September 2009 Archives

It appears David Beckham may well play Friday against Chicago at Home Depot Center after all.

He trained with the squad Tuesday and "upped" the pace in practice again today; no adverse effects I'm told and things are looking good for the crucial encounter that could see (depending on results Saturday) the Galaxy make the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Beckham, of course, missed the last Galaxy game with an Achilles issue and was on Monday officially listed by the club as "questionable" for the Fire game.

Incidentally, Chicago Fire midfielder John Thorrington of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is out of the game with a right groin strain, while Cuauhtemoc Blanco is listed as questionable.

Those were my no-brainer picks for the three finalists, too, in the annual award given to the best national team player of the year.

Here's how Fútbol de Primera, which organizes the award, described the three finalists:

*Jozy Altidore (Hull City, on loan from Villarreal) - A first-time finalist at age 19. At just 18, he became the youngest player to score for the United States during a 2-2 draw against Mexico in 2008. On April 1 2009, he also became the youngest U.S. player to record a hat trick when the U.S. won 3-0 in the World Cup qualifying match against Trinidad & Tobago. Altidore has scored 8 goals in 19 games since his debut with the National Team in 2007.

*Landon Donovan (Galaxy) - The 27-year-old five-time winner of the Honda Player of the Year Award, is the only player to be a finalist seven times. Donovan is the all-time goalscorer for the U.S. National Team scoring a total of 41 goals during his 118 games.

*Tim Howard (Everton) - The 30-year-old goalkeeper is a finalist for the Honda Player of the Year Award for the third year in a row. Named best goalkeeper at the Confederations Cup last summer, he has 46 U.S. caps since his debut in 2002

The winner will be named Oct. 20 at The Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A.

Who do you think should win?

Updated: Note the question is who should win, not who will win.

If you disagree with the choice of finalists feel free to comment.

My rationale for choosing the trio: Donovan is simply the best and most influential U.S. player, Howard keeps the U.S. in games against top-class opponents almost single handedly at times and Altidore is the best pure U.S. attacker.

Among other candidates Clint Dempsey is error-prone and had some poor games this year, Oguchi Onyewu needs to be more dominating and Michael Bradley more consistent (and learn to control his temper).

What say you?

The lack of form by midfielder Sacha Kljestan (below) has been one of the talking points of the season for Chivas USA. I took a look at the issue in today's column.

Down but not out? (AP Photo)

I had a few quotes left over that didn't get in the column for space reasons.

Here's Preki on what the club is doing to support him:

"We're doing as a staff and the guys in the locker room whatever it takes to get him where he needs to be. Why is he not performing to the level he can? Honestly, that's a question for him because I try to talk to him every day. The staff tries to talk to him, we try to encourage him to do good things."

Here's defender Jonny Bornstein on the reason for Kljestan's sub-par performances:

"I don't know. All those qualities are still there. Some of the bounces haven't been going his way. I don't know. It's a tough question. It's something that all players go through. I've gone through that myself. You're playing pretty well and then all of a sudden you might get a little nick here, a little nick there and it's kind of hindering you. Your confidence stops being so high and you stop playing as well."

Finally, here's Kljestan on his determination to win back his spot on the U.S. squad in time for next year's World Cup in South Afrca:

"I'm motivated for sure. (U.S. Coach) Bob (Bradley) and I have always been honest with one another and when I wasn't called up he went and talked to me and told me I wasn't going to be going to Mexico. He said we both know I need to be on a confident level and consistent level of play that's equal to the national team. So since then I've tried to refocus and regroup and (I've been) working with Preki a little bit extra and working with the staff and trying to get a few goals and trying to help the team win. So I think if we keep playing well and we keep winning I'll hopefully be back on the team."

Nationally televised on ESPN2: check.

Playoff implications on the line since the Galaxy can clinch their first playoff berth in four years with a win over the Chicago Fire on Friday night and a D.C. United loss to Chivas USA Saturday: check.

David Beckham returning from what was initially dismissed as a 50-50, long-standing Achilles tendon issue: Maybe not.

The midfielder could miss his second game in a row at a crucial time of the season after being one of five players listed as questionable in today's Galaxy injury report ahead of Friday's game.

The complete list:

OUT - Alecko Eskandarian (Head - Disabled List), Julian Valentin (Right Foot - Disabled List)

DOUBTFUL - None

QUESTIONABLE - David Beckham (Right Ankle - Inflammation), A.J. DeLaGarza (Left Knee - Bruise), Dema Kovalenko (Right Achilles - Tendonitis), Eddie Lewis (Left Ankle - Sprain), Stefani Miglioranzi (Left Groin - Strain)

PROBABLE - None

You've got to feel for Eskandarian: his injury is not broken nose or concussion symptoms - it's just "head."

Ouch.

The redshirt senior, who ranks fourth on the team in scoring with three goals and one assist, suffered the injury in the 21st minute in the 2-0 win Friday over Cal State Northridge.

It's a "re-tear" of the right ACL the Canadian international originally tore in her sophomore year, which forced her to miss the entire 2006 season.

"I feel extremely sorry for Kara to have suffered this type of injury during her senior year," said UCLA Coach Jill Ellis. "She is a vital part of this program and I know she will continue to be with us and support this team in some capacity the rest of the season. Kara is a strong individual, and I have full confidence that she will rebound from this injury and continue to have a successful soccer career."

UCLA has plenty of scoring punch elsewhere, but the injury occurred just as Pac-10 play was about to begin.

Lang set UCLA freshman records for both goals and assists in 2005, but her college career is now over.

Sunday's Men's Games
Cal State Bakersfield 1 Loyola Marymount 0
The No. 20-ranked Lions (5-3) fall in their final game before beginning their defense of their West Coast Conference title. Next: against San Francisco 4 p.m. Friday at Sullivan Field.

Cal State Northridge 1 Coastal Carolina 2
A 62nd minute strike from Milan Radovic wasn't enough for the Matadors (5-2-1) to win their final non-conference tune-up. Next: at UC Riverside 7 p.m. Wednesday.

UCLA 3 UNLV 0
Two goals from senior Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates and a goal by freshman Chandler Hoffman in the second half moved the Bruins to 5-1 on the season. Next: a pair of Pac-10 road games against Oregon State and Washington.

Cal State Dominguez Hills 1 Chico State 0
Sophomore Mike Piechota's 61st minute header moves the Toros to 6-3-1. Next: a four-game road trip.

Sunday's Women's Games
UC Santa Barbara 3 UCLA 1
UC Santa Barbara 1 UCLA 3
Forward Sydney Leroux had a brace and defender Jenna Belcher added another goal as the No. 3-ranked Bruins (8-1-1) won their eighth straight game. Next: at Pepperdine at 3 p.m. Friday.

Loyola Marymount 3 Cal State Bakersfield 0
Three goals in the first 25 minutes earned the Lions (7-3-1) the win and extended their unbeaten streak to four games. Next: at Arizona 4 p.m. Friday.

Cal State Dominguez Hills 1 Chico State 2
The second goal in as many games by Oxnard freshman Yadira Gomez wasn't enough for the Toros (6-5) to make up a two-goal deficit. Next: a four-game road trip.

Santa Clara 0 USC 2
The road win makes six consecutive victories for the Trojans (7-3). Next: at home against San Diego 3 p.m. Friday.

Utah 0 Pepperdine 1
Freshman Callie Payetta's third goal in four games was enough for the Waves (6-3) win. Next: at home 3 p.m. Friday against UCLA.

Chivas USA 1 Red Bull New York 1

Game story

Notable: In the 12th minute Red Bulls defender Mike Petke moved into the tenth position in MLS history in minutes played. He's played 24,459 minutes over 12 seasons for three teams.

Quotable: "We make one mistake in 90 minutes and we got punished," said Preki.

It was an extremely subdued locker room as you can imagine. I didn't stick around long and neither did Sacha Kljestan not surprisingly. But a persistant Chivas USA PR type tracked him down and gave us this quote on his performance:

"I'm just disappointed that I didn't help the team win. I think, and we all think, we should've won the game before we let Angel tie it. We had multiple chances and obviously we didn't put the game away. I have the chance on the PK in the last minute, obviously it doesn't go in so I'm disappointed I didn't help the team win tonight."

Chivas had plenty of opportunities in the second half, but couldn't convert any. Chivas USA had 13 shots to New York's four in the second half.

Here's Preki on that:

"It's really hard to comment on a game like this because I thought that we were the better team the whole 90 minutes. It was tough for us to find a breakthrough and once we did we failed to score a second. We had so many opportunities and that's what in the end cost us the game."

Attendance: 14,211

Next for Chivas USA: at D.C. United Saturday.

An absent David Beckham. An invisible Landon Donovan. A Galaxy loss.

The Galaxy went meekly down 2-0 to the Columbus Crew Saturday even though the co-MLS leaders rested the likes of reigning MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, former Galaxy striker Alejandro Moreno and Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers ahead of Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League game against Costa Rica's Saprissa.

They didn't need them against a Galaxy team that yet again illustrated its lack of venom in front of goal, strikes by Eddie Gaven and Steven Lenhart on either side of halftime giving the home team a comfortable victory.

The Galaxy's best attacking moment: midfielder Chris Birchall's stinging shot that smacked off the woodwork in the 68th minute.

The Galaxy's worst defensive moment: the glacial Gregg Berhalter verses Lenhart on the second goal. How many times are we going to see that complete lack of pace/awareness lead to a goal?

Key stat: 23 Galaxy fouls, their highest in a game this year (but that wasn't sufficient to throw off Columbus apparently).

Key omission: Chris Klein, who saw his MLS record streak of consecutive MLS games snapped at 141, the first time in four years he had missed a game for his club.

Quotable:

"We weren't going to beat them tonight," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told The Columbus Dispatch. "We were just second all night."

Game story.

Galaxy XI: Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza (Alan Gordon 54'), Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant (Eddie Lewis 62'), Stefani Miglioranzi (Jovan Kirovski 34'), Chris Birchall, Sean Franklin, Landon Donovan©, Brian Jordan, Edson Buddle.

Updated playoff standings.

Next: Chicago Fire 8 p.m. Friday at Home Depot Center (and live on ESPN2)

Chivas 1 New York Red Bulls 1

Chivas USA let three points get away in this one, two ball-watching defenders (Jonathan Bornstein and Yamith Cuesta for those of you keeping count at home) allowing Juan Pablo Angel to get his 10th goal of the campaign with a determined header off a Sinisa Ubiparipovic six minutes from the end of regulation time.

That was his 46th career goal in all competitions for New York making Angel the all-time franchise leader in that department (he had been tied with Clint Mathis).

Things got even worse two minutes into stoppage time when an Andrew Boyens handball resulted in a penalty kick that Sacha Kljestan missed when he limply shot the ball wide, pretty much summing up his season.

Chivas USA had looked far livelier in the second half than they did in the opening 45 minutes and appeared to deserve the win - and the three points - until the late-game lethargy and missed golden opportunity struck.

Maicon Santos twice went close in the second half, notably pinging a ball off the bar in the 74th minute.

Preki will rue the missed chances as he attempts to solidify a shaky-looking team ahead of the playoffs. For Kljestan it was a cruel way to end the game.

And it was just New York's second point on the road all season.

I'll have more later.

Chivas USA 1 New York 0

Just as I was contemplating doing a "what is wrong with Sacha Kljestan column?" he scores a goal out of absolutely nowhere.

