Major League Soccer: May 2008 Archives

When Chivas USA went up 2-0 someone in the press box joked how that was 'the most dangerous lead in football" and most of us chuckled at the absurdity of the old cliche only to walk into the press conference and hear Preki say:

"The most difficult thing in football is to win 2-0. Do you attack? Do you defend. What do you do?"

Alrighty then.

Columbus Crew Coach Sigi Schmid had harsh words for referee Fernando Galvan, suggesting he was biased against the Crew all game long:

"We were a man down from the time the game started," he said, adding that he didn't understand the ejection of Assistant Coach Robert Warzycha (apparently for making a hand gesture). "(The referee) was more concerned with us than he was with the game."

Schmid also railed against the lack of protection given to the rapidly improving Robbie Rogers, whose shins covered in red welts and bruises were testimony to the attention Chivas USA meted out:

"Unless we want to make sure Robbie Rogers doesn't ever play well in this league we should let him continue to get kicked and beat up the way he's getting beat up right now. Its been ridiculous. ... The last three games teams are just kicking the crap out of him and he's getting no protection. Is it like the NBA where you have to be a veteran to get calls? ... I pulled Robbie out because they were just kicking the crap out of him and the referee wasn't protecting him."

Here's Schmid on Rogers' strengths - and a weakness:

"He's so confident. He's willing to go at people. ... He found his confidence within himself. He knows he can score goals, he knows he can take people on and beat people. ... He probably needs to learn how to - I'm going to get in big trouble for saying this - he needs to learn how to embellish when he gets kicked. There are a number of big time players in this league who do it very well including a couple who play in LA. He's honest to a fault. .. He doesn't yet have the respect of referees in this league."

Rogers agreed with Schmid, but recognized he needs to adapt to the, um, compliments other teams have started paying him:

"Maybe when I go down in the box and there's a little contact, maybe sometimes I should go down a little easier. Some of the guys in the league have mastered that, but I'm still young so maybe I will. ... It's just another challenge for me I need to overcome, maybe play a little bit quicker. ... I've got to figure out what I've got to do, but something has got to change because we haven't scored in the last two games."

By the way, the soap opera of Legion 1908 continues.

After boycotting the last two Chivas USA home games in protest because a member of their group was banned from the stadium for fighting with a member of the Ultras (another Chivas USA fan group), Legion 1908 returned. Except they decided to do a tour of the stadium, yell at the Ultras en masse, and when one of their members climbed atop a railing and ignored a security guard's demand to get down the fan was tossed from the stadium.

Expressing their solidarity (again) Legion 1908 walked out too.

So they missed the team they allegedly support getting a share of the Western Conference lead.

Not surprisingly, the best line of the night went to Schmid talking about Frankie Hejduk's repeated transatlantic treks for the U.S. National Team:

"Maybe he should get a groin pull. Isn't there another U.S. player with a groin pull? Maybe he's going to get a groin pull soon."

Game details are here.

(And despite the headline it was Chivas USA's third straight win).

Chivas USA finished up worthy 2-0 victors of the Crew, controlling the game and rarely being put under pressure by nine-man Columbus.

Incidentally, Assistant Crew Coach Robert Warzycha followed O'Rourke into the dressing room prematurely, apparently getting thrown off the bench for daring to stand up on the sidelines and ignoring the ref's instructions. Sigi Schmid was, to put it mildly, not happy about the decision.

Not as much excitement on the field in the second half as Chivas USA were largely content to sit on their lead, although substitute Ante Razov should have done better after rounding the goalkeeper and missing from an acute angle.

Sacha Kljestan also could have done better late in the game, missing from eight yards with only the goalkeeper to beat.

The Crew's best chance came from sub Adam Moffat, who replaced Guillermo Barros Schelotto, at half time. Moffat smacked a hard shot from just seven yards that Brad Guzan managed to save.

Back with post-game quotes and more from the locker rooms a little later.

If Chivas USA hangs on to win this game for a third successive victory despite their crippling litany of injuries, Preki and his players will point to a two minute first half outburst as the difference that saw them score two unanswered goals and a frustrated Danny O'Rourke given a straight red.

The first came in the 20th minute, when O'Rourke failed to head clear a Cary Tally cross, Frankie Hejduk managed to flick up the errant ball with his heels and Jorge "Sueno" Flores met the ball with a snapping left-footed volley from 12 yards for his third MLS goal in three games.

A minute later and Chivas USA was up by two.

This time Justin Braun worked his way down the right hand side, beating a Crew defender and delivering a cross Jesse Marsch smashed home from 12 yards.

O'Rourke was given a red card just seconds after the restart, flying in on an unnecessary midfield tackle against Atiba Harris with his studs indecently high. Harris required treatment and left the field, but did return.

A 36th minute blast from Brad Evans was the Crew's best chance, although Guzan had it well covered.

Chivas ended the half with an 8-2 shot advantage.

Looks like they've resodded part of the field after Cal State Dominguez Hills graduation ceremonies tore it up in places.

Chivas USA (3-4-2) fields an unchanged starting lineup for the first time this season:
goalkeeper Brad Guzan; defenders Cary Talley, Bobby Burling, Jim Curtin and Francisco Mendoza; midfielders Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura; forwards Justin Braun, Jorge Flores and Atiba Harris.

Flores and Harris are expected to play wide, almost as wingers, with Kljestan tucking in behind the strikers.

Defenders Claudio Suarez and Shavar Thomas are on the bench, as is striker Ante Razov.

Maykel Galindo misses his third successive game through injury, one of eight starters on a still extensive injury list.

Crew Coach Sigi Schmid also names an unchanged lineup that includes Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers in midfield (five MLS goals), former Galaxy duo Alejandro Moreno and Ezra Hendrickson and Argentine veteran Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The Crew are 6-2-1.

The game is on FSN.

The game is on FSN and in Spanish on Channel 54, as part of Chivas USA's new 10-game local Spanish-language TV package.

No Becks. No Donovan. No win for the Galaxy. Again.

"We gave the journalists ammunition to say we can't play without these two," Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit said.

Wait a minute. That's what he said after the Rapids U.S. Open Cup game.

You get the idea.

And there was no imagination in midfield, bite in defense or (much) Alan Gordon, um, fire power up front either.

Updated.

The Galaxy plays Toronto at 12:30 p.m. on FSN without possible England captain David Beckham and Field Turf shy Abel Xavier, but apparently motivated by AEG head honcho Tim Leiweke who told the team to get their butts in gear - or else.

And, as usual, Beckhamania has ensued in Trinidad & Tobago.

Closer to home, Chivas USA plays the Columbus Crew at 7:30 p.m. at Home Depot Center with a touchy Brad Guzan.

I'll be back later from the HDC updating the game as usual.

Today's swag: a free ChivaGirls poster. Oh, and midfielder Jesse Marsch will hang out from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Hawthorne Best Buy, 5000 W. 147th St.

In the PDL, the Ventura County Fusion won its first game of the season Friday, while the San Francisco Seals beat Orange County Blue Star 3-2.

First off, U.S. Coach Bob Bradley today named a 24-player roster for next week's game against Spain that's pretty much the same as the squad for the England game with the addition of recalled Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.

The Galaxy jetted off to Toronto today for Saturday's game in Canada (12:30 p.m. Direct Kick).

Chivas USA plays at Home Depot Center Saturday against Rolling Hills' Estates' Robbie Rogers and the Columbus Crew.

More on both games Saturday.

In PDL games locally tonight it's:
San Francisco Seals at Orange County Blue Star 5 p.m. Concordia University.
Fresno Fuego at Ventura County Fusion 7:30 p.m. Buena High.

Saturday:
Los Angeles Legends at Southern California Seahorses 7:30 p.m. La Mirada High.

W-League Saturday
Ventura County Fusion at Pali Blues 7 p.m. Palisades High.

Women's Premier Soccer League Friday
Los Angeles Rampage v Claremont Stars 8 p.m. Granada Hills.
West Coast FC v Ajax America Women 8 p.m. JSerra Catholic High School.

A curious game against the Wizards with curious goals naturally led to a curious outcome: the Galaxy have a winning record for the first time since October 2005, according to MLSNet reporter Greg Dario.

Trivia time: Who was the Galaxy coach then? (Answer at end of post).

The Galaxy scored three unanswered goals to snatch their first come from behind victory of the year.

No wonder Ruud Gullit was about as happy as I've ever seen him, cracking jokes and then laughing heartily at them.

Best line was on Beckham's garbage time, yet slightly wondrous goal from fully 70 yards:

"If he was to miss that, his reputation would be gone."

Landon Donovan had a pretty good line, too:

"Maybe goalies will think twice about coming out of their goals at the end of games like that. It doesn't help their stats."

Gullit was effusive in praise of Donovan (calling him the key factor of the game) and unflinching in his reasoning for sitting an out of form Abel Xavier at the start of the season:

"I put Xavier on the bench to stimulate him. He was not happy about it."

But, he acknowledged Xavier had "responded well" in his second consecutive start.

Gullit said he took Franchino out early because he was having a "difficult time," BTW.

Aside from Beckham's goal the two main talking points was Landon Donovan's suspect-looking penalty kick award and Buddle's apparently offside goal.

