Recently in World Cup Category

Briefly:

*In praise of Galaxy GM and Coach Bruce Arena.

*For Real Salt Lake MLS Cup equals redemption.

* Former Chivas USA Coach Preki was officially unveiled as Toronto's new coach today. Wonder how much longer Amado Guevara will be around?

*Want to party like it's 1989? Former UCLA and Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri will be honored tonight at Original Mike's in Orange County on the 20th anniversary of the "shot heard 'round the world." The event begins at 7 p.m.

*MLS has set the expansion draft for the new Philadelphia Union for Wednesday afternoon. From the MLS press release:

Philadelphia will select the core of their inaugural squad in a 10-round draft next Wednesday. Teams can participate in a half-day trade window on Monday until Noon ET. All 15 MLS teams are required to submit their lists of protected players to the League by 3 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 23. ... Philadelphia Union may not claim more than one player from any given team in MLS - five teams will not have a player taken in the expansion draft.

* The U.S. fell 3-1 to Denmark Wednesday.

*France is in the World Cup helped by a disputed missed hand ball; the Irish want a replay.

Plenty of other soccer on TV in addition to tonight's Galaxy-Dynamo game, while local colleges enter post-season play this weekend.

TV best bets
11 o'clock tonight Fox Soccer Channel New Zealand-Bahrain (World Cup qualifier with former Galaxy man Simon Elliot on the NZ squad).
7 a.m. Saturday FSC Slovakia-U.S.
9 a.m. Saturday FSC Brazil-England
12:55 p.m. Saturday ESPND Argentina-Spain
5 p.m. Saturday FSC Eastern Conference final Chicago Fire-Real Salt Lake

College games
UCLA-Boise State 5:30 p.m. today Drake Stadium. (The final UCLA men's game of the regular season against San Diego State follows at 7 p.m.).

USC-Oklahoma State in Santa Clara

CSUDH women-Dixie State (Utah) at noon today at Cal State L.A.

CSUDH men-Sonoma State at 4 p.m. today at Cal State L.A.

Now that the U.S.have qualified for South Africa the question arises: should you attend in person?

I will not pretty much for the reasons spelled out by excellent Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, who just spent seven months in the country while writing the book "The Beckham Experiment," in this article: crime, bad weather (it's winter down there), a lack of transportation options and expensive, hard to come by accommodation.

Even someone who spent years living in South Africa - a certain L.A. Times scribe - cautioned me about going. And after experiencing Germany's excellent transportation system in 2006 (press credentials doubled as unlimited first-class rail tickets to expedite travel between games) that included a memorable fruit and cheese plate/scrambled egg breakfast while whizzing along at almost 200 kph, South Africa is out for me.

Brazil in five years time will have several of the same problems, but at least they're football mad down there.

And I need to save up for Germany 2011 when the Women's World Cup will be held there (hopefully with the same train pass).

I wonder how many other fans will reach the same conclusion?

U.S. 2 Costa Rica 2

Carlos Bocanegra, left, and Jonathan Bornstein celebrate his dramatic last-gasp equalizer against a stunned Costa Rica that enabled the U.S. to win its World Cup qualifying group. (AP Photo)

One of the more magnificent tie games you'll ever see had the U.S.' young guns blaze back in the dying seconds against Costa Rica from two goals behind despite being down to 10 men after the injury to Gooch tonight in Washington D.C. And on a night where the manner of Charlie Davies' absence provided an unprecedented note of (for want of a better word) emptiness the Americans seemed to want to fill.

Jozy Altidore, Davies' roommate:

"I was very emotional the past few days. I am not going to lie, I just couldn't get my mind off of it, you know what I mean. It is unbelievable to think how your life can change in one night, in one minute, in one second. It was tough to swallow for me. I played like he was out there with me tonight."

Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein of Los Alamitos struck for the winner from a corner kick by Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates, who had an inspired performance and led the comeback with key crosses.

Rob Rogers, Robbie's dad, e-mailed me:

"I thought it was strangely ironic that Robbie initiated the attacks that caused both goals and he was wearing number 9-Charlie Davies number."

Me too.

Said Bornstein:

"I think the whole team wanted to go out and put a good effort out there today, for Charlie, for his family and for everyone that was involved in the situation. To get the tie to go onto the World Cup as first in our group, I think it shows a lot about our team and what we're all about. Hopefully, going forward from here we can keep getting better and prepare for the World Cup."

