American Soccer News

Chalk up another win for the Los Angeles Galaxy

Only this one wasn’t just for them, it perhaps was an important win for MLS as well. Despite massive offers from numerous European clubs, David Beckham officially chose to remain in the United States, agreeing to new multi-year contract with the Galaxy that keeps the famed midfielder in Los Angeles through the 2013 MLS season.

“I’m committed to the Galaxy. I’m excited about this beginning again,” Beckham said. “We’ve got a very special team, special players, a great staff (and) great owners who look after us and make our lives very special to be a part of the team, this franchise.”

As part of the new agreement between Beckham and the Galaxy, the midfielder will be allowed to be absent from the team during the Summer Olympics, which will be held in London this July. Beckham is expected be one of three overage players selected to compete for the Great Britain squad in the Olympics. The new contract also affirms his right to purchase an MLS franchise once his playing career ends.

“The Galaxy had to be right for him and the league had to be right,” Galaxy head coach/general manager Bruce Arena said. “David coming back to LA confirms that MLS is making progress (and) he believes in the sport in America and he believes in the Galaxy. ”

Beckham enjoyed his finest season in 2011, as he helped the Galaxy win the MLS Cup while setting up 15 goals, which was one behind Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis. Beckham’s stellar season earned him a spot on MLS’ Best XI team and also the league’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, as Beckham’s great season came one year after missing most of the 2010 season due to injury.

Beckham began to draw interest from several European clubs, even before the season began, as Beckham was entering the final year of a five-year 250 million dollar contract (though the actual number was 32.5 million). Interest from abroad only picked up as the season went along, with clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and clubs in Asia and the Middle East being linked to the midfielder.

No club was ambitious about securing Beckham’s services more than Paris Saint Germain. The French Club, owned by Qatar Investment Authority, aspires to be on the same level as European powers Manchester United and FC Barcelona, and they saw the acquisition of Beckham as the first step towards that goal. PSG was serious enough to offer Beckham and 18-month contract that would’ve paid him approximately one million dollars a month.

Yet PSG’s massive riches was apparently not enough to overcome the lure of living in Los Angeles and more importantly, the desires of his family. Beckham and his family have more than established themselves in LA and the possibility of having to uproot his family to another location for a third time apparently did not sit well with Beckham.

“We’ve been very happy here for the last five years, and we felt ‘why change something that works,’” Beckham said about his family situation. “The kids love here (and) I love living here. Los Angeles has been good to us as a family.”

Beckham’s return to Los Angeles for the next two season continues the wild ride of Beckham’s time in Los Angeles and MLS that began five years ago, almost to the day when Beckham rocked the sports world by announcing his intention of signing with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham’s glorious introduction on a sunny July morning at the Home Depot Center was seen as the first step towards taking the Galaxy, MLS and the popularity of the sport in the United States to new heights.

That adventure though got off to a rocky start, as the Galaxy missed the playoffs his first two seasons with the Galaxy, but even worse, turmoil gripped the organization, as players and managers went in and out and the Galaxy locker room became a toxic situation. The low point came in August 2008, when after a 2-1 loss to the then-expansion San Jose Earthquakes, then-manager Ruud Gullit resigned and then-manager Alexi Lalas was fired.

In stepped Bruce Arena, who assumed both positions and immediately began the process of re-tooling the club, but first Arena had to concern himself with Beckham, who went to AC Milan on a short term loan in January of 2009. Immediately, speculation began that Beckham would try to force a permanent stay in Italy, but the Galaxy stood firm, and ultimately, an agreement was worked out that allowed Beckham to remain with the Rossoneri through the end of the Serie A season before returning to LA for the remainder of the 2009 MLS season.

The drama though was only heating up. Just before Beckham was set to rejoin the Galaxy that year, excerpts from a book entitled “The Beckham Experiment” revealed a falling out with the Galaxy’s other star, Landon Donovan. That fire was quickly put out, but then came a highly publicized confrontation with a member of Galaxy supporters group LA Riot Squad in his first game back in a Galaxy shirt. Yet through all the distractions, Beckham played a key role in the Galaxy’s turnaround season that culminated with a trip to the MLS Cup final, but ended in cruel fashion, as they lost to Real Salt Lake on penalties.