Actually, it came just after he'd moved from an isolated position wide left to a more central position and it immediately resulted in a booming 25 to 30 yard strike in the 64th minute that gave Bouna Coundoul no chance.

Hopefully that will enliven this game.

Chivas USA 0 New York Red Bulls 0

This is a scrappy, disjointed affair with more errant passes and impotent runs than quality scoring opportunities.

Each side had just one half decent chance at goal.

Chivas USA's came in the 11th minute, Brazilian Maicon Santos almost making the Red Bulls pay for a poor clearance, which fell to Paulo Nagamura. His shot hit Santos on his instep and the resultant ricochet flashed just wide of the post.

New York's opportunity came from a Danleigh Borman corner kick, which Dane Richards almost turned in at the near post.

New York finished without a shot on target and Zach Thornton didn't have to make a save. Chivas USA weren't much better; they had one shot on target

BTW, I should note Gerson Mayen and Jorge Flores are missing for Chivas USA. Mayen played the full 90, while Flores was a 36th minute sub in the 3-0 U.S. loss to Germany today at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.

And no, the game wasn't as close as the score suggests; the U.S. were thoroughly outplayed by a team just as fit and strong as them, but far more skillful and tactically aware.

Updated: Striker Maykel Galindo has come in for midfielder Jesus Padilla as the second half begins, in what is an obvious attempt at trying to find more firepower.

The Galaxy's 2-0 loss in Columbus earlier today (more on that later) has given Chivas USA the opportunity to pull within one point of their intrastadium rivals with two games in hand. But they need to win today to accomplish that.

Preki makes just one enforced change to the team that drew 0-0 with Seattle last time out, Carey Talley coming in for the suspended Marcelo Saragosa, shown a red card against the Sounders.

Chivas USA XI: Thornton, Talley, Bornstein, Cuesta, Jazic, Padilla, Lahoud, Nagamura, Kljestan, Braun, Santos.

Galindo and Lillingston are on the bench.

Preki will undoubtedly hope to finish the game with 11 men; Chivas USA has had players ejected for the last three games in a row.

Juan Pablo Angel leads the attack for the woeful Red Bulls.

The game is on Fox Soccer Channel.

Friday's Men's Games

Cal State Dominguez Hills 4 Cal State Stanislaus 1
The Toros scored four unanswered second half goals to get the win.

Cal State Northridge 0 University of Denver 0
CSUN extend unbeaten streak to six.

San Diego 1 UCLA 2
Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa scored a PK in the win for the Bruins.

Friday's Women's Games

Pacific 2 USC 3
The Trojans score three goals in 10 minutes to overcome a two-goal deficit.

Cal State Dominguez Hills 1 Cal State Stanislaus 0
CSUDH have never lost to CSS; their record is 17-0.

Cal State Northridge 0 UCLA 2
Bruins extend winning streak to seven games.

Arizona State 1 Pepperdine 0
Pepperdine fall to 5-3.

Loyola Marymount 1 Cal State Long Beach 0
Lions extend unbeaten streak to three games.

The tight MLS playoff race

The Galaxy meet the Columbus Crew at 4:30 p.m. today and there are four viewing parties locally.

There's no David Beckham.

Chivas USA faces a must-win game against the hapless Red Bulls at 7:30 p.m. at Home Depot Center (or on Fox Soccer Channel).

Injuries and more injuries are the story of this one so far.

Key fact: New York are the only MLS team not to have won on the road this season.

I'll blog from the game, so join me then.

The latest player to go down: midfielder Bojan Stepanovic, out four to six weeks - essentially the season then - with "a dislocated patella in his right knee" suffered Wednesday in the game against that other Chivas.

Didn't he just get here?

And I bet Preki was thrilled this happened in a friendly.

Also, the elderly Ante Razov, who supposedly still has a playing career even though he hasn't played since the Middle Ages, underwent yet more surgery this week.

From the Chivas USA press release:

Razov has undergone successful surgery on his left ankle. The procedure, a repair of the Achilles tendon and removal of bone spurs, was performed on Wednesday ... in Santa Monica. Razov, who was already on the team's disabled list due to the injury, is expected to miss up to four to six months while recovering from the surgery.

And how do they know the surgery was successful already? By the fact he lived, perhaps? Because if the definition of "successful surgery" is playing pro soccer again we'd better wait and see.

Chivas USA faces the New York not so Red hot Bulls Saturday at Home Depot Center.

Coach Bruce Arena told reporters in Columbus today that despite the injury being a 50:50 thing, the club would leave David Beckham in L.A. as a precaution with what's described as an achilles tendon issue. He's likely to only miss the one game, although it's a big one at this stage of the season - the Crew are tied for the top spot in MLS with Houston, with the Galaxy lurking just two points behind.

BTW, full back A.J. DeLaGarza, who missed the last game with a bone bruise on his knee, did make the road trip and could feature in Saturday's game.

In men's soccer Thursday, Loyola Marymount beat Riverside 1-0 in a non-conference game at Sullivan Field, freshman Chris Bernardi scoring the winner with just 3:41 left in the second half. The No. 20-ranked LIons move to 5-2 on the season ahead of Sunday's 7 p.m. home game and final non-conference match of the year against Cal State Bakersfield (3-3-1).

In other local college games this weekend:

*The Cal State Northridge women (4-5) meet No. 3-ranked UCLA (6-1-1) at 4 p.m. today at Matador Field. UCLA are without suspended Coach Jill Ellis and striker Sydney Leroux; the Bruins are also likely without senior Lauren Cheney, who is training with the U.S. Women's National Team at Home Depot Center. The big draw: $1 dogs.

*The 5-1 Matadors men are at Cal State Fullerton for a tournament this weekend. They play Denver (2-2-1) at 5 p.m. today and Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. Sunday at Titan Stadium.

*The UCLA men (3-1) travel to meet San Diego (4-2) at 7 o'clock tonight and host UNLV (4-1-2) at 5 p.m. Sunday

*The Loyola Marymount Women (5-3-1) meet Long Beach State (4-4-0) at 4 p.m. today at Sullivan Field and Cal State Bakersfield (4-6-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the same venue.

*After losing 1-0 to Cal State L.A. Wednesday, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men hosts Cal State Stanislaus at 7 o'clock tonight and Chico State 2 p.m. Sunday in a pair of games at Toro Stadium; the CSUDH women meet their counterparts from the two schools at 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. at the same venue respectively after beating Cal State L.A. 1-0 Wednesday.

As usual far too much soccer on the box to take it all in, so click to the link on the right for all the details.

Here are my picks for what to watch:

*4:30 a.m. Saturday ESPN2 Portsmouth-Everton
*6:55 a.m. Saturday ESPN Classic U.S.-Germany (delayed) at the U-20 World Cup.
*7 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Liverpool-Hull City
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Fulham-Arsenal
*11 a.m. Saturday GolTV Barcelona-Malaga
*2 p.m. Saturday FSC Inter Milan-Sampdoria (delayed)
*4:30 p.m. Saturday FSN Crew-Galaxy
*7:30 p.m. Saturday FSC Chivas USA-Red Bulls

*9:55 a.m. Sunday Galavision Brazil-Costa Rica at the U-20 World Cup
*10 a.m. Sunday KVEA Pumas-CD Guadalajara
*11:30 a.m. Sunday FSC AC Milan-Bari
*Noon Sunday Telefutura D.C. United-San Jose

Maybe, according to this report.

Guess we'll find out Friday.

And right after Beckham perhaps played the best game of his Galaxy career, too.

It's the second consecutive season opener for Chivas USA against the Rapids.

The Galaxy's game against New England will be shown nationally on Fox Soccer Channel.

MLS announced their games for the opening weekend this morning; the complete league schedule is slated for release in February.

Here are the details from MLS.

CD Guadalajara 2 Chivas USA 0

I "watched" this one on TV and this description of the alleged action by reporter Phil Collin is apt: "The first half was like a family reunion with everyone sitting in the living room trying to dream up something to talk about."

Still, that didn't prevent a Chivas USA player from suffering a potentially serious injury (bet Preki is thrilled with that).

Find out who and read the game story here.

Lineups:

Chivas USA - Jon Conway, Carey Talley (Mariano Trujillo 46), Shavar Thomas, Claudio Suárez, Bojan Stepanovic (Michael Lahoud 44), Jesús Padilla (Yamith Cuesta 53), Marcelo Saragosa, Paulo Nagamura (Cesar Zamora 46), Sacha Kljestan (Justin Braun 46), Maicon Santos (Chukwudi Chijindu 46), Maykel Galindo

Chivas de Guadalajara - Luis Michel (Hugo Hernandez 85), Edgar Mejia (Edgar Solis 65), Aaron Galindo (Jonny Magallon 46), Hector Reynoso, Omar Esparza, Amaury Ponce (Ramon Morales 46), Patricio Araujo, Gonzalo Pineda (Mario DeLuna 46), Xavier Baez (Omar Arellano 46), Marco Fabian (Julio Nava 72), Omar Bravo (Sergio Avila 62)

Here's the latest on whether the U.S. qualifier will be moved, which could well help the American cause if it's played in another country:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Soccer officials are watching the security situation in Honduras, hoping they won't have to move next month's World Cup qualifier against the United States.

Airports have been closed since Monday, when violence began after ousted President Manuel Zelaya returned to Tegucigalpa.

The United States is to play Honduras in San Pedro Sula Oct. 10 and would clinch its sixth straight World Cup berth with a win.

"It's too early to stay where it stands, but certainly we'll watch what's going on," FIFA
executive committee member Chuck Blazer said Wednesday. "The preference is to obviously keep it on site."

Blazer, the secretary general of the Confederation of North and Central American Football, said a decision will be made by FIFA in consultation with CONCACAF.

He said he hopes for a determination next week and said it will be depend on security and airport access.

"We're continuing to monitor the situation and in contact with CONCACAF and FIFA," U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said.

And here's Donovan on the U.S. team:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Landon Donovan occasionally forgets just how young and inexperienced the U.S. national team is.

"Sometimes you get frustrated and you want us to handle things more maturely, but then you realize what we're dealing with," the midfielder said Wednesday. "The hope is that we're learning a lot, we can still get through qualifying, and when the World Cup comes we're better for it."

The next test: a road match at Honduras on Oct. 10, when the Americans can clinch their sixth straight World Cup berth with a win.

Donovan was in New York on Wednesday with former U.S. teammate Brian McBride and retired Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos to play a new educational video game with high school kids. The game, from Visa, uses soccer to teach financial literacy.

The U.S. failed to win its first three road qualifiers this year before finally earning a
victory at Trinidad and Tobago on Sept. 9. And that was only a 1-0 decision after a listless first half.

As Donovan was quick to point out, the United States can still secure a spot even if it fails to win at Honduras. The Americans would just need a tie against Costa Rica in Washington, D.C., four days later. They're 17-0-1 at home in qualifying since 2001.

The 27-year-old Donovan knows what's in store at San Pedro Sula: heat, humidity, a hostile crowd and a harsh field.

"It probably won't look much like a typical soccer game," he said. "It will probably be pretty scrappy."

While Donovan is well aware that the U.S. can still advance without a victory at Honduras, he doesn't need to be reminded of what can happen in soccer when a team's fortunes rest on just one game.

