Los Angeles Galaxy vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Analysis, Reaction and More

Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy take on Frank Yallop’s San Jose Earthquakes in what should be the final game without the services of LA’s Landon Donovan and San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski due to CONCACAF Gold Cup obligations. The Los Angeles Galaxy are currently 9-2-7 (34 points) and have the best record in Major League Soccer.  As for the Earthquakes, they are 5-5-4 (19 points) and are sixth in the MLS Western Conference.With David Beckham questionable due to back issues, Los Angeles will need to rely on their depth to win the day, with an emphasis on players like Chad Barrett, Juninho and Juan Pablo Angel. As for the Quakes, Steven Lenhart has been picking up steam and will be a target for the Galaxy defense, led by Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez. Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

New York Red Bulls Are Silenced 4-2 on the Road by the Seattle Sounders

 Playing their second road game in a four-game swing, the New York Red Bulls' six-game unbeaten streak came to an end as they lost 4-2 to the Seattle Sounders on Thursday night.Even with the absence of Juan Agudelo, Rafa Marquez, Tim Ream, Luke Rodgers and Thierry Henry, who was serving a game's suspension for earning a red card last week against the Portland Timbers, the Red Bulls were able to rally from a two-goal deficit in the second half.With 46,065 fans in attendance at the newly renamed CenturyLink Field, the Seattle Sounders stuck quick, as they scored two goals in less than three minutes. Seattle's Erik Friberg and Osvaldo Alonso each scored an unassisted goal 11th and 12th minute, respectivelyDespite being down 2-0, the Red Bulls' Dane Richards provided his teammates the opportunity to get back in the game when he scored his third goal of the season in the 31st minute. Despite the outstretched effort of Seattle's GK Kasey Keller to block Dane Richards, it simply wasn't enough. In the second half, the Red Bulls were able to catch a break when Seattle's Zach Scott scored an own goal in the 58th minute for the Red Bulls. With the crowd ...

USA vs. Mexico: It’s Not the World Cup, but It’s the Gold Cup

Few times in sports, fans get what they want. Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, soccer fans are in for a treat.In the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States will play host to "El Tri Colores" the Mexican national team at the Rose Bowl. Following last year’s World Cup letdown for both countries, the importance of this match is accelerated to another level. This game is more than supremacy between bitter, border rivals. A spot in 2013 Confederation’s Cup in Brazil is on the line. Looking back on USA’s trip to the Confederation’s Cup in 2009, the experience—and more importantly, the victories—appeared to catapult the Yanks in the final stages of qualifying and invigorated confidence into the side on African soil. Although that confidence playing in South Africa was short-lived and fizzed out by Ghana, yet again, the Americans brought a country together in hope of reaching uncharted territories. Winning the Gold Cup wouldn’t be anything new, but beating Mexico to do so would sweeten the pot. Since 2002, Mexico and the United States have been the only winners of the Gold Cup. The level of intensity between these two countries has increased over the last decade in direct relation to the ...

New York Red Bulls: Red Bull Arena Welcomes the Just One Soccer League

Harrison, NJ - Despite the New York Red Bulls current road trip, Red Bull Arena was very much alive and available for some of their special fans.On Tuesday June 21, 2010, Red Bull Arena opened it's doors to the children of Just One Soccer League (JOSL) for a school year-end celebration that they earned. Arranged by the coaches and board of JOSL, the children and their parents arrived to Red Bull Arena in two buses.Run by Executive Director Oscar Rodriguez, JOSL was established in 1996. It's a program which promotes soccer as a recreational alternative.By ignoring the competitive aspect of youth soccer, JOSL is a program which through their volunteers is able to educate their young participants of the importance of good sportsmanship and of investing and giving back to their community as their volunteers have exemplified time after time.Every coach involved has to possess a minimum “F” License through New Jersey Youth Soccer Association. Taking this seriously, each year JOSL hosts an “F” License Certification Course to be attended by interested coaches from North Jersey.In addition to volunteer involvement, parents are also expected to participate because while the program is a healthy alternative for their children, the parental ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, June 23, 2011

The Continuing Adventures of the Young AmericansThe USA Under-17 Men's National Team suffered their first loss of their FIFA Under-17 World Cup campaign, losing to Uzbekistan, 2-1. Alfred Koroma scored the only goal for the USA, in the 47th minute.The States must defeat New Zealand on June 25 to stand any chance of advancing to the knockout stages.Youth Academy UpdateThe Los Angeles Galaxy Youth Academy announced this week that Mauricio Cienfuegos would be hired as a Technical Director for the Youth Academy sides.Cienfuegos holds a USSF “A” coaching license and has experience as a head coach at the professional level, coaching Nejapa Futbol Club in El Salvador’s First Division in 2008.“I’m very happy to be back with the club, and to have the opportunity to work with the young players in the Academy is something that I’m very much looking forward to,” Cienfuegos told reporters. “I’m going to be doing something that brings a lot of joy to me, which is teaching the game to kids. Hopefully, one of those players will go on to play for the first team, that’s everyone’s goal.”Cienfuegos helped the Galaxy capture three of the club’s five ...

