Recently in Pacific Development League Category

*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.

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.

Ante Razov's deciding goal.

Photo by Scott Varley

Before we get started, take a deep breathe and read this fine piece of journalism on Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan and his father.

I'll wait.

But then we figured Kljestan would be going to the Olympics, didn't we? The squad will officially be announced at 10 a.m. today (Thursday).

Other nuggets:
*Midfielder Paulo Nagamura, who suffered a mild concussion during the match, and defender Jonathan Bornstein will be suspended for Sunday's game against New England because of yellow-card accumulation (2 apiece).

*We were discussing in the press box about the tie-breakers in SuperLiga given the possibility Chivas USA, the Revolution and Pachuca could end up tied on six points at the end of the games Sunday.

Colleague Phil Collin kindly researched the issue (based on last year's rules):
1. points
2. head-head
3. point differential
4. goals scored
5. drawing of lots

Now here's the catch: if after the first four criteria, a team qualifies, that team advances. Then the process is repeated. For instance, if Pachuca wins 2-0 and Chivas USA wins 1-0, Pachuca advances on goal differential. Then you go back to the top and play the string out with the two remaining teams.

Got that?

Curiously though, Sunday's pair of games aren't played at the same time: the Revs and Chivas USA game is later than Pachuca-Santos Laguna. Not that I'm suggesting anything.

The game story is here.

And (for those of you who read until the end of the game story) it looks like yet another foreign veteran (Wicky) is a total bust in MLS, doesn't it?

On to the quotes:

*Preki on the economy of shots for Chivas USA:

"We got one shot on goal tonight - we scored. We're going to take that. We're not going to complain about that. Sometimes things don't go your way, you lose. Tonight, I thought the ball bounced our way. Sometimes in this game you have to be lucky. You've got to get a bounce."

*Ante Razov on the ball Kljestan served him that led to the goal:

"It was good work out on the wing with Sacha and we've developed pretty good chemistry as of late, especially. I just wanted to try to set my guy up and get to the near post, and fortunately I was able to get a piece of it, I also think the defender got a piece of it too. Great ball."

*Did Santos Laguna Coach Daniel Guzman think the 90th minute goal his team scored was offside?

"It was a goal. There was no-one offside on that play. That's when we started the whole debate with the referee, but it's over now."

On the loss:

"They had a goal-scoring opportunity. They put it in. Sometimes soccer is that way. You play well. You don't win. You play badly, you win."

*Preki on how the team came out:

"I didn't feel like we got a grip of the game in the first 10-15 minutes. I thought they were the better team, I thought they were moving the ball a bit better than us, I thought we were nervous, but I was expecting that given the fact that we've changed quite a few players from the other night to tonight."

Finally, here's the first half sitter Christian Benitez of Santos Laguna missed in the first half with Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and the net at his mercy.

Photo by Scott Varley

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

The second edition of SuperLiga begins today with a 5 p.m. game on TeleFutura between CD Guadalajara and D.C. United.

The Houston Dynamo-Atlante game follows at 7 p.m. on the same channel.

The MLS Players Union is apparently not pleased with that alleged $1 million in SuperLiga prize money figure the league throws around.

Which might explain statements like this from New England's Matt Reis: "We're somewhat looking forward to the upcoming games."

Still, Pachuca midfielder Gabriel Caballero (left) and Chivas USA midfielder Paulo Nagamura look pretty happy with the cash though.

Pachuca and Chivas USA - likely without goalkeeper Brad Guzan - play Sunday at Home Depot Center.

In USL games locally, the W-League Pali Blues, having already clinched the Western Conference, pounded Real Colorado 6-0 Thursday.

The Los Angeles Legends play Real Colorado today at 5 p.m. in Chino Hills. Admission is free.

In the PDL Friday, the San Fernando Valley Quakes beat the Legends' male counterparts
3-1.

In other PDL games Friday it was:
San Jose Frogs 0 Orange County Blue Star 1
Ventura County Fusion 4 Lancaster Rattlers 0

Today's local games:
Bakersfield Brigade at Orange County Blue Star 5 p.m. Concordia University.
San Jose Frogs at Southern California Seahorses 7 p.m. La Mirada High.

