Major League Soccer: July 2008 Archives

Apologies, busy with a big project and not much time to blog.

A few things to pass along:

*Pacific Palisades-based W-League team Pali Blues defeated reigning champion Washington Freedom 2-0 earlier tonight earning a berth in Saturday's final against FC Indiana. Game reports here. The final will air on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.m. Saturday (despite the wrong date being given at this writing in the link).

*Set your TiVo alert. David Beckham appears on the season opener of Sesame Street Aug. 22. Oh, and his latest pithy blog entry is here, too. But really check out the muppet (no, not Abel Xavier) with Elmo, um, Becks.

*Almost as surreal; Chivas USA's blog brings us up to date on the team news - from an LAX gate waiting area. There's Jim Curtin reading a magazine, Alecko Eskandarian slouching in a chair and stand-in Coach Mike Matkovich grabbing a Starbucks while reveling in the suspended Preki's absence from the bench Saturday:

"I don't think it would make much difference [not to have Preki in the bench] to be honest."

Well, OK I took that quote out of context. But that constant yelling can drive you nuts, huh Mike?

More on Chivas USA as they wait for their airplane to Chicago is here.

*Neither Jorge Flores of Chivas USA or goalkeeper Brian Perk of UCLA got on the field Wednesday as the U.S. Men's Under-20 Team beat their Wales counterparts 4-0 in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea scored a brace (and I just like using that word). Next: Belgium in the third place game early Friday our time.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced today that two more teams will be added by 2011, bringing the number in the league up to 18.

Ownership groups and/or markets have until Oct. 15 to apply. MLS will make a decision on the chosen pair in either the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2009.

I'm pulling for that combo casino and stadium with retractable roof in Vegas (can you say road trip!) for at least one of the teams.

And Vancouver, B.C. is a beautiful city and a natural rival for Seattle (loved the atmosphere of those NASL games between the old Sounders and Whitecaps where fans actually hit the road with the clubs).

Where would you like to see the next two teams located?

The 5.4 magnitude earthquake this morning in Southern California provoked the giddy extremes of fear - and fun - from players and coaches with the Galaxy and Chivas USA.

Here's Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit's reaction:

"It was the first time I have experienced this and I had my kids with me so I was worried sick. I didn't know what it was. People had told me to stand in a doorway so I went to my office and hid there. I have to say, it was a really scary experience. I hope it is the last one."

Hey, it wasn't as horrible as what Galaxy fans endured on the weekend, Ruud. And I bet it isn't the last one (on either count). Brace yourself.

In contrast, Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn was having way too much fun:

"When I first felt it, I thought something was wrong with my head - I thought maybe I was dizzy, or exhausted from heat. Then I looked around and everyone was saying 'Earthquake! Earthquake!' and I just enjoyed it. I could feel myself rocking back and forth, so I loved it!"

How's that head injury healing, Lawson? (Kidding, kidding. And to be fair, I heard more than one person use that F-word - different from the one you'd expect - in regard to the earthquake).

Complete and unedited earthquake coverage from the Galaxy and Chivas USA.

Mark your calendar. Set your TiVo. Here's your soccer week in Southern California.

Sunday:
*Real So Cal Boys Under-16 Team lost 2-0 to Dallas Texans Red at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships.

*Also, the Galaxy Reserves drew 2-2 with Dallas through goals by Alan Gordon and Bryan Jordan.

Today:
*Chivas USA midfielder Jorge "Sueno" Flores played 90 minutes in the U.S. Under-20 National Team loss to hosts Northern Ireland in the Milk Cup. Next on Wednesday: Wales.

Tuesday:
*SuperLiga resumes tonight with the Houston Dynamo and Pachuca clashing at 7 on Telefutura in the first semifinal; Wednesday it's Atlante-New England.

No LA teams involved now that Chivas USA is out so why am I mentioning this? See Tuesday's column.

Wednesday;
*Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan and the rest of the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team plays at 2:30 a.m. our time against the Ivory Coast in the ING Cup, a warm-up for the Olympics.

Thursday:
*The W-League Pali Blues play at the Washington Freedom in the semifinals; in the other game the FC Indiana Lionesses play the Seattle Sounders. The final is Saturday.

Saturday:
*Chivas USA (6-6-4) visits Chicago (7-5-5) and Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Chivas USA is two points behind Real Salt Lake for the Western Conference lead.

*Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women play in the Women's Premier League Final Four as the Pacific champion against Arizona (Big Sky), New England (East) and the winner today of the match between Midwest champion MYSC Lady Blues and Sunshine Conference champion Brevard County Cocoa Expos for the final berth.

Ajax beat West Coast FC 2-0 Sunday to qualify.

Sunday:
The Galaxy plays at San Jose at noon on Telefutura.

