Bruce Arena was formally named as Los Angeles Galaxy coach this weekend, taking what the team described as “full control” of the club’s soccer operations.  

This may prove to be an inflammable mix. Arena has been idle since he and Red Bull New York parted ways, and his reputation is running on fumes. He desperately needs another winning run in MLS to exorcise his many ghosts. The team that hired him is in similar straits: AEG needs to fix a dysfunctional locker room, a damaged brand, and hang on to a star making noises that he’d like to get out of town.  

It also may be an impossible job: After the disastrous co-management of the Galaxy by Alexi Lalas and David Beckham’s handlers, the Galaxy was left top-heavy with bloated salaries and a lack of talent. It currently needs more than soothing words and man-management.

Time is a factor. While the Galaxy is in better shape than the Red Bulls were when Arena took the reins, both AEG and the league need to have David Beckham in the playoffs. But looking down the road, the Galaxy also needs to hold on to Landon Donovan and shore up the teams’ pitiful defense. Arena has ten games in which to work might legitimately be termed a miracle. The MLS playoff race is so tight that anything can happen, but the way Houston has been playing lately and the dogged determination being shown by Real Salt Lake seems to indicate that a top two finish and a guaranteed post-season berth will be difficult.

Arena made his pro name by smartly stocking and running a dynastic D.C. team thirteen years ago, and he is widely (and correctly) credited for steering the 2002 men’s team to glory in Korea. Since that time, Arena’s ego seemed to expand while his teams’ accomplishments shrank.  

Convinced his tactics could help the Americans win anywhere, he seemed genuinely nonplussed when that turned out not to be true. His stated ambition to coach an English team was greeted with scorn abroad. When he returned to the club level, his New York team didn’t win a playoff game under his tenure. (He also made the mistake of signing Claudio Reyna as a designated player — a move that arguably cost him his job at the Meadowlands.)

And have we mentioned the arrogance that he too often displays? I sense that it covers up some deep personal insecurities, but where that ego once served to deflect pointed questions, it now serves to invite them. It’s a shame that he doesn’t instead lean back on his humor, which is both incisive and funny.

Arena has shown he can work with some of the biggest egos in the game. Beckham’s clan is smarting after the removal of their hand-picked coach, Ruud Gullitt, and Arena is going to have to deal with a lot of the off-the-field politicking that shadows England’s most famous soccer export. But he showed in D.C. that guys like Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno would play for him, and at his peak, he got guys to believe they could excel in his system.  

Arena also has been smart in inviting Dave Sarachan to join him in LA. Sarachan was Arena’s secret weapon in the 2002 Cup: His gentle personality and eye to detail got that team out of a lot of jams.

Now: A lot of people want to see Arena fail. They blame him for the 2006 debacle (again, with justification) and are sick of his attitude. Smart fans also know what a wreck he left at the Fed: He completely neglected the American youth development system while serving as TD, and the squad is now really suffering as a result. Unfortunately, wishing failure on the man is just as unfair to the Galaxy as Arena has sometimes been to the fans, the players and the folks who covered him.

And, while few are saying it, Arena is the right man for the job right now. There isn’t another American with the combination of experience and grit who hasn’t already been behind the Galaxy’s wheel. Nor is there another quality foreign coach out there who would touch that job right now.

So, wish Arena luck. He’s going to need it.

Nigeria and Argentina’s wins today in the Men’s Olympic semifinals set up a rematch of the 1996 Olympic finale. Twelve years ago, that was where a young man named Emmanuel Amuneke scored an unlikely winner to lead his team to an unexpected gold medal in Olympic play. It was also a vintage period in Nigerian football, with Kanu, the Babayaro brothers, Jay-Jay Ockocha and Sunday Oliseh among the stars.  

Argentina weren’t slouches, either, with a star-studded lineup of Mathias Alymeda,  Roberto Ayala, Hernan Crespo, Ariel Ortega, Javier Zanetti and, oh yes, DC United midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, among others.

This China finale will see quite the trio in Juan Román Riquelme Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi face up against a young group of Nigerian players, many of whom are relative unknowns. Emmanuel Ekpo plays with Columbus here in the USA, but the best-known players would be Everton’s Victor Anichebe and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Peter Odemwingie.  

Can Nigeria hang with the group that destroyed Brazil this evening? The African teams have a habit of peaking at the right time in this tournament, but on paper, this looks to be a very good Argentine side eager to make up for the Atlanta Games.

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The American women slogged to a 4-2 win over Japan Monday to set up their own rematch.  

The USA will face Brazil on Thursday, looking to win their second straight gold medal and get some revenge on a side that comprehensively beat them in the World Cup semis last year. In 2004, Abby Wambach — absent here — scored the winner to give the Americans the gold in Athens.

There’s quite a bit on the line: Last year, keeper Hope Solo’s post-game comments after the U.S. were eliminated saw her ostracized from the team, and contrary to the folk saying, time hasn’t healed jack. The Americans also will have to greatly improve their game if they hope to take down a Brazilian side that is faster, defter and looks just plain better.  

While the USA has managed to get away some of the negative things that came with Wambach as the target woman, they still rely too much on the long ball and their non-stop hustle to set up shots.  The defense has been scratchy, too, caught flat too often which could be a serious problem against the likes of Marta and her running mates.

Coach Pia Sundhage has managed to form a tighter midfield axis that tries to hold the ball and build out of the back, but the Americans have cruised on raw athleticism for so long that even basic tactics have largely eluded this bunch.  That’s been camouflaged since the Americans’ opener because of the lack of quality in women’s soccer in general, and the softness of their path in particular.  

One more note: The new Women’s pro league needs a gold medal win here for base publicity purposes. These women aren’t just playing for an Olympic gold — they’re playing for a professional future. That’s a lot of pressure, especially when you’re up against a good, cocky young team.

But here's one reason to think the US can get the job done: Brazil has not won a major women's final. They were beaten in Athens in 2007, and again last year in the World Cup final. That’s also a lot of pressure, even on a team as good as this Brazilian eleven.

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Some of you have wondered why the USA’s crests have been covered up during the Olympic games. Simple: Teams are not allowed to display Federation crests during the Olympics by IOC mandate because nations don’t compete at the Olympics, only athletes.

That’s a critical distinction: The team fielded is, technically, not the “U.S. men’s (or women’s) team,” it’s a “group of 18 Olympians.” Silly? Yeah, it is.