Lastly, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy finals began today at Home Depot Center. Details and a game schedule is here.

Tied for first place in the Western Conference, the Galaxy and Chivas USA resume hostilities 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2 before the Red & White play Sunday in their opening SuperLiga game against last year's winner Pachuca. (That game is live at 7 p.m. on TeleFutura). I'll have a preview of the tournament in Tuesday's column.

Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan talks about the derby at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.com.

On Friday the two teams' reserve squads face off at 10 a.m. on University Field #1. The Galaxy reserves are currently winless so far this season.

On Saturday at Home Depot Center, 16 elite teams aged 15-18 will begin competing in the 2008 Development Academy Finals. The final eight round-robin games will be aired on ESPNU and ESPN2 July 18-19.

LAFC is the local representative in the Under 15/16 and Under-17/18 divisions.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Under-20 Galaxy Rios host Lancaster and Riverside respectively, the bottom two teams in the league, at Home Depot Center (both games kick-off at 5 p.m. on Field #5). With two wins the Rios (which currently sit third in the standings) could win the league, depending on the results of other games.

The Rios beat the Bakersfield Brigade over the weekend to move to 4-2-1.

And catching up on the rest of the weekend:
*The Galaxy made the New England Revolution's Adam Cristman look good: he was named MLS Player of the Week Monday by the North American Soccer Reporters after his two-goal effort led his team to a 2-1 victory over the Galaxy.

*In the W-League Sunday, the Seattle Sounders beat the Los Angeles Legends 4-2, although the first-year Pali Blues wrapped up the Western Conference title earlier in the weekend.

*In the PDL Sunday, it was the Southern California Seahorses 2 Los Angeles Legends 2 and Lancaster Rattlers 1 San Jose Frogs 4.

Standings.

*Scores in the WPSL Saturday:
Ajax America Women 4 Sonoma County FC Sol 0
Los Angeles Rampage 0 California Storm 0
West Coast FC 5 FC Sacramento Pride 0
Claremont Stars 3 Walnut Creek Power 3

*And Sunday:
Ajax America Women 3 California Storm 2
Los Angeles Rampage 10 FC Sacramento Pride 0
West Coast FC 8 Walnut Creek Power 0
Claremont Stars 1 Sonoma County FC Sol 2

Standings.

The U.S. Women's National Team beat Sweden 1-0 Saturday with Torrance's Shannon Boxx going the full 90 and USC striker Amy Rodriguez getting a few minutes late. The U.S. now returns home for its final two Olympic warm-up games.

If you want to get caught up on the Chivas USA win Saturday read the previous post; for game reaction and video highlights of the Galaxy's 2-1 loss to New England Friday go here.

In the PDL Saturday it was: Ventura County Fusion 2 Southern California Seahorses 0.

In the W-League Saturday, the expansion Pali Blues clinched the league title with a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

Standings.

As readers of this blog learned Wednesday from beat writer Scott Wolf, neither David Beckham (sore hamstring) or Landon Donovan (flu) practiced with the team yesterday and could miss tonight's game against the New England Revolution, who will have Taylor Twellman on the bench.

So possibly no stars for the Galaxy, but there will be fireworks after the game. It's live on Prime at 7:30 p.m.

Chivas USA plays Saturday at Home Depot Center (and yeah, they have fireworks, too) against San Jose. The Earthquakes are the lowest-scoring team in MLS so naturally they are bidding to sign a - 37-year-old Brazilian midfielder.

In other unexpected player news, former Galaxy player Joseph Ngwenya is trying out for former Galaxy Assistant Coach Martin Zuniga and his boss Jurgen Klinsmann at Bayern Munich.

From the interminable award department: Becks and Donovan as well as Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) and Matt Reis (New England Revolution) are up for the MLS Best Player of the Year Award at the 16th annual ESPY's. Donovan has won the last two years.

Fans can vote through July 12 at www.espys.tv The show airs at 6 p.m. July 20 on ESPN.