"I don't want to leave that to chance," he said. "We've all been in games where you just pummel a team for 90 minutes and they sneak a goal somehow and they end up winning," Donovan added. "It's not easy. We're going to go with the mentality that that is the game we need to win. If not, it's going to be a little hectic, a little pressure-packed."

For those of you not heading to tonight's Chivas-Chivas USA game at 8 o'clock in Pasadena, know that Galavision will carry the friendly live.

Read what players think of the game here.

Incidentally, this game is being billed as the first between the teams in American soil because the two met in a charity game in Guadalajara two years ago. However, that game featured guest players on both squads so technically today's game is the first proper game between the two clubs - period.

I'm guessing Chivas USA's Marcelo Saragosa will get quite a few minutes after MLS suspended him Monday for an additional game and fined him an extra $500 for his unnecessarily spiteful little flick of his foot on Fredy Montero's throat/neck in the 72nd minute of Saturday's game in Seattle. Total damage for the moment of stupidity: $1,000 fine and missing crucial games against the New York Red Bulls this weekend and D.C. United Oct. 3.

BTW, MLS Cup is off the ABC schedule and on the ESPN one - in prime time up against Sunday Night Football. Read the rationale behind the move here.

Still friends, even after the game

Lakers player Jett Hays, 7, left, and buddy Timmy Kacius, 7, of the Green Angels leave the Hull at Levy Field in Torrance Saturday on the second weekend of American Youth Soccer Organization play in AYSO Region 15. The Lakers won 3-2 with Jett scoring two goals. (Photo by Tim Kacius).

I previewed Wednesday's Chivas USA-CD Guadalajara game Wednesday at the Rose Bowl. Read the column here.

BTW, two Chivas USA players - Gerson Mayen and Jorge Flores - won't play because they, along with UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk and midfielder Michael Stevens, are in Egypt preparing for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup that starts Thursday.

ESPN will show all 52 games from the tournament, most on ESPN 360.com.

All three of the U.S. group games will be on TV, however:

*6:55 a.m. Saturday ESPN Classic U.S.-Germany
*9:40 a.m. Tuesday ESPN2 U.S.-Cameroon
*9:40 a.m. Oct. 2 ESPN2 U.S.-Korea

ESPN will also show the final Oct. 16.

A tournament preview is here.

Sunday's games:

SMU 1 Cal State Northridge 2
The Matadors won the Prego Italian Express Invitational in Dallas by finishing as the only undefeated team; seniors Cameron Sims and Dylan Riley got the goals while
sophomore Rafael Garcia provided two assists in the win over the hosts.

Pepperdine 1 Sacramento State 0
Freshman Callie Payetta's second goal in two games gave the 5-2 Waves the win.

UCLA 5 Missouri 0
The Bruins won their sixth straight with sophomore Sydney Leroux getting things started with a goal after just 77 seconds; she was later red-carded, as was UCLA Coach Jill Ellis in separate incidents.

San Diego State 2 Cal State Long Beach 1
The 49ers fall to 4-4 despite a goal from sophomore Nicole Hubbard.

Oklahoma 0 USC 1
Courtney Garcia's ninth-minute goal gave the Trojans (5-3) their fourth straight win.

Loyola Marymount 3 Dartmouth 2
Two goals from junior Rafael Baca at the San Diego Nike Classic gave the 18th-ranked Lions (4-2-0) the win over No. 5 Dartmouth.

Loyola Marymount 2 Utah 2
LMU twice came back from a goal down to earn a 2-2 double-overtime draw to go undefeated at the UCLA Women's Cup.

Galaxy 2 Toronto FC 0

Game story

Toronto's Nick Garcia paid close attention to Edson Buddle. (AP Photo).

Best line of the night goes to Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena explaining why last weekend's debacle and this Saturday's game were so dissimilar:

"In all honesty Dave Sarachen coached the team last week and this week I was fully in charge."

Arena on the differences between last week and this week:

"Last week's game against Dallas was a lesson for us and hopefully it got our attention. It appears like it did and if that makes us a better team down the stretch, great. I'm not sure I did anything different this week than I did last week. It is was it it is. There's an expression: shit happens. And it certainly happened last week. I can't explain it. I'm happy it passed though."

Arena on Sean Franklin's progress:

"Sean probably learned a lot through observing over the last three to four months. ... He played a very intelligent game tonight. I would have thought that after some of the runs he made tonight in the first half his runs were certainly going to be limited. ... Sean worked his tail off the past four months and got himself into the sort of physical condition you saw tonight. It was remarkable. ... I'm still shocked we got 90 minutes out of him. He looked like a much more mature player than I saw last year."

David Beckham on the rebound win:

"This week we worked well in training. The manager shouted at us every day and sometimes you need a kick up the backsides to get going and we deserved it - we deserved a kick up the backside after last week.

On whether this was his best performance in a Galaxy jersey:

"I don't know I've had a couple of good ones and a couple of bad ones, but tonight I was happy with my goal. I'm always happy when I score. I was happy with the assist I gave to Landon, then to Eddy, but it was the overall performance of the team that was the exceptional thing tonight.

On his rapport with Chris Burchall:

"He's come in, he's worked really hard for the team and he's done well. We understand each other with the language thing so it works well."

Here's Burchall on his role in the game:

"It gives a license for David to get forward and take a bit of a risk because I'll be filling in from behind. It's the way I like it and it's just nice to get 90 minutes."

Highlights

Seattle Sounders 0 Chivas USA 0

Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid threw out the first pitch Friday at the Mariners-Yankees game. (AP Photo)

Ghastly offense (as usual), generally excellent defense (as is customary) gave Chivas USA the road point today.

Marcelo Saragosa excepted, of course, after throwing the most blatant kung fu kick at a soccer game since Eric Cantona. How many consecutive games with a red card is that for Chivas USA now? Chivas USA were forced to play a man down for the last 20 minutes or so.

Notable: Zach Thornton was man of the match, three excellent saves keeping Chivas USA in the game.

Quotable: "We knew it was going to be a tough game here," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "We knew that they were desperate for points like we are. We knew defensively we had to be very strong and not allow them to get behind us. I thought we worked really hard and Zach [Thornton] made a couple saves for us and we got the point."

Chivas USA XI: Zach Thornton, Marcelo Saragosa, Jonathan Bornstein, Yamith Cuesta (Claudio Suarez 66), Ante Jazic, Jesus Padilla (Maykel Galindo 59), Michael Lahoud (Mariano Trujillo 58), Paulo Nagamura, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun, Maicon Santos.

The missing: DF Jim Curtin (L ankle surgery); MF Kevin Harmse (R knee tendonitis); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee surgery); FW Ante Razov (R ankle tendonitis); MF Sasha Victorine (concussion); GK Lance Parker (R quad strain); FW Eduardo Lillingston (R knee sprain); and MF Jesse Marsch (L calf strain).

Game story.

Highlights

Galaxy 2 Toronto FC 0

Edson Buddle made it two in the 83rd minute, stroking home the ball from seven yards out off a one-time pass from Landon Donovan who had tapped along a low David Beckham cross. That's Buddle's fifth goal of the season and his second in two games.

The Galaxy should have scored more, Beckham most notably squandering an opportunity in the 80th minute after Chris Birchall had again set him up with a pass from a long Landon Donovan cross field ball.

Still, Becks was the Galaxy's man of the match tonight, looking busier and more interested than he has for some time. He received a huge ovation when he was replaced by Jovan Kirovski in the 89th minute.

The win means the Galaxy keep pace with Houston (who beat Real Salt Lake 3-2 tonight) and remain second in the Western Conference.

BTW, 10-man Chivas USA drew 0-0 with the Seattle Sounders after Marcelo Saragosa got himself sent off 20 minutes from the end of regulation with a stupid and nasty-looking foul on Fredy Montero.

More later.

Galaxy 1 Toronto 0

Better from the Galaxy this week (could it get any worse?) helped considerably by a brittle-looking Toronto defense.

David Beckham could have had a second goal just before the break, a Julian de Guzman headed clearance of an Eddie Lewis cross falling perfectly for Becks about 22 yards out. He sent a slashing shot pinging off the foot of the far post with the goalkeeper beaten.

Becks also saw a free kick almost sneak in at the near post in the 25th minute

The Galaxy have also looked vulnerable at the back on occasion too, notably when de Guzman sent Ali Gerba through. Gerba's slight touch from seven yards out required a sprawling Donovan Rickets to get a foot on it to deny the goal.

Chris Klein is out warming up, BTW, so it looks like he'll come on at the half. One press box colleague believes it's Chris Birchall who will come off, so we'll see. (Updated: Klein came in for Eddie Lewis, who has a left ankle sprain).

Key stat: one shot for Toronto in the first half.

Galaxy 1 FC Toronto 0

David Beckham just scored his second goal of the season in the ninth minute with a delightful run that allowed him to evade two defenders and slide it home from about 14 yards.

Chris Birchall, wide on the right, had intelligently pulled the ball back and found Beckham on the fringe of the penalty area.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena hasn't exactly rung the changes despite last weekend's record-setting 6-3 home loss to Dallas.

Sean Franklin has recovered from injury and replaces A.J. DeLaGarza (knee bruise) at right back in his first start since May, Chris Birchall makes his second MLS start in midfield, while Landon Donovan moves up front to partner Edson Buddle, perhaps the lone bright spot for the Galaxy last week when he came on as a sub.

Jovan Kirovski drops to the bench.

Galaxy XI (4-4-2): Donovan Rickets, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Stefani Miglioranzi, Eddie Lewis, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

Toronto FC designated player Julian de Guzman makes his MLS debut in what is his first game since the Gold Cup.

Ali Gerba is the lone front runner for Toronto in a 4-5-1 formation. And check out that strong Toronto midfield.

Toronto XI: Stefan Frei, Marvell Wynne, Nana Attakora, Nick Garcia, Jim Brennan, Sam Cronin, Julian de Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario, Amada Guevara, Chad Barrett, Ali Gerber.

The game is on Fox Sports West.

Loyola Marymount 1 Missouri 0
Senior Lacey Bartels scored in the 57th minute and senior Allyssa Clark recorded her fifth shutout of the season as LMU upset No. 26 Missouri 1-0 in the opening game of the UCLA Women's Cup

UCLA 6 Utah 1
Lauren Cheney scored twice in the UCLA Cup romp that saw head coach Jillian Ellis pick up the 200th coaching victory of her UCLA career.

Oklahoma State 0 USC 1
Freshman Samantha Johnson's 41st minute strike was enough for the 4-3 Trojans to beat No. 21 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.

Cal State Northridge 2 Tulsa 1
Two goals in three minutes from Dylan Riley and Sunghyun Kim gave the Matadors (4-1-0) their second come-from-behind victory in as many games to beat the Golden Hurricane (2-3-1) in the opening game of the Prego Italian Express Invitational.

Long Beach State 3 Pepperdine 1
LBSU improved its record on the season to 4-3, while Pepperdine fell to 4-2 in the game at George Allen Field.

Cal State Northridge 1 Hawaii 0
Junior Kellie Drenner, who missed all of last season due to injury, made 12 saves in goal for the Matadors, while fellow junior Farryn Townley scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

San Francisco State 1 Cal State Dominguez Hills 2
West (Torrance) High product Jessica Murphy scored twice for the Toros in the road win.

San Francisco State 1 Cal State Dominguez Hills 2
Kevin Gallaugher's second half goal gave the 3-2-1 defending national champions the victory.

