Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Thursday Kicks: InterLiga, Becks & More
InterLiga began Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco and only 8,504 fans took in the first doubleheader played in freezing temperatures.
Not surprisingly there are increasing calls to revamp or eliminate the tournament largely seen as an irrelevant cash cow for the organizers. I could have told them that five years ago.
Over in Blighty the David Beckham for England debate continues to rage.
You can almost hear Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas saying "just give Becks his 100th cap and then let him play out his career with the Galaxy."
A lack of passion and noise from the Galaxy's ever-larger corporate crowd has been increasingly evident at Home Depot Center. We're not alone in dealing with that affliction it seems.
Finally, if you drive by the HDC and wonder what all the activity is, U.S. Soccer has provided the answer in this (edited) press release:
As 2008 begins, U.S. Soccer will kick off the new year in full swing with a total of 11 Men’s, Women’s and Youth National Teams holding training camps during the month of January. The majority of the camps will take place in two locations: U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. The HDC will be the most active location as a total of six different national teams will hold camps during the month, beginning on Thursday when the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams return to action.Also training in Carson are the U-20 Women's National Team and U-23 Women's National Team from Jan. 12-20, the U-15 Girl's National Team from Jan. 20-25 and the U-23 (Olympic) Men's National Team from Jan. 26-Feb. 3.