Los Angeles Galaxy Awakens in Second Half, Defeats A.C. St. Louis 2-0

  It took them nearly 70 minutes, but Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy got it done in the third round of the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Goals by Chris Klein—donning the captain's armband for the first time this season—in the 69th minute and Juninho in the 80th gave the Galaxy a 2-0 victory over A.C. St. Louis. You have to give ACSTL their dues this match. For the lion's share of the contest, LA were disconnected. The finishing was terrible at the front, and the likes of Gauchinho and Mike Ambersley nearly gave St. Louis a shock lead early. As expected from the Show Me State, St. Louis showed the LA Galaxy that they can hang around for a half and change. However, Klein—who gets my Man of the Match—did well in donning the captain's armband to rally the troops, pressing forward to earn his first goal of the tournament. His 69th-minute strike looped past A.C. St. Louis keeper Alec Dufty, and the match broke wide open. And what about Juninho? He is starting to pay his dues with his first of the year. Alex Cazumba showed that he can score in MLS, and now ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Vs. AC St. Louis: A Play-By-Play (and Other Miscellany)

T-180: For the record Claude Anelka can't coach. With that said, here's a little info on the Galaxy's next opponent tonight, courtesy of Wikipedia: "Athletic Club of St. Louis, commonly referred to as AC St. Louis, is an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the NASL Conference of the USSF D2 Pro League, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. T-170: "The USSF-D2 is a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in 2010 to last just one season, as a compromise between the feuding United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL). T-160: "St. Louis plays its home games at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in nearby Fenton, Missouri. The team's colors are green, white, and yellow. T-150: The men's club is one half of the St. Louis based ownership group, chaired by team owner Jeff Cooper, with a large youth soccer league covering the entire St. Louis area as the other half. A third part was Saint Louis Athletica of Women's Professional Soccer, but the club folded in 2010. T-140: ...

Landon Donovan: What’s Next for U.S. Soccer’s Golden Boy?

Landon Donovan scored one of the biggest goals in U.S. soccer history. His exhilarating stoppage-time tally against Algeria gave the Americans a hard-fought 1-0 victory in their final group stage game at the World Cup and sent them on to the second round. The U.S. went on to lose to Ghana 2-1 in extra time on Saturday, with Donovan netting the lone American goal, but it was Donovan's game-winner several days before that's still lingering in many soccer fans' minds. Now, everything from viral videos to tabloid rumors are floating around about U.S. soccer's golden boy. What's next for the 28-year-old Donovan? Click ahead to find out. The World Reacts to Landon Donovan's Goal @ Yahoo! VideoBegin Slideshow

Philadephia Union Scores 3-1 Win Over Seattle Sounders

Despite heat and humidity an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 18,755 turned out June 27 to watch host Philadelphia score a 3-1 triumph over  Seattle as the Union’s new stadium in suburban Chester, PPL Park, was inaugurated. Philadelphia visited Seattle March 25 in another inaugural, that of the season’s first game, as the Sounders scored a 3-1 win. After the World Cup break, the word from the Sounders training site in Tukwila was that the team was refreshed and ready to approach the second half of the MLS campaign with confidence and optimism. Those positive sentiments dissipated as the second meeting of the teams produced a totally different result, but with a first half that was reminiscent of earlier Sounders games.  The Sounders had played possession football in games that had produced disappointing losses and frustrating ties. For a time it looked as if the Sounders might have good fortune on their side as, despite numerous Philadelphia chances falling short and being dominated in time of possession, a quick breakthrough produced a 1-0 Seattle lead. The game’s as well as PPL Park’s initial goal came at the 44-minute mark.  Steve Zakuani made a run up the left flank.  He played a ball to Fredy Montero in ...

Despite the Accolades, PPL Park Is Far From Ready

(Philadelphia, PA) - Yesterday was a historic day for Philadelphia soccer fans and a homecoming for Philadelphia Union faithful. A crowd of over 18,000 were in attendance to open the team's new home, PPL Park. The $120 million dollar venue, nestled on the bank of th Delaware River, was opened with a certain set of tight deadlines from the team and the community. Even though the arena is a step in the right direction for the city and the team, it is far from perfect and in some places, far from done. Beyond the fact that the stadium is located in the occasionally hostile city of Chester (which is a factor that may inhibit the teams long-term success), The stadium was delayed for countless weeks, forcing the team to play their opening home games at the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field. Most delays came from construction issues and caused the first two home games (about the span of two months) to take place at Lincoln Financial Field. For those of you that were not in attendance yesterday, you may be lucky because, beyond the play on the field, the stadium experience fell way below expectations. Here are some of the highs and lows for ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders FC: Payback and Payoff

