CCL Preview: Herediano vs. Real Salt Lake

MLS and RSL fans, welcome to another season of CONCACAF Champions League action.  This year MLS will once again begin the quest to claim it's first ever CCL crown and a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.  Five MLS clubs will try for that honor:  MLS Cup Champion LA Galaxy, US Open Cup Champion Seattle Sounders, Eastern Conference Champion Houston Dynamo, Canadian Champion Toronto FC, and Western Conference Runner-Up Real Salt Lake.

It's been a long wait for RSL and their fans to get back into the competition they so nearly won in 2010-2011.  Tonight's match in Costa Rica could be one of the most anticipated kick-offs of the season.  The Claret and Cobalt were drawn into a group with Herediano from Costa Rica and Tauro FC from Panama.  Tonight they begin their run in the group stage vs. Herediano.

Herediano is one of Costa Rica's historic clubs.  They are the defending champs from Costa Rica, winning that league for the first time in 20 years in spring, 2012.  All in all this is their third appearance in the CCL, and they've won 22 Costa Rican titles.  It's also worth noting that they qualified for the old CONCACAF Champions Cup format 6 times, where they reached the semifinals in 1989.

Last year Herediano went out in the group stage.  They were drawn in a very tough group with Seattle and eventual champions Monterrey.  This year, only one team gets out of every group, and your record will determine your seed in the knockout round, so every match and every goal is important!

Obviously CCL is a big deal for RSL.  Coach Kreis said as much earlier this, week, putting his focus square on this match after the league win against Vancouver Friday night.  Kreis held three starters out of the XI that night, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert, and Ned Grabavoy.  Wingert and Grabavoy did see the pitch, but not until the second half.  Captain Kyle Beckerman was also subbed out, a rarity in itself, showing just how much emphasis RSL is putting on this match.  The Claret and Cobalt is expected to have their first choice XI on the field to start the match tonight.  These guys have only played 59 minutes together this season.  Hopefully for RSL fans, they're getting healthy at the right time.

RSL has played in Costa Rica before, when they took on Saprissa in the 2010-2011 tourney, but this will be a bit of a different animal.  Herediano manager Odir Jacques has managed the Costa Rican national side and is considered to be a quality head man.  Herediano lost a key cog in their offense over the summer with the departure of Brazilian striker Jorge Barbosa.  He was the third leading scorer in last season's CCL.  Herediano kicked off their new league campaign last Thursday with a 2-0 win at home over Santos de Guapiles.

The match kicks off at 8PM Mountain time and can be seen on Fox Soccer.  You can also register to stream this and other CCL matches for free on  http://www.concacafchampions.com/page/CL/Home

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Jairo Arrieta's Winner Against Sporting

Our goal of the weekend for this last week occurred at Livestrong Sporting Park in KC. However, it's a rarity because it's a goal that Sporting conceded. Coming into this one they had only given up five goals at home all season. This one was the second of the match for the Crew's Jairo Arrieta and proved to be the match winner.

Match Thoughts: Opportunistic Sounders Take Down Rapids at DSG

Colorado's Luis Zapata takes a shot against Seattle (Getty Images)

This one was truly a match of the good, the bad, and the ugly for the Colorado Rapids.  The bad news for the Rapids is that coming into the match they had lost five straight, and really needed the good to outweigh the bad and the ugly.  Instead the Seattle Sounders took advantage of their best two chances of the night and managed to take three crucial road points from Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The ugly reared it's head almost right away for Colorado.  In the second minute the Sounders set up for a corner kick, and Mauro Rosales put it right into the box and to head of Eddie Johnson.  Seattle's All-Star forward easily slipped the Rapids' defense and nodded the ball home to give the Sounders an early 0-1 lead.

Colorado could have really dropped their heads at that point, but they managed to fight back almost right away.  In the 4th minute Brian Mullan took a through ball and managed to find a surprising target streaking into the Sounders penalty area.  That target was Rapids' Captain and defender Drew Moor, who calmly smacked the ball into the back of the net to even the match at 1-1.

Following the opening scrimmages Colorado seemed to get on their game.  They had gotten the all important equalizer and set out to control the ball and look for the go-ahead goal.  They did have their chances.  Conor Casey was especially active and dangerous for the Rapids.  In the 13th minute he smashed a drive from outside the box that just went wide of the far post.  Just a couple of minutes later, he forced a save out of Seattle 'keeper Michael Gspurning, who was making his return from injury.  However, Colorado couldn't drive home another chance and the half ended at 1-1.

The second half preceded along the same lines with the Rapids controlling the run of play.  Unfortunately for them, it was one more lapse of concentration that cost them the match.  After a Colorado turnover in their own defensive half, Johnson found himself on the ball and sent a perfect cross over to a totally unmarked Osvaldo Alonso.  He easily volleyed the ball into the open net to give Seattle the 1-2 lead on 65 minutes.

To give the Rapids credit, they did fight hard for the equalizer and got a couple of really good looks.  Casey got a great chance at a diving header in the 70th, but barely mistimed it and Drew Moor's cross glanced off of his head and out for a goal kick.  Then in the 75th Martin Rivero hit the crossbar with a beautiful direct free kick.  Finally, just one minute later, Casey found himself open in the box, but took an extra step allowing Gspurning to get his feet and save the shot.

That was the last best chance for Colorado, who dropped the match 1-2 to record their 6th straight loss.  In the end, they did create the chances, but couldn't quite finish.  Couple that with two more big defensive lapses, and the proud Colorado fans leave DSG scratching their heads yet again.

RSL vs. Vancouver Preview: July 27

RSL hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium!

I'm telling you, fellow RSL fans, forget about the Galaxy, San Jose, and Seattle at least for the rest of this matchweek.  In my mind, the two upcoming RSL matches against the Vancouver Whitecaps are two of the biggest matches of the season.  These teams don't have a history together, and unless you subscribe to MLS Live or Direct Kick, you probably haven't seen much of the Whitecaps, but you should check them out.  The 'Caps are right behind the Claret and Cobalt in the Western Conference table, and losing these two matches could drop RSL into third place.

Is that a real worry?  Well I think it's a possibility.  Vancouver has quietly amassed a pretty decent array of attacking talent to go with an already stout defense.  A couple of weeks back they acquired Scottish National Team captain Kenny Miller, and for my money, he can have more impact than most of the other recent DP signings.  He's only 32, healthy, and still making a difference in the upper levels of European football.

It's not just Kenny Miller though.  In the wake of that deal the 'Caps sent Le Toux to RBNY in exchange for speedy Jamaican International Dane Richards.  I think he's one of the better winger type players in the league and almost always causes defenses some issues.  Add to these guys another Scottish DP, Barry Robson, who has been coming into form in recent weeks.  I wasn't sold on him at first, but he's starting to convert me.  Finally, Camilo has been rounding into form as well, and all of these individuals will test RSL's defense.

Luckily for RSL the back line has been playing a lot better recently, especially at home.  They've posted 3 consecutive clean sheets at Rio Tinto Stadium, winning 2 of the 3 matches.  That streak has spanned 276 minutes.  Coach Kreis is cautiously opitmistic, but had this to say as well:

“I think that it’s a step in the right direction, but honestly we had a very good result two weeks ago didn’t we? And we came out and got our butts handed to us so I think it’s going to be very important for the guys to remember that we need to stay humble about remember what it takes to get results and if we don’t do that we won’t get results and when we do that, we will get results.”