Wizards Coach Curt Onalfo declined comment on the quality of the referee's decision; midfielder Sasha Victorine jumped right in:

"I don't think it's a penalty kick to be honest."

Donovan disagreed, naturally, saying Tyson Wahl tripped him and observing that the Wizards defender didn't exactly argue with the decision.

HD telecast commentator Marcelo Balboa said replays clearly showed Donovan was tripped.

However, Balboa also said replays showed that Edson Buddle was a half-yard offside on his goal, something even Buddle didn't know about.

The Galaxy began the game in "ridiculous" fashion, Gullit said, giving the ball away too easily and looking nervous, should have "buried" the game early, but eventually won a "great victory."

Hmmmm.

Here's Chris Klein on why the Galaxy have played much better in the second half of games most of the time:

"It's a very good question. The bigger question is why we haven't played so well in the first. We've got to start putting 90 minutes together."

Here's Donovan on the Galaxy's outlook this season given the parity/unpredictability of MLS:

"If we focus we can be very good, but if not we'll be back with the pack."

By the way. I'll have more later on this week on Donovan about collecting his 100th cap against England Wednesday as well as comments from Canadian Ante Jazic about playing Brazil in Seattle later in the week.

Game story is here.

The LA Times ripped into the officiating in this one.

Finally, don't look now, but injury-ridden Chivas USA is riding a two-game winning streak.

Chivas USA was missing eight senior players through injury.

Anaheim's Jorge Flores had a good night: It was the second goal of the 2007 Sueño MLS winner's career in as many games, in just his third ever match and first game as a starter.

Trivia Question answer: Steve Sampson.

It was neither pretty nor convincing, but the Galaxy (4-3-2) secured a 3-1 win against the Wizards (3-3-2) Saturday to go top of the Western Conference against a team that ceded more territory than the French in the Ardennes Forest in WW II.

A soft penalty won by a diving Landon Donovan (worth about an 8.5 at least) in the 54th minute and a winner by Edson Buddle that had a whiff of offside about it 20 minutes later gave the Galaxy the three points.

David Beckham added the third seconds before the end, when Kevin Hartman left his goal to come up for a last-ditch Wizards corner kick. Becks collected the clearance on the outside of his own box, dribbled up the wing, heard the crowd yelling that Hartman was well out of position, looked up and sent a long shot from about 70 yards into the empty net.

The Wizards also had a shot cleared off the line, while Buddle hit the crossbar five minutes from time.

Carlos Ruiz came on in the 86th minute and with his first touch tried to win a free kick - or penalty - in or near the Wizards box. He didn't get the call.

Incidentally, Joe Franchino was pulled just before half time in favor of Ely Allen in what was a tactical move.

Allen was guilty of a horrendous miss on the hour mark, when Beckham squared the ball to him perfectly only to see it completely mishit just outside the box.

Back with more from the locker rooms later.

A lone piece of class from the Wizards' Argentine forward Claudio Lopez was enough to separate the teams going in at the half.

Lopez, a veteran of the likes of Spain's Valencia and Italy's Lazio, made Brandon McDonald look hapless before slamming home his third goal of the season five minutes before half time in a move that came out of nowhere.

The Galaxy almost responded immediately, David Beckham nodding the ball past an apparently awed Michael Harrington, but not Kevin Hartman who saved from an acute angle two minutes later.

In truth that was about it for excitement.

The Galaxy didn't look particularly sharp and as usual the Wizards were content to bunker in and look for the counter attack.

Guess that worked.

Chivas USA beat the Rapids 2-1 in Colorado tonight, with Jesse Marsch and Jorge Flores scoring.

The result means the Galaxy can top the West if they can come back to win since they will leapfrog the Rapids.

Not surprisingly, Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit keeps faith with the same starting 11 that shelled Dallas 5-1 last Sunday.

Steve Cronin is in goal; Chris Klein gets his MLS-record 94th consecutive start (beating Kevin Hartman's record), along with Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier and Greg Vanney in the back. In midfield, it's David Beckham, who jets off to England right after the game, Alvaro Pires, Brandon McDonald and Joe Franchino. Up front: hat trick hero Edson Buddle and MLS goalscoring leader Landon Donovan, who also climbs on a red-eye to England tonight for the game against the U.S..

South Bay product Kevin Hartman is in goal for the 3-3-2 Wizards, behind the same back four that drew against New York: Chance Myers, Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl and Michael Harrington.

Carlos Ruiz is on the bench and available for the first time since the season opener.

In midfield, Davy Arnoud replaces Ryan Pore, alongside Jack Jewsbury, Carlos Marinelli and Sasha Victorine.

In attack are Claudio Lopez and Scott Sealey.

Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids are without a goal in their game, incidentally, which is about 30 minutes in.

Galaxy Preview

Late with today's post and in part you can blame this excellent restaurant (it's essentially a Japanese pub/barbecue place) that is a convenient dining option (and one of the few) near Home Depot Center either before or after (it stays open late) tonight's Galaxy game.

Especially recommended: the melt in your mouth chicken livers and the crunchy fried cartlidge (no, really).

And brace yourself if you go: We call it the "yelly restaurant."

Kampai!

Looks to be another chilly and possibly wet evening in Carson for the Galaxy-Wizards game (no local TV for this one).

Need motivation to go to the game? Tickets are up to 50 percent off through a Ticketmaster special offer. The code to know: FANATIC.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (UCLA, CSUDH), who grew up in the South Bay, is looking forward to the game, although not necessarily because he gets to face David Beckham for the first time:

"To be honest, I'm just looking forward to getting back to playing in front of friends and family."

Read the whole story here.

I'll bundle up and blog from the game.

Chivas USA Preview

Meanwhile, Chivas USA (2-4-2, 8 pts) are on the road in Colorado hoping they have enough healthy bodies to put on the field against the Western Conference-leading (4-4-0, 12 pts) Rapids (kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. on Prime).

Loyola Marymount product Bobby Burling is likely to play on his return home, though.

Chivas USA need to make a little bit of history for the second consecutive game to get a victory: the team has never won in Colorado, although the record stands at one loss and four ties.

ETC.

*The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team dropped its second game of the Toulon International Tournament to Ivory Coast, 1-0, Friday. UCLA product conceded the penalty kick that led to the goal; Galaxy players Bryan Jordan and Michael Gavin saw action in the game, while Julian Valentin did not.

*Mexican National Team Coach Jesús Rámirez announced the roster Friday for the upcoming internationals against Argentina June 4 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and Peru four days later in Chicago:

goalkeepers Guillermo Ochoa (Club América), Oswaldo Sánchez (Santos), José de Jesús Corona (Tecos); defenders Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven / HOL), Johnny Magallón (CD Guadalajara), Oscar Rojas (América), Ricardo Osorio (VFB Stuttgart / GER), Aarón Galindo (Eintracht Frankfurt / GER), Patricio Araujo (CD Guadalajara), Hector Moreno (AZ Alkmaar / HOL), Adrián Aldrete (Morelia), Julio César Domínguez (Cruz Azul); midfielders Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Francisco Arce (Santos Laguna), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo la Coruna / SPA), Antonio Naelson (Toluca), Sergio Amaury Ponce (Toluca), Luis Pérez (Monterrey), Gonzalo Pineda (CD Guadalajara); forwards Carlos Vela (Osasuna), César Villaluz (Cruz Azul), Sergio Santana (CD Guadalajara), Edgar Andrade (Cruz Azul), Jared Borgetti (Monterrey).

The game is sold out, BTW.

A curious game against the Wizards with curious goals naturally led to a curious outcome: the Galaxy have a winning record for the first time since October 2005, according to MLSNet reporter Greg Dario.

Trivia time: Who was the Galaxy coach then? (Answer at end of post).

The Galaxy scored three unanswered goals to snatch their first come from behind victory of the year.

No wonder Ruud Gullit was about as happy as I've ever seen him, cracking jokes and then laughing heartily at them.

Best line was on Beckham's garbage time, yet slightly wondrous goal from fully 70 yards:

"If he was to miss that, his reputation would be gone."

Landon Donovan had a pretty good line, too:

"Maybe goalies will think twice about coming out of their goals at the end of games like that. It doesn't help their stats."

Gullit was effusive in praise of Donovan (calling him the key factor of the game) and unflinching in his reasoning for sitting an out of form Abel Xavier at the start of the season:

"I put Xavier on the bench to stimulate him. He was not happy about it."

But, he acknowledged Xavier had "responded well" in his second consecutive start.

Gullit said he took Franchino out early because he was having a "difficult time," BTW.

Aside from Beckham's goal the two main talking points was Landon Donovan's suspect-looking penalty kick award and Buddle's apparently offside goal.

Wizards Coach Curt Onalfo declined comment on the quality of the referee's decision; midfielder Sasha Victorine jumped right in:

"I don't think it's a penalty kick to be honest."

Donovan disagreed, naturally, saying Tyson Wahl tripped him and observing that the Wizards defender didn't exactly argue with the decision.

HD telecast commentator Marcelo Balboa said replays clearly showed Donovan was tripped.

However, Balboa also said replays showed that Edson Buddle was a half-yard offside on his goal, something even Buddle didn't know about.

The Galaxy began the game in "ridiculous" fashion, Gullit said, giving the ball away too easily and looking nervous, should have "buried" the game early, but eventually won a "great victory."

