The daunting Estadio Azteca awaits the United States

by Sean Heffernan 

BTeamBombers writer Sean Heffernan touches on five topics heating up in the soccer world from David Beckham to the upcoming World Cup Qualifer between US/Mexico to the MLS salary cap to Real Madrid. Enjoy! ...

1. Next week: US Goes to Azteca to Face Mexico in World Cup Qualifier

The United States has never beaten Mexico inside the massive 105,000 seat Estadio Azteca. A upset over El Tri this coming Wednesday would be the perfect ending to a history making summer of soccer for the U.S. National Team. That feat is easier said than done. Just imagine a 100,000 plus screaming Mexicans in a mist of colored smoke bombs, flying beers, and waving Mexico flags. Not to mention the August late afternoon  humidity beating down on the field at 7200 feet above sea level.  Azteca is undoubtidly one of the hardest places to play in the world. Although, the U.S. has already done the impossible this summer. The upset over #1 ranked Spain in the Confederations Cup has made the U.S. team relevant in the American sports landscape to a degree even David Beckham has yet to truly achieve. ESPN was unable to aquire the game's rights (NBC will show the game on Mun2 in English as well as telemundo...check your local listings), but is still putting on a full out pre-game and post-game shows  even though the game will not be aired on their network.

Expect US coach Bob Bradley to stick to the lineup he used in South Africa during the Confederations Cup with U.S . all time leading goal scorer,  Landon Donovan leading the attack. Donovan will be the most hated man in Mexico City when the two countries hit the field as he long has been a pest to the Green, Red, and White. The US/Mexico game  (4 P.M. EST, set your DVRs if you can't get out of work) will likely be one of the most watched soccer games in United States' history. Any world football expert would be hard pressed to find a more heated rivalry between two countries than the "Border War" between the US and Mexico. If you love rivalries you will love US and Mexico in Azteca.

2. Fox Soccer Channel Needs HD ASAP

Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) should be commended for all the significant number of games it televises as well as their  nightly soccer reports and terrific soccer talk show, Fox Football Fone In, but the channel is falling behind in one area specifically: High Definition. FSC has set a target date of January 2010 to begin airing some matches in HD. The fact that FSC is not being concrete about an exact date when they will be HD operational makes me worry if they'll actually be able to meet their tentative goal. Today,  a televised athletic event that isn't in HD looks 10 years old compared to a game in HD. Not having HD makes it harder for FSC to compete with ESPN who has HD and bigger budgets for their broadcasts. ESPN already has won the rights to some EPL coverage as well the World Cup next summer. Fox onthe rights to this year's Champions League and hopefully will air some games on other Fox channels other than FSC that actually have HD until the channel is available in HD. C'mon Rupert Murdock! Get her done!

3. FC Dallas on the Rise?

After selling their leading goal scorer American Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich earlier this month, FC Dallas has won two straight slowly creeping back into the playoff picture. Long time MLS pro Jeff Cunningham has scored 5 goals in two games (4 goals in last Saturday night's game). Check out my interview with FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty. I'm excited to see what FC Dallas young group of American players can do the second half of the season with the likes of Brek Shea, Kyle Davies, Anthony Wallace, and McCarty leading the way. Now if they could only figure out a way to get more fans at their games. Maybe owner Clark Hunt should give Jerry Jones a call. Winning for a change should help though.

4. MLS Players Union After Free Agency

Unlike other major sports in this country MLS players do not have the luxury of free agency where they have multiple teams bid for their services which drives up salaries. Instead the league handles all the players contracts  as one single entity. It seems unlikey that the owners will give in to the players's demands especially in this economic climate, but any type of lock out would be devastating for the 16-year-old league. The MLS's salary cap desperatly needs to be raised with  too many players getting paid less a year than they would  make if they were out digging ditches on the side of the road. Some players even have to coach youth soccer teams or work a side job just make ends meet. You have to respect these guys playing for the love of the game, but the league is big enough to point where teams should be able to pay their players enough to live on. If teams are allowed to spend more, teams can bring higher quality talent to the league improving the product on the field: the most vital component to MLS growing as a league. Hopefully this matter between the players and the league will be resolved shortly.  

