Category: Soccer America Daily

[OFF THE POST] When ITV broadcast live from the locker room of minor league team Histon to capture its celebrations after an FA Cup win over Leeds United, it provided a national television audience with the image of a buck-naked Histon player performing a victory dance.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] DaMarcus Beasley got his first Scottish Premier League start since Oct. 25 when he went 79 minutes for Glasgow Rangers in a 7-1 win over Hamilton.

[SPAIN] Real Madrid lost another seven-goal game and Barcelona hammered Valencia 4-0 as La Liga went goal crazy. Jozy Altidore played through for Villarreal as it fought back from 3-0 down to grab a point.
 
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[ENGLAND] U.S. goalkeepers Brad Friedel of Aston Villa and Tim Howard of Everton faced off in a lively five-goal game that Villa edged, 3-2, at the very death. Elsewhere, the Big Four all won to keep things unchanged at the top.

[GERMANY] Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim with a late, late goal from Luca Toni to win the table-top clash. Michael Bradley was dropped to the bench for Borussia Moenchengladbach, coming on too late to save it from another defeat.

[ITALY] Inter continued to convince with a 3-0 win at Lazio, retaining its six-point lead at the top of Serie A over Milan and Juventus.

[OFF THE POST] Hibernian’s John Rankin scored on Celtic keeper Artur Boruc with a shot taken just outside the center circle.

[MEXICO] U.S. product Edgar Castillo scored for defending champ Santos in its second-leg semifinal clash with Toluca but Santos fell 2-1, which combined with the first leg’s scoreless tie sends Toluca to the Apertura 2008 final against Cruz Azul.

[UNDER-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP] North Korea displayed persistence and precision while reaching the  U-20 Women’s World Cup final; the USA got there by utilizing both of those elements, plus an occasional dash of brilliance. In the final Sunday in Santiago, Chile, opportunistic strikes by Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan — honored with the Golden Ball and Silver Ball, respectively, as tournament MVP and runner-up – carried the USA past North Korea, 2-1, to secure the first American win at the under-20 level.

[MLS] A two-for-one ticket deal failed to fill the 32,000-capacity Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand but the 16,600 who did show up were by all accounts satisfied with the performance of David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy in a 3-0 win over the Oceania All-Stars.