Not to be outdone Univision has their own set of awards for Latino athletes such as Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Omar Bravo (CD Guadalajara) and Guillermo Ochoa (Club América) who are up for North American Soccer Player of the Year. (I nominate Univision for the Creatively Named Category Award, by the way).

There are 10 categories in the "Tecate Premios Deportes" awards airing July 20.

Other nominees: Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Angel, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Claudio Suarez - and Jonathan Bornstein (?).

Details here.

In the W-League Thursday, the Seattle Sounders beat the Ventura County Fusion 3-0.

In the PDL tonight, the San Fernando Valley Quakes play at the Lancaster Rattlers in a 7 p.m. game at Pete Knight High.

Enjoy the holiday and break away from the bar-b-que occasionally to check back here on the Galaxy's progess tonight where I'll blog the game highlights.

Needed a deep breath after the weekend (and spent the day writing Tuesday's column), so late blogging.

Chivas USA is one of 16 teams participating in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup at 7 p.m. Tuesday playing a game in Seattle against the Sounders you can see here. Chivas USA lost at this stage of the competition last year to Seattle.

Long Beach State sophomore-to-be Janet Mendez of Palmdale helped Mexico qualify for the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in November, starting and playing 72 minutes as Mexico beat Costa Rica 3-2 on penalty kicks over the weekend.

In the PDL Saturday it was:
Fresno Fuego 1 Los Angeles Legends O
Southern California Seahorses 1 Bakersfield Brigade
Lancaster Rattlers 1 Ventura County Fusion 1

Standings

W-League:
Fort Collins Force 1 Los Angeles Legends 1 (Saturday)
Fort Collins Force 0 Pali Blues 2 (Tonight)

Standings

Also this weekend (from the edited Galaxy press release):

In a top of the table clash with the Ventura County Fusion, the Galaxy Rios Under-20's lost 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Home Depot Center. The Fusion scored twice inside the final 20 minutes to move into a tie for first place in the league with Bakersfield.

Standings

WPSL
San Diego WFC SeaLions 0 Ajax America Women 3
West Coast FC 2 Los Angeles Rampage 0

Standings

If you're already waiting on the long weekend, note the Galaxy play Independence Day in Carson against the aptly-named New England Revolution.

Chivas USA play Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Here are the essentials for tonight's Chivas USA-New York Red Bulls game at Home Depot Center:

*NYRB are without Claudio Reyna, Juan Pablo Angel (both injured) and, of course, one Senor Altidore (sunning himself in Spain).

*Fear not. Chivas USA has Justin Braun.

*The Red Bulls are playing their fifth game in 15 days tonight, which could help Chivas USA avoid losing twice to New York in one season.

*Oh, and Mickey Mouse will perform the coin toss before the game.

Want more? Here's a longer preview.

And while we're at it here's a Galaxy-D.C. United preview (it's a nice try at a different sort of advance, but turns out to be a bit of a stretch since United's Marcelo Gallardo decided not to play ball). This may be the only preview posted here since the game kicks off on ABC at 9 a.m. and it's highly unlikely I will crawl out of bed early on a Sunday morning to actually blog. And don't forget the Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany follows immediately after on the same channel.

Friday scores:
Fort Collins Force 4 Ventura County Fusion 1 (W-League).
San Jose Frogs 3 Los Angeles Legends 3 (PDL).

Finally (and for no other reason than I could do with a laugh this morning) take five seconds out of your day and watch this contender (that appears to be from a league game in Russia) for the worst penalty kick ever.

Back this evening with more from the Chivas USA game.

Goals aplenty are expected Sunday when the Galaxy plays D.C. United on the road in a rare nationally televised MLS game on ABC that precedes the Euro 2008 final.

The official Galaxy blog has a video preview.

Speaking of Euro 2008, sports media columnist Tom Hoffarth had more today on the broadcast snafu that frankly ruined the first semifinal Wednesday between Germany and Turkey. The problem wasn't ESPN's fault and the network is due some props for hiring the likes of former Scottish pro Andy Gray to provide expertise, but it still has some serious credibility problems.