So, the USA covered up them logos. Some other teams haven’t, and supposedly they’ll be fined. But, they aren’t bidding to host the 2016 Games, nor are their Feds organized under the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

Now, as for those Nike and Puma logos…

All across the world this morning, from homes and bars and even a sleek Chinese stadium you could hear a staccato, a dull thumping. That was the sound of American soccer fans' heads meeting the nearest hard object.
          
Today, the Americans hit a new low: Needing only a draw to progress to the quarterfinal round, they managed to lose the game, 2-1 to Nigeria, instead. Playing 86 minutes plus stoppage time with ten men after Michael Orozco was bounced in the fourth minute for a needless elbow, the Americans were outplayed, outscored and out of luck.
          
There is a seething frustration that comes with being a modern American soccer fan, a subset of the species who root for their boys at ungodly hours of the morning in places they'll never lay eyes on and often come away shattered for it.
          
All the things that American fans have told themselves over the years would help their team have come true, after all. The players are full professionals, many playing at decent European teams; ten of millions of dollars have been spent on the sport's infrastructure; and the media — which once looked at the sport the way one espies a drooling madman in an alley — shows more soccer in the States than virtually anywhere else in the world.
          
And still, the Americans lose. Cue the drooping heads, wringing hands, stomping feet, and breakable objects.
          

Sadly, this Olympic performance was true to type for an American team that cannot seem to get past type. For years, the USA has been slowly improving in terms of raw talent, but remains deficient in execution and tactics. And while the Americans no longer look a hairs-breadth away from collapse at any given moment, as they did just ten years ago, the fact remains that they still cannot get over the hump.
          
This departure from China is especially painful, because for the first time the American men actually seemed to improve as a team as they went along.
          
Normally, the USA plays three distinct games — one average, one superb, and one stinker, in a row, but not necessarily in that order. This time around, the USA played their stinker first, dodging many bullets against a Japanese side that could do everything but score, and came away with the win in spite of it. Next, they played impressively against the Dutch, but threw away their quarterfinal berth due to problems of their own devise.
          
Tonight, the Americans came out looking solid. Despite not having Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley available, the team played brightly, with good wide play and the kind of heart and effort everyone knows the guys bring to the table.

“This is the worst feeling I’ve had as a professional athlete after a loss in a tournament because I couldn’t be out there with the guys," said Adu afterwards. "Watching from the stands, it wasn’t a great feeling."
          
It's the head they lack. That showed early when Orozco elbowed Solomon Okoronkwo on the touchline, with ref Wolfgang Stark getting a bird's eye view.
          
From that point on, the Americans had to retreat into a shell. Robbie Rogers was forced into an uncomfortable role at left back, and the Nigerians danced through the flanks, finally breaking through in the 40th minute when Chinedu Obasi beat both Michael Parkhurst and Marvell Wynne to slot a cross to Promise Issac for the go-ahead goal. The hammer came down in the 80th when Victor Obinna again beat Parkhurst and Wynne to give Brad Guzan no chance.
          
The USA did fight back, with Sacha Kljestan sinking a late penalty kick after keeper Ambruse Venzekin felled Maurice Edu at the edge of the penalty area. And late sub Charlie Davies headed a free-kick served in by Dax McCarty onto the cross-bar in the dying seconds that would have been enough to take the Americans through.
          
Last but not least, the USA saw the back-door closed when Holland was awarded a penalty against Japan, which the Dutch converted, to win that game.
         
Once more, the Americans go home, and the rest of the world cheers. For a country so good at sports, the USA just cannot seem to grasp this simple game. And it hurts.

          
It is true that the USA team is better. But "better" isn't good enough.
          
To succeed the Americans are going to have to take the next, painful step and go outside the country for help with coaching and teaching and especially for the new ideas a fresh look would bring. Americans have been trying to tell themselves for years that we are producing coaches and administrators of quality, but it's not true. Were it, many Americans would be coaching top clubs overseas, and more teams would be looking to our nation for help improving the game.
          
At one point, "Americanization" was a useful fiction, but no more. U.S. Soccer is going to have to clean house from top to bottom and realize that producing raw talent isn't enough. It wasn't tonight in Beijing, and it won't be in Johannesburg.  

One last. late point: Nowak was quoted after the game as saying: "For me, they won a gold medal in this game tonight." A coach has to protect his players, but I hope he doesn't believe that.

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How did the American players end up faring?

Before the games, we told you what each player needed to show in China: Here's our winners and losers.
 
THE OVERAGE PLAYERS: All-in-all, a failure. Michael Parkhust was not effective enough on defense to justify his inclusion, and Brian McBride only had one really influential game. Guzan's role was iffy: He made some solid saves, but was he that much better a keeper that he justified keeping a midfielder off the roster? In the end, it's a toss-up — the USA surely could have used an Ante Razov or a Taylor Twellman in this tournament.

DEFENDERS: Orozco was the poorest defender on the team, and his foolish ejection cost the USA dearly. His international career may have taken a fatal hit in China. Marvell Wynne was in-and-out; his speed and passing remain good, but he gets beat too often on the flanks — a weakness Chinedu Obasi ably exploited today for the Nigerians — that he has to be a big question mark as well. Maurice Edu, playing out of position, was serviceable, but not great. Patrick Ianni, for obvious reasons, gets no rating, same for keeper Chris Seitz.

MIDFIELDERS: Let's start with the good: Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden showed they are gamers. Kljestan was probably the best overall player the USA had during this three-game span and deserves the MVP honors. Holden had a solid, workmanlike tournament that wasn't flashy, but proved vital. The obvious black mark on him was the foul on Gerald Sibon that set up the tying goal for Holland.

Freddy Adu looked, once more, like the best player on the team… but when the so-called "big-time" player isn't in your biggest game, it's hard to give him the highest honors. Still, he's clearly the class of the squad. Michael Bradley's performance continues to tail off. Bradley faded in and out and never really seemed able to impose himself. Is he played out? Or, is he going through what so many Americans have before: One good season followed by mediocrity? Too early to tell, but there's no doubt about is his lack of maturity: taking a stupid caution for time-wasting in the dying seconds of the Holland game hurt his team badly.

Danny Szetela really didn't get much of a chance to shine, but looked promising in what flashes he had. Ditto for Dax McCarty. Benny Feilhaber still looks very out of sorts — he could well be another guy who had one good tournament only to be derailed by injury and club struggles. Last, Robbie Rogers was asked to play all over the field, and he did it. Give him marks for effort and versatility if nothing else.