Here's goalkeeper Tim Howard on Bornstein's goal:

"Guys like that work their tail off all qualifying and defend and do the dirty stuff so it's good that he gets the glory."

The CONCACAF skinny.

Here's Coach Bob Bradley on Oguchi Onyewu's injury:

"[Oguchi Onyewu has a torn left patellar tendon. Obviously, we've had two days of tough news and Gooch has been such an important part of our team. That's normally three to four months, he's young, he's healthy, our doctors are good. He's someone that we're sure is going to get back and ready to go. But, nonetheless, it's another setback for us."

Notable: This was a U.S. triumph for a new generation: Robbie Rogers, Jonathan Bornstein, Jose Torres, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore - all players that have come of age under Coach Bob Bradley.

They've effectively augmented the established likes of Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Carlos Bocanegra.

A thoroughly compelling game.

Highlights

Game story.

U.S. lineup: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 12-Jonathan Bornstein; 7-Stuart Holden (9-Robbie Rogers, 69), 16-Benny Feilhaber (14-José Francisco Torres, 63) , 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Landon Donovan; 17-Jozy Altidore, 8-Conor Casey (Kenny Cooper, 79)

Bonus: Honduras, recent gracious hosts, are in; Carlos Pavon, perhaps our paths will cross again.

And a tip of the hat to SI's Grant Wahl for the tweet regarding this video (stay to the end):

Go figure.

Next for Beckham - the Nobel Prize.

Oh, and Becks says his loan deal to AC Milan is "95 percent done."

"It's 95 percent done so I don't know why it wouldn't happen now," Beckham was quoted as saying by AP. "It will be sorted out in the next month, and I will probably be going there at the end of December."

WEMBLEY, England (AP) -- David Beckham entered England's final World Cup qualifier in the 59th minute and still was selected man of the match.

"I just told him it was like Obama getting the Nobel Prize after eight months of being
president of the United States," England coach Fabio Capello said. "Beckham gets it after 30 minutes."

Peter Crouch scored twice, Beckham got an assist after entering as a second-half substitute and England completed World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 victory over Belarus on Wednesday night.

Crouch scored in the fourth and 76th minutes, and Shaun Wright-Phillips got a goal in the 59th minute off a short corner kick from Beckham.

The selection of man of the match was made by television commentator Steve Bruce, Beckham's former Manchester United teammate.

"I'm a little bit embarrassed," Beckham said.

With his 115th international appearance, Beckham moved within 10 of the English record held by retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

England (9-1), which clinched a World Cup berth last month, finished first in Group Six with 27 points, six ahead of second-place Ukraine (6-1-3), which goes to next month's European playoffs.

"Always it's important to win," Capello said. "We lost one game and it's important for me to learn more things about the players. I am happy for the second half and for the goals that we scored.

"There were some good things, some not so good. It's something the players know, but those ideas are for us. I'm not happy because we had to wait too many times to win back the ball. This is not the first time."

The English played their final qualifier without injured regulars Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Substitute James Milner and Beckham both hit posts late in the match.

Details here.

The injuries sound nasty - but there is a note of optimism.

Read the update here.

The U.S. has not added a player to the roster for tonight's final WCQ in the wake of the accident.

Costa Rica needs a win tonight in Washington to ensure it reaches South Africa; a U.S. win would ensure it finishes top of the group. Game time is 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Updated:

Jozy Altidore tweets to tell fans where to send messages of support for Davies here.

Also, expect a salute from fans during the ninth minute of tonight's game.

Read the column here.

Also, the U.S. will play in Demark Nov. 18, U.S. Soccer announced today. Full story.

Breaking news

This just in from The Washington Post's Steven Goff regarding a serious automobile accident U.S. striker Charlie Davies was involved in overnight. Read it here.

Updated 5:40 p.m.:
*The latest AP story lists Davies as in "serious" condition; that's one step below critical.
*There was a U.S. team curfew and Davies was in apparent violation of it, according to AP.

Honduras 2 U.S. 3

Game story.

Former Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon proved once again why he failed so abysmally in MLS, missing a crucial penalty in the 87th minute for Honduras that sealed the U.S. win. And then he missed another sitter two minutes later.

Still, it looked to me a legitimate Honduras goal was called offside.

An exciting game that had me bouncing between tweeters Beau Dure of USA Today, Steven Goff of The Washington Post, SI's Grant Wahl and US Soccer in the first half and then three pirate Internet TV channels (I found out about one of them on Facebook) in the second half. US Soccer's MatchTracker went down early on so that wasn't much help. One of the more interesting US qualifiers from a technological point of view.