Condolences to those of you, who, like me, just gave up two hours of a lovely summer afternoon to watch FC Dallas massacre the Galaxy 4-0.

Two goals inside 90 seconds just after 15 minutes sealed the result, but it could have been 6-0 (or more). The Galaxy ended the game with just two shots on goal (Dallas had 14).

Debutant Eduardo Dominguez looked like the second coming of Abel Xavier, Ante Jazic played as if he was allergic to attackers and David Beckham and Landon Donovan were largely invisible.

I have the Galaxy PR folks' cellphone, but I'll skip calling and avoid talking to players and coaches. What do I ask? How humiliated are you? Have you ever seen a team you were a part of play that badly? Do you know what a goal looks like?

And yes, I'm sharpening the knives for the mid-season Galaxy and Chivas USA review I am planning for Tuesday's column.

These stats don't lie.

And remember, this was a sixth-place team against one bidding for first in the Western Conference.

Updated:
Game story.

Kudos to Kenny Cooper for showing the officials at Cardiff City in Wales what he can do for them.

They're happy in Texas though.

The Galaxy (6-6-5) and winless in their last five games could nevertheless move into first place in the Western Conference this afternoon with a win over (4-6-7) Dallas.

As the Galaxy moves into the second half of their season, Coach Ruud Gullit was still fuming about Thursday's MLS All-Star Game, while Dallas striker Kenny Cooper may well be preoccupied by his impending transfer to Cardiff City.

A capacity crowd is expected at Pizza Hut Park for the 4 p.m. game (live on FSN) because of you-know-who.

New Dallas Coach Schellas Hyndman is still seeking his first win for the sixth-place team, by the way. Game basics are here.

There are three other games today as MLS action resumes after the All-Star Game including New York-San Jose at noon on Telefutura.

In the PDL Saturday, the San Fernando Valley Quakes lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Canadians equalizing with 10 seconds or so left in regulation and then going on to win. More on the four-team PDL playoff tournament in Fresno is here.

A similar four-team tournament is going on in Anaheim where the Women's Premier Soccer League Pacific Conference playoffs saw Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women defeat the California Storm 2-0 Saturday to advance to today's final. They will face West Coast FC, which defeated the Sol 3-2.

The WPSL also named Ajax Coach Brian Boswell Coach of the Year Saturday as his team finished the season with five straight victories.

The Pacific Conference team First XI was also announced Saturday:
F Charity Weston (WEST COAST F.C.)
F Tessa Lennala (SAN DIEGO WFC SEALIONS)
MF Sissi (CALIFORNIA STORM)
MF Tracy Hamm (CALIFORNIA STORM)
MF Whitney Jones-Pridham (WEST COAST F.C.)
MF Crystal Howard (SONOMA COUNTY F.C. SOL)
D Kendal Billingsley (WEST COAST F.C.)
D Maureen Whitney (CALIFORNIA STORM)
D Amanda Harris (SONOMA COUNTY F.C. SOL)
D Dani Bosio (AJAX AMERICA)
GK Sophia Perez (SD UNITED)

Lastly, Real So Cal Blue's Under-16 boy's team plays for a national title today.

There isn't any.

Well, not much.

The closest top class local games today are in the Women's Premier Soccer League regional playoffs at Esperanza High in Anaheim.

Today's playoff schedule:
5:30 p.m. West Coast FC v Sonoma County FC Sol.
7:30 p.m. California Storm v Ajax America Women.

The Galaxy report rookie central defender Sean Franklin returned to training Friday with the full squad for the first time since injuring his knee July 10 against Chivas USA. His status for Sunday's clash against Dallas in Texas will be decided today.

And Aston Villa of the EPL now have two American goalkeepers named Brad, as expected. Chivas USA's Brad Guzan (who has his crucial work permit hearing Friday) is joined at the Birmingham club by Brad Friedel.

Running late today so just time to pass along a couple of items:

*Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan finds out next Friday whether he can complete his move to England's Aston Villa.

*Fed up with waiting for Lawndale's Kei Kamara to find the net on a regular basis, the San Jose Earthquakes have punted the Cal State Dominguez Hills product to the Houston Dynamo where he will hook up with equally productive (ahem) former Galaxy forward Nate Jaqua.

*MLS confirmed Thursday it intends to expand by two teams in 2011. The usual suspects: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Montreal, a second team in the New York area, Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis and Vancouver. Bet I'm not the only Southern California soccer fan pulling for a successful Vegas bid (can you say road trip?) for a casino-stadium with a retractable roof.

*The Galaxy play at 4 p.m. Sunday in Dallas (live on Prime), while Chivas USA is off this weekend.

Game story.

Highlights:

Also:
* The latest Galaxy trialist

*The Revolution announced Thursday that more than 25,000 tickets have been sold for the Aug. 30 game against the Galaxy.

