Friday Football: Waiting for the weekend
U.S. holding midfielder Shannon Boxx of Torrance shadows Canada's Kelly Parker Thursday in Portland (AP Photo).
*Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach paced the U.S. with a brace as the Americans beat Canada 3-0 Thursday in the second of two-game post-World Cup series between the two nations. The game drew 18,570 in soccer-crazy Portland, the largest crowd to watch the U.S. women on American soil since the days of Mia Hamm.
*The Galaxy visits the Crew on Saturday (4:30 p.m. live on FSN) where two of the top three scorers in the league will be on display.
Incidentally, the Galaxy will begin selling discounted two-game playoff packages at 10 a.m. Monday. Packages start at $42 for the home leg of their conference semifinal series as well as a potential conference championship game.
*Hapless Chivas USA, their playoff hopes fading fast, are at home against Toronto (who have a modest two-game win streak going) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (live on KDOC and KWHY). The best reason to watch the game may well be to get a first-hand peek at Toronto's two designated players who joined the club in July, Dutch striker Danny Koevermans, who has six goals in seven games, and German midfielder Torsten Frings, (he of the missed goal line handball in the 2002 World Cup that contributed to the American exit from the competition).
Will this be more enjoyable viewing for Chivas USA fans? The Chivagirls are on the ABC show "Everyday Health" at 11 a.m. Saturday.
*Games on TV this weekend include three Saturday EPL match-ups involving Manchester City (against Everton at 4:30 a.m. on ESPN2), Arsenal (against Bolton at 7 a.m. on Fox Soccer) and Manchester United (against Stoke at 9:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer).
BTW, last Sunday's first of three taped-delayed Barclays English Premier League matches this season on Fox - Manchester United's 3-1 defeat of Chelsea - was the most watched EPL match ever in the U.S., with a combined audience of 2.4 million viewers on a trio of Fox channels.
Other games include Sporting Kansas City-Philadelphia Union at 5:30 tonight on Fox Soccer and modest Tijuana visiting mighty Club America at 2 p.m. Sunday on KMEX. Click at top right for a schedule of all the games.
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
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