling I'm sitting here and we lost. We won the game."

David Beckham agreed:

"We made it difficult for ourselves because we stopped playing the ball around, we stopped keeping the ball. Being in the locker room there it was like we lost the game."

On the "fan" who ran onto the field, he said:

"I was slightly concerned when I first saw him running up because he didn't have a smile on his face and he wasn't wearing a Galaxy shirt."

Gullit singled out the forwards - and one in particular - for putting undue pressure on the team:

"The defense had nothing to do with it today because it had to do with what you do up front. Ruiz didn't hold one ball for us.

Gullit clearly would rather be sitting at home watching Euro 2008:

"It's a little bit odd for me to play while your players have international duties.It would have been nice for us to have a break.

But he had praise for Ely Allen and his game-winning goal.

"Ely has huge potential and I'm willing to get it out of him, I want to get it out of him and if he has a little bit of pepper up his arse..."

Gullit brushed aside the notion the referee only sent Erpen off because he saw the replay on the big screen saying that had no influence on his decision: "He wanted to talk with his linesman about it. And at the same moment he saw it on screen.

Ely Allen was clearly in a partying mood:

"I'm pretty excited. I haven't let it out. When I get home away from everyone I think it will be pretty crazy."

When asked for the address of the party he said: "Only if you bring the girls."

Game story.

Pitch invasion.

The Galaxy hung on to win 3-2, but this game was much closer than it should have been.

That was partly because Colorado belatedly discovered its offense in the second half - at one point late in the game the Rapids had out shot the Galaxy seven to one.

The Galaxy had looked to be heading for a comfortable win when Ely Allen scored his first MLS goal of his career just after the break, getting on the end of a Pete Vagenas through ball to make it 3-0.

The Rapids pulled back what at first blush appeared to be just a consolation goal in the 74th minute when Omar Cummings beat Sean Franklin down the left and slipped the ball to Colin Clark who scored from 18 yards when Abel Xavier capitulated fell over.

The second Colorado goal came nine minutes from the end of regulation, substitute Herculez Gomez poking home a free ball from a corner after Xavier had missed it, Cronin failed to corral it and everyone else stood around ball watching.

Incidentally, Beckham's bodyguard got involved in the game in the 85th minute when a kid ran on the field, hugged Becks, got nailed by Chris Klein and then was taken out when the bodyguard tackled him.

More from the locker room a little later.

The Rapids lost their shorts on the flight to LA (they're wearing borrowed blue Chivas USA shorts) and are on course to lose this game, too.

The Galaxy are leading 2-0 at the break on goals from Alvaro Pires (his first ever for the Galaxy) and Edson Buddle (his fifth in the last three MLS games, which is good for third place in the league).

Both teams are down to 10 men after a pointless encounter between Alan Gordon and Facundo Erpen just before half time.

The two went up for a 50-50 ball, Erpen kicked at Gordon while on the ground and the Galaxy striker retaliated by stomping on him. Both got straight reds.

In truth it wasn't a particularly compelling half of soccer, the Galaxy spraying errant passes around the field, while Colorado was content largely to sit back in a defensive shell.

The first Galaxy goal came from a corner in the fourth minute, Pires poking home a ball inside the six yard box that had bounced off Buddle into his path.

The second came just after the half hour mark, Buddle getting on the end of a long pass from Abel Xavier up the right wing and beating Erpen for speed.

The Galaxy (4-4-2) can leap frog the Rapids (5-5-0) and claim first place in the Western Conference tonight with a win over a team they've lost to twice already this season.

Landon Donovan is away on international duty with the U.S., while David Beckham has returned from England.

Coach Ruud Gullit has Steve Cronin in goal as usual, but makes two changes to the back four.

Abel Xavier moves into central defense in place of a benched Troy Roberts, while Mike Randolph moves back from midfield to left back for Greg Vanney, who is also on the bench.

That allows Pete Vagenas to make his first start in midfield since the 4-0 loss to the Rapids on the opening day of the season, slotting in alongside David Beckham, Alvaro Pires and Ely Allen. Joe Franchino and Brandon McDonald also drop to the bench.