Beckham almost didn’t have a 2010 MLS season, as he returned to AC Milan on another short-term loan with the hopes of making England’s World Cup roster, but that quest ended abruptly, as he tore his Achilles in March, and his status as far as the 2010 MLS season was thrown into doubt. Beckham however defied the odds, returning to action in September, but his presence wasn’t enough to get the Galaxy back to the MLS Cup final, as they lost in embarrassing fashion to FC Dallas in the Western Conference Final. 2011 however was a different story, as the Galaxy, bouyed by the mid-season of Irish striker Robbie Keane won its second straight Supporters Shield and in front of 30,000 at the Home Depot Center on a rainy Sunday evening in November, captured the franchise’ third MLS Cup.

“We’re very grateful for what David has done the past five years, but we’re even more excited about the upcoming year,” said Tim Leiweke, president of Galaxy ownership group AEG.

The year begins Monday with the start of preseason training. The Galaxy’s first competitive match of 2012 will be in CONCACAF Champions League play, as they play the first of a two-match series against Toronto FC at the Rogers Centre on March 7 before they open the MLS season three days later, as they host Real Salt Lake in a rematch of last year’s thrilling Western Conference Final.

It didn’t feel like one day, or even a whole season was riding on Sunday night’s MLS Cup matchup.

No, for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Sunday night’s final against the Houston Dynamo had more like a weight of five years. From the moment David Beckham arrived in Los Angeles in 2007, to all the ups and downs, to Bruce Arena coming in as head coach and general manager a year later to the midseason acquisition of Robbie Keane this year, all the attention, all the pressure, all the weight was on the Los Angeles Galaxy to win the 2011 MLS Cup.

Well, after 90 minutes and one strike from Landon Donovan, all off the pressure, whatever you want to call it, its all out the window now, as a 72nd minute strike in which all of LA’s three Designated Players took part was all LA needed to hold off a resilient Dynamo squad 1-0 and celebrate the Galaxy’s third MLS Cup title in front of 30,281 rabid fans at the Home Depot Center.

“This year, we were determined,” Arena said. “We worked our asses off to build this team into a champion. It’s been great year for our team and our organization,”

The win caps off a historic season for the Galaxy, which adds the MLS Cup to a long list of achievements in 2011, such as its second straight Supporters’ Shield, advancement into the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League, an undefeated season at home and are also the first team with Designated Players to win an MLS Cup.

“This has been a long year (and) a trying year,” Donovan said. “There are times through it all when you get tired and mentally wear down, but this guy (Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena) keeps us going.”

After 71 minutes, the Galaxy got the long awaited goal. Beckham flicked a header forward for Robbie Keane to chase down, Keane then laid a ball inside the penalty area for Landon Donovan, who the touched a ball past Dynamo keeper Tally Hall that squeaked inside the far post for a goal that Los Angeles made sure it held up. When referee Ricardo Salazar blew the whistle after the 93rd minute, Beckham and Donovan embraced in celebration, their teammates and later the coaches joined in, and the Home Depot Center, save for the Dynamo fans who were in attendance, erupted as well.

“I didn’t care who scored, I didn’t care if it was an own goal or how the ball went in,” Donovan said. “I just wanted that ball to go in.”

LA did have several chances to get a goal early in the match. The first opportunity came in the 12th minute, when Keane won LA a corner, Beckham sent a ball into the 18 for Adam Cristman, but he instead sent his header wide right. Cristman had another chance in the 27th minute when an unmarked Beckham crossed a ball into the box, but again Cristman missed the far post. LA continued its onslaught in the second half, as Omar Gonzalez sent a ball off a Dynamo player in the 4th minute and Robbie Keane quickly made his run into the box. Keane shot for the far post, but missed. Keane actually did find the back net in the 57th minute, but was called back due to offside.

“We certainly didn’t do well inside the penalty area,” Arena said. “We struggled in our finishing tonight.”

While LA was buzzing around the Houston net, the same could not be said for the Dynamo, who surely felt the absence of midfielder Brad Davis. Of the eight shots Houston attempted in the match, only one, a long attempt by Danny Cruz, required the action of Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders. Adam Moffat was unmarked in the 18 in the 66th minute as Corey Ashe crossed a ball in, but Moffat’s header missed the far post.