Hmmmm.

Here's Chris Klein on why the Galaxy have played much better in the second half of games most of the time:

"It's a very good question. The bigger question is why we haven't played so well in the first. We've got to start putting 90 minutes together."

Here's Donovan on the Galaxy's outlook this season given the parity/unpredictability of MLS:

"If we focus we can be very good, but if not we'll be back with the pack."

By the way. I'll have more later on this week on Donovan about collecting his 100th cap against England Wednesday as well as comments from Canadian Ante Jazic about playing Brazil in Seattle later in the week.

Game story is here.

The LA Times ripped into the officiating in this one.

Finally, don't look now, but injury-ridden Chivas USA is riding a two-game winning streak.

Chivas USA was missing eight senior players through injury.

Anaheim's Jorge Flores had a good night: It was the second goal of the 2007 Sueño MLS winner's career in as many games, in just his third ever match and first game as a starter.

Trivia Question answer: Steve Sampson.

*The U.S. Under-23 National Team plays the Ivory Coast at 9 a.m. today on Fox Soccer Channel from France.

*Fontana's Maurice Edu of Toronto FC has been called into the senior national team for next week's game against England, presumably as a replacement for the injured Benny Feilhaber.

*The Galaxy's Ante Jazic has only just returned from injury, but the defender has been recalled by Canada's National Team for its May 31 game against Brazil in Seattle.

*In other MLS news, former Galaxy midfielders Jovan Kirovski and Kelly Gray have joined the San Jose Earthquakes from the Colorado Rapids, with former Chivas USA reserve goalkeeper Preston Burpo moving in the opposite direction.

*ESPN has announced that Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea - the first-ever between two English teams - was ESPN2's highest-rated and most-watched UEFA telecast in history.

From the ESPN press release:

The telecast was seen in an average of 798,000 homes (and by 1,097,000 viewers), and received an 0.8 rating. The network's previous UEFA record was the 2006 final, seen in 613,000 homes (and by 770,000 viewers), based on a 0.7 rating.

On ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language telecast earned a 4.5 Hispanic coverage rating, representing 153,000 Hispanic homes, the highest rating the network has ever received.

ESPN Classic will re-air the telecast as an instant classic at 5 p.m. Saturday.

*Meanwhile, Electronic Arts' UEFA Euro 2008 video game has gone on sale, featuring 52 teams.

From their press release:

A new game mode called Captain Your Country will enable gamers to put themselves on the pitch, earn the captaincy of their team, and truly inspire their country to glory. Gamers will be able to celebrate their success on-field through user-controlled celebrations that will add to the pageantry and atmosphere of the event.

*Cal State Northridge women' soccer has announced the signing of eight high school seniors to letters of intent: sweeper Nicole Cruz and defender Emily Geckle (both Thousand Oaks High); goalkeeper Christina Herrera (Pasadena High); defender Marie Hirsch (Notre Dame High); midfielder Marissa Miller (Righetti High); defender Katie Russ (Canyon High); midfielder Brielle Slepicoff (Saugus High); and midfielder Sinead Vaughan (Royal High).

*Only two local PDL games scheduled this weekend.

At 7:30 tonight the San Fernando Valley Quakes play at Los Angeles Legends.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, it's the Bakersfield Brigade at Southern California Seahorses at La Mirada High.

*The Women's Premier Soccer League begins play locally this weekend.

Games scheduled locally:
Saturday- Ajax America Women- Los Angeles Rampage at noon at Nansen Field in Rolling Hills Estates.
San Diego WFC SeaLions- West Coast FC at 7 p.m. at Cathedral Catholic High in San Juan Capistrano.
Claremont Stars- SD United at 5:30 p.m. at Claremont High School.

*Finally, if you thought MLS officiating was bad, check this out.

Have a great weekend.

Always a little jarring when events take you away from something familiar and it's a little hard to recognize at first when you get back isn't it?

Hope you like the new look of the blog. Feedback always appreciated.

It was something I knew was coming, but not the time line and in fact I didn't know the change had been made until a reader informed me. It's probably why I was unable to blog after the Toronto-D.C. United game where Coach Tom Soehn is increasingly looking the best bet to follow Steve Morrow out the rotating coaching door next.

Penalty highlights of the UEFA Champions League final are below, by the way.

Galaxy fans may remember Afshin Ghotbi, an assistant coach with the Galaxy during Steve Sampson's reign and notable for his role in developing John O'Brien, who has turned up coaching in his native Iran.

Finally, the experimental U.S. Under-23 National Team dropped its first game of the Toulon Tournament 3-2 to Turkey in the early hours of Wednesday morning despite second-half goals from Eric Brunner and Sammy Ochoa.

The U.S. lineup: 18-Dominic Cervi; 13-Blake Wagner (7-Tony Beltran, 46), 3-Eric Brunner, 6-Julian Valentin, 25-Jonathon Leathers; 16-Corey Ashe, 10-Benny Feilhaber - capt. (21-Brek Shea, 67), 8-Greg Dalby, 17-Lee Nguyen (7-Kamani Hill, 46); 19-Sammy Ochoa, 9-Gabe Ferrari.
Subs Not Used: 1-Chris Seitz, 2-Rob Valentino, 4-Kyle Davies, 5-Michael Gavin, 11-Ellis McLoughlin, 14-Bryan Arguez, 15-Bryan Jordan, 24-Quentin Westberg
Head Coach: Peter Nowak

Wednesday's Telly

6:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel U.S. Under-23 National Team-Turkey in Toulon.

11:30 a.m. ESPN2 Manchester United-Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League Final.

4:30 p.m. Direct Kick Toronto FC-D.C. United.

Bradley's Boys

U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has named a 22-man roster that will travel to London to prepare for the friendly against England on May 28 at Wembley Stadium including Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan:

goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC); defenders Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United); midfielders Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County); forwards Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Out of Contract).

And here's the England squad:

David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Chris Kirkland (Wigan); Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesbrough); Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa); forwards Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

Noteworthy: Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, 26, is one cap away from becoming the fourth-youngest male player to reach 100 international appearances. After becoming the all-time U.S. goalscorer Donovan Wednesday would surpass the nation's most capped player - Galaxy Assistant Coach Cobi Jones (164) - as the youngest U.S. player to hit the century mark.

Galaxy Gossip

Galaxy players already managed to get an MLS coach fired this season and it wasn't Ruud Gullit. Dallas Coach Steve Morrow got the hook after his team's plumbing the depths of ghastly performance last weekend.

Tidbits on a date with the knife for Gullit, Galaxy UEFA Champions League final picks (c'mon, name names) here.

Under-20 Galaxy Rios forward Tristan Bowen has been named the to the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team for the upcoming Lisbon International Tournament, where the U.S. will take on Norway on May 21, Portugal on May 22 and Sweden on May 24. The team plays at the HDC Saturday in the season opener.

Also named: defender Jose Diaz (Chivas USA Academy) and midfielder Mike Roman (Real So Cal).

Foxy Programming

Fox Soccer Channel has announced a four-year renewal of its broadcasting rights to televise programming from England's governing body for soccer.

That includes the F.A. Cup as well as the final, finally back on free TV in the U.S.

Other games include the Community Shield and England internationals.

FSC also snared rights to the CONCACAF Champions League, for four seasons beginning in 2008/2009. FSC airs 56 games this year.

I caught up with former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid in today's column.

Is a Crew-Galaxy MLS final in Carson possible, perhaps?

Spent the day working on Tuesday's column about former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid (see next post), but noted these items in passing:

The Galaxy's Edson Buddle, 27, he of the mazy run around/through four Dallas defenders and hat trick was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters. Buddle has 57 career MLS goals.

An alternate view: Anaheim's Jorge Flores get a shout-out from the most comprehensive soccer blog around - DuNord - for his performance this weekend.

Details of the Beckham incident Sunday: Beckham received a yellow card in the 76th minute after he got into a shoving match with Adrian Serioux and Arturo Alvarez of FC Dallas (2-3-3). Serioux, who brought Beckham down with a slide tackle, was given a red card and ejected.

"It was a terrible tackle. I could have broken my leg," Beckham said. "It's not my decision to give out cards. The player [Serioux] was saying, 'Welcome, baby, welcome,' afterward."

It was Beckham's second yellow card in two Texas appearances.

Or as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram put it:

In an effort to avert any misunderstanding in the British Parliament, Serioux hails from Canada. We colonists know Beckham is a museum piece.

Watch:

And former Chivas USA-UCLA striker Matt Taylor keeps popping up.

From a U.S. Soccer press release:

U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage will bring 27 players to a two-week training camp at Home Depot Center in Carson starting today.

At the end of the camp, Sundhage will choose a 20-player roster to compete in the 2008 Peace Queen Cup in South Korea, where the U.S. will play Australia (June 15), Brazil (June 17) and Italy (June 19).

Two players currently recovering from minor surgery - goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart (knee) and captain Christie Rampone (gall bladder) - will join the camp should they be fit enough to participate. Defender Keeley Dowling and midfielder Angie Woznuk return to camp after missing action while recovering from back injuries.

With Barnhart sidelined, Sundhage has called in 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kristin Luckenbill to join Hope Solo and Briana Scurry in the U.S. net.