On Independence Day, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will look to get back on the winning track in Major League Soccer against the Seattle Sounders FC at the Home Depot Center. There will be football. There will be fireworks. There will be football and fireworks. And Sigi Schmid's crew will look to get payback for the humiliation dealt to them earlier this season. But there's just one problem with that planning. Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle are back. “We've scored a bunch of goals without [Donovan and Buddle],” defender Gregg Berhalter said. “Obviously they're a big part of our attack but we've proven we can score without them. It's just a question of today. We had some chances but we didn't make the best of them. We're confident in this group of guys for sure.” Rats. Shoots. Maledictions of every language conceivable. Los Angeles will be at full strength when both teams collide. As for Los Angeles, they are coming off a scoreless draw with Toronto FC and U.S. Open Cup action. “We're here to do a job. We’re here to win a game and we tried to put our best foot forward,” ...

FIFA World Cup 2010: Is U.S. Soccer Willing To Change? 2010 Is a Failure

This obviously isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, rant as to what’s wrong with American soccer, but it’s mine and it’s right now.  And I’m at a point where I don’t care about changing anyone’s minds or hearts.    I need to vent and don’t really care about detracting opinions.    If you don’t want to read such a rant for five minutes, I don’t blame you, but you’ve been warned.  Thanks either way.   Well, so much for Project 2010.   Our United States soccer program can be likened to having sex with the ex-wife.  Sure, the sex is hot at first, but if the problems that caused the breakup in the first place weren’t fixed, the relationship will get worse.  We are expected to support a team “just because it’s OUR team” and be talked down to for daring to suggest anything is wrong.    Enough!  This was not a good soccer team that crashed against Ghana.  Just a lucky one who eventually got the result they deserved.  Maybe we should have made it a “revenge match.”    Americans have this incredible stubbornness to tradition, especially when traditions don’t make ...

Houston Dynamo Downs C.D. Aguila To Take 2010 Charities Cup

The Houston Dynamo scored its final goal in the 74th minute to down C.D. Aguila by the score of 4-0 to win the 2010 Charities Cup. The Dynamo won their second annual Charities Cup, while earning needed funds for local charities and those who are affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. The following sides will show photos from the friendly match All photos were shot by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loco Photography, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.Begin Slideshow

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. AC St. Louis: Stability Versus Turmoil

On July 29, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will look to kick off their 2010 U.S. Open Cup run with a bang against A.C. St. Louis of the USSF D2 Pro League. A.C. St. Louis, a team founded this season, defeated the NSC Minnesota Stars in the second round 1-0, but they are a team in turmoil right now. This past week, the club fired manager Claude Anelka and replaced him with Dale Schilly of youth club St. Louis Scott Gallagher. The club currently sits in the cellar of the USSF D2 Pro League NASL Conference with a 2-7-1 record. Furthermore, a financial power struggle has seen businessman Jeff Cooper take complete financial ownership of A.C. St. Louis. A player to watch out for on A.C. St. Louis is Mike Ambersley. He was instrumental in their 1-0 victory over the NSC Minnesota Stars on June 22 and has a great striking touch. Others to look out for include midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer and Gauchinho (Jéferson Lima de Menezes) and goalkeeper Alec Duffy. Meanwhile, the Galaxy are enjoying relative stability under the ownership of the Anschutz Entertainment Group and head coach Bruce Arena. The Galaxy sit ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Rebound, Force Point Split With Toronto FC

There was no surprise that Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy would come into the contest looking a little rusty. After all, the team was recuperating from injuries with the 2010 FIFA World Cup break.On Saturday at BMO Field, the G's got back into the familiar habit of earning points, rather than coming up empty. On a pitch that was drenched with heavy precipitation late into the night, the Galaxy held Toronto FC to another scoreless draw.Really, though, the Galaxy looked and felt disconnected their first time out of the break. The passing was not crisp, and the shooting by the likes of Juninho was simply unacceptable. Tristan Bowen will have wanted to rue the opportunities he had with the ball.To their credit, the Galaxy neutralized the TFC midfielders and never got them going offensively. Nick LaBrocca threatened with a triad of shots for the Reds. But Donovan Ricketts only needed to make one save on the night at BMO, and that was a shot in the first half by Dwayne De Rosario.De Rosario was held at bay by the Galaxy backline. Center back Omar Gonzalez proved to be talisman behind Toronto's frustrations in their attacking third.With the draw, Los Angeles ...