“Houston put up a great fight,” Beckham said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game, so a lot of respect to them.”

Houston, which had won two straight cups since the franchise’s move to Houston in 2006, suffers its first final loss.

“When we got into those good areas, our delivery was off,” Kinnear said. “We gave ourselves a chance, (but) to not put them under pressure, we let them off the hook.”

For the Galaxy, the 2011 MLS Cup title was a championship five years in the making. It mostly began in 2007 when the Galaxy shocked the world by brining in David Beckham not only to win trophies for the storied MLS franchise, but more importantly, to raise the profile of the league and the sport in the Unite States. Beckham’s U.S. adventure didn’t get off to a good start his first two years in LA, as the Galaxy missed the playoffs his first two years in the league and making matters worse, the Galaxy locker room during those two years were not the most harmonious place to be.

In stepped Bruce Arena, who assumed both the head coach and general manager duties midway through the 2008 season. Arena incurred some bumpy roads during his first few months in charge of the Galaxy, with the most bumpiest being Beckham’s flirtation with Italian superpower AC Milan during the first two months of 2009. The 2009 season itself was a roller coaster, as the Galaxy at one point played to draws in nine of ten matches. Yet despite all that, the Galaxy quickly asserted themselves midway through that season and made all the way to the final, but more heartbreak ensued, as they lost in penalties to Real Salt Lake.

Last season, the Galaxy started strong, reeling off wins in 10 of its first 12 matches and won the Supporters Shied, but lost in embarrassing fashion to FC Dallas in the Western Conference final, so this season had to be the time for the Galaxy, especially with Beckham in the final season of his contract and speculation running rampant about where he will play next. LA was atop the league throughout the season, but Galaxy management felt more was needed, especially up top at the striker position, so another bold move was made, this one in the form of celebrated Irish national striker Robbie Keane in August. Keane made an immediate impact, scoring in his first match with the team, but was in and out of the lineup due to national team commitments and injuries. Keane was there for Los Angeles in the Galaxy’s most important moments, scoring a fantastic goal in the Conference final against Real Salt Lake and posing numerous threats to the Houston defense on Sunday night.

“We’ve all played our part this season,” Beckham said. “Being successful always feels good. We’re proud to be a part of this.”

Los Angeles Galaxy 1, Houston Dynamo 0
2011 MLS Cup Final
November 20, 2011; Home Depot Center

Scoring Summary:
LA — Landon Donovan 3 (Robbie Keane 1, David Beckham 4) 72

Misconduct Summary:
HOU — Bobby Boswell (caution; Handball) 13
LA — Adam Cristman (caution; Reckless Tackle) 40
HOU — Andre Hainault (caution; Reckless Foul) 74
LA — David Beckham (caution; Tactical Foul) 82
LA — Landon Donovan (caution; Delaying a Restart) 94+

Lineups

Houston Dynamo — Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Jermaine Taylor, Danny Cruz (Colin Clark 78), Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Corey Ashe (Je-Vaughn Watson 84), Brian Ching, Calen Carr (Carlo Costly 66).

Substitutes Not Used: Will Bruin, Hunter Freeman, Eddie Robinson, Tyler Deric.

LA Galaxy — Josh Saunders, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Juninho, Mike Magee, Adam Cristman (Chris Birchall 57), Robbie Keane.

Substitutes Not Used: Gregg Berhalter, Paolo Cardozo, Frankie Hejduk, Jovan Kirovski, Michael Stephens, Donovan Ricketts.

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee’s Assistants: Craig Lowry; Peter Manikowski
4th Official: Hilario Grajeda
Attendance: 30,281
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Rain and 53 degrees

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The Los Angeles Galaxy will be finishing its season at the Home Depot Center approximately two weeks from now.

The only question now is will they be ending it holding the 2011 MLS Cup trophy. The Galaxy took one more step towards answering that question in the Western Conference Final on Sunday. A first half goal by Landon Donovan on a penalty, followed by second half strikes by Mike Magee and Robbie Keane enabled the Galaxy to punch the last ticket to the 2011 MLS Cup final with a 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake.

“Just a great effort for our team,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “I thought Salt Lake played very well too.”