Sundhage has also called in one player who has yet to see training camp action, giving a look to uncapped defender Kendall Fletcher, a former UNC star and veteran of the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team.

Defender Ali Krieger, who is currently playing for FFC Frankfurt, the top women's club in Germany and one of the best in Europe, will join camp on May 25 after she is released from club duty.

The roster: goalkeepers Kristin Luckenbill (Paoli, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Kendall Fletcher (Cary, N.C.), Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Finally, (indulge me) Norwich City fans everywhere are glad to see Darren Huckerby hyped as a possible MLS signing by former Canaries striker Ted MacDougall.

Just when it was least expected, the Galaxy put on one of the most devastating offensive performances in recent club history, demolishing FC Dallas by a four goal margin in a 5-1 victory Sunday that included an Edson Buddle hat trick.

It was the sort of game that sent you rushing to the record book:
*This was the Galaxy's biggest MLS victory since a a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay in August 2001.

*This was the first road Galaxy 5-1 MLS victory since a Aug. 5, 2000 win over the Wizards.

*Chris Klein made the 93rd consecutive start of his MLS career, tying him with ex-Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (Peninsula High) for the most consecutive starts in MLS history.

*Buddle's hat trick was the 14th in Galaxy history and the second this season.

*This was the first time Dallas surrendered five goals in a regular season game since a 5-2 loss at Los Angeles in the last game of the 2006 season. The five goals were the most Dallas has ever surrendered at Pizza Hut Park in a regular season game.

*Today's attendance of 22,331, was the largest regular season crowd for a Dallas game at Pizza Hut Park.

The win propelled the Galaxy up the standings.

Meanwhile, the W-League Pali Blues won their first home game decisively Saturday.

The W-League Ventura County Fusion won, but the PDL men lost.

The W-League standings.

Also In the PDL this weekend:
Lancaster Rattlers 0 Los Angeles Legends 5
Southern California Seahorses 1 Lancaster Rattlers 0
Orange County Blue Star 1 San Francisco Seals 1

The league table.

At noon in Dallas on Prime and Telefutura.

Game preview here.

And the crowd here.

Basics here.

After United's second half collapse, Coach Tom Soehn kept the locker room doors firmly closed for more than a half hour for the first time this season to conduct an internal postmortem.

When he finally did emerge, he looked grim, spoke tersely and softly and generally looked like an employee awaiting a pink slip anytime now.

"We're all held accountable players, coaches everybody," he said. "We gave away the ball too much. In the end we gave them a lot of confidence about how to put pressure on us."

"We threw caution to the wind after they scored, started taking chances and taking risks and they punished us."

So what did he say to his players in the locker room anyway?

Well, this was a common refrain from several players and Soehn:
"Games aren't won over 60 minutes, they're won over 90 minutes."

Jaime Moreno went with the simplest explanation: "We're making mistakes, very simple. That's what we've got to eliminate."

Putting Jesse Marsch back into midfield at the start of the second half was in part to give the defensive midfield more bit and in part to protect young Dan Paladini from picking up a second yellow, so he was pushed out wide right.

You sensed Preki was relieved to escape with this one: "I wasn't sure who I was going to play in the back."

Marsch sounded similarly relieved: "We needed a break. We got the break," he said. "I've been looking for something to rally around so hopefully this can be a turning point."

Oh, and Sueno was "very happy."

Game details here.

Here's how The Washington Post's Steven Goff saw the game

Two second half goals inside three minutes saved this game for Chivas USA - or in truth two incredibly poor D.C. United errors did.

This game wasn't half as good as the 3-1 scoreline suggest; it was one of those games your mother should have told you never to watch, between two frankly bad teams with a combined record of 3-9-2.

As banged up as Chivas USA is, D.C. was in worse shape.

The equalizer came in the 73rd minute, when substitute Jorge Flores beat Quavas Kirk to the ball, D.C goalkeeper Zach Wells made a hash of things and Jess Marsch redeemed himself with a goal.

Three minutes later, Atiba Harris skipped past Gonzalo Martinez along the sideline and crossed to Sacha Kljestan for what proved the winning goal.

Sueno scored the third eight minutes from time, too, with Wells guilty (again) of some very suspect goalkeeping.

It's the first time Chivas USA has ever - ever - come from behind to win a game and the first time they've ever beaten United.

The biggest question after this game: how long has D.C. Coach Tom Soehn got left?

Dressed in a black suit and crisp white shirt, one press box wit observed he looked like a mortician.

Appropriate, given that United's season already looks all but dead and buried.

Back with more from the locker room later.

It took Jesse Marsch half an hour to make an impression at sweeper.

A bad one.

Marsch was comprehensively beaten by Marcelo Gallardo just outside the top of the box, who put D.C. one up with a sweet move and shot.

Jaime Moreno almost added to his MLS goal total in first half stoppage time, sending a shot skimming over the bar that looked to have been redirected by Brad Guzan.

And that was largely it for on-field highlights.

Chivas USA finished the half without a shot on target; D.C. had a half dozen total, Chivas USA just one.

Razov had a goal disallowed for offside, by the way.

On a side note, Chivas USA has apparently found one way to fill the stands: invite really big high school bands to the game.

Legion 1908 is boycotting their second consecutive home game tonight.

Wholesale changes for Chivas USA tonight, with all four of their regular starters in defense out, including Shavar Thomas and Claudio Suarez (both with hamstring problems).

Eric Ebert is dropped from the back line, although Bobby Burling retains his place in defense alongside Jim Curtin and veteran Jesse Marsch (now 10th on the all-time list of top flight games played in the U.S., according to the National Soccer Hall of Fame) assumes a sweeper role for the first time since he was age 13 in Racine, Wisc.

Daniel Paladini makes his first-ever start in midfield, along with Panchito Mendoza (listed as a defender, but he really isn't), Sacha Kljestan and Paulo Nagamura. Justin Braun presumably is playing as a withdrawn striker.

Up front Atiba Harris deputizes for the injured Maykel Galindo and partners Ante Razov.

On the bench is well, virtually no one of note, although Jorge "Sueno" Flores scored a goal and had an assist in two games the U.S. Under-20 team played recently in England.

D.C. United also makes several changes from the team that was shut out for a second consecutive game against the Chicago Fire in their last outing.

Zach Wells is in goal as usual, but Marc Burch moves to defense, Dominic Mediate replaces Gonzalo Peralta and Gonzalo Martinez also starts.

Two changes in midfield for D.C. United with Ryan Cordeiro and Marcelo Gallardo drafted in alongside Santino Quaranta andClyde Sims.

Jaime Moreno partners former New York Red Bull striker Francis Doe, making his first start with D.C., in attack.

Luciano Emilio is on the bench, as is former Galaxy midfielder Quavas Kirk.

The game is on Fox Soccer Channel.

Former Galaxy Coach and South Bay boy Sigi Schmid continued his undefeated streak at the helm of the Columbus Crew today, drawing 0-0 against fast-improving Toronto FC

The league-leading Crew are now undefeated in six games, while Toronto's five-game unbeaten stretch establishes a new club record.

Great atmosphere and competent commentators on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp feed added to the EPL Lite feel (almost half of Toronto's lineup played in the U.K.).

Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers had a shot cleared off the line.

You can almost heart Sigi saying: "Goals change games."

By the way, assuming Sigi answers my e-mail, I'll have more on the Crew and Rogers in my Tuesday column.

Off to the Chivas USA game in a few minutes and you've got to wonder: are these two teams meant for each other?

From this morning's Washington Post:

Chivas USA, crippled by injuries to its back line and next to last in the Western Conference with a 1-4-2 record, might be the perfect opponent for an equally stressed team.

"We are as bad as they are," United midfielder-forward Santino Quaranta said. "They're struggling, and so are we."

Let's hope it's a half-decent game.

Lastly, a reminder the Galaxy PR folks sent out to me this morning: "I wanted to make sure that you know our game will also be on FSN Primeticket on Sunday with pregame show at 11:30am."

Nope, didn't. Thanks.

Under normal circumstances, Chivas USA Coach Preki would be licking his lips at the prospect of playing a 2-5 D.C. United.

Not today.

The game is on Fox Soccer Channel at 7:30 p.m. or if you're going don't forget to pick up your Mickey Mouse ears at the gate (try writing that with a straight face).

What's the issue, Jaime Moreno?

"The reason is very simple - we're not playing well. We worked so hard through preseason and got to this point where at the end of the day, it's the players who play. The coaches can do so much. The players who step on the field have to do the job and unfortunately we haven't done our job."

Back later blogging from the game.

With a gorgeous weekend for watching if not playing soccer forecast, here's a preview of the options on tap locally this weekend.

Chivas USA plays D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center and live on Fox Soccer Channel, while the Galaxy is on the road in Dallas for a game that airs at noon Sunday on Telefutura.

It's a big day in England Saturday with the annual finale to the season, the F.A. Cup final. The game begins at 7 a.m. local time on pay-per-view and at your favorite English pub.

In live action, W-League expansion team Pali Blues plays its first-ever game in Pacific Palisades Saturday against the Los Angeles Legends.

In the Pacific Development League, the Lancaster Rattlers plays the Los Angeles Legends at 7:30 tonight at Cougar Stadium in Glendora.