Philadelphia Union Shutout as Sporting Kansas City Extends Unbeaten Streak

All the technical training in the world can’t prepare a club for a goalkeeper who stands in his head, and as a keeper coach nothing pleases me more than to watch a goalie defend his domain. That was the case tonight (June 22) at PPL Park where visiting netminder Jimmy Neilson helped keep his Sporting Kansas City (SKC) teammates from being blown out by the Philadelphia Union. The Union actually peppered Neilson with 19 shots, seven of which were on frame. Nielsen came up big in the 27th minute when Philadelphia striker Jack McInerney fired from close-range and again two minutes later when he dove to his right to knock away a well-taken free kick from striker Carlos Ruiz.The Union kept pressing after the break, nearly breaking the deadlock in the 72nd minute when a cross from Le Toux found Ruiz, who headed it off the crossbar.  Five minutes later, Justin Mapp fired from point-blank range, but once again Nielsen was up to the task. Obviously, if you are a Union fan you would expect your club to beat the last place team in the Eastern Conference and not settle for 0-0 draw. Well, there is something you should know about SKC. At the moment, ...

Real Salt Lake Earns a Point but Loses a Striker in Chicago

Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire played to a 0-0 draw Wednesday in a mid-week Major League Soccer matchup.While they will take the point on the road, for Real Salt Lake, the story of this match was not the final score but a injury that took forward Fabian Espindola out of the game.Early in the match, Espindola went down and was not able to continue. This added to the problems for head coach Jason Kreis, who was already short on strikers.Jean Alexandre, who had filled in while usual forwards Arturo Alvarez and Alvaro Saborio were away from the team playing in the Gold Cup, was suspended for this match due to a reckless tackle last Saturday against D.C. United.Following the injury, young rookie Luis Gil entered the match and played well up top. He was matched with fellow rookie Artur Aghasyan, who started at forward.Gil continued playing well and had a couple of good scoring opportunities.For Chicago, the man of the match was goalkeeper Sean Johnson who turned back the best scoring chance of the night on a crossed ball to the feet of Real Salt Lake mid-fielder Collen Warner.Surprised by the pass that made it through the defense ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Los Angeles Blues: It’s Time for Some Open Cup Action

Several weeks ago, I asked Los Angeles Blues manager Charlie Naimo about the possibility of facing Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup."Quite honestly, it would be a great opportunity for our club to draw some attention; that there is another great soccer team in LA besides the Galaxy and Chivas," Naimo said in the interview. "I hope it's an opportunity for us to draw some fans, and to teach people that we exist."Competitively, it's also an awesome opportunity to be able to play a level up. And just like it's a great opportunity for an amateur team to play us in the Open Cup, it's the same way when we get to play them, or just like when an MLS team gets to play Real Madrid."Guess what, Charlie? Your chance has finally arrived.The LA Blues of USL PRO and the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer meet for a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, June 28 at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton.The Blues made it to the third round of the U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Hollywood United Hitmen in the first ...

Didier Drogba in the MLS and What That Would Mean to American Soccer

When Chelsea signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for an English record transfer fee, Didier Drogba had to see something was changing.When he and the Spaniard couldn't link up on the field and Drogba was benched in favor of the new player, he had to begin to wonder about his future.And when head man Carlo Ancelotti was sacked and rumors about making the team younger began to swirl, he had to recognize that his time at Stamford Bridge may be coming to an end.Summer transfer rumors mimic New England weather: If you don't like it, wait five minutes. But in the case of Didier Drogba, the reports have consistently suggested the Ivorian will be moving away from the West London club.There have been links to other EPL clubs such as Tottenham or Manchester City. But the Chelsea front office have nixed all claims that they are willing to sell him to an EPL opponent. Smart decision, considering Drogba only trails Manchester United's Wayne Rooney in most goals scored in the league since joining in 2004.Other more probable links are to the Italian giants AC Milan and Spanish side Malaga. Both have expressed interest, are not in direct contention with Chelsea, ...

MLS:New England Revolution Supporters Ejected from Gillette Stadium for Singing

Apparently some New England Revolution fans were chucked out of their stadium on Saturday night in the match against Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium for the most heinous of crimes - shouting at the opponent's goalkeeper! The fans sit in a section known as "The Fort", where most of the noise comes from during a match. They staged a mass walkout after some arrests were made by the local constabulary on bequest of the stadiums 'TeamOps' and security. Several altercations have taken place between the security staff and supporters over the alleged overuse of the chant 'You Suck A**hole', which was directed at the Chicago Fire's goalkeeper.Not exactly a death threat, and I must admit, rather tame compared to most chants your hear at football stadiums, but Gillette Stadium apparently has a zero tolerance on this form of chanting, and the security acted—in their eyes—in a manner accordingly befit the crime. The perpetrators of the heinous act were immediately ejected from the stadium, with two arrests being made by the police after consultation with the over-enthusiastic security staff. With the mass ejection of the fans from the 'Fort', so ...