*Former Galaxy defender Nate Sturgis pulled a hamstring and is out of the Olympic squad. Dax McCarty of FC Dallas replaces him,.

The MLS All-Star Game airs live at 4 p.m. on ESPN from Toronto where the inaugural visit of David Beckham is naturally the big story (the natives have missed out on seeing Golden Balls twice before).

Our own Scott Wolf though is singularly unimpressed with Becks' effect on the sport so far.

EPL team West Ham United provides the opposition with a roster that includes England striker Dean Ashton and former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.

How good is Ashton? Check out his goal against Manchester United last season.

Meanwhile, blog Soccer By Ives provides the rumor of the day with the word that Norwegian club Rosenberg have bid $1 million for Galaxy striker Edson Buddle (although Buddle knew nothing about it). Landon Donovan also reacted to those rumors that have him more interested than ever in a return to Europe by saying, well, exactly what he's always said: that he's open to the idea and no move is imminent.

And while we're talking trades it looks like soon-to-be former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan will have a more experienced American in front of him in the pecking order as expected.

Lastly, blogger Dan Loney picks up on my criticism of the game Tuesday and provides his own view.

While speculation continues over the Galaxy's reported interest in former EPL star Nolberto Solano (see previous post), another rumor has resurfaced: the future of Landon Donovan.

The source of this one was two-fold.

Donovan was quoted by England's Sky Sports as saying:

"The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at. I think the Premiership would be the best place to play.''

The Web site Yanks Abroad further stirred the pot when it quoted Donovan's agent Richard Motzkin as saying "sure," Donovan would consider a move overseas by Aug. 31, providing an actual date that lends a sense of urgency to the story.

A couple of observations.

First that quote by Donovan is not new. I've heard him say pretty much the same thing annually since he returned from his aborted stint in Germany.

Donovan loves Southern California. Still, if any club outside Germany dangled a big enough contract at him (his MLS paycheck is relatively modest by EPL standards) you can bet he would consider it.

The second report is more notable for what it doesn't say than what it says. The Yanks Abroad report is technically correct, but they didn't need to run to Motzkin to get the Aug. 31 date.

Why?

That's when the European transfer window closes so Donovan would have to get traded by then or wait until the New Year.

So where does that leave us (and Donovan)?

Probably in exactly the same place as last week. Or last month. Or last year.

And remember, if MLS sold Jozy Altidore for $10 million as rumored, how much would they demand for Donovan?

That said Donovan will certainly be in the shop window at Thursday's MLS All-Star Game (live at 4 p.m. on ESPN).

ESPN observed today that:

"ESPN International will provide live coverage of the match in 87 countries and territories reaching more than 17 million television homes. Tape-delayed presentation of the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game will also be distributed in 19 countries and territories reaching over 22 million homes.

While we're talking numbers, the one-year anniversary of David Beckham's arrival in the U.S. has prompted a small tsunami of stories summing up his effect on the game here.

Perhaps the best though is one the fewest number of people have seen because it appeared in the subscription-only trade magazine the SportsBusiness Journal.

So for those of you who haven't (and can't) see the story here are the salient stats from it:
*"Television viewership on ESPN2 rose 17 percent to an average of 289,000 viewers over 15 matches in 2008, compared with 246,000 viewers over 13 matches in 2007. Ratings remained flat at a 0.2 cable rating."

*To put that in context the magazine observed "ESPN2 drew stronger ratings for its (midday) Euro 2008 coverage. ... Those games averaged a 0.6 cable rating and 673,000 viewers."

*"Average attendance for MLS over the first half of the season -- which will be Beckham's first complete season with the league -- increased 8.8 percent to reach a 12-year high of 16,378."

(To put that in perspective, those figures are skewed because of the massive 40,000-plus crowds Beckham draws in places like New York.

*"Beckham's Galaxy led the league in average attendance with 22,586 fans through 10 home games at midseason this year. Only three other teams -- Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and D.C. United -- averaged more than 15,000 fans a game."

Returning to the subject of the MLS All-Star Game, after an altercation between West Ham United and Columbus Crew fans at a recent friendly between the two teams authorities will closely monitor the contingent of English fans arriving in Canada for Thursday's game.

If you read my rant Tuesday on the All-Star game (be sure and check out the comments at the end of the piece) you know how feel about it. I'm not the only one who questions its value.

Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers didn't sound too broken up about missing the game. But then, he's going to the Olympics.

Finally, former Los Angeles Times Chivas USA beat writer Jaime Cárdenas has bid an eloquent farewell to the newspaper (and possibly sports journalism).

Soccer writer Scott Wolf expanded on his earlier post on this blog about the possibility of the Galaxy signing Nolberto Solano (but frankly, I like saying Nobby) with a story today in the newspaper.