FORWARDS: We've already mentioned McBride. How about Jozy Altidore? Well, again, in the biggest game, he failed to show. How much of that is due to the fact that he hasn't played very much because of his transfer to Villarreal, we'll never know. But, again, a "big-game" guy couldn't make it happen this time around. Charlie Davies didn't get much of a look, but what we saw of him was blistering.

THE COACH: Peter Nowak made some very questionable decisions. Pulling Adu in the Holland match was a fatal error that took away the Americans' ability to hold the ball and move forward in the decisive final 10 minutes. His over-age player choices are very debatable. The defense looked shaky all tournament long. And, most damningly, the team did not display the kind of tactical acumen the USA needs to succeed at the top level of play.

But every coach is defined by one thing: Wins. The USA went 1-1-1, and crashed out. We said that the minimum Nowak needed to keep his job was four points, and he got them. But we hope that the Federation realizes that this tournament was another lost opportunity, and that the team badly needs fresh ideas and fresh blood. U.S. Soccer should thank Nowak and move on.

RELATED: Former Olympian Kasey Keller will be announced as the newest member of the Seattle Sounders according to published reports today.

Heather O’Reilly scored the fastest goal in women’s Olympic soccer history today to lead the Americans to an easy 4-0 victory over New Zealand. With this convincing win, the USA locked up its berth in the quarterfinal round.

Because Norway lost 5-1 today to Japan, the USA took the top slot in the group and avoided playing Brazil in a quarterfinal game. The USA’s opponent will be Canada, a team the USA has beaten four times in this year alone and holds a lifetime edge of 37-3-3 against. (The USA drew 1-1 in Olympic qualifying on April 12th with Canada, but won 6-5 on kicks.)

That game will be played at Qinhuangdao at 6 am (EDT) Friday morning. Norway gets the misfortune of facing the Brazilians.

O’Reilly’s winner was scored from 35 yards out on a chip that caught keeper Jenny Bindon off her line and mysteriously unable to jump for the ball as it dipped under her bar. Coming just 41 seconds into the match, the goal set the tone for the game while also setting the record.

Said O'Reilly after the game, "In soccer, you say you want to score early and often and that’s what we did today, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

It was an assured performance from the USA, who played as expected against the weakest team in the group. Today, the things that were absent from their opener — the assured passing, the close control and the ability to impose their style on the game — were out in force against the Kiwis.

This was the American team that had been expected to show up in China, and while the level of their opponent was poor, the Americans took no chances and did what a good team is supposed to do. They buried the game from the opening kickoff and gave New Zealand no hope of mounting a comeback. New Zealand was never capable of sustained pressure, and the American midfielders quickly cut off any errant pass while also winning virtually every ball in the air.

“I think it’s fantastic that fact that we bounced back from the first 15 minutes against Norway," said coach Pia Sundhage. "You look at the first 15 minutes of that game to the last 15 minutes of this game and many things have happened. The whole team, and myself, has gained confidence every minute we’ve been together. The good part of this road is that we have experience both sides. Losing and winning, and that’s good going into the quarterfinals where it’s now or never.”

Amy Rodriguez got the insurance goal in the 43rd minute, latching on to a hopeful ball passed upfield by Rachel Buehler and blasting a low, left-footed shot into the net.

The match became a rout within three critical minutes in the second half:  Lindsay Tarpley got one in the 56th when Bindon was dragged out of position by Rodriguez and failed to get back to cover her net. O’Reilly had her initial shot blocked, but Tarpley latched onto it to bloop it into the unguarded net. Then, Lori Chalupny bounced one off the crossbar two minutes later, with Angela Hucles available to put it off Bindon’s despairing leap and into the net.

For coach Sundhage’s team this was the first indication that they have come to grips up front without injured Abby Wambach. While the attack looked static and somewhat confused in the first two games, there was a different pace and approach Tuesday and it paid dividends.

Sundhage was careful not to show too much gratitude at what now becomes a fairly routine path onwards for the Americans. "I wouldn’t put it as easier or harder (to face Canada instead of Brazil). It is different. I respect every team in this tournament. It would be arrogant for me to say one team is harder than another. The Canada match will be very hard, but still it is a challenging and a fun game.”

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Dovetailing somewhat with today’s game, WUSAII sent out a curious press release yesterday, announcing its “expansion” to Atlanta. (Let’s overlook the fact that it’s tough to expand something that doesn’t exist yet.) The team’s investor will be T. Fitz Johnson, the former CEO of Eagle International LLC, a consulting firm for hospitals and the military that was purchased by Lockheed in late April. Johnson will become one of the rare minority owners in American soccer.

In a statement, Johnson said: “WPS has proven itself to be a smart business venture, with a conservative business plan built on realistic numbers and executive leaders that not only know soccer as a sport, but as a business,” said Johnson.

But surely a man of Johnson’s acumen knows that his statement is wishful thinking at best. The new league is unproven, because it hasn’t started.  And, a look at WPS’ roll call shows a distinct lack of soccer business people. Only Peter Wilt, who is heading up the league’s marketing, has the combination of soccer experience and soccer business experience.

I have to wonder if these same “soccer business people” realize that announcements like these lessen the league’s credibility.

The USA threw away a win today in a critical group stage match against Holland, allowing a stoppage-time goal by Gerald Sibon to settle for a 2-2 draw. A bad foul by Stuart Holden on Sibon set up a free-kick 22 yards out that the forward kept on the floor as the wall jumped. The ball slipped past a rooted Brad Guzan.
     
The result tossed away best game the Americans had played in years, and it gets worse: both Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu picked up their second cautions of the tournament meaning that the USA will go into their final game against Nigeria without their key midfielders.

Nigeria won today's earlier match against Japan, eliminating the Asians and setting up the possibility that three teams in the group could finish on five points. But, as the USA remains atop the group on goals scored, a draw against Nigeria should be enough to take the Americans into the quarterfinals.
    
"It's tough," said coach Peter Nowak in the post-game poress conference. "As I told the guys in the locker room, that's the way the game goes sometimes. Not too many people gave us a chance tonight against the European champions, but we were very close to beating them."

It was a bitter coda to a game that the Americans had well in hand from the 15-minute mark on. Superb play from Adu, target man Brian McBride and midfielder Sacha Kljestan had helped lead the USA to a well-deserved 2-1 lead with 17 minutes left, but Holden's foolish challenge left the door wide open for the Dutch to come back.