Michigan State 3 Loyola Marymount 0
No. 15 beat No. 18 as the Lions two-game winning streak was snapped at the San Diego Nike Classic

Your assigned reading.

Chivas USA-Seattle Sounders Noon FSC:

* Former Galaxy midfielder Vagenas on facing Chivas USA.

* Sounders-Chivas USA: Advantage Goats.

* The Cuban connection.

Galaxy-Toronto 7:30 p.m. FSC

* Game preview from Phil Collin.

* Will we see Chris Birchall in the Galaxy's midfield?

* Galaxy's Dunivant has inside scoop on Toronto.

* De Guzman ready for Toronto debut.

I'll blog from the HDC tonight.

How busy will this weekend be for soccer on TV?

Colorado and San Jose get things under way at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 in a rare Friday evening game.

Oh, and last night the UCLA men beat their Cal State Fullerton counterparts, 2-1. Game story.

For an exhaustive listing of every available game click the live soccer TV link to the right.

But here are my picks for the games to watch, followed by the local college action you can see live this weekend:

Saturday
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Aston Villa-Portsmouth
9:30 a.m. FSC West Ham United-Liverpool
Noon FSC Seattle Sounders-Chivas USA
1 p.m. GolTV Barcelona-Athletico Madrid
7:30 p.m. Prime Galaxy-Toronto

Sunday
5:25 a.m. Setanta Manchester United-Manchester City (I don't usually list games on this pay TV service, but Setanta is having a free preview - at least on DirecTV - that ends Sunday).
-8 a.m. FSC Chelsea-Tottenham Hotspur
10 a.m. ESPN2 Xerez-Real Madrid
Noon Telefutura Chicago Fire-Columbus Crew

College games
4 p.m. today Matador Field Cal State Northridge women-Hawaii
4 p.m. today George Allen Field Cal State Long Beach-Pepperdine
4:30 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Missouri followed at 7 p.m. by UCLA-Utah at Drake Stadium (UCLA Women's Cup)
11 a.m. Sunday UCLA-Missouri followed at 1 p.m. by Loyola Marymount-Utah at Drake Stadium
1 p.m. Sunday Tari Frahm Rokus Field Pepperdine-Cal State Sacramento (AYSO teams can get free admission to the game. Call 310-506-6018)

Eurosnobs and assorted critics (like this one) often wish MLS would open its wallet a little more to attract better players and improve the quality of play.

Well, a fiscally conservative approach has its benefits as this story below out of Europe today confirms. Put this one in the careful what you wish for department.

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Almost a quarter of Europe's top division soccer clubs reported major financial losses last year, UEFA said Thursday, with a third of the teams in the rich and successful English Premier League losing at least 20 percent of income.

UEFA secretary general David Taylor warned a conference on financial responsibility in sport that more red ink is expected this year as leagues feel the full weight of the sputtering global economy.

Of the top leagues in the world, the Premier League was by far in the worst position when it came to the number of clubs with major losses. Only Romania, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Poland had more clubs losing money among Europe's 53 federations.

Italy was in 15th position on the 2008 club losses list, with Spain ranked 35th and France and Germany among those in the best financial shape.

Across Europe, barely half of teams break even or make a profit, UEFA reported.

The financial problems come despite income that's tripled for clubs since 1997, largely
through marketing and media revenue.

The problem is costs are rising, too. For instance, while income rose 5 percent last year, player costs increased 9 percent.

"The huge spending on players produces constantly an inflationary effect with consequences on the whole club football movement," Taylor said.

On top of that, "the current financial crisis has exacerbated the situation."

This offseason alone, Real Madrid and Manchester City combined to spend more than $487 million on new talent.

In an attempt to contain such massive spending, UEFA has imposed new rules for clubs to break even on soccer-related businesses by 2012 or be stripped of their licenses. The governing body of European soccer appointed former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene to lead its campaign to control excessive spending.

On Thursday, the European Union, often at loggerheads with soccer when it comes to imposing sports-specific rules, embraced UEFA's efforts.

"I welcome and support these," EU Sports Commissioner Jan Figel said. "I look forward to the implementation."

Taylor said the system will teach leading clubs to compete for European titles with their
revenues instead of their debt, and to protect the long-term future of the sport. UEFA's
financial fair play policy has also been endorsed by most club owners.

Early this week, the Premier League also announced a new financial plan to regulate its 20 clubs. The league will take temporary control of clubs that run into financial problems and ban them from buying players or raising salaries. Clubs will have to submit accounts each March to ensure they can begin the next season in August.

OK, so I'm more than a bit late with this, but it's interesting that Kei Kamara, a product of Leuzinger High and Cal State Dominguez Hills, is on his third MLS club in three years.

Is his attitude a problem? Or maybe it's his production - just 14 goals in 80 games for the Dynamo.

Read the story behind his latest move here.

Well, for the group stage anyway and by the end of that phase the U.S. should be done, no? Two weeks off is a huge improvement.

Good to see the MLS suits finally grab a clue.

Now, if they could only have one league division.

Here's today's press release with the details:

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced today that for the first time in its history, MLS will not play League games during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The group phase includes the first 48 games of the 64-game tournament that begins on June 11, 2010 in South Africa. The last MLS game prior to the World Cup will be played on June 10 and MLS will not schedule any additional League games until after the group phase concludes on June 25. MLS does not plan to schedule games on the days of either World Cup Semifinal nor the World Cup Final.

"The decision to stop League play during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is part of MLS' commitment to deepen its connection with the millions of soccer fans in the United States and Canada," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "The World Cup will be a focal point for all MLS fans and several MLS players will compete with their national teams at the tournament."

The 2010 MLS Regular Season will again see each team play a 30-game regular season, followed by playoffs among eight qualifying teams. The 2010 season will begin with a single game March 25 and will conclude Oct. 24. The MLS Cup Playoffs will culminate in the championship match, MLS Cup 2010, on Nov. 21.

MLS plans to announce each club's 2010 home opener in the near future. The complete 2010 MLS schedule will be announced early next year.

Philadelphia Union will play their inaugural season in 2010 as the 16th team in Major League Soccer, joining the Eastern Conference. The two eight-team conferences allow, for the first time in MLS history, clubs to play a balanced schedule - facing each of the other 15 teams twice, once at home, once away. As in previous years, the club with the best record at the end of the regular season will win the Supporters' Shield, and the MLS Cup playoffs will determine the League's champion.

They were Canadian international defender Sharolta Nonen, who started two games after joining the team in the wake of defender Christie Shaner breaking her leg on her Sol debut, and midfielder Katie Larkin, a BYU product who made five starts for the Sol.

Full details of today's expansion draft are here.

Photo courtesy German Alegria/Los Angeles Galaxy

Hans Stierle, a former Torrance resident regarded as the driving force behind the creation of the American Youth Soccer Association and the now national organization's first president, was honored before Saturday's Galaxy game. Stierle, who now lives in the Pacific Northwest, was presented with a Galaxy jersey by Tom Payne, president of business operations for the team.

You could argue (and I essentially do, in a story that originally ran in 2003 and is reprinted below) that without the formation of AYSO and the interest in soccer it caused there would be no MLS.

AYSO marks its 45th anniversary this year.

Stierle will also be recognized at 7 p.m. Tuesday by the Torrance City Council and a field at Jefferson Middle School will be named after him at a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday ceremony. The recognition events were organized by Torrance's Del Amo Rotary Club.

Stierle was a neighbor of the school that became the home field for the first four AYSO teams, one of which counted a young German immigrant named Sigi Schmid as a player. Stierle and a group of other parents organized AYSO in a garage.

"Hans happened to be the catalyst," said Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto, a long-time AYSO coach and league official who will present the man he called "a soccer idol for me" with the council resolution. "To this day I'm in amazement he started this here at Jefferson and it's really kind of cool to think that right now there's over 600,000 players across America practicing this week for their first games Saturday."

BTW, below is a feature story I wrote back in 2003 2001 profiling the organization, followed by another history piece that ran in the Daily Breeze the weekend before the Galaxy played their first game in Carson in 2003 that traces the history of soccer in the South Bay.

Move over boys of summer, it's time for the lads and lasses of fall.

Even as the baseball season slides into its late innings, on Saturday more than 18,000 children throughout the South Bay and Harbor Area ranging in age from 5 to 19 engaged in an alternate September ritual -- opening day of the American Youth Soccer Organization.

In Hawthorne, more than 1,400 boys and girls -- many wearing fashionably fluorescent pink or purple uniforms -- paraded before proud parents as local politicians took advantage of the gathering of soccer moms (and dads) to stump for this fall's city elections.

In Palos Verdes Estates, about 2,700 youngsters posed for team pictures between stints of bouncing on inflatable playground equipment provided by the South Bay-bound Los Angeles Galaxy, while their parents renewed acquaintances with friends they may not have seen since last season.

"It's a community within a community," said Rancho Palos Verdes resident John Abelson, a coach and league commissioner with three children aged between 6 and 11 that all play soccer. "We've made a lot of friends . . . through (our children) playing together."

Professional soccer may remain largely a niche sport, but the same cannot be said for a game at the grass-roots level that boasts such broad family appeal -- it's no coincidence the phrase "soccer mom" has become an established part of the political lexicon.

Indeed, this weekend heralds the beginning of a frenetic four months for thousands of local parents.

Offspring and their teammates must be shuttled to weeknight practices and Saturday games.

Dads with a decidedly limited knowledge of the game will suddenly find themselves taking a crash course in officiating or coaching a pack of 7-year-olds who will have insisted upon christening their team The Loony Bears.

Moms will prowl sidelines on game days keeping children -- and husbands -- in line, while spending weeknights telephoning fellow parents to press-gang them into assuming the multitude of soccer-related responsibilities necessary to keep the less-than- finely-honed organization running somewhat smoothly.

"They have no idea how hard they'll be working," said a clipboard-toting Darlene Haezaert of Del Aire, a mother of two soccer veterans aged 10 and 14, as she watched parents escort tiny tykes with colorful jerseys hanging almost to their cleats past an applauding crowd in Hawthorne.

"They'll be living here," she added, suppressing a mischievous smile.

Moms, such as 37-year-old Janice Cooper know only too well what catching the soccer bug means.

All three of her children, aged 12, 10 and 4, play in Hawthorne leagues, which translates into devoting at least three days a week to soccer games and practices.

Moreover, Cooper became so enamored with the game that four years ago she began lacing up the cleats with a women's team, despite never having kicked a ball in her life.

Her husband? Well, every soccer family needs an "assistant driver," Cooper said with a laugh.

"We're working on him," she added.

AYSO, with a participatory philosophy that mandates all children play at least half the game and its emphasis on sportsmanship over winning, is credited by its fans for playing a crucial role in the game's rising popularity.

Founded in Torrance in 1964 with a mere 125 players, the Hawthorne-based group has grown to become the nation's second-largest youth soccer organization with more than 650,000 participants.

Here's the 1966-1967 Torrance Mustangs (notice the footwear) at the old Continental Soccer Field, where Alpine Village now stands. (Photo courtesy John Sloway, who is the kid in the glasses).

But in a development that's enough to make the jingoistic choke on their apple pie, soccer's growth has come at the expense of such traditional American sports as baseball.

"I play baseball, but it's too slow," said Angel Andrade, 14, of Hawthorne, echoing similar comments made by soccer players and parents alike on Saturday. "(Soccer) is a moving sport."