I've always admired Peuervian Solano, a player with panache and verve, but let's hope if the Galaxy do sign him they have more success than they did with Portuguese Abel Xavier (so inept he was dumped even with a guaranteed contract) and Nigerian Celestine Babayaro (last seen trying out with EPL team Portsmouth) who was cut before the season even began.

Ex-EPL foreign stars just haven't turned out so well, have they?

While we're at it, what's with the Galaxy's lack of disclosure about Solano?

If they're thinking about signing him, why don't they just say "we hope to reach an agreement on personal terms." If not, say so. A "no comment," (which is what the Galaxy have said so far) essentially means "we're talking to him, we just don't want to tell you."

Silly, considering (and correct me if I'm wrong) Solano is a free agent anyway.

Are the Galaxy worried other MLS teams will figure out who they're talking to? Too late.

The lack of disclosure until every "i" is dotted and every "t" crossed is counter productive. Let's face it Galaxy, most sports fans don't care about you anyway. Throw a bone to those who do.

Updated: this video shows what Ruud Gullit (a former Newcastle United coach) likely sees in Solano -

And, no, I'm not a fan.

*The alleged MLS All-Star game is 4 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2. I'll have more on that in Tuesday's column.

*The Galaxy play at 4 p.m. Sunday in Dallas (live on Prime).

*Chivas USA plays next Aug. 2 in Chicago.

*From the Women's Premier Soccer League:

Saturday at Esperanza High (Anaheim):
5:30 p.m. - South champion West Coast F.C. (7-2-1) plays Sonoma County F.C. Sol (6-3-1).
7:30 p.m. - North Division winner California (10-0-0) plays second-place south side, 2007 U.S. Open Cup champion Ajax America (6-3-1).

The winners of the Pacific Semifinals face off the next day in the conference final at 6:30 p.m. for the final berth in the WPSL Championship.

*From the USL:

United Soccer Leagues announced Monday the Premier Development League and W-League playoff schedules set to begin midweek with the Divisional Rounds and continue with the Conference Championship tournaments on the weekend. The 19-team PDL playoff field begins play today with the W-League's 13-team postseason field starting Wednesday.

PDL:
Conference Semifinal Saturday - Vancouver vs San Fernando Valley Quakes - 4:30 p.m. Fresno.

The Pali Blues won the W-League regular season title and a berth in the league semifinals in Virginia Beach.

*Noted: The U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team beat Germany 3-0 today to win the Nordic Cup. Bruins Valerie Henderson and Tina DiMartino played the entire game.

*Also, from the Galaxy press release:

The Galaxy Rios U-20's clinched the USL Super-20 League Pacific Southern California League title Saturday with a 6-0 win over Riverside MGFM. The Rios finished the season with a league best 22 points from a 7-2-1 record, while outscoring opponents 41-7 en route to the title.

Neither Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas nor Coach Ruud Gullit would comment today on reports the Galaxy are close to signing former Newcastle and Aston Villa midfielder Nolberto Solano.

The final score: 2-2 (with the Galaxy just snatching the equalizer).

Game story.

The aftermath from a New Yawk perspective.

Donovan's goal.

Galaxy beat writer Scott Wolf gave a few tidbits of today's story in blog posts Friday and here we learn just how happy Coach Ruud Gullit is to punt Abel Xavier. So are we, Ruud, so are we.

A massive crowd is expected in New York for David Beckham, sorry, today's game (3:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel). Wonder how many of them will care about how he is deployed?

Oh, and you're aware Becks just loves L.A., right?.

Rumor of the Day: Has the Galaxy signed Newcastle United's former stylish midfielder Nolberto Solano? (Link swiped from the LA Riot Squad Web site).

In other soccer news:
*LAFC lost at Home Depot Center Friday night (and live on national TV) 4-2 to the Baltimore Bays in the final of the Under-17/18 U.S. Soccer Federation Development Academy.

*A reminder there are two SuperLiga games today on Telefutra: at 5 p.m. Houston plays D.C. United, while CD Guadalajara-Atlante follows at 7 p.m.

Galaxy central defender Abel Xavier did not mince words on the club that waived him today:

``There's a shift-the-wind philosophy (here). Many players feel the same way but because they are not secure in their contract, they are afraid to say what they think.''

Sounds like the New England Revolution had a strange flight to Southern California today for Sunday's SuperLiga game against Chivas USA:

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An American Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City on Friday after a passenger stripped, put his clothes back on and then tried to open an emergency exit door before being subdued by members of a pro soccer team and others, the FBI said.

American Flight 725, a Boeing 757 with 151 passengers and seven crew on board, arrived in Oklahoma City at 1:35 p.m. CDT and was back in the air an hour later on the way to Los Angeles, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines.

The passenger was removed from the plane in Oklahoma City and was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said.