The win means the Galaxy will become the first team to play the final on its home field since the New England Revolution played the 2002 final against the Galaxy in front of 66,000 at Gilette Stadium. Los Angeles will face the Houston Dynamo, who defeated Kansas City 2-0 at Livestrong Sporting Park to claim the Eastern Conference title.

“It was a great performance overall,” Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game tonight, but we stuck together.”

Tied at one going into the second half, the Galaxy came back out with renewed fervor. LA got an opportunity five minutes in when Beckham sprung Keane on the right side, Keane crossed into the box to Barrett, but his header was stopped by Will Johnson’s face. LA finally pulled ahead in the 58th minute when Beckham crossed into the 18 and Mike Magee slipped through Robbie Russell and Chris Wingert to head a ball through the hands of RSL keeper Nick Rimando into the back net for his third straight postseason goal.

“I think we didn’t go anyone close enough to him (Beckham),” Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis said. “You can’t give a player like that that kind of time or he’ll punish you.”

RSL immediately countered, and almost got a second equalizer a minute later. Alvaro Saborio headed a ball to Fabian Espindola, who evaded AJ DeLaGarza to get inside the 18 and let loose for goal, but saw his shot foiled by the crossbar. That missed chance eventually came back to bite RSL, as LA got its third goal in the 68th minute when Landon Donovan sprung Keane from the right side. Keane got inside the 18, juked out Jamison Olave and fired the ball past Rimando far post to give LA a cushion two-goal lead and Los Angeles , with help from keeper Josh Saunders, who made two spectacular saves on Luis Gil and Javier Morales inside the final 15 minutes, killed off the remainder of the match.

“We thought as the game slowed down, it would favor us,” Arena said. “Salt Lake threw an awful lot into this game,”

In a wild first half, The Galaxy got its chance in the 23rd minute when Omar Gonzalez was fouled from behind in the penalty area by Andy Williams while leaping for header. Donovan, who missed a penalty in the 09 final and has struggled against Nick Rimando from the penalty spot in the past came through this time, as he went right while Rimando went left to give LA the lead. That lead though only lasted two minutes, as Jamison Olave headed a Javier Morales corner towards Alvaro Saborio, who then touched a ball past Josh Saunders far post to level things up.

“We put a little pressure on them, then they put a little pressure on us,” RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. “It was back and forth, and both teams created chances.”

Both teams had chances throughout the first half. RSL’s first good look came in the fifth minute when Javier Morales’ corner was headed by Alvaro Saborio to Robbie Russell, who immediately shot for goal, but was miraculously caught at the goal line by Saunders. The Galaxy had two great looks, both of them coming from Robbie Keane. The Irish international’s first opportunity came in the 33rd minute when he launched a laser towards the near post area, but the post won that battle. Keane had another chance to put LA back on top ten minutes later when Barrett laid a ball for him, Keane evaded Olave and curled a ball for the far post, but missed. RSL then had a chance to grab the lead just before halftime. Following a RSL free kick, Beckerman launched a bullet on goal, but saw the ball ricochet off the far post.

Los Angeles Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 1
Western Conference Final
November 6, 2011

Scoring Summary
LA – Landon Donovan (penalty) 22
RSL – Alvaro Saborio (Jamison Olave, Javier Morales) 25
LA – Mike Magee (David Beckham) 58
LA – Robbie Keane (Landon Donovan) 68

Discipline Summary
LA – Juninho (Reckless foul) 56
RSL – Javier Morales (Reckless foul) 70
LA – Sean Franklin (Delaying a restart) 93+

Real Salt Lake – Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell (Ned Grabavoy 70), Jamison Olave (Tony Beltran 82), Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Andy Williams (Luis Gil 75), Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola, Alvaro Saborio.

Substitutes not used – Kyle Reynish, Nat Borchers, Yordany Alvarez, Paulo Araujo Jr.

Los Angeles Galaxy – Josh Saunders, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Landon Donovan, David Beckham (Michael Stephens 90+), Juninho, Mike Magee, Chad Barrett (Chris Birchall 63), Robbie Keane.

Substitutes not used – Donovan Ricketts, Frankie Hejduk, Dasan Robinson, Paolo Cardozo, Adam Cristman.