Indeed, baseball participation among American youths is in "serious decline," according to a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, with the number of players plunging 40 percent from its peak year in 1993.

In contrast, one-third of all children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 11 have played soccer at least once.

AYSO spokesman David Brown said total youth soccer registration in the United States has doubled to 4 million in the past decade.

That translates into participation levels locally that amaze even die-hard soccer fans.

Daniel Juarez, director of the area that includes the beach cities and Hawthorne, quoted El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon as saying during a recent council meeting that of the approximately 2,700 students in the city school district, about 950 play AYSO soccer.

On the Palos Verdes Peninsula, AYSO participation has leaped by 400 children in just the past two years.

"It's the single largest team sport for youth we have on The Hill," said Jim Sala, a Rolling Hills Estates resident and board member with the local AYSO league. "We really saw the numbers jump when the (U.S.) women won the (1999) World Cup . . . It became a cool thing to do."

Growing popularity has meant growing pains.

Soccer fields are in short supply in many areas.

For instance, the loss of just one Hawthorne field due to construction at a school forced Juarez to lop an hour off the time teams are allowed to practice each week.

On Saturdays, the first games begin at 9 a.m. and the last match at 6:30 p.m. is often finished under the lights. Some games are even played Friday nights.

"It's a fever," Juarez said. "There's just not enough fields for all the kids who are playing."

Another new initiative this year is the designation of fields where games are being played as a "Kids Zone" by posting behavior standards on signs or badges worn by supporters at games.

The idea: to ensure the disturbing trend of parents becoming abusive or violent toward coaches, officials or other parents doesn't infiltrate the AYSO ranks. The problem was highlighted in Torrance last fall when a parent assaulted a high school football coach over his son's lack of playing time. "We offer more than just a place to play soccer," said Nick Lincir, 68, a San Pedro resident and AYSO volunteer for 26 years who is now director of the area that includes Torrance, the Harbor Area and the Peninsula.

"We offer something I think is sorely needed: integrity and good sportsmanship and the kind of stuff our society is in dire need of. We build character through our program."

And here's that history of soccer in the South Bay story:

When the Los Angeles Galaxy kicks off its home season Saturday in its new, soccer-specific stadium at Carson's $150 million Home Depot Center, it won't be the first professional soccer team to have been based in the South Bay.

Or the second. Or even the third.

The names Aztecs, Lazers and Sunshine - and there are others, too, even more obscure - probably mean little to all but the most devoted local soccer fans.

Yet they were among the franchises that had short and not particularly glorious existences locally.

In fact, professional soccer in the South Bay can probably trace its roots to the 1964 formation of the American Youth Soccer Association in a Torrance garage.

The initial four-team league has today grown to become a Hawthorne-based organization that involves about 900,000 players and volunteers nationwide.

Soccer interest in the South Bay grew along with it, recalled Marine Cano, a Bishop Montgomery High School graduate who is the women's soccer coach at the University of California, Irvine and is known locally as director of the long-running Mr. Soccer Camps.

By the 1970s thousands of people were showing up for high school and even high-profile AYSO games, Cano said.

Bumper stickers were common in Torrance that proclaimed the community Soccer City-USA, as boosters cultivated its image as the nation's capital of the sport.

Local players, including Cano, embarked on professional careers, and entrepreneurs began capitalizing on that grass-roots support in a soccer hotbed.

First up - and most memorably - were the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.

The Aztecs played two seasons in the South Bay in 1975 and 1976, with offices in Redondo Beach, a training ground at Inglewood's Hollywood Park and a home field at El Camino College's modest Murdock Stadium near Torrance.

They drew respectable crowds, averaging 6,000-7,000 spectators.

Incongruously, many of what were then some of the top soccer stars in the world played in the rather inauspicious environment, thanks to the NASL's reputation of paying salaries that were far too generous.

Among the big names was Pele, who in 1975 attracted a record Aztecs South Bay crowd of 12,176 to Murdock Stadium when the New York Cosmos visited.

Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid, a longtime South Bay resident who along with Cano was on one of those first AYSO teams in 1964, remembers taking the club team he coached to watch the Aztecs.

"What I remember most about El Camino is that you were on top of the action," he recalled. "It was a (soccer) education, but it was also something for (young players) to look up to."

Prominent Aztecs of the era included Irish star George Best, a ball wizard who has been compared to Pele and was such a celebrity in England in the late 1960s when he played for famed Manchester United that he was known as "The Fifth Beatle."

Despite playing 23 times and scoring 15 goals for the Aztecs in 1975, by then Best, who has since had a liver transplant, was more interested in booze than soccer balls. It's no coincidence a Hermosa Beach bar still bears his surname.

Encouraged by the South Bay support and in search of more money, in 1977 the Aztecs were sold to a group of investors that included Alan Rothenberg, who later became president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and an investor in Major League Soccer, and relocated to the Rose Bowl.

The group boasted in a November 1977 Daily Breeze article that they would transform a "second-class operation" into a first-class one. But as the Galaxy learned, fans wouldn't commit to buying tickets in a large stadium if they were always guaranteed a seat.

"If they would have stayed and made it the hottest ticket in town they would have been the hottest team in the old NASL," Cano said. "They made a crucial mistake."

The Aztecs folded in 1981.

Next up locally were the Los Angeles Lazers in 1978. They also played at El Camino in the second-tier American Soccer League. The league disbanded the team at season's end.

That year actually saw no fewer than three professional franchises locally. Two teams called South Bay United and the Southern California Cougars played Sunday doubleheaders at Redondo Beach's now-defunct Aviation High School in something called the Western Soccer League.

Among the players on the United roster was Schmid.

Players received $75 to $300 a game he recalled, although that didn't guarantee they would show up as scheduled.

During one road trip to Palm Springs a player shortage literally forced the coach to offer a game to a young Latino man walking down the street, said Schmid. He made the starting 11.

Not surprisingly, that league was short-lived, too.

The ASL returned in 1979 with a team called the California Sunshine. Cano, who played for the team, remembers them drawing average gates of 1,300 at games at Torrance's West High School and at El Camino College.

In 1982 Torrance was awarded a franchise in what was dubbed the Southern California Professional League, another entity that no longer exists.

Finally, from 1986 to 1988 the Los Angeles Heat, based at El Camino College and West High, participated in the Western Soccer Alliance, a precursor to today's A-League.

The roster included Cano, by then coach at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Beginning next weekend, the newest and already most successful chapter in South Bay professional soccer history unfolds with the opening of the stadium, which fans are calling "Victoria Street."

Considering the South Bay's soccer history, the region deserves it, said Torrance resident Nick Geber, co-host of "The Galaxy Soccer Report," which airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on KMPC 1540-AM.

"It's sort of coming full circle," he said. "Youth soccer was born here and the (nation's) premier soccer facility is going to be housed here. I couldn't think of anything more appropriate."

Read the column here.

(BTW, the column will appear in the print edition of the (Torrance/South Bay) Daily Breeze Wednesday; it's on the front page of the Daily News sports section today for the two of you who like to keep the print edition as a souvenir).

Chivas USA 2 Revolution 0

Highlights:

This was one of those it's all about the three points games because there wasn't much else to it. And it kept Chivas USA within striking distance (with games to spare) of the top of the Western Conference.

"Right now it's all about points, right now it's all about getting a position in the playoffs, and every game and every point is important, and today is no different," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "I'm very happy we got three points."

See?

New England were impotent. And Eduardo Lillingston admitted he dived to draw the second half stoppage time penalty kick that led to the goal.

Bonus quotes

*Here's striker Justin Braun, who played for the first time since June, on Chivas USA's lack of truly dangerous opportunities in the game:

"A lot of times guys were rushing it a little bit. We rushed the ball to much and we should have slowed it down, played more possessive a little bit and get opportunities closer to goal. But those are all things we can fix."

*Here's Sacha Kljestan on the same topic:

"Sometimes we weren't urgent enough when we were supposed to be urgent and sometimes we weren't patient enough when we supposed to be patient. We've got to be get better at that. We've got to get better finishing chances. We probably had 10 chances today and in games coming down the stretch we're probably going to have two or three chances and we've got to be able to put a couple of them away."

*Here's Carey Talley on his red card in what appeared a minor altercation between him and Edgaras Jankauskas in the 70th minute:

"I had my hand on him on the cross just to feel him. He put his forearm in front of my face there. I just shoved him in the chest. The referee said that's good enough for him. It was more of a reaction, I should have just gone down. ... I shouldn't have pushed him."

Here's Preki on Talley's ejection, Chivas USA's sixth red card of the season and second in consecutive games:

"I've been trying to address the matter in different ways and that's going to stay inside the locker room. But yes, ... I'm very concerned. We're showing a little lack of discipline on the field and if we don't clean (up) our act in the key parts of the year we're going to have a difficult time. So hopefully we can learn from these couple of mistakes and become a little more disciplined team."

Chivas USA XI - Zach Thornton, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein, Yamith Cuesta, Jorge Flores, Jesus Padilla, Michael Lahoud, Paulo Nagamura, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun (Mariano Trujillo 75), Maicon Santos (Eduardo Lillingston 51).

Cal State Dominguez Hills 3 Cal Poly Pomona 4
The Toros blew a three goal lead and conceded the winner in the 104th minute of double overtime Sunday when goalkeeper and South (Torrance) High product Alyssa Condon backed into her own net with the ball. CSUDH fell to 2-4, 1-2 CCAA. Redshirt freshman Britney Vance (Downey High) scored her second game-winning goal in three games to give the Toros the 1-0 win Friday over Cal State San Bernadino.

Cal State Dominguez Hills 1 Cal Poly Pomona 0
Junior Tyler Petry scored the winner Sunday for the Toros (2-2-1, 1-1-1 CCAA) in the 41st minute. CSUDH lost 1-0 to Cal State San Bernadino Friday.

Cal State Northridge 2 Milwaukee 1
The Matadors (3-1) came from behind to split the Matador Invitational title Sunday afternoon with Cal State Fullerton (3-1) who defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 3-0 in the opening game. Both CSUN and Cal State Fullerton went 2-0 in the tournament.

CSUN Head Coach Terry Davila talks about the win over Milwaukee:

Kent State 1 Cal State Northridge 0
The Cal State Northridge women (3-5) lost 1-0 in overtime Sunday at the UNM Nike Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. CSUN lost 2-0 to New Mexico Friday night.

UCLA 2 Gonzaga 0
Senior forward Kristina Larsen scored twice for the Bruins (4-1-1) Sunday at Drake Stadium.

USC 2 Michigan 1
Goals from Brittany Kerridge and Marihelen Tomer gave the Trojans (3-3-0) the come from behind win Sunday. Junior Alyssa Dávila scored two unanswered goals Friday as USC beat Gonzaga 2-0.

Pepperdine 2 Hawaii 0
Sophomore Michelle Spacciapolli and senior Sophia Medina (Los Alamitos High) scored for the Waves Friday.

Boston College 4 Long Beach State 0
The 49ers drop to 3-3. The 49ers beat Harvard 2-0 Friday with goals from freshman Whitney Velez and junior Shawna Gordon.

My wife brought this to my attention.

Memo to self: buy her chocolates.

Chivas USA 2 New England Revolution 0

All the excitement (I use the term loosely) came in second half stoppage time.

Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis allegedly brought down a breaking Eduardo Lillingston in the penalty box and Sacha Kljestan converted the resultant penalty.

Contact was minimal (if any), however. Why didn't Reis get sent off? Did Lillingston dive and if so, why didn't he get sent off?

Answers to these burning questions later if I can muster the enthusiasm.

Only 11,334 snoozed sat through this one.

Chivas USA's Carey Talley was sent off in the 70th minute for apparently throwing an elbow at the Revs' Edgaras Jankauskas (although it was hard to tell from the TV replay)

It's the most excitement we've had here in the last hour or so.

Chivas USA 1 New England Revolution 0

This one slowed to a crawl after about the 12th minute - literally, I should add with player after player crawling around on the grass apparently injured.

To be fair, Chivas USA scored in the 10th minute through Maicon Santos and saw Paulo Nagamura and Sacha Kljestan each hit the post, but that was about it for action. And that all happened in the opening dozen minutes.

As one press box wag put it, "I could have been mowing the lawn."

Um, yes.

New England finished without a shot on goal.

Chivas USA 1 Revolution 0

Chivas USA has drawn first blood in the 10th minute in a move that began when Carey Talley fed Justin Braun up the right wing. Braun's cross found Brazilian Maicon Santos inside the six-yard box who had the simple task of tapping it in with the Revs marking AWOL. It's Santos' first goal for the club.

Sacha Klejstan also hit the post two minutes later.

A cool, overcast Sunday brunchtime at Home Depot Center that's perfect for soccer.

It's Chivas USA's first game in two weeks and they'll be hoping to fare better than their intra-stadium rivals last night who had returned from a similar layoff.

Significant absences for both teams today with Revs midfielder Shalrie Joseph missing because of the red card he received in New England's 4-2 defeat to the Kansas City Wizards last weekend, while Chivas USA striker Maykel Galindo is also missing after getting sent off in the 1-0 loss to the Galaxy Aug. 29. Chivas USA also have Marcelo Saragosa absent through suspension, but do have Paulo Nagamura in the lineup and he's pretty much the same player anyway.

That means Jorge Flores, off to the U-20 World Cup with the U.S. (along with teammate and substitute Gerson Mayen) slots into the left back spot, Michael Lahoud is preferred in midfield over Jesse Marsch and Justin Braun makes his first start since June. (Updated: I'm told Marsch bruised his calf in training Friday).

Zach Thornton also returns in goal and new signing Jon Conway is preferred to the shell-shocked lance Parker.

Chivas USA XI: Thornton, Talley, Bornstein, Cuesta, Flores, Padilla, Lahoud, Nagamura, Kljestan, Braun, Santos.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis returns for the Revs after missing the last game with a knee injury.

The game is on Fox Sports West.

Galaxy 3 Dallas 6

Jeff Cunningham and FC Dallas were flying Saturday at Home Depot Center. (AP Photos).

An aberration? Or something we should have seen coming given the Galaxy's 11 ties and eight one goal victories? The Galaxy have spent the season operating on a knife edge and on Saturday that facade collapsed spectacularly.

A slow back four was brutally exposed. David Beckham labored like the part-time player he is, clutching his right hamstring on occasion and looking uncomfortable for the most part. And what to say about the ancient Gregg Berhalter, ripped apart time and time again and looking sadly similar to Abel Xavier, Eduardo Dominguez, Gregg Vanney and other out of their element Galaxy defenders of recent vintage.

The only thing Becks had a stranglehold on in the game was Dallas' Daniel Hernandez.

Here's Coach Bruce Arena on the Galaxy's lack of speed:

"If we get into track meets we're probably not going to win a lot of the races. Our objective is to try and get into soccer games. And tonight we never gave ourselves a chance."

Arena on the long-term implications of the loss:

"We played bad tonight. ... There's no reason to use this game as a means of evaluating what we do well and what we don't do well. This is just a bad game and if we analyze it too much and dwell on it too much we're not going to do very well in our last five games. We're going to learn from what we did wrong tonight and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Here's a sarcastic Arena on the Galaxy's record setting performance:

"It's great to get in the record books, I guess. It's nothing I'm proud of I'll tell you that. ... I'll be honest with you: we got away with murder tonight getting out of here with six goals - it could have been worse."

Here's Gregg Berhalter on the loss:

"It could be helpful if we channel it the right way. It was an absolutely dreadful performance by us basically all over the field. We can look at it two ways: it was a one-off and we're going to learn from the game and it's good that it happened now toward the end of the season and it's not going to happen again. Or we can say 'listen, this is our team right now.' And I don't believe that. I really don't believe that. We're a better team than that. And we've shown a lot more discipline in the past in terms of our tactical formation and i think we have to just keep that going."

Here's Edson Buddle on why it took him so long to come back from a broken toe:

"I didn't realize I needed my toe as much as I do now. It takes a while to heal before you can do anything."

Quote of the night from Arena to sum things up:

"We just got our asses kicked."

Yup.

Standings.

Highlights

Galaxy 3 Dallas 6

The Galaxy had never given up six goals in their history. They have now.

We've had another two Dallas goals in two minutes.

Atiba Harris scored in the 82nd minute, connecting with a Dax McCarty cross with a diving header and beating three Galaxy defenders in the process.

Gregg Berhalter was again badly beaten in the 83rd minute by David Ferreira for Dallas' sixth.

The Galaxy just had a Chris Klein "goal" called back for offside.

Jeff Cunningham scored his second in the 86th minute.

Edson Buddle just pulled one back for the Galaxy with a 90th minute header from a David Beckham corner kick.

Update: this is now a final.

Galaxy 2 Dallas 3

How crap is Greg Berhalter? He just got torched not once, but twice on the same play by Jeff Cunningham to set up Dax McCarty who notched Dallas' third in the 71st minute.

Edson Buddle just entered the game in the 69th minute for the ineffective Jovan Kirovski. It's the first time we've seen Buddle since July; he's getting a huge ovation.

The aged Tony Sanneh replaced A.J. DeLaGarza at the half, which is not a good sign considering the Galaxy defense was already having considerable trouble with Dallas' speed. We're assuming DeLaGarza sustained a knock; they're checking on ther reason for the change. (Updated: it's a left knee sprain, how bad yet is unclear).

Dallas made a change, too, bringing on Daniel Hernandez for Marvin Chavez.

Meanwhile, David Beckham is holding his right hamstring again; he did that toward the end of the first half as well.

Galaxy 2 Dallas 2

Now that really was A.J. DeLaGarza's first Galaxy goal in the 42nd minute.

He initiated the move just outside the box, was turned back by the Dallas defense and Landon Donovan put Jovan Kirovski through up the right wing. Kirovski's shot was parried by Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala and DeLaGarza picked up the rebound.

Galaxy 1 Dallas 2

We've just had two goals in two minutes.

Dallas got their second goal in the 25th minute, Jeff Cunningham splitting A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez as he ran onto a long through ball by Atiba Harris and poked it home.

A.J. DeLaGarza pulled one back almost immediately for the Galaxy, getting behind the Dallas defense on a quickly taken free kick by David Beckham and getting a fortunate bounce off the goalkeeper that rebounded back to him and then into the net. It's A.J.'s first-ever MLS goal.

Updated: Upon further review they've given the goal to Dallas defender Jair Benitez instead.

Galaxy 0 Dallas 1

Two free kicks in quick succession from 20 yards out (the second due to a David Beckham handball) has given Dallas an early eighth minute lead. Dave van den Bergh's shot squeezed through the Galaxy wall and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was fooled by the slight deflection

Blame Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter for the goal: it was his disgraceful hack from behind on the speedy Jeff Cunningham, already giving the Galaxy defense fits, that led to the initial free kick. Berhalter was fortunate to have only received a yellow.

A cool and clear night at Home Depot Center, a welcome relief after the humidity and smoke of recent weeks.

The Galaxy have a chance to (temporarily at least) overhaul Houston for the Western Conference lead coming into the game.

The omens are good: the Galaxy have one loss in their last 10 games, haven't conceded a goal in 216 minutes and play a Dallas team that has just one road win all season.

The first Galaxy game in two weeks sees Coach Bruce Arena field the same lineup for the third straight game: Donovan Ricketts, A.J.DeLaGarza, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Stefani Miglioranzi, Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Eddie Lewis, Jovan Kirovski, Mike Magee.

In another welcome sign, Edson Buddle is on the bench and presumably could see action for the first time since the 2-2 draw with AC Milan on July 19. Alecko Eskandarian, in case you missed the news earlier, is out for the rest of the regular season with a broken nose/concussion.

Dallas has former Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu starting in defense, who will make his second start since his trade from Colorado. Another new signing, former Galaxy defender Daniel Hernandez, is on the bench.

The game is delayed on TV until 10 p.m. so stick around for updates as the game unfolds.

Jeff Cunningham, tied for second in the MLS scoring race with 10 goals, starts up front for Dallas along with Marvin Chavez.

Updated: Galaxy exec Tom Payne presented former Torrance resident Hans Stierle with a Galaxy jersey before the game. Stierle, who is back in the South Bay to be recognized by the Torrance City Council Tuesday, is regarded as the father of AYSO, which began in that city 45 years ago.

Alecko Eskandarian's dismal injury-plagued season is all but over with the Galaxy conceding to the inevitable and placing the concussion-prone striker on the disabled list for the final six regular season games.

The former Chivas USA frontman can return for the playoffs, but you've got to wonder if Eskandarian's career is reaching a conclusion, too.

The injury comes at a critical time with the Galaxy improbably just two points out of the MLS lead and sensing blood in the water against a Dallas team who have signed defenders Heather Pearce, Ugo Ihemelu and Daniel Hernandez in recent days in a desperate attempt to shore up their defense.

Reporter Phil Collin spoke with Mike Magee, a surprisingly creative foil for the Galaxy up front in the absence of Eskandarian and Edson Buddle.

BTW, there's an incredible array of stats related to the game here.

The game is delayed until 10 p.m. tonight on Prime, but I'll blog live from Home Depot Center.

Goalkeeper Jon Conway, suspended last year by MLS for 10 games for taking performance enhancing substances, was signed Friday by Chivas USA, the club announced Friday.

In addition, defender Bobby Burling, a Loyola Marymount University product who has played just three games this season because of injury was shipped to the San Jose Earthquakes, who badly need to shore up their defense.

The same could be said for Chivas USA's goalkeeping situation, where back-up Lance Parker has shipped goals at a prodigious rate while filling in for the injured Zach Thornton.

Conway, 32, is a nine-year MLS veteran; the Red Bulls - who had retained his MLS rights despite terminating his contract in June - received a fourth-round 2011 MLS SuperDraft pick in return. Conway, who trained with the Chivas USA for several weeks this season, is eligible to play Sunday against FC Dallas.

Chivas USA received a third-round draft pick next year for the 24-year-old Burling.

Conway and defender Jeff Parke had tested positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites - performance enhancing substances banned by MLS.

LONDON (AP) -- England coach Fabio Capello has given a strong indication that Galaxy midfielder David Beckham will make it to a fourth World Cup, hailing the former captain's ability to bring the squad together.

The 34-year-old Beckham made his 114th international appearance as England routed Croatia 5-1 on Wednesday to qualify for next year's tournament with two games to spare. Beckham is 11 games shy of the English record for appearances, held by goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

"He is always with us because for me he is one of the most important players," Capello said Thursday. "He is good in the group. He is good in every moment during the training. Some players are important for the position and morale of the group."