Members of the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer were among those who grabbed the passenger near an exit door, Johnson said.

Tie wraps were placed on the man, whose name was not immediately released, he said.

Stacey James, a spokesman for the New England Patriots, which shares a common owner with the Revolution, said three Revolution staff members helped restrain the unruly passenger: former U.S. international Mike Burns, vice president of player personnel; assistant coach Gwynne Williams; and general manager Craig Tornberg.

According to Johnson, the passenger emerged from a bathroom without his clothes on.

"He was asked to go back to the bathroom to put his clothes on and he did and went back to his seat and then allegedly attempted to open an aircraft emergency exit door," Johnson said.

"Members of the Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution, were on the flight. They were able to subdue him," he said.

The New England Revolution plays Chivas USA at Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.

The Galaxy waived defender Abel Xavier today, which is not surprising since he and Coach Ruud Gullit had a poor relationship.

``We don't have any kind of relationship, unfortunately,'' Xavier said. ``I don't accept any coach who thinks I pretend to be injured.''

Gullit questioned whether Xavier was actually injured last week when he sat out the game against Chivas USA.

Updated: By the way, Xavier being waived means Argentine Eduardo Dominguez, 29, was placed on the active roster and is likely to play Saturday against the Red Bulls.

The Galaxy released some Xavier stats:

Xavier joined the Galaxy in June 2007 and appeared in 20 games during his 13 months with the club, including 10 matches this season. He started 19 of the 20 matches in which he appeared, playing 1,754 minutes while collecting two assists, five yellow cards and one red.

No word on just how many goals he was guilty of allowing the Galaxy to concede over that time though.
-Nick Green

Another soccer-filled weekend is on tap, so let's get to it.

*The Galaxy are out of town in New York where Claudio Reyna retired this week and the Red Bulls signed two South American midfielders who could make their debuts Saturday.

The game airs live at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel and a crowd of more than 45,000 is expected to turn out largely to see David Beckham who continues to prove why he's nicknamed Golden Balls.

Need a reminder why so many people want to see the game? Check out the highlights from last year.

*Meanwhile, they're expecting a similarly large boost in attendance in Kansas City on Sept. 13 when Becks and the Galaxy visit so the Wizards announced Thursday they are moving the game from the 10,000-capacity CommunityAmerica Ballpark to vast Arrowhead Stadium.

*Chivas USA are at home at 5 p.m. Sunday playing at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium in the third and final SuperLiga game (live on Telefutura) where three teams in Group B could finish tied with six points by the end of the weekend.

How complicated is the picture for qualification for the next round? Here it is broken down from a New England perspective courtesy of the Revolution, but it also tells you what Chivas USA need to do:

A win or a draw on Sunday would assure the Revolution first place in the group, while a Pachuca loss to Santos Laguna in the group's other game would also secure New England's passage to the next round. Even if the Revs lose to Chivas USA and Pachuca defeats Santos, the possibility still exists that the Revolution could advance to the competition's final four, because in that case, New England, Chivas USA and Pachuca would all be tied atop the group with six points. If that happens, the group would be decided on goal difference, and the Revs (+2) currently have a better goal difference than both Chivas USA (0) and Pachuca (0).

*Meanwhile, Chivas USA defender/midfielder/forward Jonathan Bornstein of Los Alamitos was named as a replacement for Olympics-bound players in the MLS All-Star Game even though he's missed plenty of games this season and has not quite found the form he did last year (yet).

Plenty of other players are more deserving of course, such as D.C. United's Luciano Emilio (third in the league in scoring) or the Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto (the MLS assist-leader who had another two plus a goal Thursday in Columbus' 3-3 draw with Kansas City). Yet another reason to question the game's credibility.

*Also, Chivas USA has had Amber Hernandez, a 15-year-old member of the South Valley Chivas Academy in Porterville called up to the Mexican Under-17 National Team for the CONCACAF U-17 Women's Championship that began Thursday in Trinidad & Tobago.

*In other youth soccer news, the Los Angeles FC Under-18 boys team (led by U-17/18 Coach of the Year Rafa Moran) plays for the U.S. Development Academy championship at Home Depot Center live at 8 on ESPN2 tonight. Full details here.

*Over in the PDL, the San Fernando Valley Earthquakes are still in with a chance of making the playoffs after defeating the Ventura County Fusion Thursday.

The Quakes need a win Sunday against the Fresno Fuego in a 7:05 p.m. game at Calabasas High to make the playoffs.

Here's why from the Quakes Web site:

The Fuego overwhelmed the Southern California Seahorses 5-2 Thursday to move into first place on 29 points; the San Francisco Seals, in second place, take on Bakersfield Brigade today, and will move to the top of the league on 30 points if they win. The Quakes now lie third, on 27 points, with Fusion in fourth, their playoff hopes virtually over.