Certainly the discipline has been better as well, as Will Johnson alluded to earlier this week discussing the team's new attitude toward refereeing decisions:

"We have a new strategy to deal with refs. It ... comes down to what we can control. We've chosen to focus all our energy on (that)." 

Of course, no preview of a Vancouver match would be complete without mentioning lightning quick rookie Darren Mattocks.  After missing the first part of the season with injury, he's been on fire of late.  RSL's attack will be brimming with confidence too.  Alvaro Saborio had scored 4 straight goals for the Claret and Cobalt before Will Johnson's second half strike vs Colorado, and Fabian Espindola has been providing assists as well threatening the goal himself.

The injury situation is not overly critical for either side.  Vancouver lists Omar Salgado as out and John Thorrington as questionable.  The big deal for RSL is Jamison Olave, who is listed as questionable.  Kwame Watson-Siriboe may have to step up big time to help Nat Borchers deal with the Vancouver threat, and I think he will.  Grabavoy, Borchers, and Espindola are listed as probable.

As for suspensions, Jonny Steele is out for RSL after picking up his 5th yellow against the Rapids last weekend.  Olave and Saborio are suspended on their next yellow, and Espindola, Johnson, Morales, and Wingert are two yellows away from suspension.  For Vancouver,  Gershon Koffie and Martin Bonjour are suspended on their next yellow while Darren Mattocks is two yellows away.

Experienced MLS ref Kevin Stott will officiate the match.  In 226 MLS matches his stats are: 25.6 Fouls per game, 3.4 yellows per game, 58 red cards and 47 pks.  RSL fans will be less than excited to see Allen Chapman on the bench again as the 4th official.

I don't expect the Caps to sit back and try to counter, at least at first.  They beat San Jose last weekend and will be out to claim another Western Conference scalp.  This will be tougher to deal with if RSL doesn't have Olave's services.  However, Vancouver may have a problem on defense as Jay DeMerit played all 90 minutes at the All Star Game and then had major issues getting a flight into SLC.  I'll take RSL 2-1 in an offensive display from both sides.  Both Nick Rimando and Joe Cannon are quality keepers and both will be tested.

(Kreis quote from MLSSoccer.com.  Johnson quote from Under the Crossbar, @TheCrossBarRSL on twitter.)

New York Red Bulls Sign Socceroo Tim Cahill

Australian International Tim Cahill in his first MLS training session

This particular deal has been rumored for the last few days, but it is finally official.  The New York Red Bulls have signed Australian International and former Everton mainstay Tim Cahill as their third designated player.  For my Australian readers, the designated player rules is similar to the A-League's marquee player rule, basically allowing a club to spend more money than would usually be allowed to bring in a big name player.

As per MLS policy, terms of the deal were not announced.  Rumors earlier in the week placed the transfer fee paid to Everton at around one million dollars.  This has caused some controversy in MLS, as last week the league supposedly blocked the signing of of Swedish defender Olof Mellberg by Toronto FC.  Mellberg is a big center back who had the highest win percentage of aerial duels in the Champions League while playing for Greek Champions Olympiacos last season.  Last night at the all star game Don Garber denied blocking the Mellberg deal, but did say that it "wasn't in the best interest of the league."  This has lead to the inevitable speculation that MLS doesn't want to spend big money on defenders.\

Let's get back to Cahill now.  He scored 68 goals in 278 appearances for Everton.  However, last year his influence greatly diminished as he only tallied 3 goals and 3 assists.  Still, nobody will question the 32 year old's massive work rate and effort.  He also led Millwall to the FA Cup final before joining Everton.

 

Cahill is a distinguished player at the International level as well.  He has 55 caps for Australia scoring 24 goals in that time for the Socceroos.  He represented his country in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, becoming the first Australian to score in the World Cup finals with his goal against Japan in 2006.

As pictured above, Cahill has already begun training with the Red Bulls, however the deal is still pending his visa and international clearance paperwork.  However, given the Red Bulls defensive woes this season, perhaps they should have gone after Mellberg.

Sporting's Collin Out 1-2 Weeks With All Star Injury

Sporting KC's Aurélien Collin suffered an injury in the All Star Game (MLS)

Last year Real Salt Lake had to suffer through a post All Star match injury to a major player when Jamison Olave went down hurt against Manchester United.  This year it looks like Sporting Kansas City will have to shoulder that particular burden.  Hopefully for them, it won't be a long term problem.

Center back Aurélien Collin suffered an injury in last night's All Star match against Chelsea FC.  Collin collided with Chelsea's Michael Essien late in the first half and suffered two facial fractures.  He was replaced in the 36th minute bu Philadelphia's Carlos Valdes.  Sporting is saying that Collin will be out 1-2 weeks.  Their next game is this Saturday night when they host the Columbus Crew.

The Vancouver Whitecaps also have reason to fume over this as their captain Jay DeMerit ended up playing all 90 minutes for the All Stars after the Collin injury.  DeMerit and the 'Caps have a game on Friday against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.  To make matters worse, DeMerit's flight out of Philadelphia was cancelled due to weather and he's been stuck there an extra day. 

Chelsea Completes Oscar Signing.

Young Brazilian playmaker Oscar will join Chelsea FC

Sky Sports is reporting this morning that Chelsea have completed the signing of Brazilian midfielder Oscar from Internacional.  The deal has been rumored for a couple of weeks, and is said to be worth about £25million.

The 20 year old is a product of the Sao Paulo youth system, but has spent the last couple of seasons with Internacional. He has played at every level of the Brazilian system, and made his full international debut last September.  He has earned 6 caps and scored one goal for the senior side.  He'll also be participating in the London Olympics with Brazil.

Chelsea has been active this window, signing Eden Hazard and Marko Marin.  The Blues have also been strongly linked to two more forwards, Brazilian Hulk and Wigan's Victor Moses.  Still, the Oscar deal is quite a coup, welcome to Stamford Bridge!

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Juan Carlos Cacho vs, Guadalajara

For my goal of the weekend I take you to the first week of action in the newly rebranded Liga Mx. Check out this outside of the box strike from Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho. It would prove to be the game winner.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Toluca vs, Chivas de Guadalajara

Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho celebrates his first goal of the season (AP Photo)

To say that Chivas disappointed in last year's Clausura is a bit of an understatement.  Going winless in their last 5 in domestic league play, they made some high profile changes in the off-season.  They brought in former Melbourne Heart manager John Van't Schip to take the helm of the club, and they added two high profile players, Luis Perez and Rafael Marquez Lugo.

 

Toluca didn't seem to care a lick about this though, and showed it very early in the match.  In the very first minute midfielder Zinha smacked a shot on target that had to be saved by Luis Michel for Chivas.  His respite didn't last long though.  In the second minute, Chivas turned the ball over in the midfield and Toluca forward Carlos Esquivel came charging toward the goal.  He unleashed a drive toward the inside of the near post, and Michel dove over it, totally missing the ball as it went into the net and Toluca took a 1-0 lead.

 

Conceding seemed to wake Chivas up a bit, and they started to control the ball.  Their first chance came on 16 minutes as Ernesto Perez set up for a direct free kick outside of the penalty arc.  Unfortunately for the Goats, his shot sailed high and failed to trouble the 'keeper.

 

Toluca would manage to tack on another goal before the half as well.  In the 32nd minute, Lucas Silva played Juan Carlos Cacho in behind the rather high Chivas back line.  The Toluca attacker then slammed a shot toward the near post from outside of the area.  Michel dove to his right, and managed to get a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to turn the shot away as Toluca took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

 

Chivas largely took control of the match in the second half, and slowly started to zero in on the Toluca goal.  In the 62nd minute the aforementioned Rafa Marquez Lugo got a decent look from close range, but his shot was from a rather tough angle, and he missed the target.  Lugo wasn't done though.  In the 67th minute he unleashed another shot that just missed the far post.  Finally in the 68th he took a ball from Erick Torres and slotted home his first goal in a Chivas kit to make it 2-1.