5.  What to Watch This Weekend

Mega rich Spanish club Real Madrid and their duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka are rumored to be making their debut together tonight as the Galacticos face MLS side Toronto FC in a pre-season friendly (ESPN 7:30 EST). Madrid signed the Brazilian, Kaka ($92 million), former Manchester United star and Portugese international  Ronaldo  ($131 million), and French goal scorer Karim Benzema ($48 million) this offseason.

On Saturday, David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy will see if they can continue their recent success as they travel to New England to face the Revolution (6 PM EST, FSC). Beckham was booed last week in the Galaxy's friendly with FC Barcelona until he scored a bending free kick for L.A. to tie the game up with the Champions of Europe. The Galaxy eventually lost the game 2-1 to Barcelona, but one would think if Beckham continues to play as well as he has been playing Galaxy fans will quickly forgive him for his loan departure last winter to AC Milan. I don't know how well the Revolution fans will treat the Englishmen on Saturday, but hopefully they get a nice crowd for the game. The Galaxy/Revolution game will be followed on FSC by another MLS contest between the San Jose Earthquakes and 2008 MLS Cup Champs the Columbus Crew which in addittion will be followed by Barcelona facing Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara live from San Francisco in another friendly match.

If that's not enough soccer for you on Sunday the Houston Dynamo host the Chicago Fire in a battle of two of the leagues best teams (Go Fire! Sorry, Chicago bias). The English Premier League kicks off as the world's most popular club Manchester United and the Blues of Chelsea square off in the Community Shield (10 AM EST, FSC). Then to cap off your soccer weekend you can catch DC United have their stab at Real Madrid (3 PM ET, FSC). Here's to sitting on our arses all weekend!

Please comment below!

In a new segment, soccer writer Sean Heffernan takes the pulse of the American soccer landscape. Today's installment touches on the MLS All Star Game, the U.S.'s failure in the Gold Cup Final against heated rival Mexico, Manchester United's hopes for another EPL title, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu's loan possibilites, and the upcoming L.A. Galaxy/Barcelona friendly. Enjoy! ...

1.       MLS All-Star Game: The Most Entertaining All Star Game in Sports

Last night the best players in Major League Soccer squared off against English Premier League club Everton in Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Instead of the typical interleague East vs. West format other American sports use, MLS chooses one squad of All Stars and plays a club from overseas. American soccer fans get to see the best players in their domestic league (MLS) as well as stars they normally would never see play.

In terms of quality of the actual game the MLS is ahead of the rest of the country’s professional sports leagues. The MLB All Star game is bound in controversy over the World Series home field advantage rule and more people seem to enjoy the Home Run Derby than the actual game. The NHL All Star game is a watered down version of hockey with very little checking.  Five minutes into the NBA All Star Game you realize that every play ends in a dunk. No one watches the Pro Bowl. I don’t know what it is about soccer, but last night you could tell that both squads were going full speed. Seeing stars like Landon Donovan, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, and Freddy Ljungberg putting in a whole hearted performance is much more entertaining to me then watching Kobe, Lebron,and Shaq playing at 70%. Inside Rio Tinto Stadium (brand new soccer specific home of MLS side Real Salt Lake) the crowd of over 20,000 got their money’s worth on the field.  

After 90 plus minutes the game was tied thanks to a clinic put on in both nets by current and former U.S. National Team goalies Tim Howard (Everton) and Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC). In the penalty shootout, both goalies continued to display their brilliance in net blocking numerous free kicks (most goalies can only muster a save or two in penalty kicks if their lucky) In the end Tim Howard made one more save then fellow countrymen Kasey giving the victory to Everton.