*In the W-League tonight it's Pali Blues at Los Angeles Legends in a 6 p.m. game at Esperanza High.

*U.S. striker Abby Wambach had surgery Thursday on
her broken leg.

*Finally, at least one Mexican club apparently does not know what the new national team coach looks like (exactly).

And if you liked that, then return later today for some Friday Football Funnies, true and strange soccer stories from around the world in the last week or so.

Enjoy your weekend.

Plenty of Southern California representation on the Olympics roster announced today by Coach Peter Nowak.

Locals include soon-to-be-ex-Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Fontana's Maurice Edu (Toronto) and former Bruins Marvelle Wynne (Toronto), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo) and Benny Feilhaber (Derby County).

Notable omissions: the Galaxy's Landon Donovan (needed by the full national team for World Cup qualifying) and former Bruins Chad Barrett and Sal Zizzo (who is trying to establish himself with Hannover in Germany).

The complete squad:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake).

DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC).

MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio).

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).

McBride sounds like he's going to enjoy the Olympics as one of three over-age players on the squad judging by his tale of how he got on the roster:

"It's actually a pretty funny story. We had just finished a game against West Ham and [Men's National Team player] Jonathan Spector was outside the locker room and [Olympic Team assistant coach] Lubos Kubik was there with him - they were just talking. I knew Lubos from when he played with the Fire and Jonathan and I are pretty good friends. So, we all just started talking and all of the sudden Jonathan said jokingly 'Lubos, did you hear Brian wants to play in the Olympics?' After a few more jokes I told Lubos that I would seriously consider it if he would. Then I threw it out as just talk at the time, but a few days later, Peter [Nowak] called me! I was a little shocked but that's really when it became an interest and a possibility. The idea has come a long way since then but it was pretty crazy at the time. I just feel terrible that Jonathan ended up getting injured, as I know that he really deserves to be there, too."

Reporter Phil Collin caught up to Kljestan after last night's SuperLiga game and asked how he felt about leaving Chivas USA in the middle of the tournament:

"It's tough. ... After (the SuperLiga game) Sunday I switch my focus to the Olympic team. That's something I've dreamed about for 22 years now. It's exciting, it's going to be crazy. I'd feel terrible if I have to leave this team going into the semifinal game, but that's the way international football is sometimes. Unlucky for us that this tournament falls right in the middle of summer and right when I have to leave for the Olympics. It's tough, but on the other hand I'm going to the Olympics.

And so is once and former teammate Guzan. Reading between the lines, he's going because Aston Villa projects him as a backup to Brad Friedel or ? and so is unconcerned the Olympics clash with the EPL season:

"We're all very happy for Brad. We know sooner or later he will be the first (choice) keeper - I'm not saying he's not going to be right now."

Here's Nowak on Rogers' inclusion:

"In the last couple of months Robbie Rogers started to play the game everybody loves to see him play," adding that he has "worked on stuff he didn't work on before."

Here's more from U.S. Soccer on the team's timetable:

The U.S. will begin their final preparation for the Beijing Olympics on Sunday with six days of domestic training in San Jose. The team will then depart for Hong Kong, where they will participate in the ING Cup, facing fellow Olympic participants Ivory Coast on July 30 and Cameroon on Aug. 2.

Notable:
*A dozen players on the Olympic roster have played for the full national team.
*Eleven players were on the Olympics qualifying roster.
*Players on the roster were drawn from eight different leagues around the world.

Also today: Striker Lauren Cheney (UCLA) will replace the injured Abby Wambach on the U.S. women's Olympic team, U.S. Soccer officials announced today. The 20-year-old has 12 caps and three goals for the U.S., including two this year.

David Beckham won the award for Best MLS Player at last night's ESPYS.

Reaction: For what?

Not wanting to repeat last year's lack of depth at forward that cost Chivas USA a half-decent playoff run, Preki has signed 24-year-old Mexican forward Roberto Nurse, who has played three (on and off) years in the Mexican first division.

And of course, Chivas USA has been a Mexican-oriented team with few Mexicans lately.

Chivas USA has the likes strikers Maykel Galindo and Alecko Eskandarian out injured.

From the (edited) Chivas USA press release:

"Roberto is a strong, powerful center forward who we've been taking a close look at for the past few weeks," Preki said. "He's good in the air, good with his feet, and will add another dimension to our attack."

Nurse made his top-flight debut with Cuernavaca in 2003 at age of 19. He also played for Zacatepec and Querétaro for two years and returned to the first division in 2005 playing 13 games with Atlante. Then it was back to just-promoted Querétaro the next year where he scored 17 goals between the Apertura 2007 and Clausura 2008 seasons.

Chivas USA play their second SuperLiga game against Mexican champion Santos Laguna Wednesday.

