The Soccer thread (Part II)

ESPN News did, and I'm thinking SC showed the goal as a tease. They'll hit a fuller highlight later in the show.

 

And Beckham's out with L.A. up 2-0 on a goal by Donovan. He now has a huge icepack wrapped around his ankle.

L.A., as they did in D.C. last week, looks like a completely different team with him. More confident. He was the captain to start the game as well.

 

Announced attendance for the LA-DC match: over 17,000. In a classroom at Faber, the Delta House boys are coughing, but it sounds like they're saying something ...

 

Fuck...an actual Beckham football achievement is on Drudge's page.

 

Just got done watching the game on tape and it was pretty good.
A few things ...
There is no way there was 17,000 there. It was ridiculous how few of fans showed up for a SuperLiga semifinal.
The goal by Beckham was awesome, though he didn't really bend it around the wall like I initially thought. It went over, though it did curve downward to go in.
Donavan played like a man possessed. He broke off the defense a couple of times.
All in all. A good match.
I really hope Beckham plays in the SuperLiga final. It will be interesting to see a Mexican team go against L.A. Maybe L.A. fans will actually show up for that game.

 

To all those in the Sawker league -- I mistakenly played without a captain this week, and you're still eating my dust.
I wanted to take this opportunity for a little touchdown dance, because who knows if I'll ever be in first place again?

 

My wife (in the other room) heard that guy screaming on the TV and asked me who he was calling an "asshole." Sigh.

 

Two stories in soccer world (I am not sure if they have been posted yet):

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2007/08/16/fifa-matchfixing.html

(isn't it ironic that the NBA and FIFA have this problem ongoing?)

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2007/08/15/grondona-chile.html

Fallout from the assault on match officials at under 20 cup. Is a the suspension enough for two instances of this?
Nigerian coach Bosso gets slapped with a four month suspension because he claims "racism" influenced the decisions of referee Howard Webb during Nigeria's 4-0 loss to Chile. FIFA says this is "offensive behavour". What do you all think?

 

First of all on the match fixing, I think this is a great step by FIFA. As strange as it sounds with the numbers we hear about Las Vegas and online bookies taking during the football season and march madness, just as much, if not more, gets bet on worldwide soccer year-round, whether it be the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Champions League or International competition. I know I, when growing up in England, would bet on soccer matches all the time, as well as tennis, rugby, football, horses and dogs.

It comes as no surprise to me that the two biggest sports in the world, soccer and basketball, are facing these issues, because of the amounts of money that sometimes get laid on a certain team or outcome. There have been match-fixing issues in the Far East before, and this gives FIFA a way to try and track and instances where someone could be on the take better.

On the second one, the lead says he's gone for nine months, which is a good ban. It basically covers everything in the upcoming domestic season, so he wouldn't be able to play until May, I think, next year. I would wonder if his club team is obligated to pay him over that time. My guess is it isn't, but it may do so, maybe at a reduced rate, to keep him on the books.

 

Anybody else get their tix for the Brazil friendly yet?

 

Pastor outs himself in London's Telegraph ...

"Having watched Galaxy's game against DC United recently, McClaren dismissed concerns that the midfielder's standard would drop in Major League Soccer. "It was a good standard. It was possibly Championship top half, lower Premier,'' McClaren observed."

 

Does that mean Lalas was right in his assessment?

I was behind him when he came out and said the same thing as McClaran is implying (lower half of the Premier League), and this just furthers some validation for the league.

Now if L.A. can beat Pachuca in the final......