2.       The Golden Disappointment: Mexico’s Thrashing of US in Gold Cup

I was at Soldier Field for the Gold Cup semifinal doubleheader between U.S. vs. Honduras and Mexico vs. Costa Rica. Towards the end of the U.S. game it was really noticeable how tired the U.S. squad was. A late game injection of Kenny Cooper galvanized the American squad for a second goal, but I felt Bob Bradley would have to mix up the lineup for the final as to put the freshest team on the pitch in New York against Mexico. Instead U.S. coach Bradley put the same starting 11 out against Mexico leaving hungry players like Kenny Cooper, Sam Cronin, and Santino Quaranta on the bench. The US played Mexico to tie at half, but Mexico made early subs whereas Bradley held off aiding his tired squad until it was too late and the Mexican onslaught ended in a embarrassing score line of 5-0. Bradley simply mismanaged the U.S. squad’s fitness going into the final. Our boys simply ran out of legs. Hopefully, we’ll get some revenge in the massive World Cup Qualifier against Mexico in Azteca coming up in a few weeks.

3.       Man United Looks Pedestrian Without Ronaldo and Tevez

Despite selling Cristiano Ronaldo for a fortune, Manchester United has yet to buy a big name this offseason as they prepare to defend their English Premier League title for the second year in a row. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed Englishmen Michael Owen even though the former Newcastle striker hasn’t been in form for a few years. However, I did watch a classic match on FSC when Owen played for Liverpool and in the early part of this decade he was one of the best forwards in the world. Still, without the creative spark of a Cristiano Ronaldo or Carlos Tevez I would not be surprised to see the Red Devils fall behind the likes of Chelsea or Liverpool this year in the EPL.

4.       Americans Abroad Transfer Talk: Altidore and Adu Up in the Air

Last season was a lesson for both U.S. youngsters Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu. Altidore and Adu spent last season on unsuccessful loan deals from their respective clubs. Altidore looked promising earlier in the year earning a few appearances for Villarreal in Spain, but was loaned to Segundo club Xerez where he never saw the field. Former child prodigy Freddy Adu was loaned from his Portugese club Benfica to Ligue One side Monaco, but the 20-year old never really figured into the team’s plans while in the south of France. Now back with their original clubs both Americans are looking for more playing time. Rumors had been swirling around Altidore going to Greece and playing for Olympiakos, but no deal ever materialized. The latest news on Altidore is that Spanish club Malaga CF is back in the hunt for the striker according to goal.com and radio reports out of Spain. As for Freddy Adu there was reported interest from an unnamed Dutch club a few days ago, but he is now currently training with Benfica.

5.       David Beckham and the Galaxy Face Barcelona in the Rose Bowl  

This month European clubs such as Chelsea, AC Milan, and Inter Milan have drawn huge crowds across America hinting at a growing fan base for “The Beautiful Game” stateside. This coming Saturday’s match between David Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy and Champions League winners, Barcelona, should  add to what has been a great summer for soccer in this country. There should be a great atmosphere inside Pasadena’s massive Rose Bowl. Barcelona has two of the biggest names in world football on roster in Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi along with a slew of other world class stars. Messi has to have the inside track for FIFA’s Player of the Year award after leading Barcelona past Manchester United in the Champions League Final earlier this year in Rome. Saturday’s game should be competitive as the Galaxy are currently playing wonderfully in MLS while Barcelona’s squad is out of form with the La Liga season kicking off at the end of August. Regardless, this David vs. Goliath match should make for good television (Saturday, 8 P.M. EST, Fox Soccer Channel).

Feel free to comment below!

by Sean Heffernan

The storm over David Beckham’s return to America came to a head in an awkward moment during a press conference prior to the LA Galaxy’s match with the New York Red Bulls last Thursday. Beckham responded to a question from Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl by asking if Wahl’s question was for his second unofficial book or his magazine. The unofficial book Beckham referred to was Wahl’s The Beckham Experiment, which has been the biggest source of negative media coverage that has met the midfielder since he’s returned stateside from his loan deal with AC Milan. ...Wahl’s book included comments from Galaxy captain Landon Donovan criticizing the way Beckham handled himself the past few years in Los Angeles.