Conor Casey had two goals and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan nailed the other from a set piece. Check it out below.

More game highlights (for now) are here.

AP Photo

The win over El Salvador completes a remarkable turnaround in the fortune of the Mexicans.

Blanco, too, looks rejuvenated. Oh, and former Chivas USA striker Paco Palencia came on as a sub for him - and scored.

A roundup of the World Cup qualifying results today is here.

In a related note, it was good to see the Off-Campus Pub in Carson packed to overflowing tonight for a closed circuit television showing of the Honduras-U.S. game.

We got there much later than planned and the place was jammed 45 minutes before kickoff with a line of 25-30 people still outside. They announced they would let 16 more people in to watch on two TV's on the patio. We didn't make it.

Matchtracker it is.

There are sometimes I'm glad to be sitting on my butt in LA.

Here's the Twitter feed from SI's Grant Wahl Friday night in Honduras:

"F------ hell. Got robbed at gunpoint in Tegucigalpa in broad daylight. I'm OK, but they took wallet/iPhone. Amateur hour from GW!

"Talk about crazy extremes. Just got off the phone with the de facto president of Honduras. He apologized for the robbery. Talked soccer too.

De facto Honduras President Roberto Micheletti: "Honduras 4, USA 0! ... The heart of the Hondurans is bigger than ever!"

Here's a game preview:

SAN PEDRO SULA - (AP) For Hondurans, Saturday night's World Cup qualifier is an opportunity to unite during a political crisis that's stretched on since June. For U.S. players, it's a chance to clinch a spot in next year's 32-nation field in South Africa.

"For me personally, and I think would I speak for the guys who were in Germany in 2006, this would be an opportunity at redemption in some ways," forward Landon Donovan said Friday as the United States prepared for the big match in Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano.

Everything was pretty much normal at the U.S. hotel, with the usual amount of security but
nothing extraordinary. A few American fans were in the lobby seeking autographs

While police fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters in the capital of Tegucigalpa,
that is about a 4-hour drive across mountains from San Pedro Sula, Honduras' No. 2 city.

"It's obviously of interest to those of us who pay attention to world news in general," Donovan said, "but that part aside, the only interest from a soccer standpoint is making sure that it's safe and that everything's OK for us. And, like we've said, we rely on our security team, on the coaching staff, on U.S. Soccer to do that. It's not something we worry about. And they've never put us in harm's way, and I don't think they every would."

A police official told The Tribune newspaper that there will be about 1,000 police and 350
soldiers to provide security at the stadium, establishing a series of perimeters rotating out
from the field.

The United States (5-2-1) leads North and Central America and the Caribbean with 16 points with two games left, followed by Mexico (5-3) with 15, Honduras (4-3-1) with
13 and Costa Rica (4-4) with 12. The top three teams qualify, and the No. 4 finisher meets
South American's fifth-place team in a home-and-home playoff.

The U.S. would clinch with a win, if Costa Rica loses at home to already eliminated Trinidad and Tobago (1-5-2) or with a tie combined with a Costa Rican loss or tie. If the Americans don't clinch Saturday, they could assure themselves a berth on Wednesday
with a tie or win against Costa Rica at Washington, D.C.

"We go into this game with an opportunity to go for it," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "The
idea is to go for three points, to be aggressive and leave it all on the field."

Coming off first-round elimination at the 2006 tournament, the 11th-ranked U.S. is seeking its sixth straight World Cup berth.

Trying to make it to the World Cup for only the second time and first since 1982, 42nd-ranked Honduras boasts several Europe-based players, including Wilson Palacios of
Tottenham, Maynor Figueroa and Hendry Thomas of Wigan and David Suazo of Inter Milan.

"We're two games away from being able to make history," said former Galaxy forward Carlos Pavon, who turned 36 Friday. "I'm very close to being able to accomplish my dream."

The Catrachos are 8-0 at home in qualifying, outscoring opponents 22-3 in those matches.

"Because they're not big names like the Spains or Russia or England," defender Oguchi Onyewu said, "that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be an easy outing every time you go out there."

Street vendors were out in force selling blue-and-white Honduran flags, both small and the
full-sized banners, for fans to exercise their patriotic fervor. When the U.S. team bus came
in from the airport on Thursday, local media followed trying to get photos and video.

"Here in Honduras, football feels different because of that social factor that it represents
for the people, the fans, the emotions, the passion that there is," coach Reinaldo Rueda said. "It's something that you don't get in other countries."

