Tuesday’s Talk

Has the Galaxy’s season already ebbed away, with David Beckham merely making a cameo appearance so far?

That’s the topic of Tuesday’s column.

Here’s the graphic that goes with the column:

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Updated: For another perspective of what it’s like to cover the Beckham circus (when he’s actually on the field), here’s the view of Staff Photographer Scott Varley.

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Monday Post Mortem

The Galaxy drew 0-0 with Toronto Sunday night, a result that sums up the scale of the task facing Los Angeles in the second half of the MLS season if they hope to make the playoffs.

Having a half dozen or so games in hand over other teams doesn’t matter unless you actually win.

I’ll have more on the Galaxy’s second season in Tuesday’s column.

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Sunday Gameday

Beckham, um, Galaxy preview

Two of the worst teams in MLS meet for the first time ever today when the (3-5-4) Galaxy visits (5-9-4) Toronto.

Expansion Toronto, last in the East, reverted to early season form and looked horrible last Sunday when they merely became Cuauhtemoc Blanco fodder in the Mexican star’s debut for the Chicago Fire.

Toronto’s 3-0 loss meant the team has lost the last two games and hasn’t scored in three, but the squad is ravaged by injury.

Out today is former UCLA defender Marvell Wynn (hamstring), goalkeeper Greg Sutton (concussion), dangerous midfielder Ronnie O’Brien (knee) and striker Jeff Cunningham (torn meniscus).

Last Sunday David Monsalve, 18, became the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to start a game (beating the record held by Tim Howard back when he was a MetroStar) for Toronto.

On Friday, Toronto signed Canadian international Kenny Stamatopoulos on loan from Tromso (Norway).

Who knows what Galaxy team will show up after their last outing, a stunning 6-5 midweek SuperLiga win over Dallas.

The Galaxy, without an MLS game since July 4, are essentially starting the second half of their season, although they have busied themselves with lucrative tournaments and basking in David Beckham’s presence, something that’s rapidly becoming a bit of an anticlimax.

And no, he’s not playing today (again).

Coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on FSN.

Ajax America are national champions

Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women (and yes, they are affiliated with the famous Dutch club of the same name) won the national championship Saturday in the Pacific Northwest.

It’s the team’s fourth national title in eight years.

Not too many details in this report (and I haven’t heard from the team that undoubtedly was busy celebrating last night), but here’s what the USASA Web site has on the game.

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Weekend Kick Off

Ajax America Women plays for national title today.

Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, one of the top two women’s leagues in the nation, plays at 2 p.m. today for the national title in Seattle.

Ajax America got to the final by winning 1-0 last night against Connecticuts Soccer Plus, coached by former U.S. National Team Coach Tony DiCiccio.

Now Ajax plays WPSL champions FC Indiana, which beat the local ladies 4-3 on penalty kicks last weekend to win the title.

Ajax, which the likes of South Bay-based U.S. internationals Shannon Boxx and Abby Wambach have played for in the past, must score more against former U.S. international and Carolina Courage goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill than in their last game. Luckenbill, who made her debut for the Indiana team against Ajax and signed especially for the final games of the season, made 10 saves including two from penalty kicks to preserve the victory.

It’s exactly the rematch wanted by Ajax, which ended the regular season 16-0 as Western Division champions for the 2nd straight year, scoring 60 goals and conceding just eight in the process.

Ranked the second best female team in the world by one publication before the WPSL final four, Ajax was missing some key players last weekend, but will have them back today.

England’s Cami Boswell (daughter of Coach Brian Boswell) was ill and didn’t play last weekend, while U.S. Under-21 internationals Kendall Fletcher and Kiki Bosio endured nightmare airplane connections as they attempted to link up with the team upon their return from the Nordic Cup and didn’t make it to Florida.

The game is being Webcast here.

Here’s a bit of background on the national championships from the WPSL Web site:

“The USASA National Cup Finals program is the oldest and most prestigious competition offered to all affiliated teams of the United States Adult Soccer Association. The Men’s Amateur & Open divisions are over 90 years old. The program is also open to any youth soccer team whose players are registered with the United States Soccer Federation.”

Armchair viewing

The Galaxy play Sunday and Chivas USA don’t take the field again until Aug. 18, but there are three MLS games scheduled today including former Galaxy striker Herculez Gomez leading the Colorado Rapids against FC Dallas at 5:30 P.M. on Fox Soccer Channel.

In addition, overseas leagues are beginning play again after the summer break.

The Mexican league resumes play this weekend with at least eight televised games, including a match involving Mexico’s most popular team, Chivas, taking on Pumas at 10 a.m. Sunday on Univision.

Spanish-speakers can get full details here.

Meanwhile, the traditional opener of the English season airs at 7 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel when EPL champions Manchester United plays FA Cup winner Chelsea in the annual Community Shield, a repeat of the May final between the two teams.

The full EPL program begins next weekend.

And as always, the definitive guide to soccer on TV is here.

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Soccer & YouTube

Last Sunday I wrote a story for the Daily Breeze about South Bay-themed YouTube clips.

Now this story has hit.

Check out the video.

YouTube may now be the most convenient place to see MLS highlights (am I the only person who misses the Saturday night highlight show on Fox Soccer Channel?) after launching a dedicated soccer channel earlier this year in conjunction with the league.

And of course there are other soccer videos there, too, such as this one for the L.A. Riot Squad.

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Football Friday

Your Daily Beckham

Surprise, surprise Beckham won’t play Sunday.