But to make Capello's cut, Beckham will have to leave the Galaxy in January to rejoin AC Milan or find another top European club. Capello said Beckham must stay fit during MLS's offseason.

If Beckham avoids injury or a deterioration in form, he could take Shaun Wright-Phillips'
place on the 23-man roster. Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon are Capello's speedy options on the right flank, but Beckham provides a different threat with precision crosses and free kicks.

Having been left out of Italy's squad for the 1978 World Cup, Capello knows the pain of
missing out on a major tournament.

"I played the qualification for the Argentina World Cup, but I didn't go to Argentina," he
recalled. "I wasn't injured. I just wasn't good enough, and I heard on TV that I was not in
the squad."

While English players speak of fearing Capello, the man himself tries to dispel the image. He doesn't even mind players complaining to him about why they aren't being selected.

"My door is always open," Capello said. "Three players asked me why I didn't play them during this year, I explained why. I respect the players. The players respect me. This is very important."

Capello, who took over from Steve McClaren after the failed Euro 2008 qualification campaign, has nine months to prepare England, seeking its first major title since the 1966 World Cup.

There are two more Group Six matches to play, against Ukraine and Belarus. Then there are likely to be four exhibitions, including a Nov. 14 match against Brazil in Qatar.

"It's important to play Brazil because we will understand what we have to do if we play
against a team like Brazil or Spain," Capello said. "We have arrived at a good level. We
played very well against Croatia. But we have to improve and be better at some moments, some movement with the ball and without the ball."

The Galaxy are at home Saturday night against FC Dallas, Chivas USA have a noon Sunday game against the New England Revolution in Carson and yet there's plenty of soccer on TV for those unwilling to leave their home.

ESPN issued a press release Thursday trumpeting their 14 games this weekend across their platforms (Freddy Adu fans can check out ESPN360.com Sunday, for instance, to see it he takes the field for Belenenses against the team that holds his contract, Benfica), while El Segundo-based DirecTV finally got around to formally announcing their broadcasts of more than 300 matches in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and La Liga this season that I previously wrote about in my weekly column.

Overwhelmed? Here are my picks for the weekend's best games on the box, followed by the local college action:

Saturday

*6:54 a.m. ESPN2 Liverpool-Burnley
*7 a.m. Stoke City-Chelsea
*9:30 a.m. Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United
*9:30 a.m. GolTV Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich
*6 p.m. FSC Real Salt Lake-Chicago Fire
*6:30 p.m. KFTR San Luis-CD Guadalajara
*10 p.m. Prime Galaxy-Dallas (delayed)

Sunday

6 a.m. FSC Inter Milan-Parma
8 a.m. FSC Fulham-Everton
Noon FSN Chivas USA-New England Revolution

College result Thursday:

UCLA men 4 UC Davis 0 (Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa got a goal for the Bruins, BTW.)

Local college games

The Matadors host a four-team tournament this weekend.

Also:

*4:30 p.m. today CSUDH men-Cal State San Bernadino, followed by the women's game from the two schools at Toro Stadium.
*3 p.m. today USC-Gonzaga at McAlister Field.
*4 p.m. LMU men-San Jose State at Sullivan Field.
*Noon Sunday USC-Michigan at McAlister Field.
*1 p.m. Sunday UCLA women-Gonzaga at Drake Stadium
*1 p.m. Sunday Pepperdine-Hawaii (Tip: fans planning to attend Sunday's game should first head to Lily's Café, Subway or Kentucky Fried Chicken along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and pick up a "Buy One, Get One Free" flyer).

Briefly:
*Cal State Fullerton Titans (1-1), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers (1-2) and the Fairleigh-Dickinson Knights (2-0) visit the Matadors (1-1) this weekend.

Schedule: 1:30 p.m. Friday Titans-Panthers and 4:30 p.m. Matadors-Knights; 11 a.m. Sunday Titans-Knights and 1:30 p.m. Matadors-Panthers.

The men are picked to finish fourth in the Big West preseason coaches poll.

*The U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton has released its fall semester roster. Southern Californians attending include defender Emilio Orozco (Rampage FC; Oxnard) ; midfielders Eric Gonzalez (LA Galaxy; Corona), Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Jr.; San Pedro), Alejandro Guido (Aztecs Premier; Chula Vista), Sebastian Velasquez (Arsenal FC; Los Angeles); and forward Victor Chavez (Real So Cal; Fontana) and Mario Rodriguez (Central Aztecs; North Hollywood).

Key stats: Of the 200 players who have been through the residency program, more than 80 have played in MLS and 17 appeared for the USMNT.

On a day when England qualified and the U.S. won 0-1 over Trinidad & Tobago perhaps the most telling World Cup qualifying result was El Salvador's win over Costa Rica.

The result created space at the top of the hexagonal for the U.S. and Mexico all but guaranteeing them qualification. The U.S. needs just two points from two games to guarantee qualification now; the U.S. could even advance without scoring any points, according to U.S. Soccer.

Landon Donovan fends off Trinidad and Tobago's Trent Noel (AP Photo).

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan played creator (as usual) for the deciding goal over T&T concluded by Ricardo Clark's questioning riposte, but otherwise the U.S. offered largely fairly tepid stuff and required a Tim Howard stoppage time save to preserve the narrow road win.

No player ratings from me despite requests (I'm sitting at a desk in Torrance watching the game for crying out loud), but here's the starting U.S. XI: Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), Jonathan Bornstein; Clint Dempsey (Stuart Holden, 82), Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan; Charlie Davies (Brian Ching, 77), Jozy Altidore (Benny Feilhaber, 63).

At least I'm guessing that's the case given the two communities are the epicenters of the English and Croatian ex-pat communities respectively in Southern California after England 's 5-1 win over Croatia today that earned them a World Cup berth.

All is not lost for the Croats, however, and England can help by beating Ukraine next month.

The Galaxy's David Beckham played the irrelevant final 10 minutes in this one.

Game story.

All the scores.

Standings.

Meanwhile, U.S. striker Jozy Altidore is getting amped for T&T. He just tweeted:

Walking into the locker room, its gametime baby. MUST get 3 points. Hit yall up after the game

Briefly:

*See the previous post for the full lineup of today's games and their implications.

*The U.S.-Trinidad & Tobago game kicks off at 4:11 p.m. Pacific on ESPN Classic with a 30-minute pre-game show preceding it. Game preview.

*Meanwhile, here's a column bemoaning the celebrity of David Beckham and its effect on England. Galaxy fans know all about that, but that isn't stopping clubs lining up for his services after the MLS season is done..

*Finally, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men and women opened their CCAA seasons Tuesday night.

Among the key games on TV Wednesday:
*11:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Northern Ireland-Slovakia
*2 p.m. FSC Wales-Russia
*3:30 p.m. ESPN Classic Trinidad & Tobago-U.S.
*5:30 p.m. Telemundo Mexico-Honduras

In 2007 I watched at the Croatian Hall in San Pedro as England were knocked out of Euro 2008.

We're back:

LONDON (AP) -- Talk about role reversal.

Two years ago, Croatia eliminated England from European Championship qualifying with a victory at Wembley.

Wayne Rooney and David Beckham see the funy side of World Cup qualifying Tuesday. (AP Photos).

On Wednesday night, the English can clinch their fourth straight World Cup berth by beating the Croats at the home of English soccer.

"We have put ourselves in a great position, and it's up to us to finish the job," England
captain John Terry said Tuesday. "The disappointment of not qualifying still hurts."

European champion Spain could clinch a berth Wednesday along with Denmark, Serbia and Slovakia.

In South America, Chile and Paraguay could guarantee places in the 32-nation field
at South Africa next year.

They would join Australia, Brazil, Ghana, Japan, the Netherlands, North Korea, South
Korea.

The United States would put itself in commanding position for a sixth straight World Cup
appearance with a victory at Trinidad and Tobago.

Others are struggling, such as Argentina, France and Portugal.

"At the end of the day, this match in Belgrade is not decisive," France coach Raymond Domenech said before his team's game in Serbia. "We can win, lose or draw, it will not change radically the remainder of the competition. We will still have two more games to play, so we have a chance."

The nine European group winners qualify, and eight of the nine second-place teams go to playoffs. Serbia (6-1) is four points ahead of France (4-1-2) in Group Seven.

Heading into its match at Paraguay, Argentina (6-5-4) is fourth in South America, trailing
Brazil (8-1-6), and Chile and Paraguay (each 8-4-3). Right behind at 5-5-5 at Colombia and Ecuador, putting tremendous pressure on Argentina coach Diego Maradona.

The top four teams qualify, and the No. 5 nation meets the No. 4 team from North and Central America and the Caribbean in a playoff.

"We've got to lift our heads quickly," Argentina midfielder Javier Zanetti said. "Football
doesn't give you much time."

England (7-0) can relax going into its match against Croatia (5-1-2). Credit for the
turnaround has been given to England coach Fabio Capello.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic and squad train at Wembley Tuesday.

"What Fabio Capello has brought into squad and the nation is belief," Galaxy
midfielder David Beckham said.

Spain (7-0) hosts Estonia and would clinch with a victory combined with Bosnia-Herzegovina (5-2) failing to win at home against Turkey (3-2-2).

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said following Saturday's 5-0 rout of Belgium that a 2-0 loss to the United States in the Confederations Cup last June helped his team. The Americans stopped Spain's winning streak at a record 15 matches and its unbeaten run at 35 games, which had tied Brazil's mark.

"We're doing important things and breaking records, but every national team has its moment -- I don't like to say we're the best," Spanish forward Fernando Torres said. "Let's just hope that our best is yet to come."

Slovakia (5-1-1) is at Northern Ireland (4-2-2) and would clinch with a victory, coupled with a tie between Slovenia and Poland (both 3-2-2). Denmark (5-0-2) would clinch with a victory at Albania (1-4-3), provided Portugal (2-1-4) wins at Hungary and Sweden (3-1-3) fails to beat Malta (0-7-1).

Portugal might not even finish second.

"We're sad. We know we can do better," Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, said following last weekend's 1-1 tie at Denmark.

Defending champion Italy (5-0-2) could open a four-point lead with a victory at home against Bulgaria. The Azzurri needed two own-goals from Kakha Kaladze for a 2-0 victory at Georgia last weekend.

"I would like to be the one to break the drought," Italian forward Alberto Gilardino said.

Germany (6-0-1) holds a one-point lead over Russia (6-1) going into a home match against Azerbaijan. The Russians host the Germans on Oct. 10.

"Everyone is already speaking about the game in Russia, but Wednesday's game is very important," German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger said. "We have to get three points, otherwise we need not even talk about the Russia game."

In Africa, Cameroon (1-1-1) can take over its group lead with a victory at home against Gabon (2-1), a team it defeated on the road last weekend.

In Asia, Saudi Arabia is at home following a 0-0 tie against Bahrain in the opener of a two-leg, total-goals playoff for the right to meet New Zealand in another playoff.

The U.S. (4-2-1), coming off a 2-1 home win against El Salvador, is at T&T, where it
won 2-1 in its qualifier four years ago. Honduras (4-2-1) leads on goal difference, while
Mexico and Costa Rica (both 4-3) are one point back.

Mexico hosts Honduras, while Costa Rica is at El Salvador.

In observance of Labor Day.