Other PDL games this weekend include:
Ventura County Fusion at San Jose Frogs
Southern California Seahorses at Lancaster Rattlers at 7 p.m. at Pete Knight High.
Orange County Blue Star at San Francisco Seals

Have a great weekend. I'll blog from Carson as usual Saturday and be back later with a game preview.

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew, Fontana's Maurice Edu of FC Toronto and Chivas USA's Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan were among a pool of 33 players U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has selected for consideration for three upcoming friendlies.

Rogers is one of five uncapped players included in the pool. Others looking for their first cap: San Luis Obispo's Chris Seitz, Orange's Michael Orozco, Modesto's Heath Pierce and goalkeepers Troy Perkins and Dominic Cervi.

DaMarcus Beasley returns to the squad after injury.

There is at least one surprise. Or as one colleague so eloquently put it when he saw the pool: (former Galaxy forward) "Nate frikkin Jaqua???"

Prominent names not included: Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, Bobby Convey (injured) and Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein of Los Alamitos, who suffered a serious knee injury last week.

Pool: goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake); defenders Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United); midfielders Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids); forwards Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich).

The U.S., which is on a five-game unbeaten run, plays in England May 28, Spain June 4 and against Argentina in New Jersey June 8. The three games lead up to the June 15 opening World Cup qualifier against Barbados at Home Depot Center.

The 22-man roster for the England game will be announced next week.

Said Bradley: "With the challenging schedule of friendlies we have organized to prepare for World Cup qualifying, this is an excellent opportunity to continue to evaluate our player pool and at the same time balance the workload. Many of our players have just completed seasons in Europe, and the MLS schedule is in full swing, so it is important that we manage the time wisely to give ourselves the best chance to be successful in the important matches this summer."

Damaged Goods

The most notable thing about the ever-lengthening Galaxy injury report is that David Beckham, sore foot and all, isn't on it:

OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)

DOUBTFUL - None

QUESTIONABLE - Ely Allen (R-Hamstring), Edson Buddle (R-Hamstring), Landon Donovan (R-Calf), Alvaro Pires (L-Knee), Carlos Ruiz (R-Knee Surgery), Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)

PROBABLE - Ante Jazic (R-Ankle Surgery)

Jazic played for the first time since December on Tuesday against Vancouver and will continue to train this week. All other injured players, with the exception of Alamo, are schedule to take part in portions of training this week in the lead up to the game against FC Dallas this weekend.

Meanwhile, Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process

Barca Back

In other MLS news, Barcelona inked a partnership deal with the league that boils down to the Spanish powerhouse playing six games in the U.S. over the next five years.

Barcelona played CD Guadalajara at the Coliseum in 2006, as part of a three-game U.S. tour, drawing 1-1 in front of 92,650.

Olympic Run-In

U.S. Soccer announced today that the U.S. Women's National Team's final two games before the Olympics will be against Brazil July 13 in Colorado and July 16 in San Diego. Tickets, priced between $22-$85, go on sale Tuesday.

"It's always good to get great games before you go to the Olympics and what better team to play than Brazil," said U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx of Torrance, who has started 12 of the 14 games the USA has played this year. "It's always an exciting game playing Brazil so these will be good tests to give us confidence heading into the Olympics. Obviously, we didn't do well against them in the World Cup so it will be beneficial for our team to play them a few times beforehand in case we do meet them in China."

UCLA Schedule

The UCLA men's program released the 2008 schedule today opening against Maryland Aug. 29 at Home Depot Center in a game televised nationally.

The Bruins will have nine games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Here are the home games at Drake Stadium:
Date Opponent
Aug. 29 Maryland
Aug. 31 UC Riverside
Sept. 12 Indiana
Sept. 20 Santa Clara
Sept. 28 Cal State Northridge
Oct. 1 UC Santa Barbara
Oct. 5 San Diego State*#
Oct. 17 Washington*
Oct. 19 Oregon State*
Oct. 31 California*#
Nov. 2 Stanford*#
Nov. 5 Cal Poly
* Pac-10 Conference game
# Doubleheader with UCLA women's soccer team

CONCACAF made official today what was widely expected anyway, naming Chivas USA as one of four U.S. entries in the inaugural Champions League that kicks off this summer.

Chivas USA qualifies by virtue of owning the second highest points total during the MLS regular season.

That slot was originally allocated to the U.S. Open Cup champion (thereby making that neglected competition more meaningful), but winners the New England Revolution qualified anyway by being MLS Cup runners-up, allowing Chivas USA to move into that slot.

The other U.S. qualifiers are MLS champions the Houston Dynamo and D.C. United, who collected the most points during the regular season.

Chivas USA is one of 16 entrants (eight receive a bye in the preliminary stage) that will play home and away games Aug. 26-28 and Sept. 2-4 to qualify for the round robin final 16 stage played Sept. 16-Oct. 30.

Chivas USA will learn its first round opponent June 11 when the draw is conducted.

Also today, voting begins for the MLS All-Star game against West Ham United July 24 at the league Web site.

Robbie Rogers' exploits last weekend earned him a profile here.

Despite what the article says, Rogers grew up in Rolling Hills Estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula as most readers of this blog know by now. We're not going to let Surf City claim him.

The Galaxy lost to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in Edmonton Tuesday with David Beckham nursing a sore foot by game's end.

Great.

And where is Peter Vagenas?

A helluva less pointless game is Wednesday's Glasgow Rangers-Zenit St. Petersburg UEFA Cup Final.

Locally, there's a free viewing party for Rangers fans at downtown Torrance's best dive bar The Crest.

Kickoff is at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

Lastly, UCLA has signed U.S. youth international midfielder/forward Eder Arreola (Chino Hills/Edison Academic Center), forward Prince Lapnet (Silver Spring, Maryland) and defender Victor Yanez (Riverside/Patriot High) to national letters of intent

For today's column I looked at the imploding Chivas USA defense and the potential consequences for their season.

Meanwhile, David Beckham and the Galaxy arrived in Edmonton Monday for tonight's extraneous game against the Whitecaps where more than 30,000 tickets have been sold.

Longtime injury victim Ante Jazic may return to action tonight for the Galaxy.

Landon Donovan will apparently be absent though, while Canadians are lamenting Beckham's likely non-appearance at the game against FC Toronto at month's end.

Incidentally, the game is televised beginning at 6 p.m. locally on Channel 22.

Coach Peter Nowak named three Galaxy players to an experimental U.S. Under-23 National Team squad for the upcoming Toulon Tournament.

"This tournament will give us an opportunity to have a look at some players we have had in previous camps, and also a look at the new faces," said Nowak. "We don't want to be short-sighted with our selection for the Olympics. We want a whole picture that includes a variety of players, and to make sure we see every option before we make final choices."

Selected were Mike Gavin, Bryan Jordan and Julian Valentin.

The U.S. plays Turkey May 21, Ivory Coast May 23 and Italy May 25.

All games are on Fox Soccer Channel.

The full squad: Goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), Quentin Westberg (Troyes AC); defenders Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Eric Brunner (out of contract), Kyle Davies (Southampton), Michael Gavin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Kamani Hill (Vfl Wolfsburg), Jonathan Leathers (Kansas City Wizards), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Julian Valentin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Rob Valentino (New England Revolution), Blake Wagner (FC Dallas) ; midfielders Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin), Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), Greg Dalby (SC Charleroi), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Lee Nguyen (Randers FC); forwards Gabe Ferrari (Sampdoria), Bryan Jordan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Ellis McLoughlin (Hertha Berlin), Sammy Ochoa (Tecos).

No recall for Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers, but then if Nowak was paying attention over the weekend, he knows what the Columbus Crew midfielder is capable of:

Updated: Rogers' two-goal performance earned him MLS Player of the Week honors (his first such award) Monday from the North American Soccer Reporters.

It's is the Crew's best-ever start to a season and Sigi Schmid's, too.

It didn't take long for the New England Revolution to begin counting the cost of its first-ever victory over Chivas USA in Southern California.

Striker Taylor Twellman, whose 59th minute winner was his first of the season, was visibly distressed after the game with the severity of an apparent second half ankle injury that almost resulted in him being pulled just 14 minutes after coming on as a half time sub.

"My fingers are crossed for myself," he said. "It doesn't look good, but what are you going to do?

"I can't even walk on it right now, that's what scares the shit out of me" he said, adding he initially believed Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas had kicked him (he hadn't).

Twellman said he could have had a second at game's end, but for the injury.

"I would have had a second if my ankle was attached to my leg," he said. "That was the most painful shot I've ever taken."

Twellman was initially slated as a starter for the season opener against Houston, but was removed from the lineup after experiencing discomfort in his right knee during warm-ups.
He underwent surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee on April 2, and returned just ahead of the expected six to eight rehab period.

Twellman, fifth on the MLS career goalscoring list, scored his 92nd career goal, his fourth in four games.

Chivas USA Coach Preki was in a fatalistic move after the game.

"We scrambled to put a back line together," he said. "We did a decent job. But we had a couple of break-downs and we got punished."

Preki described it as a "strange game," observing that the early domination of Chivas USA did not result in goals, which "took the wind out of our sails."

"In a lot of ways, I thought it was a little bit of a lop-sided score," he said.

But, he noted, Chivas USA remains just four points out of first place in the Western Conference.