 

That was about all the Goats could manage though.  In the 79th minute, Jesus Sanchez tried his luck at an equalizer, but Toluca 'keeper Alfredo Talavera was up to the task, saving the shot and preserving the 2-1 win for Toluca at home.

Match Thoughts: RSL Clinches Cup With Win Over Rapids

RSL's Will Johnson celebrates his goal vs Colorado (Getty Images)

Coming into this match it's hard to imagine two more frustrated fan bases in MLS.  The Colorado Rapids have watched the Western Conference playoff places slip further away after a promising, if a bit inconsistent start under new coach Oscar Pareja.  RSL had started the season on fire, but has experienced some of the most severe lows in recent years, especially after losing 5-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend.

It was obvious that both of these sides needed the three points.  The Rocky Mountain Cup was also on the line.  After winning the first match of the series earlier this year, another RSL victory would clinch the cup for a 6th straight year.  For the Rapids, even a draw would bring the cup back to 5280 for the final rivalry match of the season.

Unfortunately for Colorado, their hurdles coming into this one were significant.  They played a tough midweek match in Toronto, losing 2-1 to TFC before having to travel back across country to Salt Lake.  During that match, key midfielder Jeff Larentowicz picked up his 5th yellow of the season and was suspended against RSL.  Finally, Rapids' striker Conor Casey picked up a knock in the midweek and did not make the trip.  These difficulties were apparent in the Rapids starting lineup, with Edu being the lone striker up top against both Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers for RSL.

The Claret and Cobalt controlled much of the proceedings in the first half.  The official MLS recap has the first half as more even, but RSL controlled the possession and much of the flow.  In the 17th minute they nearly opened the scoring as well.  Javier Morales ended up on the ball after a shot by Yordany Alvarez was blocked.  The RSL play-maker sent a low cross through the six to a waiting Nat Borchers, but the big center back poked his shot wide of the target.

RSL would find themselves somewhat more fortunate in the 32nd minute.  Fabian Espindola was pestering Rapids' defender Marvell Wynne, and forced him into a bad back pass toward 'keeper Matt Pickens.  Pickens rushed out to try and clear, and just about did so, but the ball squirted over him and rolled toward the open net.  Alvaro Saborio was waiting, and gamely waited to make sure Fabi's shot required an extra touch before finally tapping it into the net to make it 1-0, which was the score at halftime.

Colorado switched up some things in the second half.  Pareja inserted Omar Cummings into the lineup, and he created a bit more pressure on the RSL back line, making it harder to build from the back.  The Rapids did turn some of that pressure into chances, as they controlled a greater amount of possession in the second half.  Cummings got a couple of good looks, but wasn't capable of hitting the target to test Nick Rimando.

Though the Rapids looked more the threat to score through much of the second half, it was RSL who got the next goal and sealed the match.  In the 90th minute Saborio managed to take the ball off of Tyrone Marshall and dropped it off to Will Johnson, who smacked a shot inside the near post past a fuming Matt Pickens to make the full time result 2-0 to RSL.

Notes:  Jonny Steele picked up a yellow card in the 82 minute, he will now miss RSL's next match vs. Vancouver on Friday.  Martin Rivero had a good match for Colorado, setting up a number of good passes and bringing Colorado nearly even with RSL in most of the passing/possession stats.  Colorado will host Swansea City in a friendly then take on the Seattle Sounders next weekend.

Puddle's Rocky Mountain Cup Preview--July 21

Tomorrow night the rivalry continues at Rio Tinto Stadium.  Real Salt Lake will host the Colorado Rapids in the second installment of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Cup.  RSL won the first match of the year 2-0 at the RioT, and another win tomorrow night will keep the cup in Claret and Cobalt for another year.

RSL will look to continue it's recent dominance in this series.  They're unbeaten in their last 7 vs the Rapids, with 3 wins and 4 draws.  All time at Salt Lake (Rice Eccles & Rio Tinto) RSL has won 6, lost 3, and drawn 3.

The injury role for the match isn't all that bad for either side.  For RSL, Schuler is still out.  Javier Morales, Nat Borchers, and Ned Grabavoy are all listed as probable.  For the Rapids, Anthony Wallace and Pablo Mastroeni are out, while Conor Casey and Omar Cummings are both listed as probable.

The suspension story is quite different though.  RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman is suspended due to a red card he picked up during the San Jose match last weekend.  The Rapids are also missing a key midfield cog, as Jeff Larentowicz is suspended after picking up his 5th yellow of the season Wednesday night in Toronto.  For RSL, Jamison Olave, Alvaro Saborio, and Jonny Steele will face suspension on receipt of their next yellow card.  Colorado has no player in this boat.

RSL is coming off of a humiliating 5-0 loss to Western Conference Leaders San Jose last weekend at Buck Shaw stadium.  RSL were trailing 1-0 when Beckerman was sent off in the second half, but it was all downhill from there.  Coach Kreis responded to the second worse loss in team history by saying: "We need to be more disciplined, and when I say more disciplined, I'm not just talking about how we're reacting to referees' decisions. I'm talking about how the way we played the game tonight. ... Even a man down, we shouldn't be allowing four more goals."

Colorado played at Toronto on Wednesday night, squandering a 1-0 lead and eventually losing 2-1, dropping them to their fourth straight loss.  On 22 points, they sit only three above the Portland Timbers and FC Dallas at the bottom of the table in the west.  Striker Conor Casey had this to say after that match: "We're definitely sliding; we just haven't been able to find a way to win. It is kind of hard and frustrating right now to be able to really analyze the game. We're losing ground and we have to do something to change things around because we're not doing well and we're not getting points."

So perhaps tomorrow night's match comes down to who is more desperate for the points: RSL or Colorado?  The Rapids want to stay in the playoff chase, but RSL wants to make up ground on San Jose.  Certainly the Rapids are in a more precarious position as far as the post season is concerned, but with Champions League coming up, RSL doesn't want to lose any more ground in MLS.

I expect both teams to create some chances and test the goalkeepers.  However, it could come down to which defense buckles down and avoids the big mistake on a set piece, counter attack, or late run from build up play.  The Rapids have been trying to turn into a possession team this year, but they'll have a hard time asserting that against RSL.  Reports from RSL training have suggested that the Claret and Cobalt have been doing a ton of work on set piece and general defending this week, which is a good sign.  I also expect the Rapids to continue the "hack-a-Javi" strategy to try and take Morales out of the mix and get into the heads of RSL.  For RSL fans, hopefully the guys have moved past that a little bit.

In the end, I'll take RSL 2-1 at the end of a hard fought, physical effort that both teams can be proud of. 

Match Thoughts: Vancouver Whitecaps vs LA Galaxy

David Beckham celebrates his goal vs. Vancouver. (Reuters)

For the Vancouver Whitecaps, this is the one that got away, big time.  As LA manager Bruce Arena was quoted as saying "we stole a point," and that's the exact truth.  The Whitecaps pretty much dominated the match for 70 some minutes, but in the end, a combination of bad finishing and lax defense let the Galaxy back in to secure a vital road point.

