David Beckham finally made his full debut on Wednesday in the Galaxy’s 2-0 victory over DC United in the SugerLiga semifinal, leading LA to a final showdown with Mexican club side Pachuca.

In his first start for LA, Beckham also usurped the captain’s armband from Landon Donovan, but Donovan will not be complaining too much if Beckham continues to deliver as he did on the night, scoring with a trademark free-kick and then assisting the ex-captain for LA’s insurance goal.

The other semifinal was a rematch of the Champions’ Cup final between Pachuca and Houston. In another game that went down to the wire, Pachuca outlasted the Dynamo again, this time needing penalties to separate the sides–the dependable Brian Ching missing an all important spot-kick this time around.

So, now we will have to wait another 2 weeks time as the final is scheduled to be played on Wednesday, August 29th. LA will benefit the most as it will give Beckham more time for his ankle to completely heal and a few more games to get more acquainted with his new teammates.

However, the competition will certainly be the toughest he has faced in a LA jersey, and though they lost to LA in the opening group stage, Pachuca is no longer in pre-season mode as the Mexican League is in full swing with Pachuca already leading Group A out of the gate.

Home field advantage will not be enough for the MLS side in this one as Pachuca will collect their fourth successive trophy. 

The LA Galaxy lost another one as David Beckham made his MLS debut, albeit for only a cameo appearance, in front of a sold out flood of camera flashes at RFK Stadium.

The Ex-Real and Man. United midfielder was brought in for the last stages of LA’s Thursday night game against DC United, but it was DC’s Brazilian forward Emilio’s goal in the 27th min. that mattered most as the lone goal was enough to claim victory and 2nd spot in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately, LA was reduced to 10-men moments before Beckham’s introduction. Martino was shown red for a nasty tackle from behind on United’s Fred, and though they had several chances, DC could not take advantage of the man advantage as LA’s keeper Cannon made several unbelievable stops.

LA actually had several chances of their own, but forward Buddle could not capitalize on a point black opportunity, and DC’s keeper came up trumps by blocking Donovan’s route to goal, at the edge of the penalty area, after a trademark through pass from Beckham.

Becks will have another chance to feature this weekend as LA continues their East Coast tour with a match against Eastern Conference leaders New England on Sunday. Beckham may be reduced again to a substitute’s role, but barring any re-injury to his million dollar ankle, it can’t be long now for the champagne midfielder to start playing the full ninety.

The question for LA still remains: will there be enough time to pull out of the cellar?
 

Before we get into the semifinal match-ups of the inaugural SuperLiga tournament, savages, let’s remind ourselves that our Mexican counterparts are using the tournament as a pre-season of sorts as the Mexican League season is just getting underway this weekend.

Otherwise, our MLS clubs will be looking sweet indeed as there are 3 clubs contending to Mexico’s 1: LA Galaxy, DC United, Houston, and Pachuca.

The Galaxy out-drove FC Dallas 6-5 in a game that reads more like a mediocre baseball score while trifecta champions, Pachuca edged rivals Chivas 0-1 on the road back in Mexico in Group A.

Both Houston and DC progressed through in Group B even though DC fell to Houston in a cross-conference rivalry. America’s 3-2 victory over Morelia in the final game came to not as the men from Azteca lost to both DC and Houston on American soil.

The semis are stacked up for some heavy hitting even though we have to wait about a week and a half for the semis to kick-off. The Galaxy will face fellow MLS contenders DC United while Houston will try to avenge their Champions’ cup defeat at the hands of Pachuca in the other semifinal.

SuperLiga Semifinals Schedule:
Tue., Aug. 14
Los Angeles vs. DC United
Wed., Aug. 15
Houston vs. Pachuca

Talk about blowing off steam though. To be continued doesn’t really work well with sporting events. Hopefully, better planning will helpfully eliminate the lack of continuity in the tournament’s schedule in future renditions of the tournament.

Thank your blessed beans savages, as Freddy has finally done it. The 18 year old American International has capped off his fine u-20s World Cup performance by signing a professional contract with Portuguese club Benfica.

There is no better time or environment for Adu to continue his football development, and if all goes well, we could see Adu in the likes of a team like Real Madrid by the time he is 21.

Well, that should be his goal anyway, or otherwise, why follow such high aspirations of Champions League football to Portugal?