To add to the media fire during the half time of last weekend’s friendly between the Galaxy and AC Milan (the game was negotiated as part of Beckham’s loan deal) Beckham almost got in a physical altercation with an angry Galaxy fan who had jumped onto the field.  Yet, despite all the hullabaloo surrounding the international star, on the pitch things have turned around for Beckham and the Galaxy. L.A. is the hottest team in MLS at the moment, riding a three game win streak into this weekend’s clash with the Kansas City Wizards. As for the controversy, Beckham and Donovan met with each other in a meeting set up by Galaxy manager Bruce Arena upon the Englishmen’s return and worked out their differences. Still, as much as the Galaxy may want to put the disturbances aside and focus on soccer, I get the feeling that the rest of the season in L.A. won’t go drama-free.

When David Beckham first came to the Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid, the Englishmen arrived in a media whirlwind as a soccer missionary to the United States. The American public underwent Beckham-mania leaving a lot of people wondering “Who was this extremely famous soccer player who talks like the GEICO gecko?” Beckham increased America’s awareness of soccer and the MLS, but the league was unable to fully capitalize on Beckham’s marketability as the midfielder’s first two years in the league were marred by injury and losing.

Beckham had come to Los Angeles with his tenure with England's national team seemingly on its last legs following his involvement in the 2006 World Cup. Then his former manager at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello, was hired as England manager following the Three Lions’ failure to qualify for EURO 2008. Capello began to call Beckham back into the England roster, but made it clear that if he wanted to be a part of the World Cup in 2010 that he needed to be playing at a top level European club. Bunkered in the terror that was last season for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham made the decision to honor his Capello’s request and go overseas to super-club AC Milan on a loan deal.

Upon the Englishmen's arrival to Milan, Beckham answered his critics quickly earning a spot in the starting lineup chock full of elite players. Beckham’s playmaking abilities meshed well with the world class finishing of Alexander Pato, Filippo Inzaghi, and Ricardo Kaka helping the Italian club rediscover its form after a disappointing start to the season. Enjoying his success in Milan, Beckham announced that he'd like to stay beyond the original loan deal infuriating some Galaxy fans back across the pond. Was Beckham abandoning his American expedition?

His aspirations to lead the great conversion of America to “the beautiful game” had fallen to the wayside with his revised personal goals forging a new future for the world famous footballer. However, the LA Galaxy refused to topple over in negotiations when many European pundits thought the MLS club would cave in quickly to Beckham and mighty AC Milan’s demands. The Galaxy awarded Beckham an extension to his loan deal on the condition that returned for the second half of the Galaxy’s 2009 campaign and forked over a healthy amount of his own money to finance the loan.

 The debate over Beckham’s act of self interest was on display in his return to the Home Depot Center against AC Milan as the Galaxy’s supporters’ club the “LA Riot Squad” waved banners calling Beckham a fraud and a traitor. In the game of soccer playing for your country is everything. The World Cup is the biggest stage in the world of sports and you can't really fault any human being for wanting to be a part of that. If Beckham went against Capello's advice and thrown away his national team chances he would have been thrashed in the U.K. for turning his back on his country. The fact is that despite being in the latter stages of his career, Beckham’s skill set hasn’t deteriorated with his age. Beckham has made his living making his teammates better with his intelligent, deadly accurate passing. Prior to coming to America, Beckham should have known that his England days were not quite behind him yet. He’s guilty of underestimating himself, but Beckham doing what he needs to do to make it to South Africa next year isn’t something that should keep Galaxy fans up at night. However, there may be a few inebriated “Riot Squad” members that just think it’s too much fun to not harass Beckham now that he’s challenged them to a fight once already.