The Galaxy had the first two shots of the match.  Landon Donovan had an effort blocked in the 8th minute, and David Beckham missed with a free kick in the 11th, but both of these efforts were pretty much against the run of play.  For the most part the Whitecaps were able to control possession and move the ball around quite easily.  It was unquestionably new DP Barry Robson's best game yet in a 'Caps uniform, and Camilo put forth his best effort of the year.

The Whitecaps patient play first paid off for them in the 18th minute.  David Beckham uncharacteristically turned the ball over in his own half, and Camilo took it toward goal.  He managed to find Gershon Koffie in the penalty area, and the midfielder then slammed the ball past Josh Saunders into the bottom corner of the goal to make it 1-0 to Vancouver.

The Caps weren't finished with their first half assault either.   In the 27th minute Y.P. Lee found Robson streaking in toward the top of the area.  He put the ball right on Robson's head, and the Scot easily headed into the net to make it 2-0 Vancouver.  It was Robson's first MLS goal, and it would be the last solid offense before halftime.

The Galaxy didn't really look like they were game to get back into it early in the second half, save one half chance.  In the 58th minute Jay DeMerit got torched by Landon Donovan, and just managed to drag the Galaxy captain down before he got into the area.  DeMerit was issued a yellow card on the play, but LA couldn't make anything out of the tough angle free kick.

Business really picked up for both sides in the final ten minutes of the match.  In the 80th minute Koffie took another crack at goal, but his effort bounded off the crossbar and out of danger, he had Saunders beaten too.  Beckham would make the Whitecaps regret that miss just a minute later, as he had a shot deflect into the goal off of a Whitecaps defender to make it 2-1 on 81 minutes.

The Whitecaps would still got another chance to ice the three points, but again couldn't find the back of the net. In the 84th minute Robson set up for a rather deep free kick, and confidently drilled the shot toward the target.  The Whitecaps didn't get the bounce this time either, as it slammed off the post and away from Josh Saunders.

The Champions then took advantage of their most recent reprieve.  In the 87th minute, Galaxy home-grown product Jose Villarreal got his first taste of MLS glory.  Beckham delivered a spot on ball to Juninho, who laid it off to the youngster.  Villarreal then put a gorgeous left footed strike into the top corner of the Vancouver goal to equalize the match at 2-2.

That score would hold until full time, but Robson got one more good look.  In the fourth and final minute of stoppage time he sent a blazing shot in toward the top of the goal.  However, Josh Saunders was up to the task and tipped it away to preserve the 2-2 draw.

It's obvious that the Galaxy still have many defensive issues.  They gave up two goals and a host of other quality chances to the Caps.  However, it's just as obvious to see that they have the players to keep them in a match.  If Beckham, Donovan, and Keane can stay healthy, (and not move to Europe) the chances of the Galaxy getting a playoff spot are pretty good.  Will they get the defense right before then?  If they don't will it hurt their chances at the cup?  Only time will tell.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Jose Villarreal Equalizes Against Vancouver

If I say "Jose Villareal," you might ask "who?"  Well, if this goal is any indication, we might be hearing a lot more from this young man in the years to come.  Villarreal is an academy product for the Galaxy and this is his first professional goal.  Not bad at all.

PSG Locks Up Ibrahimovic

Big news from the European transfer market today as Paris Saint-Germain finally unveiled vaunted Swiss International Zlatan Ibrahimovic as their latest signing.  The French Ligue 1 side has been splashing money around the last year or so after being purchased by a member of the Qatari royal family.  Last winter they famously tried to pry David Beckham away from the Galaxy, but Beckham preferred his smug life in California.

The deal for Ibra is pretty hefty.  They paid AC Milan 25 million dollars in transfer fees, and they'll be paying the big Swede 17 million dollars per year, 2 million more than he was making with AC Milan in Serie A.  He'll join former AC Milan teammate Thiago Silva and former Napoli man Ezequiel Lavezzi, who had both signed deals with PSG earlier this summer.

Last year PSG spent 123 million dollars on players, and brought in former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, but failed to win the Ligue 1 title.  Odds are that will change this year.  These moves raise both the profile of PSG, but the French 1st division as well.

Match Thoughts: New York Red Bulls vs. Seattle Sounders

NY's Connor Lade takes a kick to the head from Adam Johansson (Getty Images)

Neither the Seattle Sounders or the New York Red Bulls have exactly been on fire in recent weeks. but both sides had reason to be more confident heading into Sunday's match at Red Bull Arena.  The Sounders picked up their first win in many weeks last matchday against Colorado, and had secured a birth in the US Open Cup final after beating Chivas USA.  New York had made two deals earlier in the week, one bringing in tried and true LA backup 'keeper Bill Gaudette and bringing in Sebsatian Le Toux from Vancouver.

The opening minutes of the match were all Seattle though as they came out absolutely on fire.  The dirty little secret of the Red Bulls this year is that only two teams in MLS have given up more goals than they have. and Seattle looked to exploit that right off.  Their first quality chance of the match came on 11 minutes when Brad Evans went driving into the top of the area.  Gaudette came for him and hit the deck immediately, just snatching the ball off of Evans' foot as he shot it.  However, Seattle continued to pressure and it finally paid off in the 16th minute when Adam Johansson sent a beautiful cross in to Alvaro Fernandez, who calmly headed the ball past Gaudette to make it 0-1 to Seattle.\

At that point the Red Bulls, who had looked absolutely helpless, decided to try to get back into the match.  In the 24th minute the Seattle defense parted like the Red Sea for Kenny Cooper who smashed a drive at the Seattle goal.  Bryan Meredith managed to save it, but gave up a big rebound to a lurking Le Toux, who drilled the ball into the net for his first Red Bulls goal to tie the match at 1-1.

After that New York largely took control of the match.  A major talking point emerged right before half time though.  Thierry Henry went up to play a shot on the side of the six yard box, and Osvaldo Alonso clearly stuck his hand up to the ball.  Replays were pretty clear that the he made contact, and New York was awarded a corner kick as the ball went over the end line.  It should have been a deliberate hand ball call, with a PK awarded and a red card to Alosno, but play continued and the first half ended 1-1 as Markus Holgersson's header rattled off the cross bar on the ensuing corner.

New York mounted a fairly heavy assault on the Seattle goal in the second half, but they failed to really test Meredith severely.  After several shots off target, Joel Lindpere took a ball from Brandon Barklage and opened up the Seattle defense.  The NY midfielder managed to tuck his shot between Meredith and the near post to make it 2-1 to the Red Bulls.

Seattle countered by inserting Fredy Montero to give their offense a jump start, and it paid dividends right away.  In the 67th minute Brad Evans teed him up with a nice ball, and Montero banged home the equalizer to give the Sounders a chance at a point.  

The heat began to take a toll the match late on, and there were few chances for either side to produce a winner.  New York got the best look in stoppage time as Roy Miller got his head to a corner kick in the final minute.  Unfortunately for the home side his shot went wide of the post and the match finished at 2-2.  The Red Bulls will feel like they let one get away, but on the balance, it was probably a fair result.

Whitecaps Add Kenny Miller as Third DP

Scottish National side Captain Kenny Miller has signed with Vancouver

Big news in MLS this morning as the Vancouver Whitecaps announced that they have added Scottish National Team captain Kenny Miller as their third designated player.  This is the second half of the deal that sent Sebastian Le Toux to NY last week and left many MLS watchers scratching their heads a little bit.

Miller is 32 years old, and has scored 16 goals while winning 60 caps for Scotland.  He also has a distinguished club career in Scotland and England.  He's one of only 5 players in the post World War II era to play for both Celtic and Rangers in the Old Firm Derby.  While playing in Scotland he won the Scottish Premier League, the Scottish FA Cup, and the Scottish League Cup.  He's scored 187 goals in 547 matches during his club career.