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Assistants: Greg Barkey, Jeff Hosking
Fourth Official: Andrew Chapin
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 57 degrees
Attendance: 23, 247
Time of match: 1:53

Seattle Sounders have won the US Open Cup in each of the three years of their existence in MLS. Although Sounders have been a model franchise for expansion their model of success was the Chicago Fire. Chicago Fire had been the last expansion team to make the MLS playoffs, not to mention winning the MLS Cup, in their 1998 inaugural season and winning the US Open Cup.

chicago has had a difficult season in MLS and are on the outside looking in for a MLS Cup playoff spot. Sounders on the other hand have hit a new high for the regular season after getting off to a rocky start with injuries to Steve Zakuani and a goal drought from Fredy Montero. Sounders currently are second in the overall table to Los Angeles Galaxy by 7 points.

The first half started off with a couple of early fouls and verbal warnings from referee Alex Prus. It was a good move by the often criticized referee to take an active role in keeping players in check and on the pitch. Although Chicago created some fair chances to score all 5 of their shots were taken by Marco Pappa and all of them were taken at distances beyong 18 yards.

Chicago was fortunate not concede a goal during the first half, there were several around the goal frame, one off the post and a couple of shots blocked by defenders. Sean Johnson was up for the challenge and made several key saves that kept the Fire in the match.

Sounders subbed Alvaro Fernandez at halftime due to a head injury. Erik Friberg replaced him.

Second half started slower than the first. Friberg was not able to charge up his touchline the way that Fernandez, but Sounders maintained possession and kept Chicago out of the area.

Montero found the opportunity to separate the two sides in 78th minute. Jeff Parke’s header was too much for Johnson to wrap up and the ball fell with reach of the Columbian who was able to reach out and knock in the errant save for the 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, Fucito had a breakaway opportunity with Evans free in the middle, Fucito elected to shoot instead.

Chicago Fire never did find a offensive combination that really looked threatening, in fact they only managed on more shot in the second half, 18+ yards from Patrick Nyarko. Aside from a skirmish in the second half the Fire never really looked threatening.

Osvaldo Alonso put the cherry on the cake in the 96th minute when he collected a clearance around 30 yards out and took it himself on a swerving run past several Fire defenders across the goal mouth for the finish gave Seattle Sounders their third US Open Cup in a row.

Not a bad way to start things off for Robbie Keane in Los Angeles.

A new chapter was written into the storied and intense California Clasico rivalry. A first half strike from the latest big-name acquisition into MLS that was set up by the man that started the whole conecpt of big-name stars coming to America. Cap it off with a second half strike from the man that had kept its archrival off the score sheet between the pipes back two months ago, and the Los Angeles Galaxy are further atop the Western Conference and overall MLS standings following a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at the Home Depot Center.

“It couldn’t have gone obviously better for me,” Keane said. “It’s always nice to score a goal, but the most important thing is the team and three points. Overall, we have to be pleased with the performance.”

The Galaxy’s win, combined with losses sustained by Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas allows LA to further maintain its standing atop the Western Conference with a 14-3-9 record and its 51 points are six better than the newest occupier of second place, the Seattle Sounders. San Jose meanwhile falls to 5-10-10, its playoff hopes getting dimmer and dimmer as the season goes along.

“They’ve just had some things not go their way,” said Mike Magee regarding the Quakes, who in addition to scoring late in the match on Saturday night also has a clean sheet against the Quakes as a keeper back on June 24. “I don’t want add insult to injury.”

Just 24 hours after arriving in Los Angeles from London, Keane was immediately inserted into the starting lineup, and it took Keane 20 minutes to officially announce his arrival to the Galaxy faithful. David Beckham’s quick free kick found a sprinting Keane. The Irishman’s first touch caught Quakes keeper Jon Busch off guard, leaving him with an open netter, and when Keane buried the open netter far post, the 27,000 at the Home Depot Center erupted into cheers.

“I knew he was going to be running and I knew where to put it,” Beckham said of the play that led to Keane’s goal. “He’s a player that obviously knows where to run.”

Not that was Keane’s only opportunity to get on the score sheet. Keane had two previous attempts, but the fist one was brought back due to a foul, and second chance, in which he was denied point blank inside the six by Busch, was called back due to Keane being offside. Keane’s best shot at goal came just a minute before his goal when Frankie Hejduk crosses a ball into the 18. The ball was originally intended for Adam Cristman, but a timely challenge by Jason Hernandez allowed the ball to get through and Keane’s last minute sliding shot just missed the left post. Keane had a chance in the second half to make it a brace when defender Omar Gonzalez played a long ball perfectly for a sprinting Keane inside the 18, but his volley went wide right. Keane was subbed out in the 72^nd minute to a standing ovation from the Galaxy fans.