(Climbs on soap box)

For one thing, if ESPN weren't so cheap they would have somebody at the game - so they don't have to solely rely on commentators in a U.S. studio in the event of an outage - who could provide an audio feed as the BBC apparently did.

Second, with the network crowing about its Euro 2008 ratings then their coverage must go to the next level and actually have their broadcast teams at the stadium. The crowd noise is noticeably lower because ESPN is not there live and that doesn't help the atmosphere of a game that's being aired.

(Climbs down).

Chivas USA continue their lengthy home stand Saturday with a game against the Red Bulls that features a special Disneyland half time show. Good time to point out that with every adult ticket purchased a munchkin 12 or under gets in free. Tickets start at $14.

The club has a video preview here.

An interesting article about Chivas USA forward Maykel Galindo rekindling a childhood friendship with a fellow defector who now plays for the Seattle Mariners is here. (Thanks to Bruce over at DuNord for unearthing that story).

Apparently John Thorrington, who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, was such a late choice for last weekend's World Cup qualifier he had not brought along a certain important document needed to travel and had to return home to Chicago to get it.

Finally, other local games set for this weekend include:
PDL
7:30 p.m. Friday San Jose Frogs at Los Angeles Legends at A.P.U. - Cougar Stadium.
7:30 p.m. Saturday Fresno Fuego at Los Angeles Legends at A.P.U. - Cougar Stadium.
7:30 pm Saturday Lancaster Rattlers at Ventura County Fusion at Buena High School.

W-League
8 p.m. Friday Fort Collins Force at Ventura County Fusion at Newberry Park High School.
5:00 p.m. Saturday Fort Collins Force at Los Angeles Legends at Azusa Pacific.

Enjoy your weekend and rejoin me Saturday for the Chivas USA game at Home Depot Center.

Germany narrowly beat Turkey 3-2 at Euro 2008 and will take on the winner of today's Spain-Russia semifinal (11:30 a.m. ESPN2) in Sunday's final. Let's hope today's game isn't marred by the technical problems viewers both here and around the world endured during Wednesday's game. I don't know about you, but the telecast missing two of the game's goals (and returning just in time to catch Germany's last minute winner) spoiled the excitement of the game for me.

Over in Galaxyland, The Washington Post's Steven Goff is reporting more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's game against D.C. United in the nation's capital, where he is fretting about L.A.'s status as the highest-scoring team in MLS and United's league-worst defense. He doesn't mention the Galaxy's penchant for blowing leads and defensive holes Luciano Emilio is capable of exploiting though.

Meanwhile, rookie Galaxy defender Julian Valentin has joined the world of blogging and fills us in on his trip to Costco (really) and his goldfish purchase.

The Red Bulls, heading west to play Chivas USA Saturday in Carson, beat the mothership 1-0 in Arizona Wednesday night where newly-signed former Galaxy draft pick Gordon Kljesten saw action for New York. Will he play against brother Sasha and Chivas USA this weekend?

Claudio Reyna won't play though and Red Bull fans are displeased to put it mildly.

Chivas USA learned Wednesday night that if they beat the USL's Seattle Sounders in the U.S. Open Cup they'll face either the Kansas City Wizards in Carson or USL team the Carolina Railhawks in Cary, N.C. on July 8 in the quarterfinals.

Lastly, in PDL action Wednesday the Southern California Seahorses finally got a win against the Orange County Blue Star in La Mirada.

The league table is here (scroll down).

Turkey, already a long shot to beat Germany in today's first Euro 2008 semifinal, (live 11:30 a.m. on ESPN) has several starters missing through injury or suspension and the Germans are in a confident mood. Derek Rae and Andy Gray will call the game, while the second semifinal between Spain and an entertaining Russian side follows at the same time Thursday.

The winners play Sunday on ABC in a game preceded by the Galaxy-D.C. United game at 9 a.m.

In another televised game today at 8 p.m. on Telefutura, CD Guadalajara plays the New York Red Bulls in a Phoenix friendly. The Red Bulls are heading west to take on Chivas USA Saturday night at Home Depot Center.