In the first half of Saturdy's friendly whenever Beckham touched the ball an amalgamation of cheers and boos cascaded onto the field from the stands evocative of the spilt amongst American soccer fans over #23. At half time Beckham approached the “Riot Squad” to make peace, but his efforts seemed to only encourage the section’s taunting of the superstar. Then uncharacteristically Beckham lost his cool and attempted to hop the barrier to confront the “Riot Squad” member. Thankfully security and the players on the field got a hold of Beckham before the situation got completely out of hand.

Earlier in his career Beckham had flicked off raucous soccer hooligans, but never had the former England captain lost his cool to the point of almost getting in a physical altercation with a fan. In the second half Beckham had the last word, rifling a hurling corner kick off teammate Bryan Jordan’s head and into the back of the AC Milan goal. Beckham turned around to find most of the Riot Squad cheering for the goal, a sign that in the end winning cures all. The Galaxy are a better team with Beckham is on the field and I don’t think it will take long for the fans to realize that.

Does this incident show that Beckham does care about salvaging something from his time in L.A. and even willing to go blows over it? I don’t blame Beckham for going to Italy, but I do think that he does owe an apology to Galaxy fans for the team’s poor play the last two seasons. The Galaxy invested a fortune in him and the least he can do is apologize for his mistakes and other commitments and move on. It doesn’t matter if leaving the Galaxy was the best option for Beckham, it matters that he takes responsibility for his actions. Honesty goes a long way with people.

I can see why Galaxy fans would be upset over not having Beckham for the first half of their season, but I think the fans have a lot more to gain by embracing Beckham than they do booing him. What does turning Beckham into a backstabbing villain do for the growth of soccer in this country? Nothing. All it is cannon fodder for Beckham haters and soccer haters.

MLS has learned its lesson in that one player can’t turn America into a soccer nation overnight, but at this juncture the best thing for this league is to get the most out of Beckham as they can before he leaves for Europe on another probably loan deal. Hopefully, the Galaxy will do everything in their power to secure Beckham’s return following next summer’s World Cup. His family will be settled in Los Angeles and Beckham can finish what he started in America.

Running the most marketable soccer player in the world out of the league is not a good business strategy for the MLS. The best thing for the development of soccer in America is for the Galaxy to continue to play the way they’re playing and make a run deep into the playoffs. It might even be ideal that LA comes up just short in the playoffs so that Beckham has additional incentive to return in 2010 and claim the MLS Cup.

We may not know what the future holds for the world’s most well known footballer and his foray into the American sports landscape, but the coming months will certainly help to define what David Beckham’s legacy will be in the United States when all is said and done.

by Sean Heffernan

After announcing  he's through with Italian football, Pavel Nedved (Czech soccer legend and now former Juventus star) is considering a move to the United States to professionally. Recently, the MLS has been an attractive setting for players who are nearing the twilight of their careers.  Late career moves to MLS have played out successfully for players like Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), and Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle Sounders FC). At 35, Nedved is coming off a stellar season with his long time club Juventus and can still perform at a very high level for at least a few more years.

 The best situation for the MLS would be if Nedved went to one of the bigger media markets America so to maxmize the exposure Nedved would garner. The L.A. Galaxy already has enough invested in David Beckham so I doubt they’d be in the market for another big name. Likewise, the Galaxy's Los Angeles rival, Chivas U.S.A., typically doesn’t splash money around on non-Latino players. Whereas the New York Red Bulls have big plans for next season with their new stadium opening and signing Nedved could be a good step in turning the club around after a dismal start to this year's season. I hope Pavel and his representation take Beckham's hardship in LA as a good lesson to go to a team that can win right away (unlike the NYRB). The Red Bulls might already have their sights set on bringing in Frenchmen Thierry Henry after next year’s World Cup.

 The New England Revolution are a step up from the NYRBs talent wise, especially if they ever get healthy with good veteran players in Taylor Twellman, Sharlie Joseph, and Steve Ralston on roster. Boston is still a pretty large media market and the Revs have a strong following. On the downside ,the Revolution have gotten off to a bad start so far this season and would need to come on strong the second half of the season to have any chance at making the playoffs. Also, the Revs don't have a soccer specific stadium so Pavel would be playing his home games in a half empty Gillette Stadium.