And the hot, humid weather will be different for many of the players, used to a temperate
October climate in the United States and Europe.

"You can feel the air," Donovan said. "It's probably hard to walk a few minutes in that heat
much less run around in it."

Honduras will be missing captain Amado Guevara and Elvis Turcios, both suspended for yellow card accumulation, and the U.S. is without midfielder Clint Dempsey, who sprained his right shoulder last weekend and will be replaced by Benny Feilhaber or Stuart
Holden.

Eight U.S. players have yellow cards and would miss the match against Costa Rica if they get another: Donovan, Feilhaber, Jozy Altidore, Carlos Bocanegra, Conor Casey, Steve Cherundolo, Ricardo Clark and Frankie Hejduk.

Bradley will take that into account in his lineup, and players will think about that, too.

"Maybe you think about it for a second, but you don't want to let it dictate how you play,"
Donovan said. "If we can win tomorrow, then it doesn't matter how many yellow cards we pick up. If we win, it's done."

NOTE: U.S. players were disappointed the match will be available only on closed circuit in
bars and restaurants. The Honduran federation owned the rights as the home team and sold them to a company that made that decision. "It's pretty sad," said Bocanegra, the U.S. captain.

First things first: the excellent movie "The Damned United" opens today in Los Angeles.

The studio and producers face an uphill battle persuading American soccer fans in general (most of whom have probably not heard of late English manager Brian Clough, who is the film's subject) let alone general movie-goers to see this film, but both constituencies will enjoy this film that I highly recommend. Read (and watch) more about it here.

Not everyone agrees with my assessment of the movie though.

Incidentally, Michael Sheen, the actor playing Brian Clough, will appear at the 7:20 p.m. showing at the The Landmark in Los Angeles.

For those who prefer actual competitive football, there's plenty to choose from this weekend.

The Galaxy are off this weekend and there's an abbreviated MLS schedule due to World Cup qualifying, but Chivas USA take on Kansas City at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (delayed at 8 p.m. on Prime) with a playoff spot on the line. The Goats reach the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year with a win over the Wizards coupled with a San Jose Earthquakes victory or draw Saturday against Toronto FC.

Of course, the U.S. game against Honduras is not on broadcast television, but there are at least two closed circuit television English-language locations locally including one across the street from the HDC. Read more about those here. A complete list of viewing locations is here.

WCQ got under way at 8:30 a.m. today with New Zealand-Bahrain on Fox Soccer Channel, while both the Ukraine-England game Saturday (England have already qualified) and Sunday's Bolivia-Brazil game are on pay-per-view.

For a complete list of games on TV click the link to the right, but here are the ones I recommend in addition to those already mentioned:

3 p.m. Saturday KVEA Mexico-El Salvador
4:30 p.m. Saturday FSC New England Revolution-Columbus Crew
5:30 p.m. Saturday Tecos-CD Guadalajara
6:30 p.m. Saturday Vancouver-Montreal (USL final, first leg)

Turning to college soccer, Pepperdine (5-1) beat Cal State Bakersfield 1-0 Thursday in Malibu with freshman Michelle Manning (Agoura High) notching the winner over a team winless in last six outings. The Waves host Loyola Marymount (8-3-1) in the annual multi-sport PCH Challenge (trivia of the week - the schools are 19.1 miles apart) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.

And in a couple of Wednesday games I managed to overlook, the Cal State Northridge men (6-4-1) lost 2-1 against Cal State Fullerton (5-1-1) with the winner coming with just 33 seconds left in the first OT, while the Long Beach State women (5-6-1) tied San Diego the same day at George Allen Field.

The Cal State Northridge men open Big West play at 3 p.m. Saturday against UC Irvine at Matador Field, while the 49ers host Cal State Bakersfield at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Other local college games this weekend include:
*The Pac-10 opener for the No. 3-ranked UCLA women (9-1-1) against Arizona (3-7-1) is at 7 o'clock tonight at Drake Stadium with a limited number of team posters to be given away to fans. The Bruins also meet No. 20-ranked Arizona State (7-1-2) at 1:00 p.m. Sunday at home.

*The No. 14-ranked USC women (8-3) also open conference play at home hosting Arizona State at 3 p.m. today at McAlister Field and Arizona Sunday at 1 p.m.