Quote of the day goes to Preki: "It is what it is," he said. "What we have is what we have."

Um, yeah.

Also noted:
*Steve Ralston made MLS history at the 16th minute, becoming the first player in MLS to reach the 30,000-minutes-played mark.

*Today marked Ralston's first start since the season opener when he dislocated his left shoulder, forcing him to miss the next five games.

*Ralston's assist today was his 34th career game-winning assist, giving him sole possession of first place on MLS' all-time list. He had been tied with former Tampa Bay Mutiny teammate Carlos Valderrama.

* Former Galaxy defender Chris Albright also got his first assist for the club today.
"Those are the best kind, the ones you don't have to work for," he said.

Incidentally, Albright is enjoying his new career in New England.

"The veterans on this team have such a good work ethic," he said. "That's what makes this team go. The best players on this team show up and put in 110 percent every game."

Next up for 1-4-2 Chivas USA: D.C. United at home on Saturday.

Where were all the moms? The attendance today was just 10,927.

Updated: Game details are here.

In retrospect this was a game the Revs had all but sewn up by half time when striker Taylor Twellman was introduced.

He duly scored 14 minutes after coming onto the field to make the final score 2-1, out-running journeyman Jim Curtin and making him look like the ordinary defender that he is while tracking onto a Steve Ralston pass.

Twellman could have had a second four minutes from time, but sent the shot wide.

Chivas USA Coach Preki manfully attempted to stave off what seemed inevitable introducing midfielder Daniel Paladini for his first MLS game (and promptly collecting a yellow card after an awful challenge on Larentowicz).

Preki also sent on strikers Atiba Harris and Justin Braun.

Braun actually tapped in his first MLS goal from Galindo in second half stoppage time, but it was too little too late.

More from the locker rooms later.

It didn't take long for the makeshift Chivas USA back line to become the story of the opening 45 minutes, the Revs taking a 1-0 lead on a Kenny Mansally strike, his second of the season.

But Chivas USA spurned a couple of early chances to allow the Revs to take the advantage.

MLS debutant Bobby Burling (LMU) put a chance over the bar in the third minute, while Jesse Marsch, with acres of space alone in front of the net, somehow shanked an Ante Razov cross wide.

The Revs countered in the 18th minute, easily breaching the Chivas USA rearguard when Jeff Larentowicz threaded a ball through a porous defense to find Mansally, who slotted home the ball past a helpless Brad Guzan. Former Galaxy defender Chris Albright initiated the sequence.

It could have been worse.

Guzan tipped a dangerous Mauricio Castro shot over the bar shortly before half time to ensure the Revs didn't double their lead.

Moreover, Eric Ebert almost gifted the Revs a goal in the 16th minute, an errant back pass to Guzan picked off by Mansally, who was stopped by an approaching Guzan.

Two notes: apparently Cary Talley was signed from Real Salt Lake already injured, which pretty much sums up the plight of Chivas USA.

Also, after the Galaxy game a member of Legion 1908 committed an "act of violence" against a Galaxy fan and was suspended for two games.

In solidarity, members of Legion 1908 decided to boycott today's game.

The team has adoped a no violence no tolerance toward violence policy in the wake of several reported instances of fan problems, including a stabbing of a Chivas USA fan in Houston, club officials said.

It's not just the stands that are bare this morning, so is the Chivas USA (1-3-2) squad.

It's virtually an all new back four for Chivas USA against the Revs (3-3-1).

Shavar Thomas is the lone holdover, with Eric Ebert making his first MLS start and Bobby Burling of Loyola Marymount his MLS debut, alongside veteran Jim Curtin.

The rest of the starting XI is the same as the one that began the scoreless draw against the Dynamo last weekend.

Brad Guzan mans the net, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura and Panchito Mendoza are the midfielders, while Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo are the attackers.

New signing Carey Talley isn't even on the bench.

Chivas USA are seeking their first win in four games.

The Revs are in similar disarray, looking to halt a run of one victory in the last four games.

Coach Steve Nichol reverts to a three-man back line from the team that lost 3-0 to Chicago last weekend.

Former Galaxy favorite Chris Albright, Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurt line up in front of goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

In midfield, it's Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz and Mauricio Castro.

Kenny Manselly and Khano Smith are up front.

Chivas USA will undoubtedly be relieved that striker Taylor Twellman, who is not fully
fit, starts on the bench although he's expected to see action around the 70th minute or so.

Twellman must relish his chances against the inexperienced Chivas USA defense.

Before I forget, as expected Manchester United pipped Chelsea for the EPL crown today.

Good morning to all the mothers who will be whisked off to a futbol game in a couple of hours, injury-stricken Chivas USA taking on the inconsistent New England Revolution at noon at Home Depot Center.

Chivas USA points out how they're going to make the game worth mom's time in their press release:

Mom gets free admission to the game, a complimentary flower (in Chivas colors of Red and White) and a '#1 Mom' Appreciation Certificate upon arrival at the gate. In-stadium, Mary Kay will be on-hand providing complimentary makeovers to all Moms at the popular ChivaTown fan zone, while Donna Karan and Avon will also be distributing complementary perfume and cosmetics samples.

For those who are unable able to bring Mom to the game, Chivas USA's Official Wireless Provider, Sprint, will give fans the opportunity to 'Make a Call to Mom on Us' with special call centers, offering free phone calls within the United States and Mexico, inside the stadium. (Limit one five-minute call per person.)

Meanwhile, on the field, Chivas USA invites Moms to get involved in the action, as a 'Parade of Moms' processes around the playing surface before kickoff; 'Dream Moms' and 'High-Five Moms' accompany the 22 players onto the pitch; and 'Ball Moms' keep the soccer action going on corner kicks, throw-ins and goal kicks.

As for the actual game, there are previews here and here.

In other local action, the S.F. Quakes surrendered a two-goal lead against the Ventura Fusion Saturday.

In the opening game of a doubleheader, the W-League Pali Blues won their first-ever game 5-0 over the Fusion.

In other local PDL scores Saturday:
Fresno Fuego 2 Southern California Seahorses 1
San Jose Frogs 2 Lancaster Rattlers 0
Los Angeles Legends 0 Bakersfield Brigade 0

Former MLS star Eric Wynalda was subbed out by the Brigade in the scoreless draw.

Meanwhile, the U.S. women went on a tear Saturday against Canada.

Happy Mother's Day.

If this were a London tabloid, the headline would read "Reeling Ruud Rips Becks."

In actuality, of course, the criticism of David Beckham by the Galaxy coach was couched in more eloquent terms than that, but it was criticism nevertheless.

"He played too far up," Gullit said. "Mikey and David, they played themselves out of the game."

Credit in part goes to Dave van den Bergh, said Red Bull Coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who credited the former Dutch international with "very effectively" playing against Beckham and visibly frustrating him.

Beckham almost conceded he had met his match in the experienced former Ajax midfielder.

"It's always nice to have a battle on the field," he said, acknowledging a "couple of clashes" that were "nothing out of the ordinary."

Incidentally, Beckham agreed with Gullit's assessment of his performance.

"There were certain times I may have been too forward," he said adding that he was perhaps a little too preoccupied looking for a "killer pass" to split the New York defense.

He acknowledged too, the more than a hint of fragility that cloaks a Galaxy team so dependent on himself and Landon Donovan, who was largely invisible in the second half especially.

"People can't rely too much on Landon scoring every week," he said. "We have to find ways of beating teams when some players aren't scoring and others aren't assisting."

Quote of the Night from Becks, commenting on the team's inexperience: "We're still young - some of us."

Ruud didn't sound in the mood to use youth as an excuse and obliquely criticized his veteran players.

"Sometimes in a game, I don't know what it is, we switch off," he said. "We think we can do it with talent. That's not the case, we have to work hard."

"We battled well, I don't think we played well," Gullit said. "It cost this team a lot of energy to come from a goal down."

In contrast, Osorio was pleased with a "massive" three points and going undefeated three games in a row now.

"We have gotten results with different systems," he said, adding the team had been successful both with three at the back and four at the back. "The team seems very solid and we have allowed teams very few chances."

A handwritten sign left behind in the stands after the game perhaps summed things up: "We want more goals, Landon," it read.

Game story here..

Almost forgot: Sorely-missed striker Carlos Ruiz is expected back from injury perhaps as soon as the May 24 game against Kansas City.

Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning that Galaxy Equipment Coordinator Jose Vega worked his last game with the team Saturday before starting work as equipment manager with the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Wilmington resident had been with the Galaxy since 1998.

Both goals in this 2-1 Red Bull victory came within a two minute second half span.

The Galaxy (briefly) equalized, Alan Gordon spinning onto a Mike Randolph cross to squeeze off a shot between two New York defenders in the 77th minute.

But the Galaxy immediately fell asleep and New York regained the lead a minute later, Juan Pablo Angel sprinting past a static defense and getting off a shot that gave goalkeeper Steve Cronin no chance.

Jozy Altidore was largely invisible for New York, Landon Donovan wasn't much more visible for large chunks of the second half for the Galaxy, while Beckham worked his butt off to little effect.

He did get booked in the 67th minute for what appeared a deliberately late challenge on Dave van den Bergh that a press box colleague observed looked a lot like payback.