Up front it's Alan Gordon and Edson Buddle, with Carlos Ruiz (who played 90 minutes for Guatemala in midweek, losing 2-0 to Chile) on the bench, too.

The Galaxy are looking to break a string of two consecutive losses, both suffered without both Donovan and Beckham. Gullit looks to be sending his troops a message with the major changes.

Rapids Coach Fernando Clavijo has a much more settled lineup, although Pablo Mastroeni is with the U.S. team.

Former Chivas USA goalkeeper Preston Burpo gets the start again because of the continued absence of Senegal's Bouna Coundoul for World Cup qualifying.

Jordan Harvey is drafted into an otherwise stable back four with Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen and Rafael Gomes.

In midfield it's Jacob Peterson, Christian Gomez, Nick LaBrocca and Colin Clark.

Tom McManus and Conor Casey start up front for the second consecutive game with Herculez Gomez and Terry Cooke both on the bench.

Germany opens Euro 2008 play against rivals Poland Sunday and after last week's Crew game at Home Depot Center I asked German native Sigi Schmid about the competition in general and Germany's chances specifically.

Long time South Bay resident Schmid, a former coach with UCLA and the Galaxy and a scholar of the game, had this to say:

Q: Who's your pick to win Euro 2008?
A: When you look at Greece having won it last time I think there's a number of teams that can step up and win it.

For some dumb reason I think the Russians could be a surprise team just because of the fact (UEFA Cup Winner) Zenit (Saint Petersburg) had a good season.

They've got four, five players from that team that play a prominent role in their national team. The old thing of bloc building from a club into a national team? There's a certain benefit in that. It seems like things go in cycles, so when a club team does well (and) you look back at past championships a lot of times when a Champions League winner, a UEFA Cup winner came from certain country, all of a sudden that country also won an international country competition. I'm not sure Russia is going to win it, but I think Russia is going to make a little more noise than they have the past few tournaments.

Italy always gets stronger as a tournament goes on and the same goes with Germany.

Portugal has perhaps the most dominant player in the world right now in in (Christiano) Ronaldo so maybe they can climb on his back and he can take them forward from there.

France has all kinds of options, maybe too many options and that could hurt them a little bit.

It should be exciting and there should be some good soccer.

Q:What about Germany?
A: They're are a solid team and they're good and they have a lot of different weapons, but I don't think they were real stellar in their last two tune-up matches. They're struggling at right back a little right now. (Bayern Munich's Philip) Lahm hasn't been convincing completely. They will go as far as their defense will allow them to go.

Q: How will (captain Michael) Ballack react after Chelsea's disappointing end to the season?

A: Ballack can put Chelsea's season behind him, I don't think that's a problem for him and offensively I think the Germans are going to be OK. ... The question is can they keep people off the board in the back? Because I think that's where the question marks are - (goalkeeper Jens) Lehmann, (Real Madrid's Christophe) Metzfelder.

On long-shot co-hosts Austria: As (former Galaxy playmaker and now Austria's Assistant Coach) Andy (Herzog) said, "We're going to beat them all." It's an opportunity for them to shine even though they haven't had the best run up to (the tournament).

David Beckham is back, but Landon Donovan is not for tonight's Galaxy game against the Rapids at Home Depot Center.

Revenge is on some minds.

Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. on FSN.

An unusual number of good one-liners today, especially from a happy Ruud Gullit who finds his team first in the West.

But in some respects the game bore a strong resemblance to a defeat given the poor second half performance.

"It was a crazy match for a coach," Gullit said. "The second half instead of being 4-0 up you make it difficult, unnecessary. ... We failed I think to close the game earlier.

"The thing is we won the game," he reminded himself. "I have a feeling I'm sitting here and we lost. We won the game."

David Beckham agreed:

"We made it difficult for ourselves because we stopped playing the ball around, we stopped keeping the ball. Being in the locker room there it was like we lost the game."