Last season Miller played for Cardiff City in the English second division.  He scored 11 goals in 50 matches.  Cardiff lost to Liverpool in the Carling Cup final, and barely missed out on promotion to the Barclay's Premier League, losing to West Ham United in a playoff at Wembley.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, per MLS policy.  The deal is still pending the completion of Miller's International Transfer certificate.  However, Miller arrived in Vancouver yesterday and has begun training with the Whitecaps.

Miller is quoted as saying:

“I’m delighted to be making this move to Major League Soccer and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. I have heard many great things about the club and the city of Vancouver, and have been impressed by the standard of MLS. To have the chance to continue my career in North America with Whitecaps FC is a fantastic opportunity for me and my family."

 

This is one European signing that I really do think could end up making a splash in MLS.  While Miller may not still have his best years in front of him at 32, he's still a proven goal scorer in top European divisions.  This could really be a big deal.

 

West Ham Home Kit For 2012-2013

You might have missed this one with all the "big clubs" going through the kit reveal season right now. but West Ham United have also released the home kit that they will wear during their return campaign to the Barclay's Premier League.

The kit is designed by Macron, and Italian manufacturer.  The collar design is a bit different this year, with the blue stripe running through it.  According to EPL Talk, there is also an embossed Hammers logo on the back of the shirt.

Sure it's not a radical departure from their previous kits, but I like it.  That's a little weird for me, as I'm generally a fan of the more traditional collars.  All in all, it's great to have West Ham back in the Premier League.

Michael Bradley Signs With AS Roma

Michael Bradley posing in his new AS Roma attire (MLSSoccer.com)

Big news came down the pipe today for fans of Americans playing in Europe.  US International midfielder Michael Bradley has signed on with Italian Serie A side AS Roma after having a standout year last season with Chievo Verona.

Personal terms were not available right off, but the Roman side did confirm they had paid a 4.6 million dollar transfer fee to Chievo for the American's services.  It's no surprise that Bradley seems to fit well in the defensive minded Serie A, and he should have a big role in settling down Roma's defense. 

According to the club, Bradley was already hard at work training with his new Giallorossi teammates on day one.  The Puddle wishes Michael the best of luck with his new club.  He'll represent the USA well.

Match Thoughts: San Jose Puts RSL to the Sword

Nick Rimando is not pleased.  At all.  (AP Photo)

Real Salt Lake went to San Jose last night looking for redemption and a little revenge.  What they actually found was a whole new nightmare.  The Earthquakes drubbed the Claret and Cobalt 5-0 to take a firm hold on first place in the west.  It's especially difficult because some folks had thought RSL had turned the corner after back to back clean sheets against Seattle and Portland.  San Jose showed otherwise.

San Jose has a gentleman named Chris Wondolowski.  For some reason, RSL seems to think that they don't need to mark him.  Despite the fact that he had already stung RSL badly in their first two meetings of the season, he was left unmarked on a set piece in the 18th minute.  Bad things ensued for RSL.  Wondo got loose from Chris Wingert at the back post and headed in a ball from Justin Morrow to make it 1-0 to the Quakes.

That seemed to wake RSL up a little bit.  By a little bit, possibly they opened one of their collective eyes.  They held possession a little bit better for the rest of the first half, but were unable to threaten Jon Busch in goal.  For the most part, he sat there with his newspaper as the half ended 1-0.

Things went from not very good to full blown epic disaster for RSL in the second half.  With the score still 1-0 in the 57th minute, the RSL players exploded after what they perceived as yet another cheap shot tackle on Javier Morales, and a scrum ensued.  At one point, San Jose players pushed Kyle Beckerman into the referee.  The referee pushed Kyle off and then showed him the red card.  RSL was now down a goal and a man.

After that the flood gates opened for San Jose.  Alan Gordon made it 2-0 to the Quakes in the 63rd minute, and the rout was on.  Wondo showed up again in the 72nd minute, torching RSL's back line and tapping home a goal near post to make it 3-0.  In the 79th minute Simon Dawkins made it 4-0, and Wondolowski made it 5-0 just one minute later.  The defense allowed a simple through ball in and hung Nick Rimando out to dry against the league's leading scorer.  Wondo polished off his hat-track to finally end the misery.

What to say?  Allow me to editorialize for a minute.  It would be really easy to blame the referee.  The red card was not the best call, in my opinion, and I saw plenty of unbiased opinion to that same effect last night.  However, the scrums have to stop.  The poor discipline has to stop.  As much as RSL fans and players want blood for the constant fouling of Javier Morales, this game isn't structured like that.  This isn't the NHL where your enforcer gets a spell in the penalty box after beating on a guy for taking a cheap shot on your star player.  RSL can't seem to get past that lately.  We were lucky not to have ejections against Portland.

Like it or not, the referee didn't let in the 5 goals.  RSL held a draw into stoppage time during the first match in San Jose this year, despite having two guys sent off.  The back line was all still on the pitch.  Watson-Siriboe got a bit of a baptism by fire as Jamison Olave appeared to be more interested in things other than defending.  It's too easy to buy into the "We got screwed" attitude, and it's all down hill from there.  In the final analysis, you can't do anything about the referee's choices, right or wrong.  You can control your own play on the pitch though, as Coach Kreis has mentioned a couple of times this year.

Credit to San Jose though, they took all nine points from RSL this year.  Bad refs or not, they deserve the credit for it.  They put the ball in the back of the net more times, and are clearly the team to beat in the Western Conference right now.

John Terry Cleared of Racial Abuse Charges

There was some big off the pitch news this morning in England.  Chelsea Captain John Terry has been cleared of charges that he racially abused QPR's Anton Ferdinand during a match at Loftus Road last season.

Terry's defense maintained that any words exchanged were a result of Ferdinand taunting Terry about an alleged affair that Terry had with Wayne Bridge's girlfriend.  Terry's assertation  is that he misheard "bridge" as "black" and that comments were made in response to this, not as insults directed at Ferdinand. 

The magistrate wrote in his opinion:

"The prosecution evidence as to what was said by Mr. Ferdinand at this point is not strong. Mr. (Ashley) Cole (the Chelsea defender) gives corroborating (although far from compelling corroborating) evidence on this point. It is therefore possible that what he said was not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him.''

Anton Ferdinand had been reluctant to pursue a criminal case in the matter, but was persuaded by an off duty police officer after the event.  The controversy resulted in Terry being stripped of the England Captain's arm band, and ultimately to the departure of Fabio Cappello, who publicly disagreed with the FA's decision.  Had Terry been convicted  he would have faced a fine of 2,500 pounds (3,900 dollars.)  Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said afterward that Terry is looking forward to getting his mind back on football.

MLS Transactions; RSL Acquire Local Boy, Vancouver Sells Chiumiento

RSL have acquired former Chivas and Montreal striker Justin Braun (right)

There were a couple of big time moves that went down in MLS yesterday, one will be of particular interest to Real Salt Lake Fans.  RSL have acquired striker Justin Braun from the Montreal Impact for a conditional 2014 SuperDraft pick.  So basically RSL acquired the 2nd leading scorer in Chivas USA history for practically nothing.

Braun is also the only native of Salt Lake City currently playing in MLS, so it will be a homecoming for him.  It gives the Claret and Cobalt a nice local tie in.  Braun adds immediate depth to the RSL front line, and he is expected to compete with Paulo Jr and Emiliano Bonfigli for the the 3rd striker roll behind Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espindola.  This will be crucial going into CONCACAF Champions League play.