“We’re elated with Robbie,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “He had a great 70 minutes for us tonight and there’s a lot of great games ahead for Robbie and four our team.

Despite the attention brought on by Keane’s debut, San Jose showed they were not simply going to lay down against its star-studded cross state rivals. The Earthquakes outshot the Galaxy 8-6 in the first half and 15-10 for the match. Five of the Quakes’ first half attempts were right on goal, but all five of those chances were denied by Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders.

“This was a hard game for us,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “San Jose played well did a good job of turning us over in the last 10 minutes of the first half.”

Things didn’t get any easier for the Quakes when defender Steven Beitashuor was red-carded in the 81^st minute when his left cleat caught the left knee of Landon Donovan. San Jose’s missed chances eventually came back to haunt them in second half stoppage time. It started when Galaxy substitute Miguel Lopez’s shot was deflected, Lopez headed a ball to Donovan, who then sprung Sean Franklin inside the 18, Franklin crossed a shot ball inside the six to Mike Magee, and his one-timer beat Busch near post to seal the three points for the Galaxy.

Keane wasn’t the only newest edition to the Galaxy lineup. Long time right back Frankie Hejduk saw his first significant action in almost a month, as he was slotted into the right back positon as part of Arena’s plan to conserve players’ energies in the face of MLS and CONCACAF Champions League play. Hejduk played all 90 minutes on Saturday night.

“It felt great just to be back out there, to feel part of it and feel healty and fit and feel good,” Hejduk said.

The Galaxy jump back into CONCACAF Champions League play on Thursday when they host Costa Rican squad LD Alajuelense. LA then hops on a long flight to New York for a showdown with the Red Bulls a week from Sunday. The Quakes next face Toronto FC next Saturday.

 Los Angeles Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 0

August 20, 2011; Home Depot Center

Scoring Summary

LA – Robbie Keane (David Beckham) 20

LA – Mike Magee (Sean Franklin) 90+

Discipline Summary

SJ – Rafael Baca (Simulation) 54

LA – Frankie Hejduk (Reckless Challenge) 68

SJ – Steven Beitashour (Red Card Ejection; Serious Foul Play) 81

San Jose Earthquakes – Jon Busch, Steven Beitashour, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Burling, Justin Morrow, Joey Gjertsen (Ellis McLoughlin 86), Rafael Baca, Ramiro Corrales, Khari Stephenson (Edmundo Zura 71), Bobby Convey, Chris Wondolowski (Simon Dawkins 71).

Substitutes not used: David Bingham, Chris Leitch, Jacob Peterson, Matt Luzunaris.

Los Angeles Galaxy – Josh Saunders, Frankie Hejduk, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin, David Beckham, Juninho, Landon Donovan, Adam Cristman (Miguel Lopez 79), Robbie Keane (Mike Magee 72).

Referee: Andrew Chapin

Assistants: Colin Arblaster, Greg Barkey

Fourth Official: Alejandro Mariscal

Weather: Clear and 69 degrees

Attendance: 27,000

Time of match: 1:51

Kevin Stott pointed to the spot before pointing upfield in a sweeping motion.

Although the fans will probably remember Referee Kevin Stott’s no calls on penalty kicks, or Alvaro Fernandez’s missed penalty kick, this game will go down as a wasted opportunity for Sounders to level the series with Chivas while they rebuild the roster. Sounders seemed to have control of the possession through the midfield with Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg and Mauro Rosales for much of the game. Although Sigi Schmid gave Chivas credit for the better first half they only created one shot in the first half.

Fernandez created a couple of opportunities running up the left flank and created a couple of shots on runs into the box before he drew a unintentional handball from Michael Umana in the box in the 19th minute of play. Umana gained control of the ball, even though his handball was unintentional advantage was gained as he tried to play it out of the box. A bit unusual for a player to take his own penalty kick, nevertheless, El Flaco stepped up to the spot hit the ball to his left, just passed a diving Dan Kennedy into the post, off the goalkeepers back and out of bounds.