"The one thing we’ve been doing is improving as we go along,"said McBride, "Tonight was a good game for us. We’re of course disappointed that they scored the equalizer, but we just need to make sure we get this out of our head and concentrate on the positives. When we’re together, we’re a good team.”
     
On a sloppy field soaked by a day of rain, the Dutch jumped out to an early lead against the run of play when Ryan Babel tucked in his own rebound after Johnathan De Guzman's cross found the Liverpool striker with space in the box. Looping the ball in over Maurice Edu, De Guzman's cross was parried into Brad Guzan, who made the first save, but Babel followed it with a short range blast that beat a helpless Michael Parkhurst on the line.
     
Early on, the Dutch were far more potent on the flanks, getting nice service from Roy Drenthe and forcing the U.S. midfield back to cover their wingbacks, Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne. In fact, Orozco showed many of the same nerves that bedeviled him against Japan in the opener, but unlike then, he settled down and began both getting forward and making the key stops. Wynne was beaten repeatedly in what was an overall weak performance from the Toronto FC man.
     
But, after a fine individual run by Freddy Adu in the 17th minute that saw the petite playmaker round four Dutchmen, the Americans began to sense the truth: their opponents were not the Holland of legend, but rather an U-23 team wearing the Netherland's colors.

A flurry of chances ensued as the Americans began to press, with Holden taking a great chance on the volley in the 40th minute set up by McBride's touch. Dutch keeper Kenneth Vermeer made the first of a series of spectacular saves. Wynne would get a chance two minutes later but his cross, beating Vermeer, found no support.
     
The Americans emerged far sharper in the second half, with McBride putting a header on goal in the 50rth that Vermeer again had to parry over the bar. It was another fabulous effort by the Fire striker who saw little of the ball on the night overall, but made every single touch count.
     
Adu began to impress himself on the game and his effort led to the tying goal. Adu beat Kew Jaliens and left a ball for Klejstan in the 65th minute that the Chivas man calmly slotted right down the gut after eluding defenders with a neat left-to-right run.
     
Seven minutes later, sub Jozy Altidore put the Americans on top. Coming in for Robby Rogers, Altidore's size and speed made an immediate impact. Off a throw-in by Wynne, Orozco raced to the far post and cut the ball past Vermeer. Taking a deflection off Calvin Jong-a-Pin, the ball caromed off Altidore's knee and into the back of the net.
    
The Americans did not sit back, with Adu continuing to run down balls and playing into space. He received his critical booking in the 78th when he was over-enthusiastic one-on-one with Vermeer and left his studs up, felling the keeper.
    
That resulted in what may go down as a critical mistake made by coach Peter Nowak. Possibly worried about Adu getting another card, Nowak subbed the best player of the day for the still gimpy Benny Feilhaber. Adu was visibly perturbed by the move as he came off the field.
     
Without Adu pulling the strings, the Dutch suddenly found far more space in which to work, and began throwing bodies forward in an attempt to tie the game. Bradley took his card in the first minute of stoppage time for time-wasting, and the USA seemed rudderless and exhausted on the heavy pitch.
     
Holden's awful challenge gave the Dutch the opening they needed, and when McBride jumped in the wall, Sibon slipped the ball underneath him and into the net.

"Going into that situation, knowing it’s basically going to be the last chance of the game, as a goalkeeper you’ve got to trust the wall and unfortunately tonight the wall decided they were going to go up and over and they went under," sadi Guzan. "We jumped and he hit a screamer low and hard, and when that happens there’s not much chance as my main focus is the other side of the goal. Unfortunately, we just picked the wrong option tonight.”

The result leaves Nowak with some tough decisions: how does he line up the midfield without Adu and Bradley? Does he stick with his 4-4-2 formation or go for a more defensive look against Nigeria knowing a draw should mean a quarterfinal berth?

And the Americans, too, will face a character test. Having worked so hard on a heavy field only to see a quarterfinal spot disappear, how will they manage the needed recovery, both physically and mentally?

The USA resuscitated their Olympic hopes today with a 1-0 win over Japan, thanks to a first-half goal by Carli Lloyd. The result moved the Americans into second place in Group G, behind Norway, who later in the evening would beat New Zealand 1-0. Group play will conclude Tuesday with the USA facing New Zealand.

The Americans looked more determined than they had in their opener, but no more assured. The defense is still scattershot, and while Hope Solo turned in a far more solid performance today, Japan was able to get to the byeline and spray the net far too often.

Fortunately for Solo and her backs, the Japanese failed to capitalize on their strengths, which are passing and movement. As usual, the USA played Route 1 soccer, and it did pay off. Lloyd's goal was well-taken, but it's notable that the cross from Stephanie Cox eluded four players before landing at Lloyd's feet. So often, that shot would have sailed over the bar. Today, unlike the 17 other shots that didn't, this one flashed in as if laser-guided.

That ratio is worrying, and coach Pia Sundhage admitted as much in her post-game remarks. "We are aware that we don't have the goal scorer." Amy Rodriguez, who is supposed to be that player, called her three howling misses "unfortunate."

Japan has never won against the USA, so it's no shock that the Americans were far less tense today. Solo had pointedly noted how nervous the team was before the opener, but today she allowed that things were much looser after a loss that she said made her "sick to her stomach."

Ironically, today's match showed that both the American women and their Japanese counterparts are approaching parity with their nations' men's teams. The Japanese women may not be wholly equal in their society, but they are just as adept as their male counterparts at finding new ways of failing to score. Likewise, the U.S. women are showing the same signs of wear and tear in the back that will be familiar to a generation grown used to defensive collapses by their men's national team.

This certainly isn't the equality Title IX was intended to produce. But it is revealing: American coaches have been so fixated for so long on athleticism at the expense of finesse that we now find ourselves with a surfeit of burly, knock and run players and a dearth of creative soccer talent. Neither the men nor the women have a player of vision or even the grasp of elemental tactics that would allow them to shift gears within a game.

With the men, that weakness is frequently exploited. With the women, it's oft camouflaged. One of the reasons the USWNT's record is so good is down to the fact that since so few teams are of any quality, it often does come down to the fact that a bigger, stronger team can outrun and out-muscle the other.

 But, for the women's game as a whole, it is ultimately a losing equation: Despite the fact that Norway showed very little in that opening win, they were able to seize opportunities when given them. That trait remains elusive for the USA and the women's game at large.