Beckham and van den Bergh had gone at it in New York last season.

A goal by New York's Danleigh Borman in only his second MLS start separates the teams in Carson.

It was a closely contested affair in the opening half with both teams, perhaps aware of their defensive liabilities, determined not to give much away.

Clear cut attacks were a relative rarity for both teams, who are tied 3-3 in shots.

Alan Gordon actually had the ball in the net for the Galaxy in the third minute, but was clearly offside.

The goal came 21 minutes in, Hunter Freeman's long throw being met by Juan Pablo Angel who sent the ball into the path of Josy Altidore. His shot was blocked, but Borman was there to pick up the rebound.

New York arguably could have had a penalty as well after Troy Roberts appeared to pull down Altidore, but the referee rejected any claim.

With striker Edson Buddle out with a hamstring problem, Alan Gordon constitutes the sole change for the Galaxy.

Coach Ruud Gullit's starting 11: goalkeeper Steve Cronin; defenders Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Troy Roberts, Greg Vanney; midfielders David Beckham, Joe Franchino, Brandon McDonald, Mike Randolph; forwards Landon Donovan and Gordon.

New York makes two changes with playmaker Claudio Reyna out injured with a calf strain suffered in the warm up before the Red Bull-Toronto 1-1 tie 10 days ago. Seth Stammler is also missing.

The New York line-up: goalkeeper Jon Conway; defenders Hunter Freeman, Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite; midfielders Dane Richards, Danleigh Borman, Luke Sassano and Dave van den bergh; forwards Jozy Altidore, Mike Magee and Juan Pablo Angel.

The Galaxy (2-2-2) record against (2-1-2) New York: 12-13-4.

Galaxy Preview

It's Galaxy-Red Bulls at Home Depot Center tonight.

But more importantly, it's BritWeek (more on that later).

Game preview here.

As usual, Red Bull Claudio Reyna is out injured for this one, proving yet again he's not New York's answer to David Beckham.

Speaking of Becks, the folks over at StubHub sent over these stats that show average Galaxy ticket prices on their site have almost tripled, while the volume of ticket sales has soared compared with 2007.

1st home game $26 (2007) Vs. $55 (2008). Sales volume increase: 450%.
2nd home game $28 Vs. $51. Up 60%
3rd home game $18 Vs. $46. Up 2000%
4th home game $32 4/26 Vs. $55. Up 400%

The Becks effect?

Meanwhile, the Galaxy, late in getting their youth development program going, have belatedly made a commitment.

From the press release:

Galaxy Rios, the official youth development program of the LA Galaxy, will enter a team in the USL Super-20 League for the 2008 season.

The LA Galaxy, who are one of three MLS teams to have a club placed in the Super-20 League, will be one of six teams in the Pacific Southern California League.

The coach: Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo.

The roster includes UCLA products David Estrada, Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates, Brian Perk and Michael Stephans; Rafael Garcia and Camillo Rojas of Cal State Northridge; Amani Walker of UC-Irvine; and U.S. Under-18 National Team player Tristan Bowen, the first player ever signed to the Galaxy Rios, and his brother Travis Bowen.

Wonder what the S.F. Quakes think about Nakazawa's departure from their squad?

Galaxy Rios opens their season 5 p.m. Sunday against the Ventura County Fusion at Ventura College.

Here's the complete season schedule:
May 24 vs. Poway Vaqueros 1:30 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 4 at Riverside MGFM (Kickoff TBD)
June 8 at Lancaster Rattlers 4 p.m. Lancaster National Soccer Center
June 15 at Poway Vaqueros 2 p.m. Poway High School
June 22 vs. Bakersfield Brigade 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 29 vs. Ventura County Fusion 5 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 5 at Bakersfield Brigade 5 p.m. Bakersfield Christian High School
July 12 vs. Lancaster Rattlers 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 13 vs. Riverside MGFM Kickoff TBD Home Depot Center

Chivas Deals

Not surprisingly, Chivas USA - owners of the league's second worst defensive record in terms of goals conceded, continue to revamp their back line.

Over in England, Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores scored a goal and an assist in the first two friendlies for the U.S. Under-20 National Team on its short tour there.

Flores scored the game-winner on a penalty kick Wednesday in a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers Reserves and grabbed an assist a day later in a 2-1 win over Manchester United Reserves by a score of 2-1. The team plays Liverpool Reserves today.

The Chivas USA U-18 and U-16 teams both play Pateadores in away games this Saturday at Cal-State Fullerton.

The U-16 team, with two consecutive wins against conference opponents, plays at noon against first-place Pateadores team, with the U-18 game following at 2:30 p.m.

U.S. Women

The U.S. Women's National Team has announced two Scandinavian games in July against Norway and Sweden.

The match in Sweden marks the return of U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage to her native country where she will face her home country for the first time as U.S. coach.

Local Games This Weekend

In Ventura tonight at 5 o'clock the new Fusion W-League team plays their first game in franchise history against the similarly new Pali Blues.

The Fusion's PDL team hosts the San Fernando Valley Quakes at 7:30 p.m. in the nightcap.

Other games include:
Fresno Fuego at Southern California Seahorses 7 p.m. La Mirada High
San Jose Frogs at Lancaster Rattlers 7 p.m. Pete Knight High.

BritWeek

Finally, the countdown to BritWeek concludes today with "Crash" by the Primatives:

Missed the earlier videos?

Click here and here and here.

Those who want to delve more deeply into the genre could do worse than checking out this box set (although I could quibble with a few tracks on the last disc).

*U.S. Soccer has announced that tickets for the first U.S. World Cup qualifying match June 15 in Carson against Barbados go on sale at noon Sunday.

Tickets are $19-$66. Call (213)-480-3232.

*The TV schedule for Euro 2008 is out.

There will be five games on ESPN Classic, 17 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN. ABC will broadcast two matches - a quarterfinal June 21 and the Euro 2008 title match June 29.

Games are generally at 8:50 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. daily. Time to take the month off?

The title game will be preceded by the noon Galaxy-D.C. United game.

*Fox Soccer Channel will show all 16 games over the 10-day Toulon International Tournament May 20-29 including the three U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team games.

The U.S. games:
6:30 a.m. May 21 Vs. Turkey
9:30 a.m. May 23 Vs. Ivory Coast
9 a.m. May 25 Vs. Italy

With their final game of the season sadly only available on the pricey Setanta channel, American soccer fans will still be pulling for Fulhamerica to make an unlikely escape from relegation. The team will ensure their safety with a win Saturday over Portsmouth. Here's a preview.

Loyola Marymount announced the signing of three more players: defender Adam Jackson (Palos Verdes High); goalkeeper Max Young (South Torrance High); and midfielder Fernando Barba (Animo).

Finally, W-League expansion team Pali Blues have announced the signing of 2006 Big East Defender of the Year Carrie Dew (Notre Dame).

The Blues open their season Saturday in Ventura.

I'll have more later today on all the local soccer action in an around LA this weekend.

Plus, more Britpop!

Palos Verdes' John Thorrington of the Chicago Fire is the man of the hour in MLS.

Here's another take on the twists and turns of his career ahead of tonight's nationally televised game between the Fire and D. C. United including why he didn't come back to Southern California to play with the Galaxy.

More on Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn and his horrific facial injury, a preview of tonight's game and a look ahead at the two MLS games on tap this weekend at the HDC is here.

Nothing earth-shattering here, but the Galaxy's Chris Klein spoke with The Kansas City Star about what its like to play with David Beckham.

Also, U.S. Soccer announced all the Under-23 Men's National Team games at the annual tournament in Toulon, France will be aired on Fox Soccer Channel.

The nine-day, eight-team tournament runs from May 20-29

The U.S. opens against Turkey on May 21 before facing two Olympic-bound teams in Italy on May 23 and the Ivory Coast on May 25.

Closer to home, the U.S. boys Under-14 team is currently in camp at the HDC in Carson.

Locals participating include goalkeeper Josh McNeely (Hidden Hills), midfielders Eric Gonzales (Corona), Alejandro Guido (Chula Vista), Aldo Magana (Ontario), Oscar Ortega (San Ysidro), and forwards Esteban Rodriguez (Bell Gardens) and Sebastian Velasquez (Los Angeles).

Lots of Latino surnames in a sign U.S. Soccer is belatedly tapping that demographic group for talent.

Cal State Dominguez Hills has honored Sandy Lloyd (Fountain Valley) with the Hal Charnofsky CSUDH Memorial Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

And how's this for the stat of the week: Through 39 contests in 2008, no MLS team has lost after scoring the first goal. Teams that score first have gone 32-0-7. Last year, the teams that scored first went 134-21-34 overall.

Finally, the 100 Percent Soccer blog continues its salute to BritWeek, which culminates with the Galaxy game Saturday, with the following two little-known Britpop gems.

First up is the aptly-named Lush with its minor U.S. hit "For Love" from the early 1990s.

And as a bonus, here's England's Sunscreem, a band that predated Britpop, but nonetheless earned props for managing to find a word in the English language that rhymes with "purple".

On a completely unrelated note, the chronic technical glitches that have plagued this blog for months are now history or so I'm told. Those whose comments have been lost into the ether should feel free to resubmit them. Or not.

So BritWeek is actually a BritMonth.