The bright side for Galaxy fans: It’s looking increasingly unlikely England Coach Steve McClaren will pick Beck’s for upcoming internationals that conflict with some games at Home Depot Center.

Media columnist Tom Hoffarth looks at the implications of an invisible Becks for TV and the game in general.

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Thursday kicks: SuperLiga, U.S. to play Mexico and MLS

Another chance to see Beckham?

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. for the Aug. 15 SuperLiga semifinal against D.C. United after the MLS team beat the Houston Dynamo Wednesday. (and were helped by Club America).

Another chance to beat Mexico?

The U.S. has beaten Mexico twice this year already, including a come from behind Gold Cup win, but a game at hostile Azteca Stadium is a different proposition altogether.

Here’s more from the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

“The USA has never won a match on Mexican soil, holding a lifetime record of 0-22-1. The last ‘friendly’ in Mexico resulted in a 1-2 loss on Oct. 17, 1984. The teams have played south of the border five times since, the USAs lone goal during that span coming in the 2-1 loss in 2006 World Cup qualifying. Despite the loss, the Eddie Lewis strike in the 59th minute proved to be decisive in the final standings, giving the U.S. a one-goal advantage in goal differential and a first-place finish in the group.

The U.S. has a lifetime record of 14-29-10 against Mexico in a series that dates to 1934. Since the rivalry between these two teams began in earnest in 1990, the sides have played 26 times, with the U.S. holding a 12-7-7 advantage.

Next up on the U.S. schedule: an Aug. 22 game in Sweden. Kick off is at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

And also, the MLS game tonight kicks off at 4 o’clock on ESPN2 with the Kansas City Wizards playing the New England Revolution.

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Adieu Adu

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Freddy Adu has departed MLS to Portugal’s Benfica for $2 million, but we can’t let the former 14-year-old sensation leave without a final bad pun and a Southern California send-off.

After all, Adu was first paraded at Carson’s Home Depot Center before MLS Cup 2003 upon signing a $500,000 contract that made him the league’s biggest wage-earner. His entrance was a media event without equal until David Beckham joined earlier this year.

During his first season with D.C. United, the team’s attendance rose 11 percent, second only to the Galaxy, road attendances jumped 54 percent (making him the league’s top box office draw) and network television ratings leaped 27 percent.

On the field, he first played at the HDC before a capacity crowd in April 2004, scored his first goal in his third game and a month later scored his second against the Galaxy, leaving sprawling defenders in his wake before curling a shot into the net. At MLS Cup 2004, Adu was back in Carson coming off the bench in a D.C. United win over the Kansas City Wizards.

But despite occasional flashes of skill, Adu had his ups and downs.

His form was erratic, he wasn’t a regular in the starting line-up, he sulked, he was benched.

In January 2005, he led the U.S. into what was then called the FIFA World Youth Championship at qualifying games held at the HDC, finishing the run with four successful penalty kicks in five games.

But in December 2006, United traded him after 87 regular season games, 59 starts and 11 goals to Real Salt Lake.

Adu said all the right things when he moved, but it was clear he was already looking forward to playing in Europe, not MLS.

In his last appearance at the HDC on June 17 against the Galaxy, Adu came off the bench, the first time he hadn’t started for Real Salt Lake all season.

Several sparkling displays at the U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer earned him the move.

Although Benfica is no longer the European powerhouse it was in the 1960s during Eusebio’s heyday, it’s still an appropriate move for Adu, Galaxy coach Frank Yallop observed earlier this week.

Not the most physical league in the world, the style of play should suit the 5′ 8″, 145 pound Adu while he matures physically, mentally and tactically.

Adu leaves MLS with largely unfulfilled potential, but at age 18 is far from the failure one alleged commentator made him out to be.

Farewell, Freddy, we’ll see you again in Southern California.

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Galaxy 6 F.C. Dallas 5

That score line pretty much says it all.

In one of the biggest goal feasts involving MLS teams ever seen, the Galaxy outscored Dallas Tuesday to make it through to the semifinals of SuperLiga in a game that managed to minimize the absence of David Beckham.

The Galaxy was up 4-0 within the first 20 minutes of the game, but wise Galaxy fans who remembered the traumatizing 5-4 aggregate loss to the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2003 playoffs (when the Galaxy was up 4-0 at one point in the second game) didn’t budge from their television sets.

Indeed, Dallas improbably battled back, aided by a ultra-sloppy Galaxy defense. Goals were still popping in the back of the net in stoppage time.

It was the sort of game made more entertaining by mistakes. As if to confirm this, Pachuca beat Chivas (so superior to the Galaxy at the Coliseum Saturday) 1-0 in Denver in the other SuperLiga game of the night.

For those who missed the Galaxy game, the highlights are worth seeing here.

Those who missed the game included fans who apparently bought seats just to see the still-injured Beckham. Some of those disgruntled types did show up holding signs included one reading “David, Welcome to America Where People Like You Get Paid to do Nothing.”

Ouch.

The Galaxy’s semifinal is scheduled for Aug. 14, likely at Home Depot Center, just two days after a road game in Boston against the Revs. And Beckham thinks his ankle is sore now.

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz was in Dallas for the occasion and filed this report.

The final two SuperLiga group games are on tap tonight: D.C.United meets the Houston Dynamo at 5 p.m. in the opener, while the Club America-Morelia game follows immediately after that. Both are live on Telefutura.

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