 Tuesday, the Americans are likely to punch their ticket against a poor New Zealand side that allowed Japan to crawl back to draw with a late collapse. Norway is already through and can rest players.

The USA got off to a perfect start today in the Olympic Games despite a mixed performance, beating Japan 1-0 while group rivals Holland and Nigeria played to a 0-0 draw. The result saw the Americans go to the top of their group on a day filled with draws and sets up the USA for a run at the quarterfinals.

Stuart Holden was the unlikely goal-scorer, knocking in the winner in the 47th from a cross by Marvell Wynne that Hiroki Mizumoto deflected right to the Houston Dynamo midfielder. Keeper Shusaku Nishikawa got down but was screened on the shot by Takuya Honda and failed to hold it.

The result was both fortunate and instructive, for it showed that the Americans still have a long way to go to catch up with their rivals on the world stage. The USA got away with an average game thanks to the always-profligate Japan, who squandered a good hal####ozen chances in front of the American net and failed to capitalize on repeated defensive breakdowns.

Coach Peter Nowak admitted as much in the post-game press conference, saying "We still have a lot of improving to do, but we did some things very well tonight. This will be good for the players' confidence. We had a few lapses, and we need to learn from that in the next games."

Many of those lapses came in the back, which saw Maurice Edu sliding next to Michael Parkhurst in a somewhat unusual central defensive partnership. While this allowed Wynne to range forward, the back line never looked settled, and Japan was repeatedly able to pull Parkhurst forward out of position and pop the ball either past Edu or wingback Michael Orozco.

Atsuto Uchida exploited the space left between Orozco and midfielder Robbie Rogers early and often, setting up two gilt-edged chances for Japan in the 40th minute with Hiroyuki Taniguchi twice seeing an open net to shoot at, yet twice muffing the shot. Edu almost cost the Americans dearly when he got away with hauling down Taniguchi late in the game inside the box.

To be sure, it took both teams a good twenty minutes to settle, with opening day nerves and the world stage taking their toll. But Japan signaled their intention early with set play off a short corner kick in the 21st minute that caught the Americans napping. Masato Morishige, however, pushed the ball wide of Brad Guzan.

Freddy Adu, who is expected to be the playmaker for the American team, had a slow start as he struggled to extricate himself from three-man marking that often took his close-control skills out of the game. His frustration resulted in a needless caution — one of three cards the Americans collected on the evening — but as the game wore on, some flashes began to show. Part of that was due to the introduction of Jozy Altidore, coming on for Brian McBride. With the teen forward, Americans looked far more composed on offense, with Adu finally getting some support up top.

McBride, the 36-year-old target man who has not played a top level game since May and is making a return from international retirement to the Olympic team, had a very quiet night. He did not look sharp and frequently was pushed too far back to effectively run at Japan's net. And Michael Bradley, who still seems uncomfortable as a midfielder expected to dominate, had another in and out game, partnering well with Rogers and Sacha Kljestan but failing to relieve pressure on what became an overstretched defense.

The USA now must go into their next game against Holland with an eye on shoring up that defense. Parkhurst, who otherwise had an outstanding game, is being asked to cover too much ground, causing both Edu and Orozco to try to compensate too often. And, the communication between Orozco and Rogers — which left huge gaps that the Dutch wingmen can exploit — has to be improved.

Superliga will have its first All-MLS final Tuesday night as the New England Revolution take on reigning MLS champs the Houston Dynamo in Foxborough's Gillete Stadium. At stake, a million dollar prize and a major regional title. Perhaps more important, this final represents another milestone in MLS' growth as a major regional power.

Superliga, the eight-team tournament that pits four MLS teams against four FMF (Mexican first division) sides, has been a hit almost everywhere at the gate as well as on television for the league.

Unfortunately, the one place where Superliga has failed to draw crowds is Gillette, which has witnessed a steady decline as the tournament has moved on.

The key to the MLS sides' success? Houston coach Dominic Kinnear joked today in a pre-game press conference that is was because both coaches are Scottish.

"Does that matter?" said Kinnear, before noting that both teams in the final use the same type of approach, which is to place good players within a team system. For Kinnear, that's helped MLS teams close the gap with their Mexican rivals who were shut out of the Superliga finals after a pair of semifinal defeats.
           
"I would say people have seen that the level between the Mexican clubs and MLS teams is similar," said Kinnear "The depth in FMF is greater, but you see now with the teams playing in competitions that the gap is closing.
           
"I think you saw that post-game in the semifinals," said Kinnear, referring to the ugly scenes that accompanied both of last week's games. "They see the gap closing and they don't like that."
          
Because of those post-game scuffles, the Revolution will be without Jay Heaps, who was ejected after the end of their 1-0 win last week against Atlante. The Revs are already short in the back as Michael Parkhurst is with the Olympic team. Houston are missing Stuart Holden and Patrick Ianni to Beijing, neither of whom featured in the Dynamo's 2-0 semifinal win over Pachuca.
          
New England comes into the game on a roll: Their last loss was in late June, a fluke 2-1 decision on the turf at Rice-Eccles against Real Salt Lake. The Revs have only lost four games this season and since June have gone 8-1-3.
         
And, the Revs have beaten Houston twice already this season and are understandably eager to spoil 'em again while adding a second prestige title to their larder. The Dynamo have edged the Revs two years straight in the MLS Cup finals and until the Revs hoisted the Open Cup trophy last season, despite being one of the league's best teams over the past four seasons, they had failed to win anything.
         
"We always think what's happened in the past doesn't count," said Revs coach Steve Nicol today in a pre-game press conference. "We've beaten [Houston] already, but that means nothing. It's who gets the job done on the night.  The past is exactly that, the past."

The Dynamo endured a shaky start to the season but have run up four straight wins coming into Tuesday night's final, with their lone blemish in the last two months being a 1-0 loss to Chivas Guadalajara in the group stages of the Superliga. They convincingly beat the Crew Saturday, and are currently one of the league's hottest teams.

"Both [MLS Cup finals] could have gone either way," said Brian Ching. "And we feel a little fortunate some times. We know they are a good team, and we respect them as much as they respect us. Over the past four or five years, these have been the two best franchises in the league, so to meet again in a final is pretty special. We'd still like to hold the edge on those finals, but they're a good team."
         