On the "fan" who ran onto the field, he said:

"I was slightly concerned when I first saw him running up because he didn't have a smile on his face and he wasn't wearing a Galaxy shirt."

Gullit singled out the forwards - and one in particular - for putting undue pressure on the team:

"The defense had nothing to do with it today because it had to do with what you do up front. Ruiz didn't hold one ball for us.

Gullit clearly would rather be sitting at home watching Euro 2008:

"It's a little bit odd for me to play while your players have international duties.It would have been nice for us to have a break.

But he had praise for Ely Allen and his game-winning goal.

"Ely has huge potential and I'm willing to get it out of him, I want to get it out of him and if he has a little bit of pepper up his arse..."

Gullit brushed aside the notion the referee only sent Erpen off because he saw the replay on the big screen saying that had no influence on his decision: "He wanted to talk with his linesman about it. And at the same moment he saw it on screen.

Ely Allen was clearly in a partying mood:

"I'm pretty excited. I haven't let it out. When I get home away from everyone I think it will be pretty crazy."

When asked for the address of the party he said: "Only if you bring the girls."

Game story.

The Swiss are lightly-regarded coming in to Euro 2008 and not much is expected of them despite their achievement of making the last 16 at the World Cup two years ago.

Chivas USA defender Raphael Wicky, who played 75 games for Switzerland before joining MLS, agreed to sit down for a brief chat about his homeland's chances at Euro 2008.

Wicky is continuing his rehab from a calf strain (something he also suffered from before the 2006 World Cup) and is getting closer to returning to action.

The Swiss open the tournament Saturday against the Czech Republic. The game kicks off at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN Classic.

Q: What are the Swiss chances at Euro 2008?
A: In the beginning the tournament is more difficult than the World Cup because there are four really good teams in every group. ... If the team passes the group then anything is possible."

Q: Compare the 2006 World Cup team with the Euro 2008 team.
A: Out of the team's 23 players, 15 or 16 are the same. The team is more experienced now. This team is better than the team in 2006. (although he went on to elaborate that the friendlies leading up to the tournament have not reflected that).

Q: How important is it to have playmaker Tranquillo Barnetta of Bayer Leverkusen (32 caps) back from injury just in time for the tournament?
A: He's important. He's important because he's the offensive part. He's fast. But I think you're going to win the game with the defensive part. If you don't take a goal you may win the game. More important for Switzerland than one player is the whole team.

Q: Who are the players to watch for Switzerland?
A: Alexander Frei (57 caps/Borussia Dortmund) - 32 goals for the national team. He's always good for a goal.

Q: Will the expectations of the Swiss public be too high after the World Cup?
A: It's a good thing. Everybody is looking forward to it. People have expectations after World Cup 2006. The expectation is maybe a little too high from the people, but that's a part of the game.

Q: Who will win?
A: Germany is always good in tournaments. (And then he mentioned France, Italy, Holland and Portugal as other contenders).

Televised soccer. Live soccer. European soccer. Domestic soccer. Club soccer. International soccer.

There's something for everyone this weekend and the biggest challenge will be finding time to take it all in. Let's take the plunge.

Euro 2008 begins Saturday with two games: co-hosts Switzerland play the Czech Republic with coverage beginning at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN Classic (and repeated at 1:30 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2); at 11:30 a.m. it's Portugal (with Manchester United's sublime Cristiano Ronaldo) and Turkey on the same channel (repeated at 11:30 p.m.).

No time to watch the games? There's a highlight show at 4 p.m. on ESPN Classic. Game times (if not channels) will remain consistent throughout the tournament, by the way.

I'll be back later today with Chivas USA's Swiss defender Raphael Wicky on his nation's chances in the game and the tournament.

The game with the biggest local interest? The 8:30 a.m. Sunday Austria-Croatia match.

The pick of the weekend's games? The 11:30 a.m. Sunday Germany-Poland encounter, a rematch from the 2006 World Cup you'll recall and what amounts to a derby game between the neighboring nations.

I asked German native Sigi Schmid about Germany's chances when the Crew were in town the other weekend and I'll post that conversation sometime Saturday.