An Internet special has tickets on sale starting at just $10, with the highest-priced tickets (usually $45) $10 off. More info here.

SuperLiga scores tonight: Atlante 3 D.C. United 1

While it was Chivas 1 Houston Dynamo 0

But United isn't necessarily out.

Edson Buddle's exemplary form this season has earned him his first MLS All-Star Game call-up in his eight-year career.

Buddle, whose start to the season was disrupted by yet another in his litany of injuries, - a broken collar bone sustained on the Galaxy's Australian tour - overcame that to record 11 goals in his last seven games, tying him for the MLS scoring lead.

I'm at a loss for words," Buddle said. "It's good when you put in the work and you are rewarded for it."

Also named to the July 24 game against West Ham United by MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Coach Steve Nicol: the Canadian trio of Jim Brennan (Toronto FC), Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo) and Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo), as well as New York Red Bull striker Juan Pablo Angel and the Colorado Rapids duo of Christian Gomez and Pablo Mastroeni.

Meanwhile, in the least surprising news of the MLS season so far, Red Bulls injury prone midfielder Claudio Reyna is expected to announce his retirement Wednesday at a New York press conference.

Reyna has been a colossal bust for New York and their fans will unlikely be upset to see him go. The bigger question for Wednesday: can he hobble to the microphone?

It has been a pleasure watching Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan mature into a world-class goalkeeper during his MLS career.

And Edson Buddle has been a bright spot of the Galaxy's season, just can't seem to stop scoring goals and is enjoying every moment after a stuttering MLS career so far.

I focused on the two of them for today's column at a time when both are at a critical juncture of their careers.

Today:
Palos Verdes' John Thorrington was named MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters after his stoppage time winner against Toronto FC for the Chicago Fire.

Tuesday
As the MLS transfer window opens the Galaxy could announce who gets cut today to make room for new signing Eduardo Dominguez, the Argentine defender. Pete Vagenas? Abel Xavier? Or does he have a guranteed contract? Greg Vanney?

MLS All-Star coach Steve Nicol will announce his five All-Star picks while MLS Commissioner Don Garber will announce his two to complete the 18-player roster for the July 24 game against West Ham United.

Wednesday
Chivas USA plays the second SuperLiga group game against Mexican champions Santos Laguna at 7 p.m. live on Telefutura. The Mexicans lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution on the weekend, which plays Pachuca at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday it's D.C. United vs. Atlante in the early game followed by Houston Dynamo vs. CD Guadalajara.

Thursday
The 18-player U.S. Men's Olympic Team roster is announced.

Friday
The U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team plays the first game of World Cup qualifying against Costa Rica in Trinidad. Forward Samantha Johnson of Palmdale is on the roster.

Saturday
The 6-6-4 Galaxy, who haven't won in four games, plays at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel against the 5-6-5 Red Bulls in a rematch of last year's 5-4 New York win before more than 66,000.

Notes:
Galaxy goalkeeper Vito Higgins is out four to six weeks after suffering a fracture of his right foot that was discovered before Friday's reserve game against Chivas USA.

Results Sunday:
PDL
Lancaster Rattlers 2 San Francisco Seals 3
Orange County Blue Star 1 Ventura County Fusion 0

Standings.

W-League
Real Colorado Cougars 2 Ventura County Fusion 0
Standings.

WPSL
Claremont Stars 1 Ajax America Women 4
SD United 4 Los Angeles Rampage 0

Standings.

Chivas USA forward Justin Braun underwent an MRI on his left knee and the results were negative. He bruised the knee near the end of Thursday's Galaxy game and did not dress for Sunday's game against Pachuca.

Chivas USA forward Maykel Galindo, who is out following sports hernia surgery, said he will return to action in two weeks.

Chivas USA moves into a new era this evening without star goalkeeper Brad Guzan in their SuperLiga opener at 7 against Pachuca (live on TeleFutura).

Said Coach Preki of the culmination (hopefully) of the drawn out trade:

"I won't say it's a relief because now we've got to see what we have with the other young goalkeepers we have. It's going to be a challenge."

I'll blog from the game as usual.

Of course, Guzan still has to get a work permit and if you believe The People, an English tabloid, there could be other complications, as well. By the way, the copy editor who came up with that headline has way too much time on his hands.

Speaking of American goalkeepers in England, Guzan said he has employed the consulting services of Everton's Tim Howard:

"Timmy's been awesome about the entire process going back to January when things didn't work out. We've had some little discussions here and there, nothing too serious, but he's helped me in maturing into a good professional and hopefully I'll be able to continue the success of American goalkeepers."

Santos Laguna and the New England Revolution kick off their SuperLiga encounter at 5 p.m. on TeleFutura today, while CD Guadalajara turned out the D.C. United lights ( and Jaime Moreno actually missed a penalty kick) Saturday. The Houston Dynamo pounded Atlante, 4-0, in the other game.