Cal State Northridge 1 Loyola Marymount 0
Moy Gomez got the goal, goalkeeper Brandon Ibarra the shutout for the 1-1 Matadors over the 1-1 Lions.

Cal State Northridge 1 Vermont 0
Junior Farryn Townley's team-leading third goal of the season in the 29th minute was enough to secure the win for the 3-3 Matadors.

Georgetown 2 UCLA 0
Two days after upsetting No. 1 Maryland, the Bruins fall to 1-1; they'll host UC Davis at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Ohio State 1 USC 0
The Trojans lose in San Diego on a 79th minute PK and fall to 1-3.

UCLA 3 Florida 0
Sophomore Sydney Leroux opened the scoring with her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 51st minute, while Kristina Larsen and Kara Lang added the others to send the Bruins to 3-1-1.

Long Beach State 4 Missouri 1
Three goals over a six-minute span in the second half sealed the win for the now 2-2 49ers in their first win over a ranked opponent in four years.

U.S. 2 El Salvador 1

Outnumbered, but not unbowed. (AP Photos)

That was closer than it should have been.

Standings and upcoming schedule

And it remains close.

Earlier this week I spoke to the Galaxy's Landon Donovan and asked whether the team was more aware now of giving up the first goal at home, a question he misinterpreted to mean whether they were more aware now of the importance of scoring first.

Whatever.

That did (and didn't) happen Saturday and the U.S. showed again a worrying fragility in high pressure situations (did the pro El Salvador crowd hurt?) by going behind at an alleged home game.

Home Depot Center denizens played starring roles, bad and good, Chivas USA's Jonny Bornstein of Los Alamitos coughing the ball up for the first El Salvador goal before Redlands' Donovan wrested control of the game with two assists.

Neither Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers, nor former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan got off the bench.

U.S. XI: Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Chad Marshall, Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), Jonathan Bornstein; Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber (Kyle Beckerman, 80), Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan; Charlie Davies (Stuart Holden, 73), Jozy Altidore (14-Jose Francisco Torres, 85)

Friday College Scores

Maryland 0 UCLA 2
The season opener and we already get the "game of two halves" cliche from UCLA Coach Jorge Salcedo.

No. 11 Illinois 1 UCLA 2
Lauren Cheney and Sydney LeRoux get the goals for the 2-1-1 Bruins at the Illini Challenge Cup. Next: No. 6 Florida Sunday.

Cal State Northridge 1 Creighton 2
The Cal State Northridge women's soccer team fell to 2-3 after failing to hold onto the early lead. Next: the University of Vermont 1 p.m. Sunday at Matador Field.

USC 4 Cal State Fullerton 0
The Trojans (1-2) get their first win of the season in San Diego over the now 0-3 Cal State Fullerton, getting goals from four different players. Next: Ohio State 11 a.m. Sunday at USD's Torero Stadium.

Pepperdine 1 Houston 0
Senior Kelly Reilly's second goal of the season from the penalty spot was enough for the Waves to move to 3-1 over winless Houston.

No. 23 Kansas 3 Long Beach State 1
The 49ers fall to 1-2 after conceding three first half goals. Next: at No. 21 Missouri Sunday.

Lastly, here's a preview of today's U.S.-El Salvador WCQ. The game airs at 5 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Are the U.S. players ready?
Tweeted Stuart Holden this morning: "Its gameday folks and @charliedavies9 is fired up to bang some goals and do thaaa stanky leg!! Check it out! Hahah"

Notable:
*Central defender Oguchi Onyewu is suspended for the game.
*The U.S. has just one loss ever to El Salvador and that was in 1992.
*A yellow card for any of nine U.S. players today will make them miss Wednesday's game against Trinidad & Tobago: Jozy Altidore, Carlos Bocanegra, Conor Casey, Steve Cherundolo, Ricardo Clark, Jay DeMerit, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Benny Feilhaber.

Couldn't resist passing along this item the Associated Press just put out on the wire (it's an attempted correction of an incorrect photo caption, BTW):

** CORRECTS DATE ** United States' Kyle Beckarman, left, takes part in
drills as Jonathan Bornstein looks on during a practice for a World
Cup qualifying soccer match in Sandy, Utah, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009.
Unites States plays El Salvador on Saturday. (AP Photo/George Frey)

Now will they correct the spelling of Kyle Beckerman's surname?

With World Cup qualifying in full flow there are only three MLS games this weekend, (MLS always has trouble attracting fans on Labor day weekend anyway).

Click to the right for a full game schedule, but here's what I'll be checking out (and local college games are listed below, too):

Saturday

7 a.m. GolTV Scotland-Macedonia
9:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel England-Slovenia
1 p.m. GolTV Spain-Belgium
2 p.m. FSC (delayed) Georgia-Italy
5 p.m. ESPN Classic U.S.-El Salvador
7 p.m. KVEA Costa Rica-Mexico

Sunday
1:55 p.m. Puebla-CD Guadalajara

Local college action
3 p.m. today Pepperdine-Houston
4:30 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge men-Loyola Marymount

Which is good because I interviewed Landon Donovan on the weekend.

More on that in a bit.

I asked Donovan, who is likely to take sole possession of the all-time U.S. Men's National Team World Cup qualifying appearance record when he plays against El Salvador in Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday (he's currently tied at 32 games with Kasey Keller, Eddie Pope, and Claudio Reyna), about the importance of the game:

"It's a massive, massive game," he said. "And candidly if we can't beat El Salvador at home we don't deserve to go to the World Cup."

And the best way to beat them is to get the early goal, he said, adding other keys were:

"Be aggressive. Make it hard on them. They're a team with players that don't play high level games consistently throughout the year, so we have to push the game. It's at altitude, wear them out and then take our chances.

Could only get in two questions, I'm afraid and sadly I won't be heading to Utah for the game.

Now more about that swine flu in this wire service story:

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- U.S. forward Landon Donovan has had nearly a month to recover from swine flu and needed more of that time than he expected.

The Galaxy midfielder played through the illness on Aug. 12 in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico, surviving all 90 minutes in the altitude of Mexico City. He knew he was sick - and exhausted after the 2-1 loss to Mexico - but didn't learn the diagnosis until a couple of days later.

The United States returns to qualifying with two games in the next week, starting with El
Salvador on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium south of Salt Lake City.

Donovan will be making his 117th international appearance and says he's healthy again - finally.

"Any time you're sick it takes a long time to get back to health. It probably took another
week after that game and then I felt normal," Donovan said after practice Wednesday. "I'm back to 100 percent."

At 27, Donovan is a veteran on a young U.S. squad, which is largely the same lineup coach Bob Bradley chose for the qualifier last month in Mexico. Donovan was a young, rising U.S. star when he played in his first two World Cups in 2002 and 2006, but now is one of the most experienced players and is trying to help lead the American youngsters through qualifying.

"The experience factor isn't there like it was with other teams, but we're learning. We're
getting better and this is a big game for us," Donovan said.

Just a few days after the El Salvador game, the United States plays at Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday in another qualifier. The Americans (3-1-2) enter this round in third place in North and Central America and the Caribbean group with four games left to play.

The top three teams qualify for the World Cup next summer in South Africa. The Americans are actually tied in points with Honduras, but Honduras is ahead in the standings because of goal difference.

That makes the final four qualifiers crucial.

Saturday's game is a rematch of a 2-2 draw played in San Salvador in March. The United States fell behind 2-0, then rallied to salvage a point from the trip. Had the Americans won it, they would be alone in second place.

"A couple things we did poorly, they made us pay for it. It's unfortunate that we kind of
turned it on so late," Donovan said. "At the end of the day when you have a bad day, it's
better to get a point than get nothing out of the game. That's a game looking back we feel we should have won."

Donovan is the U.S. all-time leader in goals and assists and has scored 11 times in
qualifying, most recently in a 2-1 win over Honduras on June 6. He plays for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and is one of the headliners whenever his club visits Real Salt Lake.

He played here in the MLS All-Star Game in July and nearly got a couple shots past Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, who will be in the U.S. goal on Saturday night.

"Landon has just a great combination of skills. He's a very dynamic player. He has speed and he's got the ability to change directions - slow down, speed up - and he combines that with the technical ability," Bradley said. "He reacts very well to situations around him. He sees things a little faster than the defenders. You put all that together it makes him always a threat."

Bradley is glad to have Donovan back healthy again. The final two qualifiers are in October against Costa Rica and Honduras - the top two teams in the group standings - and the U.S. team can't afford to slip further behind by getting upset in these next two games.

What was he thinking?

Last night's U.S. Open Cup final had plenty of Southern California interest what with the likes of former Galaxy team members Sigi Schmid, Pete Vagenas and Ezra Hendrickson (as an assistant coach) involved for Seattle and Josh Wicks starting for D.C. United.

Wicks, who seems to have learned from his traumatic experience last year in L.A., kept United in the game early, but then came his rush of blood to the head (the second in successive games after a confrontation with a teammate in the previous game for United).

And no, it doesn't matter whether Wicks actually made contact. The intent, whether to injure or intimidate, was there. Check out the highlights here:

It's hot, a long, lazy Labor Day weekend approaches and I'm feeling about as motivated as Carlos Ruiz in his second Galaxy stint.

The Galaxy and Chivas USA both have the weekend off, but an important World Cup qualifying weekend looms nonetheless and the Home Depot Center won't be completely devoid of activity..

Here's what else is happening:

*FIFA has released its new monthly rankings today with Mexico rising fast after the win over the U.S., although the Americans remain tops in CONCACAF.

*Here's the current CONCACAF WCQ standings and schedule ahead of this week's games.

*The Galaxy's Landon Donovan and Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein are in Utah where the U.S. plays El Savador Saturday (5 p.m. ESPN Classic) and then flies to Trinidad & Tobago for a second World Cup qualifier Wednesday (4 p.m. ESPN Classic). New Galaxy midfielder Chris Birchall is in the squad for T&T squad, which also plays Honduras Saturday. Update from the Galaxy blog (which also has good news about Edson Buddle and Sean Franklin: "Chris Birchall was removed from the Trinidad and Tobago squad for their upcoming qualifiers in Honduras and at home to the U.S. because of nagging hamstring injury that was exacerbated over the weekend. He has elected to remain in Los Angeles to get treatment from the Galaxy training staff in an attempt to be ready to play against FC Dallas on the 12th."

*David Beckham is on national team duty for England, which plays a friendly against Slovenia Saturday (9:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel) and a WCQ against Croatia Wednesday. An England win would clinch a spot in South Africa.

*Closer to home, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men and women both won Tuesday, while the Cal State Northridge men lost 2-0 to San Diego in their season opener.

*Finally, former Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid and his Seattle Sounders clash with D.C. United today in the final of the oft-overlooked U.S. Open Cup (4:30 p.m. FSC) where both teams have exchanged opposing views on who should host the game, never mind win it. Hey, this is a tournament that needs all the heightened awareness/trash-talking/controversy it can get.

Did you know that for the first time ever on American television the English Premier League, the most popular soccer league (in terms of ratings) in this country, can now be seen almost weekly in hi def?

Did you know that coverage of the UEFA Champions League has taken a quantum step forward from announcers calling games in some distant studio rather than being there live, that there is no longer an extremely limited selection of games on TV and that you'll never have to hear the over-used "bulge in the ol' onion bag" phrase ever again?

You do now. (Can you tell I'm just a tad excited about these developments?).