It is worth noting that the game is being played in the shadow of labor unrest: The MLS Player's Union has strongly criticized the league for what it terms as violations of the CBA with respect to tournament bonuses. Prior to the game, both teams decided to split the bonus money from the game equally between the teams: just $50,000, not the "$1 million" that MLS has been touting as the prize for taking the Superliga crown.
          
After the debacle against Atlante, Revs defender Chris Albright was quoted as saying, "This whole tournament has not been handled properly.

"The reality is that we're not being compensated to be dealing with this, To have last night go like it did, it's just a microcosm of the whole situation."

But Nicol said that bonuses or not, both teams would play the way they always do.

"Just look at the characters of the team and the way they go about business. If there's was nothing on the line, they'd still go out and give 100%. It's nice to get a bonus, but the teams are both pros and at the end of the day it's the joy of winning."
 

Welcome to Monday morning (or afternoon for those on Euro time...). Reactions to the USA's demolition of Barbados are after the jump (or on your front page) and as always, a wrap up of the full day in Euro 2008 action goes up about 30 minutes or so after close of play.
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Considering how many players were away on World Cup qualifying duty it wasn't a bad weekend for MLS.

Hat tricks for Luciano Emilio and Edson Buddle, a couple of very good goals from Rohan Ricketts and a strong game from Kenny Cooper up front as FC Dallas got an important win over the Chicago Fire. Matt Reis’ midweek performance, including a saved penalty, helped lead the Revs once again.

Proof some MLS teams can survive the rigors of losing key players? Maybe not.

The flip side of the Toronto FC win was a poor performance by undermanned Colorado. The Red Bull New York situation continues to spiral downhill without Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna on the field. And even Chicago, which has looked so solid this year, never seemed to get going in the heat of Dallas on Sunday.

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As for those WCQ games, the biggest result came from Bermuda which upset Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 in their first leg match. There's absolutely no guarantee that the Bermudans can hold that lead in the return leg this week, but you can imagine how the Soca Warriors will be feeling the pressure when that kicks off. They became national heroes by reaching Germany 2006 ... an exit at this stage of the 2010 qualifying process would be a mighty blow.

Jamaica, however, discovered its former coach, Professor Rene Simoes, and also may have re-discovered how to qualify. There aren't that many new faces in Simoes' lineup and the Bahamas aren't exactly the toughest of opponents, but the Reggae Boyz look more like the 1998 team than the last two editions which failed to get to the finals.

The current resident genius may be Chile's Marcelo Bielsa, however. He doesn't have a ton of talent to choose from but the former boss of Argentina known for doing things his own way produced perhaps the best victory of the weekend when Chile defeated Bolivia, 2-0 in La Paz. No, Bolivia isn't much -- bottom of the South American group and all but dead in the water already -- but winning at La Paz, where no one wants to play 3,577 meters above sea level is an accomplishment.
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Had a chance to catch up with FC Dallas veteran Bobby Rhine last weekend when the club passed through Foxboro and was delighted to hear that the former UConn player intends to stay in soccer management when his playing days end.

Rhine told me that he already had talked with the club about a front office career and was outspoken lauding the direction both the team and MLS are taking toward youth development and growing their product.

Rhine's career path is exactly what MLS and US Soccer needs to encourage. If there is a crucial shortage in the game -- OK, I know about needing more American players and better referees -- it may be that we have not been able to develop our own set of administrators and coaches from within the pro game.

There hasn't been much time and it is good to see former players like Jeff Agoos and Garth Lagerwey in decision-making roles. MLS, especially, could do more to encourage players like Rhine to make the transition from the field to the front office.

A few years ago I advocated creating a roster spot for a veteran "player/coach/administrative intern" who could continue to train, be available for a limited number of games and not count against the team's salary cap or roster number.

The benefit should be obvious. A player like Rhine might indeed play another season, perhaps 10-12 games, but would be able to concentrate on learning the other side of the business. FC Dallas would benefit from a veteran's presence in the locker room and have a capable replacement available should national team calls or injury create roster problems. And the player would get invaluable experience in a different role, even have the time to discover exactly what part he can play in the game's future.

There is one person Rhine already knows he’d like to see involved in MLS: His former coach, UConn’s Ray Reid. “I didn’t have any problem coming into MLS [as a rookie] because I’d already been in a professional atmosphere,” notes Rhine. “I want the Huskies to win another national title.  I then would like to see coach move into the professional game.”

Maybe it will be different this fall when the CONCACAF Champions League kicks off, but for now the bitter taste of another CONCACAF Champions Cup failure should make MLS fans wonder when their clubs will show their true value in this regional tournament. While either Mexico's Pachuca or Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa will rule the region again, we're left to wonder just why MLS teams trip at this regional hurdle.

This time, certainly, we didn't come away with the sense that Pachuca or Saprissa was markedly superior to D.C. United or Houston. Indeed, had the Dynamo made something of their chances in the first leg at Houston the return in Costa Rica might not have been so one-sided. Full value to Saprissa for nailing it at home, something Houston could not accomplish.

The D.C.-Pachuca series was even more difficult to assess. Good as the Mexicans are -- and their consistency over the past 18 months has been terrific -- D.C. never quite seemed to display the urgency needed in a regional semifinal. They didn't show to full quality in the first leg on the road and were too slow to approach the challenge of fighting from a two-goal deficit in the return match. Pachuca had far too much of the ball and too much space in a match where D.C. needed to go for the jugular immediately.

(As an aside, there was very strange disconnect post-match, when coach Tom Soehn told the TV audience he believed DC had been in Pachuca’s half of the field for almost 80% of the match. That simply wasn’t true, as anyone who watched the game could have seen for himself.)

It's easy to suggest that MLS teams have been at a huge disadvantage in this event because they are meeting teams in mid-season form while just starting their own campaigns. It is also correct to observe that neither MLS team caught a break from the league, which might have thought about easing their season-opening schedule to allow a bit more breathing space for the regional qualifiers.

Those are excuses, however. MLS teams are plenty good enough to win regional honors and the excuses will be considerably lamer should the clubs fail in the new format which CONCACAF will launch. Although some of the Champions League dates may clash with important MLS end-of-season games or playoff contests, our entrants should be expected to succeed. Even MLS commissioner Don Garber admits there’s a problem, telling Soccer America that “we have to do better.” His candor is refreshing, and he’s right.

Just as the American national team has established itself as the team to beat in CONCACAF, MLS clubs have to aim for that status themselves. It's the obvious next step to be taken.

