CARSON, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Galaxy needed a deciding goal last Friday to send them to a sixth MLS Cup final appearance, neither of the team's biggest stars -- David Beckham nor Landon Donovan -- scored the winner in overtime against Houston.
SEATTLE -- Still dubious David Beckham is making an impact in this country? More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's MLS Cup final between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake at Qwest Field (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), with another 2,000 made available late in the week. That would mark the biggest crowd for MLS' season-capper in seven years and the third-biggest ever for a game not featuring the local team.
SEATTLE -- As the reborn Los Angeles Galaxy prepare to take on Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), I can't help but think back to a scene in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 13, 2008.
Having ties to a rich and powerful foreign club seemed like a built-in advantage for Chivas USA. The ability to acquire and develop young Mexican talent and having strong financial backing seemed like a great opportunity for the Southern California-based team to build a powerhouse in a relatively short amount of time.
With one playoff series underway (Houston and Seattle drew 0-0 Thursday night), we break down the remaining three series, all of which kick off this weekend:
For just the second time in MLS history, a team won the Supporters' Shield while compiling less than 50 points during the regular season. Columbus' 13-7-10 record was good enough to lock down the league's best regular-season record, but such a mark doesn't exactly compare well to previous Supporters' Shield winners.
If you had told me before this past weekend that, of the six teams gunning for the final two MLS playoff spots, Real Salt Lake and New England would emerge as winners, I would've responded, "Yeah, and I have a date lined up with Keira Knightley on Tuesday."
CARSON, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy weren't celebrating Friday's big victory too much, perhaps taking a cue from their coach, Bruce Arena.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
"I would like to think that I can be up there with the best players [in MLS], but who knows? ... That's what I'll be hoping for: not just to be the best player in the league, but to be one of the best teams in the league." -- David Beckham, May 2007
CARSON, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Galaxy needed a deciding goal last Friday to send them to a sixth MLS Cup final appearance, neither of the team's biggest stars -- David Beckham nor Landon Donovan -- scored the winner in overtime against Houston.
SEATTLE -- Still dubious David Beckham is making an impact in this country? More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's MLS Cup final between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake at Qwest Field (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), with another 2,000 made available late in the week. That would mark the biggest crowd for MLS' season-capper in seven years and the third-biggest ever for a game not featuring the local team.
SEATTLE -- As the reborn Los Angeles Galaxy prepare to take on Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), I can't help but think back to a scene in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 13, 2008.
Having ties to a rich and powerful foreign club seemed like a built-in advantage for Chivas USA. The ability to acquire and develop young Mexican talent and having strong financial backing seemed like a great opportunity for the Southern California-based team to build a powerhouse in a relatively short amount of time.
With one playoff series underway (Houston and Seattle drew 0-0 Thursday night), we break down the remaining three series, all of which kick off this weekend:
For just the second time in MLS history, a team won the Supporters' Shield while compiling less than 50 points during the regular season. Columbus' 13-7-10 record was good enough to lock down the league's best regular-season record, but such a mark doesn't exactly compare well to previous Supporters' Shield winners.
If you had told me before this past weekend that, of the six teams gunning for the final two MLS playoff spots, Real Salt Lake and New England would emerge as winners, I would've responded, "Yeah, and I have a date lined up with Keira Knightley on Tuesday."
CARSON, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy weren't celebrating Friday's big victory too much, perhaps taking a cue from their coach, Bruce Arena.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
"I would like to think that I can be up there with the best players [in MLS], but who knows? ... That's what I'll be hoping for: not just to be the best player in the league, but to be one of the best teams in the league." -- David Beckham, May 2007
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
The day was Oct. 23, 2008. Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was sitting across from me as we ate lunch at Petros, a yuppified Greek restaurant in Manhattan Beach, Calif. With the cold-blooded confidence of a man who knew exactly what he was saying, Donovan was in the midst of calmly eviscerating his teammate, David Beckham, for what Donovan saw as Beckham's lack of leadership and commitment at the end of the 2008 MLS season.
CARSON, Calif. -- Depending on your criteria, this is the second or third attempt to fit David Beckham into a club and league where, for two years, success has eluded everyone involved. The puzzle has proved more complicated than anyone -- perhaps most of all, Beckham himself -- ever expected. Can it finally work?
Monday was the first day David Beckham trained with the Los Angeles Galaxy since leaving on his self-created, long-term loan deal to AC Milan, and already he's playing the victim.