But before we get to that it's worth noting:
*That today's column provoked a lively debate here.
*Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn underwent surgery over the weekend at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance. The procedure, performed by Dr. Jay W. Granzow included a surgical repair of Vaughn's nose, which was broken in several places, as well as repair to a laceration on his right cheek, which required 32 stitches.
*This was Chivas USA's Monday.

Back to BritWeek, otherwise known as an excuse to highlight obscure Britpop bands. Such as Ride who had a hit with this song.

Blogging 101 says post lists.

It stimulates debate, gets hits and prompts angry e-mails.

Let's see how I do with this.

The news last weekend of the predicament of D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen prompted the topic.

As one reader already observed this morning via e-mail, it was good that I didn't have to consider Chicago Fire midfielder John Thorrington of Palos Verdes for inclusion given his recent unexpected career resurgence. For the same reason former Galaxy midfielder Santino Quaranta, once the youngest player ever signed by MLS you'll recall, didn't get a mention either.

Sadly though Playa del Rey's John O'Brien did.

Incidentally, a colleague who recently interviewed the usually media-shy O'Brien over a couple of beers at a Santa Monica bar, said that he's taking things easy trying to decide what to do with his life.

O'Brien did briefly resurface into the public eye this past weekend though, scoring the winning goal at a beach soccer tournament.

And so shall 100 Percent Soccer.

This is BritWeek.

The Galaxy announced the celebs today who will play in a showbiz game Saturday before the main event against NYRB: (from the press release)

film and television stars Julian Sands, Michael Sheen, and Anthony LaPaglia; TV personality Ross King; soap stars from General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, and Days of Our Lives; music stars Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, and the Marley brothers; not to mention soccer legends Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, and Frank LeBoeuf.

Two British bands play after the 4:30 p.m. celebs game: I-94and Delta Fiasco.

Things to know:
*There's an aptly named Pasadena joint named the Beckham Grill.
*BritWeek is the brainchild of Nigel Lythgoe (American Idol), celebrates British influence in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, together with 50 years of the British Consul having permanent official residence here.
*The first 4,000 fans entering the stadium will receive the second of three Galaxy collector series T-Shirts to be given away this season.
*The musical contribution to this event apparently consists of Duran Duran and Joss Stone.

So since BritWeek screams Britpop I couldn't resist making my own contribution. Look for more all week long.

PDL team the San Fernando Quakes won their home opener Sunday before a crowd of about 300 at Calabasas High, beating the Southern California Seahorses 3-1.

Game details here.

Other scores from this weekend's local PDL games:
Los Angeles Legends 1 Orange County Blue Star 0
Bakersfield Brigade 2 Lancaster Rattlers 2

The standings after the first round of games.

Meanwhile, South (Torrance) High product Jack Stewart, punted by Real Salt Lake after a series of horrendous defensive miscues, has resurfaced - in Norway.

He has yet to play a game, but former RSL exec Steve Pastorino caught up with him and briefly blogged:

Stewart checked in from Moss FK, where the team has four ties and a win in its first five games. "The transition to European football hasn't been that tough," he wrote in an e-mail. "The biggest change has been in myself, trying to find the form I had before I entered MLS and coaches tried to change how I play. It's all about confidence in self and they preach that a lot over here."

David Beckham scored a brace and Landon Donovan nabbed an assist to pace the Galaxy to a 2-2 road tie with Real Salt Lake Saturday (who was that prescient columnist who talked about the Becks and Donovan Road Show earlier this week?).

Game details here.

Chivas USA (1-3-2), meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak by grinding out a scoreless draw Saturday at Houston, remaining tied with the Galaxy's opponents on the evening for fourth in the Western Conference.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "I'm proud of the way we played, the way we defended as a group, finally. We played like we played last year."

Noteworthy:
* Chivas USA's veteran defender Claudio Suárez, earned a red for a foul on Houston's Brian Mullan in the 82nd minute.

*Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn exited the match in the 13th minute with a broken nose and a gash on his right cheek, after being struck in the face by Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario's during a thwarted bicycle kick attempt.

*Referee Jozef Batko showed nine cards during the match (eight yellow and one red), an MLS high so far this season.

*Chivas USA's first choice strike force of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo made their first start together since last September.

*Goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his first clean sheet of the season, a week after conceding a career-high five goals against the Galaxy.

The Chivas USA lineup: Brad Guzan, Lawson Vaughn (Chris Pozniak 13), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Jim Curtin 62), Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov (Justin Braun 78).

Substitutes Not Used: Atiba Harris, Dan Kennedy, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage

Oh, and hold the Mickey Mouse jokes: Chivas USA take its official 2008 team photograph Monday at Disney's California Adventure.

In other games Saturday, the career of Palos Verdes' John Thorrington continues to sustain a second wind; he scored one and also got an assist in the Chicago Fire's comfortable 3-0 victory over the New England Revolution. Thorrington now has three goals on the season.

Also getting his third of the year was the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates in his teams' 2-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards.

Not surprisingly, longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid sounds like he's thoroughly enjoying the vindication that goes along with being the coach of the in-form team in MLS.

On a contrasting note, Lawndale's Kei Kamara didn't have an evening to remember Saturday as his San Jose Earthquakes played their inaugural game at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium where yours truly had the pleasure of being on hand for the occasion.

He missed on five shots, including at least one he should have tucked away, as the Earthquakes drew 1-1 against FC Dallas.

That continued what has already been a season of futility for the youngster; he came into the game ranked eighth in shots in the league with 12 attempts, but has just one goal to show for it.

Kamara (who seems as if he has grown yet a little more every time I see him) had to think long and hard when I asked what he needed to do differently.

"I've just got to focus a little more when I get inside the box," he finally said after a long pause. "Next time one of them has got to go in. It's up to me now."

Earthquakes Coach Frank Yallop wasn't about to criticize the youngster.

"He's given me everything he's got - he's been unlucky," Yallop said. "He's a young, raw player. It's the most (games) he's ever played in a row."

Well, OK, maybe a little.

"The one he blazed over (the bar), I couldn't believe it," Yallop said

A vociferous crowd of 10,515 watched the action (seating capacity is 10,300, but the Earthquakes sold some standing room only seats) in one of the better 0-0 games I've seen in a while and were chanting and singing throughout.

"The crowd was huge," Kamara said. "They were a huge part of the game."

In fact, all that was missing was new Bakersfield Brigade striker Eric Wynalda (see more below); longtime MLS fans will remember it was the former U.S. international who broke the deadlock in the first-ever MLS game when the then San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0.

The Earthquakes' tight little stadium will be a treat to watch games at (the sight lines cannot be beat) and none other than MLS Commish Don Garber came away suitably impressed.

"It's great to be back," he said, alluding to the Earthquakes returning to their neighborhood (the team has just two other games at the Oakland Coliseum this season both against you know who and the Galaxy). "It's very intimate. The environment is electric."

By the way, Garber also made some interesting comments regarding how soccer fans are increasingly communicating on the Internet, something that only adds to their fervor.

Against that backdrop, I counted a mere six print reporters in the main press box.

Still, Yallop doesn't think his team are too far away from playing much better.

"We did everything right, but score," he said of the performance. "We're not anticipating very well. The final touch is just out of reach.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon (who pointed out he got a shutout) said he believes the team needs a player (or two) "with bite" and the ability to win 50-50 balls to improve.

Still, Cannon sounded positively dizzy about the team and Yallop's new lease on his career.

"Him and (General Manager) John (Doyle) have a much better relationship than he has with others in the past," a not so oblique reference to Alexi Lalas. "He's a guy all of us want to die for."

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Wynalda made his PDL debut Saturday against the Ventura County Fusion.

Finally, the U.S. Women beat Australia in a thriller for the second successive game.

With both the Galaxy and Chivas USA on the road, it seemed only logical I should do the same and head north to the Bay Area for the inaugural San Jose Earthquakes (1-3-0) game against FC Dallas (2-1-2) at Santa Clara Univerisity's Buck Shaw Stadium.

Gorgeous weather, quaint stadium, a rocking atmosphere, yes, they sell beer (it's apparently dry for collegiate events) and free press box food (are you listening Galaxy?).

What's not to like?

As for the game, a brief preview is here, which notes ex-Chivas USA defender Jason Hernandez is starting, while the full magnitude of the event is explained here.

Back later with more.

Even though the Galaxy and Chivas USA are on the road this weekend, there's still plenty of live soccer on tap in the Southland this weekend.

And Becks is excited anyway.

The Ventura County Fusion open their season tonight against the Bakersfield Brigade, who include Eric Wynalda in their squad.

The San Fernando Valley Quakes play their home opener Sunday in Calabasas against the Southern California Seahorses

The Earth Quakes feature the likes of Palos Verdes Estates' UCLA playmaker Kyle Nakazawa and former Galaxy player Benjamin Benditson.

Meanwhile, the PDL Los Angeles Legends play Orange County Blue Star

While the Galaxy continues to negotiate a game against Iran, at least one Australian newspaper is reporting today that LA will return to Oz this fall.

Meanwhile, in the least surprising news of the day, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan was named the MLS Player of the Month for April, after scoring a blistering eight goals and earning a pair of assists in just five games. It's the third career Player of the Month award for the native of Redlands.