Recently in World Cup Category

After months of rumors, the deal is done and Cristiano Ronaldo will now do his pouting, um, playing in Spain with Kaka.

Well, that was a bit of an anticlimax for Chivas USA.

It was also a game that featured, said Chivas USA Coach Preki, "the dumbest goal ever."

See for yourself:

Mexico made heavy work of Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday, but are back (sort of) on track in WCQ. Lovely second goal though.

Finally, while we're on the subject of international football, it looks like a kid on his way to Cal State Northridge this fall is taking an unexpected detour.

Galaxy Preview
Yes, the Galaxy have a friendly at 7:30 tonight against Costa Rican team Club Sport Herediano at Home Depot Center.

International friendlies like these are usually of limited interest to all but the most hard-core fans. The Galaxy will use the occasion to give younger and/or squad players valuable minutes, while the Costa Rican team gets to connect with its not inconsquential Southern California fan base.

Don't expect to see much of the likes of Costa Rican internationals Andy Herron, Dennis Marshal and Ricardo González, who will undoubtedly rest up after two World Cup qualifying games in the last week.

The Galaxy's official blog has a preview and word of new players training with the team who will likely see some minutes.

Wonder if there will be more Galaxy or Costa Rica fans in attendance?

Meanwhile, here's an update on soon-to-be Galaxy player Chris Burchall from his hometown newspaper.

BTW, no live blogging from me. I'm still without a functioning laptop and have to go to a Torrance City Council budget meeting anyway (I'm not kidding).

Chivas USA Update
The MLS leaders play the team that sits six points behind them in the Western Conference, the Houston Dynamo, Wednesday in Texas in a game to be broadcast live on ESPN2 and W Radio 690 AM.

Justin Braun and Shavar Thomas are both listed as questionable with concussions.

And finally
It appears David Beckham will get a rare start on Wednesday for England against mighty Andorra, although just getting to the game sounds like a nightmare.

At least that's the context I attempted to place the U.S. National Team's World Cup qualifying effort in.

Read the column here.

Agree? Disagree? Unduly harsh? Or just realistic?

Updated:
Just ran across this blog post and thought it relevant given today's column. Now we know what the hardcore American soccer fan really watches.

Perhaps it was out of empathy that my laptop apparently expired just as Honduras took an early lead against the U.S. Saturday in Chicago.

Still, the U.S. came from behind to win.

Nevertheless, I was unable to blog the Chivas USA win over Seattle later that evening.

And I will be forced to the sidelines for today's Sol-Washington Freedom game live at 3 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

Toronto FC-Galaxy.Lucky for the Landon Donovan-less Galaxy Toronto are also playing like crap.

Chivas USA-Seattle Sounders. Seattle have the Galaxy's draw disease.

U.S.-Honduras. Toronto's (and the Galaxy's) best player on show here.

England & Becks win.

All the World Cup qualifying scores here.

World Cup qualifying gets out of the gate at 1 a.m. Saturday when North Korea plays Iran on Fox Soccer Channel and doesn't let up for the rest of the weekend. Complicating matters are the on-going MLS games, too.

Click to the links at top right for all the details, but to help you organize your weekend here are the times and channels of five pertinent games for most Southern Californians:

Saturday
*1 p.m. FSN Toronto FC-Galaxy
*5 p.m. ESPN U.S.-Honduras
*6 p.m. KVEA El Salvador-Mexico
*7:30 p.m. Prime Chivas USA-Seattle

Sunday
*3 p.m. FSC Sol-Washington Freedom

Costa Rica-U.S.

Sol-Red Stars.

U.S. Soccer announced this morning that the U.S.-Costa Rica World Cup qualifier has moved to ESPN2.

From the ESPN press release:

The broadcast will now include a 30 minute pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m. PT with kickoff slated for 7:06 p.m. PT (8:06 p.m. local).

The game will still be televised live by Galavision.

The programming change prevents potential conflicts with ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball running into the U.S. game's time slot on ESPN and was made possible by the Women's College World Series for NCAA softball ending early.

Game details here.

Meanwhile, the U.S. moved up one spot to 14th in the latest FIFA rankings released today.

Incredibly, there is actually a Sol game in Carson tonight.

Why?