Braun had 24 goals in all for Chivas USA.  He went to the Impact in a deal during the off season, but never caught on north of the border.  He's played in 12 games for the Impact this year, but has yet to score in 2012.

In other MLS player news, the Vancouver Whitecaps sold Davide Chiumiento to Swiss Super League side FC Zurich.  This is somewhat puzzling as he's been a key cog in the Whitecaps lineup this year, leading the club with five assists.  His role is expected to be filled by Scotsman Barry Robson, who has yet to impress after outings against Colorado and TFC.

Chiumiento has played in the Swiss League before.  He spent three years with FC Luzern in his native country.  In 2009-2010 he scored 11 goals for the club.

MLS Disciplinary Committee Strikes Again: Kelyn Rowe

The MLS Disciplinary Committee handed down it's first verdict of the week today, dropping the hammer on New England Revolution rookie Kelyn Rowe.  Rowe clipped NY 'keeper Ryan Meara in the head while going for the ball in the 87th minute of New England's 2-0 win over the Red Bulls last weekend.


Rowe has received a one game ban and has been fined ye olde undisclosed amount. He will serve his ban this weekend as the Revs host TFC. No foul was called on the play.

RSL's Saborio Wins Player of the Week

Alvaro Saborio (Center) jumps for a corner in the first half (Photo: Brandon Carter)

The Puddle would like to congratulate Alvaro Saborio of Real Salt Lake for winning MLS Player of the Week for week 18.  The Costa Rican international scored a hat-trick against the Portland Timbers Saturday night and ended RSL's four match winless streak.  The goals put him on ten for the season and vaults him into range of the golden boot leaders.  It was his first hat-trick in MLS and the third in RSL history.

Sabo is the first RSL man to win the honor since Jean Alexander (now of San Jose) won it last season in June.  It's the second time Sabo has won the award.  He garnered 11 of 16 first place votes with Philadelphia's Michael Farfan placing second.

Portland Timbers Sack John Spencer

John Spencer at Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday Night (Getty Images)

So it turns out that the Timbers 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake Saturday night was the last match for embattled head coach John Spencer.  The Scotsman was the first head coach in the Timbers' MLS history.  However, management ran out of patience as the Timbers were hit with 3 goals, 5 yellow cards, and a red card in the last 30 minutes in Salt Lake City.  MLSSoccer.com says the Timbers played even with RSL prior to that, but despite the 0-0 score, it wasn't the case.  The Timbers had zero attacking presence and only some superlative goal keeping from Troy Perkins kept the Timbers from conceding at least one in the first half.

Portland had a decent season for an expansion team last year, going 11-14-9.  They only missed out on a playoff spot by four points.  Unfortunately for Spencer, the team has failed to improve so far this season, going 5-8-4.  Impressive wins over Seattle, San Jose, and Sporting KC were not enough to save him as the team is winless away from Jeld-Wen Field this season.

Timbers GM Gavin Wilkinson will take over for Spencer.  According to MLS, the Timbers will not hire a permanent replacement before the end of the season, instead focusing on a list of quality candidates who could take over next year.  Some banter in the MLS community has focused on Eric Wynalda and former Revs coach Steve Nichol.  However, Wynalda has been hired by Atlanta in the NASL and Nichol, despite his experience, doesn't bring anything different to the table than Spencer did.

Click here to see MLS's list of top 5 men for the job.

Match Thoughts: Chicago Fire vs. L.A. Galaxy

LA's Robbie Keane passes between 2 defenders.  (Getty Images)

The Galaxy came into Sunday's match trying to break a little losing streak after losses at San Jose and at home versus Philadelphia.  David Beckham wasn't around due to suspension, and both Landon Donovan and Mike Magee started the match on the bench for the defending champions.  Chicago has been playing very well since the international break, and had clawed themselves into 4th place in the east.  The bad news for the Fire was that they were missing midfield creative force Sebastián Grazzini, who returned home to Argentina to deal with personal issues

There were goals in the match, but it really played like a boring scoreless draw.  Neither team really established much offensively and there were very few decent chances created.  The Galaxy did have the first good luck of the match on 9 minutes, but Chad Barrett hit his open look high and wide of the upper ninety.  Two minutes later the Fire had a decent look of their own, but Jalil Anibaba shanked a hard hit volley wide on a corner kick to squander the chance.

Things really started to go downhill for Chicago in the 23rd minute with Anibaba again in the middle of the action.  He deflected an LA cross off of his hand right on the edge of the penalty area.  It was close enough to the area for the referee to award a penalty kick, which Robbie Keane promptly hit in off the inside of the post to make it 0-1 to the Galaxy.

The first half ended with little other action, and the second half didn't show much promise from either side either.  Landon Donovan entered the game later in the half as Bruce Arena tried to seal the win.  In the 78th minute Donovan found Keane on a counter attack going into the box.  Keane mishit the shot, but Sean Johnson somehow left his near post uncovered and Keane's weak shot rolled over the line to give the Galaxy a 0-2 lead.  The Fire never threatened the Galaxy goal, and the defending champs held on for the win.

NOTES:  While serving his suspension, Beckham was in England watching the Wimbledon final.  Juninho picked up a yellow card for dissent in the 14th minute and will miss the Galaxy's next match.  The win vaults them over the Colorado Rapids and into the 5th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  The Fire remain in 4th place in the East, 3 points ahead of the Houston Dynamo.  There's no word yet on if or when Grazzini will return to the squad.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Alvaro Saborio vs. Portland Timbers

I'm going to be a homer this weekend, sorry. Check out Saborio's text book headed goal that gave RSL the lead against Portland. His hat trick puts him on 10 goals for the season and has him among the league leaders.

Match Thoughts: Real Salt Lake Pounds Portland Timbers

RSL's Javier Morales grew tired of Portland's "Hack-a-Javy" strategy. (Getty Images)

Last night was just what Real Salt Lake needed to build on the clean sheet result vs. Seattle in the midweek.  In the second half, they finally put it all together: defense, midfield, and forwards.  The result was an absolute drubbing of the Portland Timbers, who continue to be one of MLS's most under-achieving teams.

The first half wasn't too bad from the Claret and Cobalt either, as they held the majority of the possession and got some chances at goal.  In the 19th minute, Will Johnson let loose a sizzling drive that looked sure to put RSL in the lead, but Portland 'keeper Troy Perkins made a great save to tip it over.  Jamison Olave had a great chance as well on 35 minutes with a header from a set piece, but collapsed in frustration as the shot went over the bar.

What about the Timbers?  How did they manage?  Well, they were content to sit back and wait for chances on the counter attack.  They came out with Danny Mwanga as the lone striker up front and left DP Kris Boyd on the bench.   However, even their counter-attack chances were limited.  They had their best chance of the night in the 33rd minute when Olave blocked a counter attack shot from Eric Alexander that preserved the 0-0 tie going into halftime.

RSL finally exploded in the second half, and the Timbers could not keep up with them.  On the hour mark, Captain Kyle Beckerman sent a beautiful ball across the six to the far post, where Alvaro Saborio was stationed.  The Costa Rican international jumped and headed the ball hard at the ground.  It skipped past Troy Perkins to make it 1-0 to RSL.

Sabo wasn't done with his headers either.  In the 62nd minute it was Chris Wingert who provided the service for the big striker as he sent a cross into the six.  Sabo leaped into the air smashed that one into the net as well to make it 2-0 to the home side.

