Author Archives: Ridge Mahoney

D.C. United has announced Thursday’s game against the Galaxy — to be televised on ESPN2 — is a sellout. Now, how many of those 45,000 tickets will actually be used, with the prospect likely David Beckham will sit this one out as well, and how vitriolic will be the fans who do show up? Boos rained down on Becks at BMO Field in Toronto Sunday as he sat on the bench during a 0-0 tie, which was also nationally televised, but still the place was packed.

Not surprisingly, former RSL coach John Ellinger has resigned, effective Aug. 18.

MLS and the Galaxy, exalted by media outlets throughout the land – for the most part – seven months ago for landing David Beckham are being lashed almost daily by many of those same outlets as his tender left ankle slowly heals. “Damaged goods,” “bait and switch,” “Bench It Like Beckham”, each day brings a fresh barb of stinging criticism. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney looks beyond the hyperbole and examines how the Galaxy and MLS have handled Beckham’s injury and whether fans have been treated fairly.

A narrow-angle goal by the birthday boy and a stoppage-time clincher by his substitute separated the top two Eastern Conference teams at Gillette Stadium Thursday. Pat Noonan celebrated his 27th birthday by tucking away a Taylor Twellman header, and Adam Cristman ran onto a sweet Steve Ralston cross to notch his fourth goal of the season as the Revs (9-3-6) beat Kansas City (8-6-5) for the first time at Gillette Stadium, 2-0.

[MLS Weekend Previews] Two more crucial Eastern Conference showdowns are on tap; Houston, Los Angeles, and D.C. United get back to MLS business after advancing to the SuperLiga semifinals; FC Dallas hopes to get well against Colorado after being smacked for six goals by the Galaxy; and the barmy BMO believers beckon to Becks.

Praise be given to The Worldwide Leader in Sports for adding the perceived MLS David Beckham debut Sunday against Toronto FC to its schedule, but between the lines, New England-Kansas City at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night is the marquee matchup of the week, if not the month.

There’s much more on the line than a spot in the SuperLiga semifinals when Houston hosts D.C. United Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, TeleFutura, mlslive.tv) as play concludes in Group B. Tied atop the group with four points, neither team is assured of advancing should this match end in a tie. If Morelia beats Club America (10 p.m. ET, TeleFutura, mlslive.tv), there would be a three-way logjam of teams with five points and tiebreakers would be needed to determine which two teams move on and which one does not.

“Have they stopped scoring yet?” Seldom is this heard in a high-class soccer game, but only the final whistle kept the Galaxy and FC Dallas from hitting double-digits — apiece — in their incredible SuperLiga match Tuesday night at Pizza Hut Park. Eleven goals, three of them in stoppage time: That’s entertainment.

The Chicago Fire rolled to a 3-0 win in the MLS debut of Mexican attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco and presented head coach Juan Carlos Osorio his first MLS victory. New England also won on the road, beating Real Salt Lake, 2-1. Spectacular goals by Kerry Zavagnin and Yuri Movsisyan propelled the Kansas City Wizards past Chivas USA, 3-2, and pushed them to within a point of the Eastern Conference lead now held by the Revs.

Ante Razov and Sacha Kljestan scored as a smothering defense led by Jesse Marsch, Claudio Suarez and Jonathan Bornstein blanked Red Bull New York, 2-0, on Thursday night for only the second road win posted in 2007 by Chivas USA.

[WOMEN’S WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN] He has three more games and a few more weeks before he must submit his list of players for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, yet head coach Greg Ryan finalized his roster last week by adding three players to an original list of 18. Forward Natasha Kai, midfielder Angela Hucles and defender Marion Dalmy got the nod. Kai and Dalmy are two of six World Cup players who have debuted for the national team since Ryan took over from April Heinrichs in March, 2005. Starting Saturday against Japan at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Ryan will tinker not with formations and systems, but with blocs of 11 players who he believes may earn starting slots in the World Cup.

[MLS WEEKEND PREVIEWS] Reeling Real Salt Lake strives to get it right against the Revs; Mexican attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco makes his American pro soccer league debut in Canada, and Kansas City hopes to stabilize its patchy home form against Chivas USA.

With four games in the books the SuperLiga ledger reads: two MLS wins, two ties, eight goals, two ejections, 98 shots, and 63,405 fans. Well, it’s a start. A good one. Not perfect, but good. On the second night of competition Wednesday, defending MLS champion Houston beat Club America, 1-0, and Morelia rallied while a man down to tie D.C. United, 1-1.

David Beckham has made his debut and the SuperLiga has kicked off amid spectacle and controversy, yet MLS league play rolls right along sparking off its own fireworks. Houston and New England shared six goals and Kansas City split four goals with Colorado Sunday in high-scoring ties, and the return of Thursday night league action with New York hosting Chivas USA finds a team that can’t lose at home visiting the team whose search for a new home has been roiled with problems for most of this decade.

Argentine international Juan Sebastian Veron, whose name had been linked to D.C. United a few weeks ago, surfaced this week as a possible acquisition by Chivas USA.