And no, I won't be blogging from there.

NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the group trying to bring the World Cup to the United States in 2018 or 2022.

Schwarzenegger's support is considered a key element in U.S. Soccer's bids because several California venues traditionally are used for international games. The 1994 World Cup and 1999 Women's World Cup concluded at the Rose Bowl and the 2003 Women's World Cup final was at Home Depot Center.<

"Soccer is the world's most popular sport and California has been home to some of its most exciting games, and I am proud to be a part of bringing the World Cup back to the United States," Schwarzenegger said. "The millions of fans from around the globe that will travel to the United States to cheer their teams will prove a great benefit for our state, our nation and the world of soccer."

Six stadiums in California are among 58 venues in the U.S. under consideration for World Cup matches in 2018 or 2022 including the Rose Bowl and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

"California is a soccer state in every sense of the word, with participation and avid support at all levels, from its vast youth system to the professional ranks," said Sunil Gulati, chairman of the U.S. bid committee and president of U.S. Soccer.

The United States is one of nine candidates seeking the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

The others are Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia, with joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain. Qatar and South Korea have applied as candidates only for 2022.

Both tournaments will be awarded in December 2010.

Mia Hamm and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan were added to the bid committee last week.

Updated: You can watch Arnold on the subject here:

As an English-born, naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in the U.S., nations don't mean that much to me.

Except when it comes to soccer.

Because in soccer different nationalities, cultures and races serve to remind me not how different people are, but how much many share an obsessive interest regardless of where they are from in a ball rolling around a pitch chased by 22 sweaty people.

And there are few places like Southern California where it's possible to find so many folks from different nations all watching soccer in a relatively small geographic area.

So I had to write about it.

Clarification: The Iranian election occurs two days - June 12 - after the second Iran World Cup qualifier this month.

With a busy week of World Cup qualifying ahead, I have a column to write for Tuesday summing up the competition so far and looking ahead to next year's tournament.

With that in mind, I'll keep things brief here, but wanted to note that:

*Fontana's Maurice Edu will not travel with the U.S. to Costa Rica for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier while the knee injury he suffered in Rangers' final league game May 24 against Dundee is evaluated more. Initial reports of the severity of the injury do not sound good.

*David Beckham is done in Italy - for now, - but Galaxy fans should not expect to see much of him.

*The Sol plan to Webcast their rare Wednesday night game at Home Depot Center against the Chicage Red Stars. Calling the club's first-ever Webcast is Sol Director of Media Relations Nick Ammazzalorso, who has previously been behind the mike as the play-by-play voice for the University of Maryland's men's and women's teams and the Buffalo Blizzard of the indoor National Professional Soccer League

The color commentator will be Aaron Heifetz, press officer for the U.S. Women's National Team and one of the most knowledgeable observers of the women's game around. Listen here beginning at 7:25 p.m. Wednesday.

The roster Coach Bob Bradley announced today.

It's early yet, but the sports book at The Palazzo (the newest Vegas luxury hotel is Venetian adjacent, has a Lamborghini dealership and a hip, comfy sports book) is offering odds on the World Cup.

The field is 100-1, but Brazil is the 5-1 favorite, England is 8-1, Croatia 45-1, Mexico 65-1 the U.S. 70-1 and Japan 200-1. Scotland is 300-1 (even Israel is lower at 200-1).

While the temptation to escape the 90-plus degree heat and watch the Manchester United-Arsenal UEFA Champions League Cup semifinal inside is great, Zion National Park beckons.

So we bid adieu to the inexpensive Triple 7 Brewpub, (the Blackchip porter is excellent) at Main Street Station, the impressive Hardway IPA at the branch of the Chicago Brewing Co.,. at the Four Queens (home to friendly craps tables) and head to Utah.

I'll rejoin you Wednesday from surburban Sandy to watch the Galaxy play Real Salt Lake.

It could happen.

Notwithstanding the fact U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati held a teleconference this morning to discuss potential venues should the U.S. win another World Cup bid and "declared Los Angeles is a very important market for us."

Notwithstanding the fact Los Angeles hosted more games - including the final - than any other U.S. market in 1994, Gulati observed.