Meanwhile, Chivas USA learned Tuesday they will play the USL's Seattle Sounders in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup July 1 in the Pacific Northwest. The Sounders Tuesday thumped the amateurs of Hollywood United 6-0.

By the way, tickets to the 5 p.m. July 20 Chivas USA-New England Revolution game in Fullerton that is the third SuperLiga group game for both teams are now on sale. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

A look at the challenges faced by Chivas USA Under-18 player Omar Becerra is here.

In a PDL game tonight, Orange County Blue Star visits the Southern California Seahorses at 7 p.m. at La Mirada High.

Finally, if you're Jewish and can play soccer, the U.S. Jewish National Soccer Team wants to hear from you.

Coach Pia Sundhage will announce the roster in a teleconference at noon today, although few, if any, surprises are expected.

The roster is likely to be virtually unchanged from the just-concluded Peace Cup, which means Torrance's Shannon Boxx, USC's Amy Rodriguez and UCLA Lauren Cheney are anticipated to head to China.

While we await the official announcement, here's a few weekend leftovers:

*The Galaxy Rios, the Galaxy's youth team, holds three open tryouts next month in Irvine, Chino Hills and Glendale.

From the (edited) press release:

The LA Galaxy will be holding open tryouts for the Galaxy Rios, the club's official youth development program, for any male player born between 1990 and 1994 at three different locations throughout Southern California from July 11 through July 13. Players must register and pay the $30 fee by Sunday, July 6th for one of the three open tryout venues.

Players will play a seven v. seven, 50-minute game, while being assessed by Galaxy Rios Coaching Staff, including Galaxy Director of Player Development Trevor James and Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo. The top players from each of the three tryouts will be invited back to participate in a training session at The Home Depot Center for further evaluation by the Rios Coaching Staff.

All players must apply online and have a valid email address. More info is available here.

*Sixteen U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Champions won titles Sunday in Hawaii, with 12 teams representing the Under-14 through Under-19 boys and girls divisions earning spots at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships July 22-27 in Little Rock, Ark.

Among the championship highlights from the (edited) press release:

The Under-15 Girls Slammers FC earned their second shot at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship title Sunday after beating fellow California South team Real So Cal, 4-1. Last year the Slammers lost in the final game of the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships.

Under-16 Girls So Cal Blue is the only U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV team to return to defend its U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship and won 3-0 against Real So Cal.

Arsenal FC Under-14 Boys won the championship against the LA Rampage with a goal from Jake La Porte (34:00).

Other results involving teams from Southern California include:
Girls Under-13 - So Cal Blues 3 Real Colorado National 0
Boys Under-15 - Arsenal FC 0 Valley United 4
Boys Under-16 - FC Barcelona 0 Real So Cal Blue 2
Girls Under-17 - Eagles FC 0 Slammers FC 1
Girls Under-18 - Colorado Nike Rush 2 Slammers FC 1
Girls Under-19 - FC Portland 0 Slammers FC 3

*In the PDL Sunday:
Orange County Blue Star 2 San Fernando Valley Quakes 2

W-League:
Pali Blues 3 Vancouver Whitecaps 0

This is an excellent Sunday read on the trials of minor league soccer team the San Fernando Valley Quakes and its owner.

The Quakes play at 7:05 p.m. today at Calabasas High.

In Barbados, the U.S. Men's National Team is trying to stay focused on the task at hand. The game is at noon on ESPN Classic (opposite the 11:30 a.m. Spain-Italy Euro 2008 quarterfinal on ESPN one should note).

This weekend's World Cup qualifying so far.

In other PDL games, the Ventura County Fusion beat the Fresno Fuego Saturday (and Friday).

Other PDL scores:
San Francisco Seals 2 Los Angeles Legends 3
Orange County Blue Star 2 Lancaster Rattlers 4
San Francisco Seals 2 Southern California Seahorses 0
Lancaster Rattlers 2 Bakersfield Brigade 1

W-League:
Ventura County Fusion 0 Fort Collins Force 2

WPSL
Ajax America Women 1 West Coast FC 3
Claremont Stars 0 Los Angeles Rampage 3