Then things got ugly.  Apparently the Portland Timbers are sore losers.

In the 64h minute, Portland's Diego Chara went in for an absolutely nasty tackle on Javier Morales.  In my view, he made no attempt to play the ball.  Portland had been going after Javy all night long, and this was the last straw.  RSL came rushing to his aid and a scrum ensued, in which former RSL man David Horst absolutely decked Olave.  When things were sorted out, yellow cards were given to RSL's Will Johnson and Chara and Horst for Portland.  The league needs to take action against Chara and Horst.  It was a disgrace.  Portland didn't stop there either, as both Lovell Palmer and Steven Smith were given yellow cards in the next 3 minutes for nasty tackles on Morales.

RSL finally put the Timbers out of their misery in the 74th minute.  They executed a corner kick, which Sabo again headed toward goal.  Diego Chara did his best Luis Suarez impression, and handballed the kick on the goal line.  He received a straight red card and RSL was awarded a PK, which Sabo promptly swatted to make it 3-0 and earn his hat trick.  Portland could barely get a touch on the ball in the last 15, and only a spectacular save from Perkins in stoppage time kept Morales off the board and preserved the 3-0 score at full time.

NOTES:  Portland did not have a single shot on frame the entire match.  They drop to 0-6-2 on the road this year, and they haven't scored a single goal in their last five road matches.  They held only 37% possession.  Ned Grabavoy limped off the pitch in the first half for RSL after a knock to the knee from yet another nasty Portland tackle.  His condition will be evaluated further.

Match Thoughts: Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

Colorado's Omar Cummings and Vancouver's Alain Rochat (AP Photo)

Last time the Rapids took the field at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, they had one of their best outings of the year against the Portland Timbers.  However, they found the sledding a little tougher against the Vancouver  Whitecaps for their annual 4th of July match.  For their part, Vancouver was debuting their latest signing, former SPL man Barry Robson. 

The Scot tried out the mile high air in the 4th minute, banging a shot towards the Rapids' goal from distance that sailed well over the bar.  It would be one of only two first half shots for Vancouver as the Rapids largely dominated possession on their home field.

The men in Burgundy carved out their first significant chance of the match on 14 minutes.  Striker Conor Casey, who has been doing well working his way back to total match fitness, had a nice look from the left side of the penalty area but dragged his shot just wide of the far post.  Casey stayed active after that though, forcing a near post save out of Joe Cannon on 31 minutes.  The Rapids got one of their best chances of the night in the 39th as Luis Zapata sent a cross into the far post to Jaime Castrillon.  He nodded the ball down toward the goal, but at the last second it deflected off of Casey and out of trouble.

Then in the 43rd minute the opportunistic Whitecaps made the Rapids pay for missing their chances.  Jordan Harvey sent an early ball into the top of the 18 from just inside the attacking half, looking for the run of Darren Mattocks.  Rapids defender Drew Moor got to it, but it bounced off of him and right to Mattocks, who easily slotted the ball past Matt Pickens to give the Whitecaps a 0-1 lead at halftime.

The Rapids never seemed to get going in the second half, despite having a majority of their top attacking options on the pitch.  Vancouver was more than ready to protect their one goal lead at altitude, pulling nearly all their players in behind the ball in a well designed game of bunker ball.  Colorado just could not break them down, and for the most part seemed to lack the energy to maker a serious go at it.

In the end, the best they could do was a half chance in stoppage time.  Conor Casey got a look from a corner kick, but saw his header go way off the mark and the Whitecaps easily held on to the 0-1 win.  It was a really hard loss to swallow for the Rapids, especially after they looked so good against Portland.  In the end, the well organized Vancouver defense neutralized any decent offensive threat the former MLS Cup champs could muster.

Impact Sign Nesta

New Montreal Impact signing Alessandro Nesta (TVA Sports)

So the Montreal Impact have staged a bit of a coup, signing former Italian International and AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta.  The club did not release official details of the deal, but it is believed to be an 18 month deal.  However, MLSsoccer.com is reporting that he will NOT be a designated player.

The 36 year old defender has played his entire career in his native Italy, including winning the FIFA World Cup in 2006 with the Italian National team.  He has also won the Serie A title, the UEFA Champions League, the Coppa Italia, and the FIFA Club World Cup while on duty with AC Milan.

Downside for the Impact, he's 36 years old.  Serious back injuries nearly forced his retirement a few years back.  Last season he only made 17 appearances in Serie A for Milan, along with 7 appearances in the UEFA Champions League.  It will be interesting to see how he can hold up over the course of the MLS season, with the artificial turf at some venues and the extensive travel.  However, there is no question that he will add some veteran leadership to the Impact.

MLS Slaps Beckham on the Hand, Fines Two Coaches

Ah yes, that time every week when the MLS Disciplinary Committee comes out and largely makes a fool of itself by handing down (or not handing down) punishments for the past weekend's offenses.  It's like waiting to hear about a US Supreme Court decision, only much more lame.  You may fault the Supreme Court's logic in the recent health care ruling, but they seem down right logical next to what came out of MLS today.

Rewind to last weekend's California Clasico.  Ok, first off, MLS doesn't have "clasicos."  Lets stop pretending we do.  Rivalry?  Yes.  Derby?  Sure.  Clasico?  Get outta here. 

But I digress.

Last weekend David Beckham showed us all what a complete and utter tool he can be during the Galaxy's loss to the San Jose Earthquakes.  Not only did he stomp all over the pitch throwing temper tantrums like the spoiled brat he actually is, but he got into it with the Earthquakes' MASCOT.  He also kicked a ball square at the referee, who happened to be attending to an "injured" Earthquakes player at the time.  I guess Becky-wecky was a little peeved that he didn't make the Great Britain Olympic team.

News flash dude, you play in MLS.  Your once formidable team is mired midtable.  Nobody cares.

Anyway, MLS really had the chance the drop the hammer on Beckham.  After all, Brek Shea got a three game ban for kicking the ball at a linesman a couple of months ago against the Crew.  MLS handed down Beckham's punishment today.  He got a once match ban.  Double standard much?  Yes, I know Beckham missed the last match against Philly for yellow card accumulation, but that's altogether separate.  MLS had a chance to come out and show they treat players equally in this process.  What they actually showed is that a meal ticket like Beckham is head and shoulders above everybody else, even the league's other bona fide stars like Brek Shea.  So Beckham will miss this weekend's match at Chicago.  I doubt he cares one lick.

In other semi interesting disciplinary news, MLS hit Galaxy coach Bruce Arena and Montreal coach Jesse Marsch with fines of undisclosed amounts for complaining about the officials.  Arena complains all the time.  Marsch felt his team was cheated by some questionable PK calls against Sporting Kansas City.

No word on if or when MLS will actually admit that their officials stink.

Match Thoughts Portland Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes

Portland's Eric Alexander and San Jose's Chris Wondolowski. (AP Photo)

The San Jose Earthquakes have looked to be near invincible at times this year.  They've been the best team in MLS at getting the crucial goal or the crucial stop just when they've needed it.  Their last two victims, RSL and the LA Galaxy, could testify to as much.   On the other hand, Portland was coming off of a 3 goal pounding at the hands of Colorado, and they needed this match in a big way.

Coach Jon Spencer had them playing like they needed it pretty much right out of the gate.  Portland moved the ball with a lot of confidence against the San Jose defense and looked poised to carve out some chances.  The first of them came in minute seven, as Franck Songo'o hit a shot on target that forced a save out of David Bingham in the San Jose net.  