Chicago and Houston have the largest Czech populations in the United States according to the 2000 census so the Fire or the Dynamo would both be good fits for Nedved (who represented the Czech Republic in the 2006 World Cup). With the rumors that Blanco might leave Chicago after this season, Nedved could be seen as a replacement for the Mexican playmaker in the Windy City. Both Houston and Chicago are in first place in Western and Eastern Conferences currently, so the need for a player of Nedved's quality isn’t a immediate necessity for either club. However, Chicago has seen a dip in attendance this year so adding another big name might give them a badly needed boost in ticket sales.

Toronto FC is a good team with one of the best fan bases in the league and  BMO Field  is one of best soccer stadiums in the MLS. Yet, Nedved's agent remarked that the United States was a country that interested his client so based solely on those remarks you wouldn't expect Nedved to play for a Canadian team. D.C. United seemed to be in the mix for the Czech, but they signed former U.S. Olympic midfielder Danny Szetela this week making a move for Nedved unlikely. Real Salt Lake would benefit from a player like Nedved, but Salt Lake City may be too small of a market to attract that big of a fish.

I wouldn’t blame next year’s expansion team, the Philadelphia Union, to model themselves after the business model Seattle laid out last year when they signed former Arsenal star Freddy Ljungberg prior to their inaugural season. Ljungberg has been a real hit on and off the field in Seattle who've been selling out home games all year. The Union could sign Nedved and make him the face of the franchise before their club ever plays a game creating excitement around the club in Philly. If you’re going to model your sports team around a player, Pavel Nedved is not a bad choice. He’s a consistent professional who’s had a great career for both club and country.

Regardless of what teams are in contact with Nedved, I hope the MLS is doing everything in their power to make this move a reality. When David Beckham hit stateside two years ago the league hoped his arrival would convince more of the world’s stars to come to the MLS. Pavel Nedved coming to America would be nice victory for the soccer movement in this country. I hope it happens.

What MLS club should Pavel play for? Please leave your comments below.

Oguchi Onyweu: American Bad Ass

Oguchi Onyweu to AC Milan
After his performance in South Africa, American center back Oguchi "Gooch" Onyweu was signed by Italian giants AC Milan at the last hour. I'm sure Onyweu was a bargain for Milan, but I think the 6'4 towering defender has a real shot to earn some playing time this next season. ...The Serie A in Italy has been a largely unexplored league for American players and if Gooch finds success it could open some doors for US players abroad.

US Off and Running in the Gold Cup
As expected the US continued its good form from the Confederations Cup running over Grenada 4-0 in their opening round then outlasting a cagey Honduras squad scoring two goals in the second half to win 2-0. After the final game against Brazil in South Africa, Head Coach Bob Bradley was criticized for his substitutions that didn't prevent the Samba Kings for scoring 3 unanswered goals in the second half. However, in the Honduras game Bradley's insertion of Charlie Davies and Benny Feilhaber in remaining half hour of the game really made the difference.

Charlie Davies to France...
The hits keep coming for the US squad that shocked the world in South Africa. Forward Charlie Davies (who scored a pivotal goal against Egypt to help send the US through the group stage in South Africa) is headed to French club Sochaux from his former club in Sweden, Hammarby. Perhaps Davies will bring his trademark goal celebration "The Stankyleg" to Eastern France. I don't know a US international with a faster trajectory professionally right now. Congrats Charlie.

What to Watch
Saturday will be an action packed night for US Soccer fans as the Americans play Haiti in their final Gold Cup group stage game on FSC at 6 PM EST. At 7 EST ESPN is airing its MLS Game of the Week with a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference playoff clash between the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew. Then after the US game Landon Donovan returns to LA to face intercity rival Chivas USA in the Superclasico on FSC.