In MLS action, the Galaxy are at home at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Colorado at Home Depot Center. Your faithful blogger will be there.

The U.S. Men's National Team takes on No. 1-ranked Argentina at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN Classic in the final tune-up before World Cup qualifying begins.

Tonight in the PDL, the San Fernando Quakes host the Lancaster Rattlers at Calabasas High. Kick off is at 7:05 p.m.

The Quakes need a win; they lost Wednesday to Orange County Blue Star.

In other local PDL games, the Fresno Fuego visit the Lancaster Rattlers at 7 p.m. Saturday at Pete Knight High and the Los Angeles Legends go up against the Ventura County Fusion at 7:30 p.m. at Buena High.

That latter game in Ventura in actually a doubleheader, as the two teams' W-League outfits take to the field at 5 p.m.

Finally, Jorge Flores didn't score Thursday for Chivas USA, but he's still getting noticed.

And in case you missed it earlier this week, here's the Euro 2008 bracket:

Enjoy the weekend.

Chivas USA lost Thursday to the Red Bulls.

Said Chivas USA Coach Preki:

"We had six, seven, great chances in the second half that we don't connect on and the final pass isn't good enough or the shot goes straight to the goalkeeper. We didn't manage to break them down. They had one play in the second half and that's it. We were solid defensively. We didn't give too many things away. That's how it goes."

Over in Galaxyland, Bryan Jordan has joined the Portland Timbers on loan.

The best thing about San Jose returning to MLS: Road Trip!

From the (edited) Galaxy press release:

For just $65 per person, fans can purchase the package which will include one ticket to the Galaxy's game against their Northern California rivals, round trip transportation from Home Depot Center to McAfee Coliseum and admittance to a special Galaxy Travel Package Tailgate, with complementary food and beverages, which will be held in the parking lot of McAfee Coliseum prior to the game.

Following the game, buses will depart from McAfee Coliseum at 10:30 p.m. and are scheduled to arrive back at Home Depot Center at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday less than nine hours prior to the start if the U.S. National Team's inaugural 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Barbados, which begins at 2 p.m. at Home Depot Center.

Vist http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/t106/pdf/2008/galaxy_sanjose.pdf for an order form which must be faxed to (310) 630-2251 by Tuesday.

Tip of the hat to fans who attend both games.

Congrats to Loyola Marymount Coach Paul Krumpe.

From the LMU press release:

Loyola Head Men¹s Soccer Coach Paul Krumpe is one of 14 former students who will be included in the inaugural class for the West High School Hall of Fame in Torrance. Krumpe and the rest of the class will be inducted at a dinner and ceremony on Friday at Los Verdes Country Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Krumpe is a 1982 graduate of West High School and went on to start all four
years for UCLA, co-captaining the 1985 NCAA Championship team. He then
featured on both the national and international level for the next six
years. He was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1986-1991, earning
more than 40 caps while playing in the 1990 World Cup, the 1988 Olympics,
and the 1987 Pan-American Games.

Since becoming the head coach at LMU in 1998, Krumpe has compiled a record
of 90-85-20 while leading the Lions to four successive NCAA Tournament
appearances between 2001-2004.

Finally, the Pepperdine women's soccer team added an eighth member to its 2008 recruiting class, as forward Karissa Garcia of Roseville signed an intent-to-enroll form.

Garcia, who attends Oakmont High, was co-MVP of the Sierra Foothill League in 2008 and was the MVP in 2007.

The seven previously announced recruits: midfielder/forward Elizabeth Brezden (Anaheim/Canyon High); forward Laura Cole (Whittier/La Habra High); goalkeeper Lacey Heck (Long Beach/Wilson High); defender Kelsey McGovern (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic High); defender/forward Kelsea Smith (Camarillo/Oaks Christian High); midfielder/forward Myriah Stockman (Sandy, Utah); and midfielder/forward Melissa Trammell (Yakima, Wash).

The imminent departure of one Mr. Altidore to Spain has overshadowed tonight's game against Chivas USA as well as last night's 1-0 U.S. loss to Spain.