MLS certainly wasn’t helping any by pushing Freddy off to Real Salt Lake, and when one thinks about their current predicament in the Western Conference league standings, it is a testament to Freddy that he was so ready to shine for the US in Canada.

Well, that is all history now, and Freddy (and all savages) will have his American-tinted eyes on all the famed prizes of his mind.

Don’t worry MLS, one day Freddy will come back to a team like Real Salt Lake, after many years of success, and let them share the titles of his heydays.

Now that the Superliga and International club friendlies are getting underway in the MLS mid-season, one could say that the media coverage of the Beckham sightings was not just overkill, but maybe even narrow-minded.

MLS executives should have put their media use to better use with some coverage and promotion of unveiling the Superliga program and other friendly matches that MLS has worked together in conjunction with La Liga de Mexicana and other top professional clubs during this league intermission.

With 8 teams involved in the mid-season Superliga tournament, the lack of coverage really cuts at the national fan base and attention by keeping potential fans at a loss as to what is actually happening from a league stand-point.

It is not everyday that Americans get the chance to witness teams like America, Chivas, Pachuca, and Boca Juniors bring their game to our stadiums. Much more should have been done to market these exciting fixtures, to foster a national attention that games like these deserve.

And no knock intended for the Spanish-language stations doing justice by covering these events, but an American fan should not have to rely on Univision to get a sight of the games. In fact we should be looking at their broadcasting methods and learning how to package games for air-time.

It is the experience and exposure of games like these, not the star-status of name dropping, that will both develop and promote the sport by bringing up the level and awareness of every player and fan in America.

 

MLS clubs sides, the Galaxy and the Dynamo are the only teams to collect all 3 pts. in the opening matches of the SuperLiga, a pre- and mid-season tournament involving 4 clubs from both Mexico and the US.

The Galaxy edged Pachuca 2-1 while Houston defeated Club America 1-0. In the other 2 matches FC Dallas managed a 1-1 tie against Chivas de Guadalajara while Morelia scratched back a 1-1 stalemate with DC United.

The games were competitive enough, but the American clubs have produced to too many heavy, rough and tumble fouls while the referees seemed to have swallowed the whistle and are not protecting the creative aspects of the game by allowing cynical fouls to go unpunished.

Otherwise, the Mexican teams have demonstrated their ability to hold and advance the ball in possession far better than their American counterparts. I hope everyone north of the border is taking note of this as we must get our own teams to display this level of congruency in our own game.

Well, whatever your view is on the Mexican/American Soccer debate and this SuperLiga, tune in this weekend to catch the 2^nd round of matches which will feature:

SAT., JULY 28, 2007
FC Dallas vs. CF Pachuca, Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, 8 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chivas de Guadalajara, (TBD), 10 p.m. ET

SUN., JULY 29, 2007
D.C. United vs. Club América, RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C., 8 p.m. ET
Houston Dynamo vs. Morelia, Roberston Stadium, Houston, Texas, 10 p.m. ET 

Ready, Set, Action! Thank you Soccer Gods, it’s almost over–the MLS All-Star game is done and dusted (hopefully forever) and the Grant Hill-like suspense of will-he-or-won’t-he-play in regards to tomorrow’s mid-season Galaxy/Chelsea friendly for David Beckham. It will soon be back to the modest grindstone of MLS league season matches on Sunday.

Objective oversight and biased generalizations are always on the tips of the tongues of US Soccer Administrators when it comes down to justifying soccer decisions in the US. Yet, when it comes down to the Nickelodeon-style marketing campaigns like the MLS All-Star Game, I guess one can see their need for words.

With the mere appearance of David Beckham to promote a mid-season friendly, a half-time show that smacked of budget constraints, or inept production, and an average European opponent in the historic, yet limited, Celtic United, MLS must really be grasping at straws when they continually have to remind the public that the league is producing top quality ball.

Don’t they know not to call a mule a donkey by now (or something like that)? Unfortunately, in all the uproar of hype, it seems the marketing geniuses actually forgot to remind the public of the game (a Thursday night?).

The necessity for the league to turn out a baseball- or basketball-style format to the season is an enigma. Who ever heard of an All-Star game that played a team outside the league anyway? And does anybody really believe that Celtic connotes “all-star” status? (No offense to the Celtic faithful!)