That didn't quite wake the Quakes up enough.  In the 15th minute Eric Alexander found his way through the blue clad defense and hit a shot that rattled off the post and away from danger.  Then in the 22nd minute Darlington Nagbe took a little a drop off pass from Kris Boyd in the area, but banged his shot over the bar.  He probably puts that on frame eight out of ten times.

The Timbers kept up the pressure and finally broke through in the 29th minute.  The Rose City men sprung a nice looking counter up their right side and Songo'o picked out newcomer Danny Mwanga with a pass into the box.  The former Union man perfectly timed a right footed strike into the top of the net to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead over San Jose, and that score held into the break.

The Timbers had a great chance to build on their solid first half right off the bat in the second.  In minute 48, both Nagbe and Alexander had good looks blocked, and the second rebound fell to Lovell Palmer, who smacked a shot on target only to have Bingham make the save. 

However in the 59th they did succeed in doubling their lead.  It's important to note that John Busch, the regular San Jose keeper, was out with an eye injury.  Backup David Bingham dropped the ball after saving a shot from Futty Danso and Timbers Captain Jack Jewsbury was there to escort the ball over the line to make it 2-0 to Portland.

It's never over against the Quakes though.  They subbed Steven Lenhart into the match, and the Sideshow commenced.  He made an immediate impact, smacking a shot just over the bar in minute 64.  Ten minutes after that, Marvin Chavez had his shot blocked, but the ever opportunistic Alan Gordon was right there to bang home the rebound and make it 2-1 with 15 minutes left.

The Quakes put a lot pf pressure on the Portland goal throughout those last 15 minutes.  Unfortunately for them, the breaks just didn't fall their way.  They did get an obscene SIX MINUTES of stoppage time, but only fashioned one chance.  In the 93rd minute Gordon got a header shot toward net off of a free kick, but it sailed wide and the Timbers held on for the 2-1 win.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Danny Mwanga vs. San Jose

Our goal of the midweek comes courtesy of MLS. Check out Danny Mwanga's perfectly timed strike as the Portland Timbers took down the 1st Place San Jose Earthquakes 2-1.

Match Thoughts: Houston Dynamo vs. Philadelphia Union

Brian Ching puts the Dynamo in the lead from the spot. (Getty Images)

The Philadelphia Union traveled to Houston and the new BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday hoping to build on the momentum of their previous home victory against Sporting Kansas City.  The Dynamo were looking forward to some home cooking after a lackluster performance last time out against the Montreal Impact.

The Union have certainly been playing better since the dismissal of Peter Nowack as manager, but the Dynamo controlled this match early on.  Brad Davis was very active, as per usual, and they were also featuring a brand new designated player.  Honduran attacker Oscar Boniek Garcia, a Gold Cup veteran, made his debut for the club and looked pretty good.  He didn't do anything flashy, but definitely helped set up the attack as Houston debuted a new 4-3-3 formation.

The Dynamo put some decent pressure on the Philly goal in the first 20 minutes, and it finally paid off in the 19th.  Mac Kandji took a cross from Boniek Garcia near the top of the area and laid it off to Brad Davis.  Davis, ever the expert marksman, chipped the ball over the 'keeper and nestled it into the side netting to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.

Houston would also have a chance to double the lead before the half.  Set pieces are a forte of this club, and they nearly made another one pay off in the 34th minute.  Brad Davis found the head of US International Geoff Cameron, but the big central defender somehow missed the target with his shot and the half ended at 1-0.

The Union came out like a totally different team in the second half though and equalized almost immediately.  In the 46th minute Brian Carroll connected with one Keon Daniel, who blasted the ball past Tally Hall into the bottom of the goal to tie the match at 1-1 and send the Dynamo reeling.

Philadelphia would continue to press for the go ahead goal in the next minutes and the Dynamo put out a lot of work to withstand the storm.  Michael Farfan had a shot saved by Hall in the 48th minute, and Gabriel Gomez had a shot blocked in the 53rd.  Their best chance came in the 72nd minute when super sub Antoine Hoppenot sent a shot just over Tally Hall's crossbar.  

However the game changer happened in the the 81st minute when Gabe Farfan brought down Brian Ching in the 18 to concede a PK.  The Houston main-stay then stepped up himself to take the kick, and iced it to make the score 2-1 in the 82nd and hand the Dynamo 3 points at home.  It was also his first goal in the new Stadium, which is often called "the house that Ching built."

Match Thoughts: Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake

RSL's Borchers & Tanaka battle the Crew's Tony Tchani (Getty Images)

A major storm system blew through central Ohio early this weekend and left many of the residents without power.  This included the guys from Real Salt Lake, who were in town to play the Columbus Crew Saturday night.  Power was restored to Crew Stadium and the match was held, but RSL continued to suffer a power outage on the pitch as the Crew roared to a convincing 2-0 victory.

RSL barely had time to get a feel for the match when the Crew took advantage of the Claret and Cobalt's continued defensive woes to tally the first score.  In the 16th minute Emilio Renteria took a ball from Sebastian Miranda and worked his way past RSL's Chris Wingert.  He laid the ball off to Tony Tchani, who was hanging out in the middle of the penalty area, and Tchani expertly slid the ball into the RSL net to make it 1-0 to the Crew'

However it wasn't just the defense that struggled for RSL in this one.  They also had issues getting anything going on offense.  This can be par for the course against the Crew, who can be pretty stingy in their half of the pitch.  Plus Andy Gruenebaum has been outstanding in net all year.  Javi Morales managed to get a free kick shot on target in the 36th minute, but it went right to the aforementioned G-Baum for an easy save.  It would be one of only two shots on target for RSL.

The Crew doubled their lead in the 44th minute, and it was yet another goal from a set piece chance.  These have doomed RSL of late.  Chris Birchall sent in a corner and Josh Williams managed to bring it down for Eddie Gaven.  Gaven then calmly stroked the ball past Nick Rimando to make it 2-0 going into the half.

There honestly wasn't much doing for either side in the second half as the Crew were in complete control.  RSL did have a decent chance to get one goal back in the 71st minute when Emiliano Bonfigli forced a late clearance from the Crew defense in front of goal.  In the end it was all RSL could muster and the Crew hung on for the comfortable 2-0 win.

NOTES:  RSL was without Captain Kyle Beckerman, who was suspended for yellow card accumulation.  Also Ned Grabavoy and Jamison Olave did not travel with the team due to injury concerns.  The match started 1 hour late due to the power issues, and RSL had no AC in their hotel for most of the weekend.  However, the team correctly refused to make excuses either for loss by blaming either of these conditions.  They'll look to right the ship at home Wednesday against Seattle.  The Crew will get some down time, as their next match is July 8 in Montreal.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Wondo Flicks Quakes Past L.A.

Our goal of the weekend takes us to Major League Soccer's California Clasico.  Late in the match MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski put the Quakes ahead for good with this cheeky little flick goal!

Congrats to Spain! Euro 2012 Champions!

Action Images

The Puddle would like to extend congratulations to the players, staff, and supporters of Spain for capturing the Euro 2012 Championship.  Today they completed their incredible run to their latest trophy, beating Italy in convincing fashion, 4-0.

By capturing the title, they also made a little bit of history.  With previous wins in Euro 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010, they earned their 3rd consecutive major international trophy.  Very impressive!  They're clearly the best in the world right now, and in my opinion, they have to be in the argument for best national side ever.

There's an extra little tidbit for my fellow Chelsea supporters:  Fernando Torres was awarded the Euro 2012 Golden Boot!