Oh, and there's a basketball game going on folks here in LA are pretty excited about too.

The Chivas USA game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

The U.S. plays fourth-ranked Spain in a couple of hours.

Note to armchair viewers: the game is delayed until 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2 and 4 p.m. on Galavision.

The U.S. will hope to capitalize on Spain's defensive "issues," while keeping a clean sheet at the other end.

In other European news, the BBC took a look inside the head of former MetroStars player (and now Italy coach) Roberto Donadoni ahead of Euro 2008.

Lastly, apologies to ESPN analyst Tommy Smyth, whose name I managed to mangle in Tuesday's column. I owe you a Guinness, Tommy.

U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage has named a 22-player roster for the Peace Cup in South Korea later this month, the last major tournament for the team before the Olympics begin.

Shannon Boxx of Torrance, Amy Rodriguez of USC and Lauren Cheney of UCLA all made the roster, which will be cut again to 18 players for the Olympics.

Exactly half the roster was on the gold-medal winning team in Athens four years ago.

Released from the recent two-week camp at Home Depot Center that just ended were goalkeeper Kristen Luckenbill, defenders Keeley Dowling, Kendall Fletcher and Stephanie Cox, midfielder Angie Woznuk and forward India Trotter. Midfielder Leslie Osborne tore her left ACL during training camp and is out of the Olympics, you'll recall.

Three recent injury victyims made the squad: goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart (knee surgery), captain Christie Rampone (gall bladder surgery) and midfielder Aly Wagner (double-hernia surgery).

The full roster: goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defvenders Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Torrance), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Meanwhile, fan voting continues for the MLS All-Star game against England's West Ham United.

Here are the top ten vote-getters so far:
1. David Beckham (Galaxy).
2. Landon Donovan (Galaxy).
3. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire).
4. Amado Guevara (Toronto FC).
5. Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew).
6. Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew).
7. Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo).
8. Greg Sutton (Toronto FC).
9. Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).
10. Maurice Edu (Toronto FC).

Two Galaxy players and three Southern Californians (Rogers, Edu and Hejduk) are on the list.

Voting continues through July 2 at the MLS Web site.

Soccer fans will be inviting ESPN's soccer analyst Tommy Smyth into their homes beginning Saturday when Euro 2008 begins so it seemed appropriate to chat with him for today's column in the Daily News, Daily Breeze and Long Beach Press-Telegram..

The colorful Smyth will work with usual booth partner Derek Rae (ESPN have also signed former Scottish pro Andy Gray up as an analyst for the month-long competition, by the way).

I'll have more on Euro 2008 throughout the week including the views of some locals like longtime South Bay resident and now Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid.

*In other news, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan pulled out of the U.S. friendly against Spain (as did West Ham's Jonathan Spector, by the way) and is listed as questionable for this weekend's game against the Rapids.

*Chivas USA learned its third and final SuperLiga opponent Sunday when Santos Laguna captured Mexico's Clausura championship with a 3-2 aggregate win over Cruz Azul. Chivas USA also plays Pachuca and the New England Revolution.

*UCLA goalkeeper Val Henderson and midfielder Tina DiMartino have been called into the U.S. Under-23 camp that opens Thursday at Home Depot Center. The team will play scrimmages against the W-League's Ventura County Fusion on June 9 and the Pali Blues on June 11.

A day after leading England to a 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago, David Beckham insisted (again) that playing in MLS is no impediment to his international career. Judging by this assessment, he's right.

Meanwhile, former England Coach Sven Goran-Ericksson was fired as Manchester City Monday as expected and looks likely to be confirmed Tuesday as Mexico's new coach.

The Galaxy's Ante Jazic apparently did not see action in Canada's 3-2 loss to Brazil in Seattle on the weekend.

In PDL action, the Ventura County Fusion Sunday beat the San Francisco Seals.

In the W-League, the Pali Blues won their third consecutive game.

Better go write my weekly column for Tuesday's newspapers. The subject: Euro 2008.