Humpday Soccer: On Pia and Landon and Becks & More

Blogging issues persist I'm told and I took a couple of days vacation, which is why there was no column Tuesday, but plenty has been going on:

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati responded to critics Tuesday who said the next U.S. Women's National Team coach needed an international perspective by hiring Swede Pia Sundhage for the job. She also coached the WUSA's Boston Breakers, so Sundhage is familiar with the domestic game.

Gulati said Sundhage will hold a minicamp in Carson next month:

“There are going to be some areas where Pia, obviously in the very short term, is going to work straight away. She’s coming to the U.S. in roughly 10 days, will get to the NCAA Final Four. We had a call about 45 minutes ago with a majority of the Women’s National Team members that were in China, and outlined to them that Pia would like to hold a mini camp in December, which was not on the schedule, because she would like to get to know everyone as quickly as possible. And then, she’ll hit the ground running. She has already started working on her staff as well as some other programming issues.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Men's National Team continues preparing for Saturday's game against South Africa without the Galaxy's Landon Donovan, injured in Sunday's 3-2 win over USL team Minnesota Thunder. The game is live at 6 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision.

The U.S. has also scheduled a Feb. 6 game in Houston against Mexico.

Beckham, who got an assist in the Minnesota game, is in England training with his national team with his international career on the line.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis was profiled in today's Boston Globe ahead of Sunday's MLS Cup.

The season is on the line for the UCLA men tonight, while the women face a tough draw in the NCAA Championships.

UC Santa Barbara (12-3-3, 9-1-1) clinched the Big West Conference title with a 3-2 win Tuesday over the Cal State Northridge men (6-7-6, 2-5-4), despite going down by two goals in the first half.

Northridge closes out its season at 2 p.m. Friday against visiting UC Irvine Friday afternoon.

Finally, the Galaxy's youth programs are cranking up:

The Galaxy Rios Under-15 and Under-18 teams held their first training session at The Home Depot Center on Monday night. More than 50 players from various club teams throughout the Southland gathered on Field #5 for the session. Both teams will continue to train throughout the rest of the year and into 2008 at The Home Depot Center while preparing for a series of tournaments, including the 2008 MLS Youth Cup.

And also:

The LA Galaxy’s new youth tournament, Serie de Campeones, kicked off this past weekend at San Pedro’s Field of Dreams, with 56 teams in five different divisions. The local tournament will serve in part to recruit local talent to the club’s development player program, Galaxy Rios. The tournament series will hold its first final on Sunday, with the eventual tournament winner moving on to the series final and having the opportunity to play in front of Galaxy observers.