The yet-to-be-reborn San Jose Quakes are back to square one as talks to use and rebuild Spartan Stadium have collapsed. Is this a killer blow? Not yet -- but it is a significant hurdle for a team that doesn't even exist yet.

Part one of a two-parter off Saturday's game is up on the front page or here at da permalink. Later this week, more in the blog on the topics below. Bear with me; I'm in final edits on my book and I spent a great deal of time cleaning up after a big storm. 

Stadiums remain a hot-button topic in MLS: Today in San Jose, the Mercury-News reports that Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff is trying to put together a deal that might bring the Quakes back in by 2009 if everything falls into place. The good news on that front: Mr. Wolff would pay for the whole thing, as well he should.

In Salt Lake, however, the Sandy stadium is either dead, alive, or really, really dead, as in toxic. The whole she#### seems to have legislators really upset and is becoming what we used to call a "political football." If we had to guess, we'd say this potato has become a bit too hot to handle.

One piece of good news for KC fans, if any of you still exist: Beckham may guarantee you a sell-out! Yes! Of course, the Wizards' temporary home will only hold 10,000 people, and it looks to be a re-fitted high school stadium, but no worries, we're sure there will be parking for Posh's limo. You do know she likes door-ro-door service, don't you?

Now, in the department of actual facts, as opposed to prognostication, Toronto FC is close to selling 10K in season tickets; L.A. has sold 5,000 season tix since announcing Becks' signing. A crucial part of the Beckham deal? He gets floor seats for all Lakers' games. Said Tim Leiweke to FSN West: "The deal almost broke down over the Lakers floor seats."

IN THE REST OF THE WORLD: On Merseyside you would assume that the Beckham saga took second fiddle to the disaster which has befallen Liverpool. Three days after crashing out of the FA Cup, the Reds were pummeled 6-3 by an Arsenal youth/reserve team in the Carling Cup quarterfinal which had been fogged off in December. The successive defeats had Liverpudlians searching the record books to find the last time a visitor to the famous ground had scored so often and left them wondering about Rafa Benitez team selection for the Tuesday match. He went with several untested reserve players on defense and saw them carved apart by the Arsenal youngsters. Mercifully, the Reds got to play actual adults on Saturday, and beat them, winning at Watford 3-0 … Cuba suffered a rare defeat in its opening match of the Carribean Cup, upset by Guadeloupe, 2-1 in the tournament which serves as a qualifier for the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer… Lyon was beaten 2-0 at Toulouse, only its second French League defeat of the season … Mantova handed Juventus a 1-0 defeat to drop the Torino side to sixth, two positions out of a promotion spot. It was the first defeat of the season for Juve, relegated to the second flight after last summer’s scandal … Necaxa and America-Mexico City won the Interliga finals to qualify for a shot at the 2007 Copa Libertadores. Necaxa moves directly into the first round draw, but America goes against Sporting Cristal of Peru in one of the six qualifying matches to reduce the field for the South American club championship to 32 teams … Rangers made an impressive start under new boss Walter Smith, hammering Dundee United 5-0 at Ibrox Park. Poor Arabs.

1) That MLS will make this the year of the product

The political climate has shifted: publicly funded stadiums are, at long last hitting a wall. Why? Well, people are sick of seeing millionaires ask the public for a hand out for the express purpose of building arenas chock full of luxury suites the average fan will never see the inside of. Canny fans know that these deals smell funny too: Many of these new stadiums seem to be more about a profitable piece of real estate than about supporting a soccer team… which was the rationale for building them in the first place!
The spin that this is just “stadium fatigue” doesn’t wash here: it’s more like stadium rejection. So, if MLS really wants to convince us that these stadiums are helping their product, they have to do something about the product on the field. They can start by increasing player salaries (which are pitiful), loosening restrictions of foreign players and start bringing in some of the very talented — and also underpaid — younger players that populate the South American leagues.
And, if MLS feels it has to have a stadium for each team, OK: Then build ’em. But let the owners do it. It can be done: Since the owners don’t spend more than $5m total for these teams in overhead a year, they can follow Lamar Hunt’s model and fund them themselves. If putting out $70-100m in one shot is too rich, then how about spending $1-3m a more year on the on-field product instead?

2) That U.S. Soccer will realize that they need a radical overhaul if they are to capitalize on the gains they have made.

There’s no question that American soccer has come a long way since 1990. But there are legitimate questions about where soccer is right now. Optimists claim the growth potential is bright, realists point to static attendances and pessimists say it’ll be gone tomorrow, just like in the 1980s.
All of these viewpoints have a lot to back them up. That’s why the U.S. Soccer Federation needs to focus on the things they do well and allow MLS to handle the rest.
The Fed — like the English FA — has to stop mucking around in the selling of the game, and focus instead on putting a quality product on the field. All those sponsorships won’t mean jack (and won’t last, either) if the men don’t start winning outside this region. Yes, the men’s team does drive American interest in the sport. But that interest is driven by games won, not ad campaigns, web sites or press releases. After all: which drives interest in foreign soccer: the FA, or the leagues?
Just go play the games. Spend the money on the youth teams, and getting quality opponents. Get some new blood into the coaching ranks (hiring Nowak is a good start) and stop playing politics. The sandbox is too small, and if enough sand is flung, soon enough it’ll be empty.
Sadly, the Fed is riven with conflicts that date back aeons. Some of these political struggles are so arcane you need a map to figure your way through them, and they are only of interest to the folks fighting them. A piece of unsolicited advice to the fighters: grow up, guys, and start thinking about the game, not your reputations. The truth is, no one in the outside world knows who you guys are anyway, so stop worrying about it.

3) That soccer will form an alliance with other leagues to ultimately control their own television channel and packaging.