Dan Kennedy only made two saves the entire game. An amazing statistic when Sounders took ten shots. Two of ten shots were put on frame and had both saved. Credit is certainly given to Chivas defenders Umana in particular for stopping several chances in the box. It seemed that whenever Sounders took a shot they were off-balance which can be given at least partially to Chivas’ defense.

Two saves.

Kasey Keller made three. Thirty minute mark first half, the only shot on goal for both sides in the first half. Two more fairly routine saves in the second half. Keller also snuffed out a good opportunity in the first half intended for LaBrocca that didn’t make the stat sheet.

Even Sigi Schmid claimed that there should have been a penalty called on Umana for pushing Jaqua to the ground on a cross into the box, but in the end it was lack of finishing profiency that cost Sounders two points at home and Chivas get a point on the road.

Referee Stott does have some explaining to do, he’s fortunate in a sense to have lost control late in the game rather than early. There was chippiness and cynical midfield tackles. In fact Simon Elliot tackled Fernandez by his face in the first half, caution was given. The most poignant questions: Did Stott point at the spot after Neagle was tackled? Did he decide that the ball was going out of bounds? Schmid may also have a point, it doesn’t make sense to play Jaqua if he can be obstructed on a crossing ball by a much shorter player and that a penalty kick should be awarded for those situations. It is a foul in the box after all.

“It’s not the refereeing. We had a penalty and other chances to score.”

Although it seems perfectly obvious to everyone else in the stands that the best opportunity to score late in the match was a penalty that was not awarded the game should have been won several times over. Sounders easily handled a team that has historically always given Sounders trouble. Chivas have won 2 games, Sounders 1, with two draws in their short MLS history. Chivas have turned over much of their roster, Zach Thornton, Sasha Klejstan and Jonathan Bornstein have all moved on. Chivas have not been an overly impressive side this season.

As far as bad refeeing goes, this isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen. Sad thing is that isn’t the worst Sounders finishing I’ve ever seen either. Try to relax, exhale and picture Pat Noonan scoring.

Next week, the CONCACAF Champions League group stage gets under way with 5 MLS teams having qualified. In light of that, I thought a few readers might like a bit of an explanation about what the whole thing is all about.

By now, most MLS fans have at least an inkling of what the CONCACAF Champions League is. But there are many of us who are either new to soccer fandom or just haven’t paid much attention to the North American version before. For this audience, I present the following, a primer on the CCL. (Note: all the links going forward connect to Wikipedia for quick reference)

What is the CCL and why do we have it?

The CONCACAF Champions League, or CCL, is an international club tournament whose participants qualify in a number of different ways. Teams from the US qualify by winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield (regular season champs), making the MLS Cup final, or by winning the US Open Cup. Teams from other countries qualify in very similar fashion but often have different terminology for national champions, play-off winners, and the like.

The purpose of the tournament is simply to choose the best club from our region. There is little financial benefit in winning the CCL except automatic entry into the Club World Cup which does create very large paydays.

What about the format?

The tournament starts with 24 clubs, 8 directly seeded into the second round (group stage) and 16 having to play in the preliminary round. These 16 sides play a home-and-home series to qualify for the group stage. The side with the greater aggregate score wins (away goals being the first tie-breaker). The 8 winners from the preliminary round join the 8 clubs whom were directly seeded in the group stage.

The groups contain 4 teams each, with each team playing every other team twice, once home and once away. Points for these games are awarded like any other soccer match, 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. The top two point winners advance to the knockout stage.

The knockout stage consists of the 8 clubs who advanced from group play. Just like the preliminary round, they play home-and-home matches with the winner being the club with the greater aggregate score, and total away goals being the first tie-breaker. The home-and-home tie is also used in the final, unlike similar tournaments elsewhere in the world.

How does the seeding work?

I mentioned above that clubs qualify by winning, or sometimes by being a runner up, in league or national tournaments. Each country has their own qualification rules and, in fact, a different number of qualifying clubs. Canada sends the winner of the Canadian Championship. I mentioned above who qualifies from the US. Mexico sends both finalists from both its Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The Central American nations with 2 seeds send just the winners of their Apertura/Clausura tournaments, while those with just 1 send the winner of a final title game between the winners of the Apertura/Clausura tournaments. The Caribbean Football Union has its own tournament whose top three teams qualify for the CCL.