To: David Beckham From: Couch Slouch Re: To live and die in L.A.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
This article appears in the July 6, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
How can a team that has missed the playoffs the past three years and won just one of eight games this season be construed as on the right track, more or less?
You can't blame coach Bruce Arena, Los Angeles Galaxy players and the rest of the organization if they'd rather not talk about David Beckham. No doubt they've got plenty of problems dealing with the here and now rather than what happens later. But rather soon that deal will come around.
Landon Donovan is back in Major League Soccer, and he had a message on Sunday for anyone who thinks that he failed in Germany for a third time: There will be no Euro hangover this year. He picked up where he left off last season, scoring two goals against D.C. United and making it clear that he intends to shake off any disappointment from not getting a contract offer from Bayern Munich, where he was on loan for three months.
CARSON, Calif. -- It's MLS preseason here in Southern California, and there are several things to report:
I don't believe any of the financials being bandied about in the wake of David Beckham's extended loan deal. But I never really believed he would, or could, earn $250 million during his original five-year MLS deal, either.
The sigh of relief at the resolution of the David Beckham loan drama may only be temporary. That's because the deal to have Beckham return to Major League Soccer to play with the Los Angeles Galaxy at the conclusion of the Serie A season seems like nothing other than a perfunctory stint to tie up a few loose sponsorship ends.
At a family function over the weekend -- the xxth birthday of my mom's best friend (I am forbidden to supply specifics) -- I got a few questions to the effect of, "So, what are you writing about in the soccer world?"
"I've said I want to stay here," he said in Italy as he awaits outcome of contract talks
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan have until Friday to finalize a transfer agreement for David Beckham, or Major League Soccer will not sign off on any deal, league commissioner Don Garber told reporters on Wednesday.
Are we about to witness the fourth coming of David Beckham? Last week, the iconic midfielder said he wanted to extend his stay at AC Milan, possibly making it a permanent move. If he is able to stay, it could again, at age 33, mark another renaissance of a career often previously written off.
Like his Galaxy teammate David Beckham, Landon Donovan says he wants to stay in Europe permanently after his loan deal expires. The question: Should MLS and the Galaxy fulfill his wish? The answer: Not just yet.
Ty Harden is set to return to Major League Soccer action after a year away to pursue philanthropic work.
David Beckham vowed last week that he would return to the Los Angeles Galaxy from his two-month loan to AC Milan in time for the start of the 2009 MLS season next March. "My commitment is still to the Galaxy, and that's not changed," Beckham insisted when asked if L.A.'s 2-2 season-ending tie with FC Dallas on Oct. 26 would be his last game with the Galaxy.
Trying to make sense of this David Beckham to AC Milan story? Here's a humble attempt at some answers.
The man who brought the "Beckham Rule" to Major League Soccer now wants to change it in a dramatic fashion. And if Tim Leiweke gets his way, David Beckham and MLS' other marquee players wouldn't count a dime against the league's salary cap.
There's no other soccer city in the United States quite like Los Angeles.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The soap opera that is the Los Angeles Galaxy just gets weirder and weirder.
LOS ANGELES -- It's easy to knock the ESPYs. Just the self-serving name deserves to be mocked like a "McLovin" fake ID. Factor in the slew of corporate sponsorships, the parading of on-air personalities on stage as if they were celebrities and the four-day tape delay and you're talking about a target as easy as Paris Hilton trying to sing.
"Everyone has made us feel so welcome," he says. "I can't imagine being anywhere else"
There are more pounds around the middle and less hair up top these days as perhaps the most powerful yet graceful player ever produced in Europe slides toward his 46th birthday, his playing days long past and an oft-aborted coaching career in its fourth phase.
When it comes to the world's nastiest rivalries, David Beckham could write a book. He's been front and center for two of the most extreme bad-blood derbies.
David Beckham's first season with the L.A. Galaxy may have been a disappointment – but he's got big plans for 2008.
It was a family affair Wednesday night at the Spice Girls concert at L.A.'s Staples Center: David Beckham and sons joined pals Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and daughter Suri to take in the 90-minute Girl Power party.
In case you didn't notice, the Los Angeles Beckhams -- sorry, Galaxy -- are making a last-ditch effort to crash the MLS playoff party. They've won three in a row, including two road victories last week over Kansas City and Columbus, both teams that are flailing for their own playoff lives.
David Beckham flew back home to Los Angeles Sunday night with wife Victoria after spending the weekend with his father, Ted Beckham, who is recovering from a heart attack.