In MLS games Saturday, Palos Verdes' John Thorrington scored a late winner for the Fire to break Chicago's five-game losing streak and Real Salt Lake answered the question: How bad is the Western Conference? Salt Lake sits in first place after beating Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew, 2-0.

The U.S. women will seek revenge against Brazil today for their World Cup loss in the first of two games between the nations before the Olympics. Kick off is at 1 p.m. on ESPN.

Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach is one goal shy of her 100th international strike going into the game.

How significant is that?

As U.S. Soccer points out:

At 99 career goals in 125 games, Wambach's prolific scoring rate - the best goals-to-game ratio in U.S. history in fact - puts her just one away from joining four other U.S. players in the 100 Goal Club. Mia Hamm (158), Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100) are four of eight players in the history of women's soccer to score 100 or more international goals. Wambach scored her first-ever goal in 2002 against Finland and since then has averaged a goal every 90 minutes she has played for the WNT.

Wambach sounds, well, amazed by the feat, too:

"I've been thinking about it, because I knew everyone would be asking me about it. I think it's amazing the impact that it's had on myself and maybe my team. I've seen a lot of countries and met a lot of people and I think about the amount of joy every single goal has brought not only to my life but also my teammates lives. I also just think about the company I'm in. I'm getting compared to Michelle Akers. I sort of don't want to even be compared to her because it's a bit surreal. She's just up there in my book in terms of how dominant she was."

In the PDL Saturday it was:
Los Angeles Legends 0 San Francisco Seals 2
San Fernando Valley Quakes 4 Fresno Fuego 1
Bakersfield Brigade 1 Orange County Blue Star 3
San Jose Frogs 1 Southern California Seahorses 3

Today there's a doubleheader at Buena High in Ventura for the last home game of the Fusion season, with the W-League Ventura County Fusion kicking off at 4 p.m against the Real Colorado Cougars, while their male counterparts in the PDL play at 6 p.m. against Orange County Blue Star.

In WPSL games today:
Claremont Stars v Ajax America Women at 5:30 p.m. at Claremont High
SD United v Los Angeles Rampage at 4 p.m. at Valhalla High

In the WPSL Saturday:
San Diego WFC SeaLions 1 Claremont Stars 0
West Coast FC 2 SD United 1

Veteran Chivas USA and Mexican international defender Claudio Suarez considers himself a "simple soccer player" who initially was dead set against writing his autobiography.

But the classy Suarez, respected for his modest demeanor off the field and his commanding defensive presence on it, succumbed and the result is "Claudio Suarez: Portrait of a Warrior."

"I really didn't want to do this book," he said. "This is a book about retirement already. Time passes by and we need to know when to say goodbye to futbol."

(Suarez, 39, is likely playing his final season, but has left open the slim possibility he may return).

The book was launched at a press conference Saturday at Home Depot Center with Suarez' wife, Irma, and their three children looking on and the likes of former teammate Ramon Ramirez and Chivas USA co-owner Antonio Cue paying tribute to "the Emperor."

"He's an ambassador for Mexico in all aspects," said Cue. "This book is a reflection of many years of hard work."

"He's an example to everyone," said Ramirez. "When Claudio was in the defense we felt safe. ... He's a great leader in everything he does in life."

And in fact that was Suarez' motivation for writing the book. He hopes others will draw inspiration from his journey from modest roots to a distinguished career that has seen him make more appearances for Mexico than any other player.

"It's an incredible feeling," he said of boiling down his life to 145 pages. "I feel emotional, nervous because I don't know how well the book is going to do."

Curiously, few Mexican soccer stars write their autobiographies. He hopes his example will prod the likes of Luis Hernandez or Ramon Ramirez to tell their own stories.

The paperback, large-size book is peppered with photographs he has provided (you want to see Suarez' 1996 Olympic credential? It's here), which makes for easy reading.

But don't expect Suarez to rip former coaches or opposing players; this is intended to be an inspirational retelling of his long career.

Co-author Enrique Leon Candiani - a journalist for Mexican television and a Guadalajara newspaper who has followed Suarez' entire career - said it required patience awaiting the shy Suarez to open up.

"I had to go through a process so I could gain Claudio's confidence and trust - it took months," he said. "My impression is that Claudio hadn't discovered the importance of his image, his legacy and that is what I wanted to find out."

The book officially goes on sale Sunday at the Chivas USA-Pachuca SuperLiga game at Home Depot Center concession stands and the Team LA store. The first 500 people to purchase the book at the game get into an autograph session afterward.

At the moment it's only available in Spanish. An English-language version is in the works and will be released in about two months. I have an early copy though (even Claudio hadn't seen one) so look for a review in the coming days.

The book is also available on-line here.