Deciding who gets seeded directly into the group stage and who has play through the preliminary round involves some minutia. As a rule of thumb, nations with multiple seeds send winners of those tournaments directly to the group stage while runners-up go to the preliminary round. For the US, the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield winners go to the group stage with the other two go to the preliminary round.

Why do some countries send more teams than others?

CONCACAF decides how many clubs from each nation qualify. In a nutshell, they look at the overall population of the countries along with the quality of its leagues. So, while the population of the US is much larger than Mexico’s, Mexico has much stronger soccer clubs. And though Canada dwarfs the population of Costa Rica, Costa Rica has many more teams with a strong history of performance.

Here’s a list of the number of berths each nation receives:

Mexico: 4

US: 4

Canada: 1

Costa Rica: 2

El Salvador: 2

Guatemala: 2

Honduras: 2

Panama: 2

Nicaragua: 1

Belize: 1

Caribbean Nations: 3

I heard no US club has ever won this thing.

Yes and no. It’s true that no US team has won the regional title under the current format which has been used since the 2008-09 cycle. Previously, we had the CONCACAF Cup which was a more abbreviated tournament consisting of just 8 teams in a single elimination knockout tournament. This allowed for a team who took it very seriously to have a run of luck and win the cup. DC United accomplished this in 1998 and the LA Galaxy in 2000.

Since the format change to the expanded number of clubs and the home-and-home series, the Mexican clubs have absolutely dominated. Only one non-Mexican side has even made the finals, Real Salt Lake, in last year’s tournament.

The big news in the MLS today is this morning’s announcement that they have struck a new 3-year TV deal with NBC. The deal is worth a reported $10M per year and will put at least 45 games per year onto a combination of NBC and NBC Sports (currently known as Versus but being re-branded in January 2012). The deal essentially replaces the one MLS has had with Fox Soccer Channel.

The deal appears to be a boon for MLS on multiple levels.

The most obvious improvement for MLS is financial. NBC is set to pay somewhere between $2M and $4M more per year more than FSC did.  Additionally, this 3-year agreement replaces a 1-year deal.

Maybe more importantly, NBC is going to bring its quality of production and promotion to the MLS. Let’s be honest, $10M per year isn’t going to suddenly make MLS profitable. But getting MLS into twice as many homes (Versus currently reaches 70M to FSC’s 40M) with high-quality production will give the MLS a great deal of growth potential.

Versus, under the control of NBC Sports, has developed a reputation for high-quality production with its NHL broadcasts. They are also forward thinking in utilizing advertisement potential to maximize profitability. Add to that the national availability of HD, and you have a recipe for excellent ratings growth for MLS matches.

Here’s the breakdown of each network’s responsibilities:

NBC:

2 regular season matches

2 playoff matches

NBC Sports:

38 regular season matches

3 playoff matches

Here’s where this gets exciting. Add to those the games already on ESPN:

ESPN:

MLS First Kick

1 MLS game
The MLS Cup

The MLS All-Star Game
MLS Draft coverage (1st round)

ESPN2:
26 MLS games
3 MLS playoff games

And that all up and you can see that the MLS is in a 2012 with strong television coverage. Obviously, this is nowhere near the NFL, MLB, or NBA. But we are now approaching the NHL, and that’s pretty good company to be in.

Last year around this time, when the Union lined up Celtic FC and Manchester United a week apart, the break from the MLS regular season seemed a welcome one.  Philadelphia was sputtering in the middle of its inaugural campaign, the baby steps they had been making beginning to take their physical and emotional toll. Now, however, as Philadelphia prepares to take a week off and host world-renowned opponents Everton FC and Real Madrid in a span of just 4 days, they put on the back burner a highly successful first half of the season.

Head over to ASN Philly for more.

Courtesy of MLSSoccer.com

The New England Revolution (3-9-7, 9th in the East) fell 3-0 to a surging Philadelphia Union (8-4-7, 1st in the East) squad yesterday evening at Gillette Stadium. Carlos Ruiz, Carlos Valdes, and Sheanon Williams all tallied for the Union as they dispatched a Revolution team still looking for their first win since May 14th.

Revs ASN has all of the gory details. And Philly ASN chimes in as well.