With everybody always raving about the progress of MLS soccer, I guess they have forgotten to sit down and actually watch a match. The best thing for everybody to do is to catch every minute of the game this Sunday between New England and Houston (as the leaders of their respective conferences) and ask themselves “is it really worth watching?”

The Gold Cup got underway this week, and no matter which way you want to spin it, the quality of play will not be the gold standard after which the cup is named.

With no foreign invites this time around, the US and Mexico look almost locked into a finals appearance, unless of course you have money on either Canada or Guadeloupe as the fabled ostrich.

But still, Dempsey was as surprised as the rest of us as he put the US ahead 1-0 in the 1st half against Guatemala. The ease with which Twellman found Dempsey was a shock welcome to an early lead. But I would be surprised if they believe they can force possession so easily in the advanced Copa tourney next month.

El Salvador edged out Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 in the other Group B match-up. Trinidad hit a bomb of a free-kick before El Salvador came storming back with 2 unanswered goals. On Saturday US will play Trinidad while El Salvador will play Guatemala.

Canada pulled off a true shocker in Group A as they defeated (2-1) Costa Rica, arguably one of the best that CONCACAF has to offer. Modest Haiti and almost unheard of Guadeloupe played to a 1-1 draw. The next round also plays on Saturday, and hopefully, manager Hernan Medford can get Costa back on the map.

Group C kicks off today with Panama facing Honduras in the 1st match with Mexico facing Cuba in the second game. Your best best is to tune to a local cable Spanish channel with kickoff starting at 7 pm.

 

You wouldn’t recognize him, but New York Red Bulls’ new high profile striker, aka Juan Pablo Angel, could just be the ace needed by Bruce Arena and the Red Bulls Organization to put some zip back into an area that once claimed the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, and Giorgio Chinaglia.

Probably forced out by Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa, it seems the seasoned Colombian striker has finally called time on his career and has had to undergo a makeover to keep American defenders from recognizing the threat that Johnny Angel possess. Even though they have him trimmed and proper in truly American fashion, thankfully they have not been able to sterilize his prowess for goals.

It’s a deal that has already begun to pay dividends as Angel has 3 goals in 3 games and looks like the player that can finally push New York to the top of the Eastern Conference. At his best, the Colombian is not only a lethal goal scorer, but can also bring other players into the game with off the ball runs and one-twos that can upset the best of defences, let alone MLS back-lines.

He was definitely at it last night, scoring early along with the youngster Altidore and then added a 2nd late on to defeat the Chicago Fire. New York now shares the lead in the East with New England on 17 pts.

Look for Johnny Angel to continue to shine this summer in New York, even if the spotlight moves to LA when Beckham is finally unveiled.

No matter how much confetti you provide the stadium with, you still just can’t claim the name “super clasico” and expect people not to be weary.

MLS needs to be careful about how they market league rivalries and understand that history and tradition (as well as auspicious play) must be established before they can start claiming the limelight enjoyed by seasoned fixtures, such as Barca vs. Madrid, River vs. Boca, and even America vs. Chivas (not to mention some of the other great European club rivalries).

Don’t get me wrong! Everybody loves to watch an intense rivalry, but it’s hard to swallow when allusions of grandeur are so blatantly thrown into the color commentary. No really savages, I am not just angry that Chivas USA lost! But Landon Donovan must have read my preview because he showed the “world class” form needed to break the stride of Chivas (luckily not much conference damage resulted in the loss).

Donovan started early in the 8th min. for the LA Galaxy as he finished off the easy scraps, left by the mix-up between Chivas’ center-back Claudio Suarez and the keeper, to provide the early pressure. He showed up again in the offensive 3rd in the 17th min. to play a one-two for Harmse to finish with a drive at the near post.

Chivas fought back a goal in the 2nd half as Suarez made amends for his early mishap by deflecting home a goal after a series of deflections in the LA penalty box; however, it was the Galaxy that finished off the game, as Donovan again spear headed the drive, exploding from midfield on the dribble and delivering a back post pass for super-sub, Cobi Jones to finish for LA’s 3rd goal.

And while the game was decent enough, MLS should hesitate on unveiling the “Super Clasico” again until it can deliver mesmerizing, pulsating action in front of frenzied, standing room only crowds, or just simply have commentary that steers clear from such hyperbole.