Three MLS owners, Stan Kroenke, MLSE and Dave Checketts, have a problem. There’s this network, called Versus, that bought the TV rights for NHL games; the production is top-notch but the ratings are in the tank. That’s led to some in hockey circles talking quietly about forming their own network, a la the NFL net, which made big waves by getting cable operators to fork over a remarkable 70 cents a subscriber — or 50 cents a person more than the must-have CNN!
Thing is, the NHL isn’t year-round, and the sport’s biggest fans are on the coasts and in Canada. Versus also doesn’t carry every game — the regional Fox networks remain the backbone of the sport on TV. The NHL probably doesn’t have the oomph needed to carry its own network, so, they’d need a partner, ideally one that doesn’t interfere too much with their schedule and one that might hold some viewers while attracting others. See where we’re going with this?
Received wisdom has it that hockey fans don’t cross over into soccer, but take a good look at the map and you’ll see that the big hockey towns are also the towns in which pro, club and college soccer has a long tradition. So, if MLS and the NHL teamed up, they’d have a pretty solid core to launch their own network down the road. Add in that the NHL has one thing MLS clearly doesn’t (solid, professional broadcast crews with experience following a fast game) and the fact that MLS has something the NHL desperately wants (a young, ethnically diverse fan base) and you’ve got a winning combo.
If this match-up were smart and snagged the EPL rights to boot — or folded the very network that sponsors this column in as a third party — they would be nigh unbeatable. Hey, EPL games in the morning, NHL or MLS at night. Tell me that wouldn’t sell.

4) That soccer bigwigs will improve the quality of the sport’s broadcasts

One of the things that drives American soccer fans crazy is the quality of the telecasts for MLS games. I’ve received literally thousands of emails about various broadcasts and broadcasters (to be fair, this included FSC) and without naming names, I don’t think it is a stretch to say that most fans think most telecasts of American games are lacking.
Broadcasters have a tough time: finances have been tight and sometimes, well-intentioned moves have backfired. Most notoriously, fans didn’t appreciate ESPN’s attempt to bring a professional sound to their games by taking on Dave O’Brien as the lead play-by-play man. Personally, I wish fans had cut O’Brien a little more slack, and I still think ESPN had the right idea in moving to make MLS and U.S. national team game telecasts sound more like every other broadcast. In fact, I wish more moves like that one were made, but perhaps with former players and other quality announcers (which O’Brien is — he just got hired by the Boston Red Sox, which is a plum assignment in sports) to give this game the professional veneer and credibility it so desperately needs.
On the picture side of the equation, the work of producers, directors and cameramen has indeed improved but it’s still got a long way to go. Fresh blood would really help here as well: let’s hope the new league deals with FSC and ESPN drive those changes.
One last point: Honesty sells. People don’t need to be told that the game is “exciting,” especially when it isn’t. Fans also don’t need useless “sideline reporting;” this isn’t American football, after all.
People do need to be told who has the ball, what they’re doing with it, and why a team has lined up in a certain formation. Too often, that basic information is lacking. And announcers would be well-reminded that their main job is to tell viewers what they cannot see on a large field. Every broadcaster could profit by studying Premiership Live radio, which features the superb BBC commentators who are talking to people who aren’t seeing a live picture and have to understand the potential in every attack.

5) That MLS and its teams will stop faking attendance numbers.

Speaking of honesty, lying about your turnstile counts kills your credibility. So does adding in international doubleheaders into your counts and then pretending that 50,000 people really came out to the MLS match when the draw was really Mexico-Uruguay.
Some have asked if it is fair that so many people in the media are “obsessed” with MLS attendance? Yes, yes it is. Attendance and TV ratings are reliable gauges of popularity, and every sport is judged by the same standards. That’s why editors who were told that a team was drawing 16,000 a game, only to find out that only 10,000 of those seats were paid for, go ballistic and keep the sport out of the papers.
And yes it does matter that the NHL sells out many of its buildings and still has lousy TV ratings. The sellouts are real, especially in Canada, not contrived. That tells editors something, too.

6) That MLS will stay out of the hornet’s nest that is women’s professional soccer.

Fact: WUSA crashed and burned.
Fact: The most recognizable face in the women’s game is retired.
Fact: 99.9% of all Americans cannot name a single member on the current U.S. national team roster.
Fact: All women’s professional sports struggle mightily at the box office.
Fact: For all the good of Title IX, most women’s college soccer programs cannot compete at the top level.
Conclusion: Say no.

7) That MLS will cross-promote with other sports.

MLS needs to work on getting more people to the games. It’s encouraging to see MLS finally cross-promoted with other sports on ESPN; it would be nice to see that continue at the local level with tie-ins and cross-promotions to other local teams.
One example: Other minor sports give discounts to fans who try out their product if they bring a ticket stub from one of the bigger boys down the street: How about promoting MLS games at baseball games and giving half-off to fans who take them up on it? Not only would that reach general sports fans, it would reach Latino consumers to boot.

8) That college soccer will come into the 21st Century.

Change your rules, and play the international game. The product would not only be more attractive, but you’d actually be appropriately training some of those kids for a pro career instead of just using them for your own egos and devices. Enough said.

9) That soccer fans stop bickering.

Guys and gals, does anyone but you really care if you think MLS is better than the English league? Does it really matter if you prefer Spain’s league to Brazil’s? No, it doesn’t. Arguing about games is fine. Having a preference for what games you watch and how you spend your money is your right. And supporting your side through thick and thin is the life-blood of all sports passion.
But ripping your fellow fans for having somehow “lower tastes” than you is stupid. It’s just silly elitism that makes the sport’s fan base look fractured and contentious, and it keeps new people from embracing and enjoying the sport. That may keep the sport “cool” to you, but it also cools the long-term survival prospects of soccer in the States. Not cool.
This is supposed to be fun — we’re not in Rio or London, folks — so how about making this year the year in which fans respect each other and their differences?

10) That the fans will keep growing in depth and volume.

While we’re on the subject of fans, take a bow, folks. For 2006 was the first year since MLS kicked off that the voices of the fans actually got heard.
Doubt me? How about the furor over the Houston 1836? Or the blistering the U.S. team took after the World Cup? How about the cheers over the MLS All-Stars’ performance, and the disappointment with U.S. Soccer blowing their long courtship with Juergen Klinsmann?
Your voices matter. If I had one wish here, it would be that these same fans sat down and watched some broadcasts of other American sports, and read the papers and saw how other sports teams are covered. If they did, they’d quickly find out that soccer’s getting the shaft all around, and they’d yell even louder.
Demand better, fans, of everything on and off the field.
It’s your money, and you deserve it.

It is confirmed: David Beckham has signed a contract with MLS and will join the LA Galaxy. A formal announcement is forthcoming at 1:30 pm ET. The deal is said to be worth some $38m a year for five years.  AEG, adidas and MLS have formed an unusual partnership to handle and market the star in the United States. Recall that under MLS's "salary cap" rules, the league is only paying some $400K of that. Out of whack? You be the judge! Beckham himself has confirmed that he is leaving Madrid in a prepared statement to the press, and our look at what this means for the league will be up momentarily.