And notwithstanding the fact that with three pro teams, the U.S. Soccer training headquarters in Carson and the largest futbol-mad Latino population in the nation, Southern California is arguably the best soccer market in the U.S.

Southern California could still miss out on another World Cup entirely even though the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were among 70 stadiums in more than 50 markets U.S. Soccer has identified as potential venues.

Why?

Because quite simply (sorry to be so technical here) those two stadiums suck. And there's plenty of competition whether it's new stadiums like Meadowlands Stadium in New York that will open in 2010 or even college town markets such as Lincoln, Neb., and Fayetteville, Ark.

Gulati was asked if the World Cup returning to the area was contingent upon a new stadium being built here and observed that games will likely be considered for "venues that are not built today."

"I would be surprised if there wasn't a stadium development or a redesign planned before the World Cup," he said of the two stadiums in L.A. "I would be surprised if there weren't a better alternative than exists today."

Really? I wouldn't.

Given the bureaucracies - one by a city, the other by a ghastly joint powers authority-type creature - that operate both venues I would be more surprised if anything was done to renovate or replace either venue.

Why would U.S. Soccer be able to do something the NFL can't after years of trying and either build a new stadium or renovate an existing one?

Am I being too pessimistic or hard on those stadiums?

Whaddya think?

AP Photo

Always classy Galaxy forward Landon Donovan created all three goals today and teed the final one up to Jozy Altidore to give the kid a hat trick.

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Jozy Altidore became the youngest American with an international hat trick, and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 Wednesday night to maintain its lead in the final round of qualifying for next year's World Cup.

Making just his fourth international start, Altidore connected in the 13th, 71st and 89th minutes, all three times off passes from the Galaxy's Landon Donovan.

The 19-year-old forward, an increasingly important part of the U.S. roster, also scored as a substitute in the 77th minute last Saturday to start the U.S. comeback from a two-goal deficit in a 2-2 tie at El Salvador. He has six goals in nine international appearances.

"It's pretty cool," Altidore said. "Most important is we came out, and the guys rebounded from the El Salvador game, and we made a statement - made a statement we are one of
the teams to be reckoned with in CONCACAF."

Altidore eclipsed the mark for youngest hat trick set in 2004, when 20-year-old Eddie
Johnson scored three times as a substitute in a 6-0 win over Panama in the semifinals of
qualifying.

"He's earned it," Donovan said. "He has played well. He deserved it."

The United States (2-0-1), seeking its sixth straight World Cup berth, leads the final
round of North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying with seven points, followed
by Mexico and Costa Rica (both 1-1) with three apiece, El Salvador (0-0-2) and Trinidad (0-1-2) with two each and Honduras (0-1-1) with one.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley made four changes to his starting lineup and used an offensive
formation.

He dropped DaMarcus Beasley from midfield to left back in place of Heath Pearce, started Brian Ching and Altidore up front, and left Donovan (left) and Clint Dempsey in advanced midfield roles. With Beasley roaming up, it resembled a 4-3-3 at times.

"They both made so many plays," Donovan said of Altidore and Ching.

No. 75 Trinidad and Tobago, playing without suspended 37-year-old star Dwight Yorke,
didn't have a shot on goal against the world's 17th-ranked team until Keon Daniel's attempt on a rebound after a free kick bounced off a defensive wall in the 63rd minute,
American goalkeeper Tim Howard, returning from a one-game suspension for a yellow
card, nearly got into trouble in the sixth minute when he kicked a free kick right to Stern
John. But it bounced off the forward and went wide.

Six minutes later, Bocanegra played a long ball up the left to Ching, and he headed it to
Donovan.

Donovan chested the ball, then crossed to Altidore, who broke free of Aklie Edwards and
beat goalkeeper Clayton Ince from 6 yards. It was the fourth goal in nine international
appearances for the 19-year-old.

Altidore had two other chances in the first half, putting an angled shot wide in the 27th
minute and popping an open shot over the crossbar in the 41st.

He got the second goal after taking a pass from Donovan and faking out Trinidad captain
Dennis Lawrence.

On the final goal, Michael Bradley received a long pass and played the ball into the penalty area to Donovan, who bent it back to Altidore. His shot from 19 yards bounced in off the hands of Ince.

Mexico crashed.