The AEG prez wants the futures of David Beckham and Landon Donovan decided in the next two weeks:

LONDON (AP) -- The Los Angeles Galaxy want David Beckham's expected loan to AC Milan to be completed in the next two weeks so the deal doesn't distract from the team's bid for the MLS Cup.

The English star has helped the Galaxy make the Major League Soccer playoffs for the first time in four years and the Nov. 22 final is within reach.

But he also wants to join a top European club in January leading to the World Cup to help him stay on the England team coached by Fabio Capello. Beckham is eager to return to Milan after a loan there earlier this year.

"We want to get it done, for him and for us and I don't want any confusion," Tim Leiweke,
chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy, said Thursday. "It's the same with Landon (Donovan). There is a lot of rumors of whether he is staying or going. We're going to clear that up in the next two weeks because we want the team to be focused."

Leiweke wants Beckham to return to the Galaxy after the 2010 World Cup despite the hostile reception from Galaxy fans when he returned in July after spending the first half of the year at Milan.

"I talk to David a lot and this year a lot more because I wanted to make sure he didn't get down and that it would work out," Leiweke said. "We have a deep appreciation of what he is doing over here with his national team. I wanted him to know that we will support him so we are going to lend him out."

Beckham is 11 appearances away from retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton's record 125. He could match the mark if England advances deep into the World Cup, which starts in June.

But with the final not until July 11, Beckham will miss the first three months of the MLS
season.

"We're not going to give him as much time off this time - he's going to have to earn his
keep," Leiweke cracked. "He will have a little time off. I admire what he is doing with the
caps. It's historical and legendary. We're honored to have a player of his magnitude playing at the World Cup. We're going to have four or five of them from the Galaxy at the World Cup and that is real progress for the league and team."

And Leiweke believes England - not the U.S. should get the World Cup in 2018. Bet Sunil Gulati is thanking Tim for that one:

LONDON (AP) -- England's 2018 World Cup bid received the backing Thursday of the CEO of the company that owns the Los Angeles Galaxy, despite the United States being of the one main competitors to host the tournament.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Anschutz Entertainment Group, said England's case to put on soccer's showpiece event for the first time since 1966 was clearly the best.

"I can't imagine a more passionate host," Leiweke said at the Leaders in Football conference. "England is a place where people care about football more than anywhere in the world. I've never seen passion for any sport like the passion you have for football here.

"FIFA should take a long, hard look at bringing the World Cup to England. Over the years, England have worked hard at their football infrastructure, they have fantastic stadia and deserve to get the World Cup."

After FIFA vice president Jack Warner - also the president of CONCACAF, of course - dismissed England's bid as "lightweight" Wednesday for not using star players, a host of foreign Premier League players were presented as bid ambassadors at the Leaders in Football conference.

As far as I know this is the only English-language feed of Saturday's game (that is not on TV period, if you didn't know) in the Los Angeles area.

First I was informed this game was on at this pub, then it was off and now it's on again in part by the sound of it because the Galaxy are involved.

I've never actually been in this place, which used to be a sketchy Latino bar (although I was told by HDC staffers who frequented the place the food was incredibly authentic), but now is reborn as a soccer pub right across from the stadium's main gates tucked away behind Kentucky Fried Chicken at the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 190th Street/Victoria Street. Actual address: 18413 Avalon Blvd.

But I do know it's small (so get there early) and I was told the owner is a Galaxy fan, which is a good sign and that some members of the Riot Squad and Angel City Brigade are making this their stadium-close watering hole. The game kicks off at 7 p.m.

Admission is $15 and includes a free beverage (I'm informed there is Stone IPA on tap) AND a free ticket to the season-ending home game Oct. 24 against the San Jose Earthquakes.

BTW, there are other places in LA to watch this in Spanish. The list is here.

If you're an U.S. fan I'd advise walking into the place called Honduras Kitchen 1 with extra special care.

The alternative to watching this here in English is driving to San Diego (!), BTW.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

Dempsey has been diagnosed with a shoulder sprain and will not be available for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Honduras on Oct. 10 in San Pedro Sula.

Dempsey, who sits in second place amongst U.S. goalscorers in 2010 qualifying with five goals, will be evaluated throughout the week to determine his availability for the USA's final qualifier against Costa Rica on Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C.

Dempsey left in the 84th minute of Fulham's 2-2 draw at West Ham on Sunday, and underwent an MRI evaluation earlier today. No replacement player will be added to the roster prior to Saturday's match.

Also: former Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Wicks will miss (at the very least) next year's edition of the U.S. Cup - in its entirety.

Details here.