Capping a whirlwind week of festivities marking the arrival of David and Victoria Beckham to Los Angeles, superstar duos Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith hosted a gala private party Sunday night for their British pals at the Museum of Contemporary Art's Geffen Contemporary in downtown L.A.
David and Victoria Beckham have already caused quite a stir in the states. But this weekend the British imports are going to be treated like Hollywood royalty.
Despite the frenzy that greeted their arrival from Britain on Thursday, the weekend was anything but quiet for David and Victoria Beckham as they and their brood settled into their new Beverly Hills home.
The Beckham family said goodbye to Britain and arrived in Los Angeles late Thursday - but there was no day of rest for David or Victoria before they launched their stateside charm offensive.
The Los Angeles Galaxy hopes the blond superstar will help rebrand soccer as a glamour game. But will his team measure up on the field?
Victoria Beckham's shooting schedule for her NBC reality has been thrown into disarray now that husband David has been recalled to play for the English national soccer team.
Eva Longoria is hands on when it comes to planning her wedding with fiancé Tony Parker. While Parker is busy with the NBA Playoffs, Longoria has been busy working on every detail imaginable for their July 7 ceremony, right down to how the couple will consummate the marriage.
In terms of international star power, it's been a dark few years in Major League Soccer. Thank you, Lothar Matthäus.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Guillermo Barros Schelotto is on his way to Major League Soccer. The Argentine superstar will join the Columbus Crew on a one-year deal with an option for a second year that will be announced this week, according to his representative Gustavo Goñi.
MLS clubs, take note.
Paris Hilton is looking for her bunnies. It's really not as crazy at it sounds. Saturday night just turned into Easter Sunday morning and she's walking around her Tuscan-style home in the Hollywood Hills looking for her furry friends. "Where are they?" she asks her sister, Nicky, whose lounging by the pool and talking to their friend Brandon Davis. "They're not in the cage."
What's ahead for Major League Soccer as the league enters a 12th season chock full of new superstars? Here are my predictions.
A superstar Mexican with diminished yet first-rate skills, beloved for his national team accomplishments. A large city with a burgeoning Mexican population. A league trying desperately to lure Mexican eyes onto its Americanized product.
If Major League Soccer were to pinpoint the moment it hit its target audience, it would be around 12:45 a.m. EST on Jan. 17.
Things haven't exactly been going David Beckham's way since he signed his lucrative contract to join the Los Angeles Galaxy in January. First he suffered a serious knee injury that will sideline him until the end of April and possibly May and now he's having a difficult time finding a new home in Los Angeles. While many outlets had soccer's royal family all but moving into the former mansion of Meg Ryan in Bel-Air last week, the asking price for the seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house is apparently too high for the Beckhams.
Ernie Kent's eyes widened as he heard the question being asked.
Reggie Bush's role in Ciara's new music video Like A Boy have intensified rumors that the duo are an item. In the video, which was shot in Los Angeles, Bush is quietly sitting in a chair while Ciara seductively moves around him; whispering in his ear, hitting him on the head, laying between his legs and kissing him on the cheek.
It's been two weeks, and David Beckham's move to a Galaxy far, far away is still the talk of the town in England. But which town?
David Beckham is a very fine soccer player, but with apologies to Macbeth, "Nothing in his life (becomes) him like the leaving."
It has been almost a week since the Los Angeles Galaxy drew the biggest headlines in Major League Soccer history by signing David Beckham to a blockbuster five-year contract.
1. The sports world is still reacting to David Beckham's blockbuster signing with the MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy. Landing such a superstar will surely make soccer a major American pro sport. Personally, I can't wait 'til Beckham and the Galaxy come to New York to play the Cosmos.
LOS ANGELES -- His phone began ringing well before the sun rose above the Home Depot Center. Before "the news" began trickling over sports wires. Before Major League Soccer officially started living up to the first two words of its name. It rang and rang and rang. It never stopped.
Very few people have heard of the Most Serene Republic of Excelsior, but those familiar with South American island nations may know that its annual governmental budget is $950,000. Next season David Beckham will earn that every week.
British soccer star David Beckham says he wants to become a part of American history. The 31-year-old former captain of the English soccer team has signed a five-year, reported $250 million deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.
Mark it down: Jan. 11, 2007 will forever be known as the day that Major League Soccer truly arrived on the world stage.
The biggest sports story in the world was basically ignored on U.S. sports pages this week, even though an American was the central player.
It would have been easy for me to confuse where I was during a recent trip to London, England.
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