Soccer News & Notes: 7/25/2007
LA Galaxy win first SuperLiga Match; FC Dallas Draw
God I love Landon Donovan! This guy has a nack for making people eat the same stuff that they throw at him. After the Beckham circus match Saturday night, pretty much everyone dropped Donovan on his head for missing the open header late in the match and basically being invisible through out the entire match. I even said that the Galaxy would finish dead last in their SuperLiga group.
Well, he proved me wrong and showed the rest of the media that he can still step up in matches. Donovan scored the match winner as the Galaxy, minus Golden Balls, defeated Pachuca 2-1 last night. As FC Dallas drew with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, the Galaxy currently sit at the top of the Group A standings.
FC Dallas draw with Chivas.
The other SuperLiga match of the night had FC Dallas draw with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, despite an apparent hand ball that lead to the Chivas goal that tied the score at 1-1. FC Dallas played a man short for the end of the match as Drew Moor was sent off for shoving Chivas captain Hector Reynoso.
I watched the first half of this match and I was shocked at how hard these guys were hitting each other. The hitting was fierce and the passing was horrible. FC Dallas had terrible passes through out the entire first half, and it made me wonder if it was only time until Chivas snuck in with a goal. Chivas themselves weren't that much better, but they did have faster build ups in the offense, which I thought would be the difference. I figured teh score would be 1-0 for Chivas.
Freddy off to Benfica?
The AP is reporting that MLS and Benfica have agreed to a $2 million dollar transfer for Freddy Adu, but Freddy and Benfica have yet to agree to personal terms of the contract. Freddy was back in the Real Salt Lake line up as they hosted Boca Juniors in an international friendly last night, which finished 1-1. Negotiations appear to be on going.
I really, really like this move, assuming that Freddy can agree to personal terms with Benfica. Moving to Portugal provides Freddy with the chance to face an entirely different environment and get alot more playing pressure on him, rather than marketing pressure. At Benfica, Freddy will have to fight for playing time in training, something that Peter Nowak was trying to get him to understand and what he said he figured out with his two week training session last year with Manchester United. He won't be the media darling of the entire league, like he head been over here. His game should improve greatly, assuming that he moves. I am just happy that he wants the greater challenge, unlike some other guys.
Eddie Johnson turns Derby down.
Speaking of Americans getting chances to move overseas, Eddie Johnson has reportedly turned down Derby's offer to joining the EPL side this season. Derby has just been promoted to the EPL and were looking to bring EJ in to bolster its offense. In 2005, Benfica offered MLS a reported $6 million for EJ's contract, but the league turned them down.
As I said before, I think that EJ should move, especially with his stock so "high." The guy has been lighting up MLS, 12 goals in 11 games, but his game needs to go higher, especially if he wants to truly be an international goal scoring threat for the USMNT. Playing in the EPL would have forced him to become quicker, not only on his feet, but in his head.
Poor decision EJ, poor decision.
God I love Landon Donovan! This guy has a nack for making people eat the same stuff that they throw at him. After the Beckham circus match Saturday night, pretty much everyone dropped Donovan on his head for missing the open header late in the match and basically being invisible through out the entire match. I even said that the Galaxy would finish dead last in their SuperLiga group.
Well, he proved me wrong and showed the rest of the media that he can still step up in matches. Donovan scored the match winner as the Galaxy, minus Golden Balls, defeated Pachuca 2-1 last night. As FC Dallas drew with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, the Galaxy currently sit at the top of the Group A standings.
FC Dallas draw with Chivas.
The other SuperLiga match of the night had FC Dallas draw with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, despite an apparent hand ball that lead to the Chivas goal that tied the score at 1-1. FC Dallas played a man short for the end of the match as Drew Moor was sent off for shoving Chivas captain Hector Reynoso.
I watched the first half of this match and I was shocked at how hard these guys were hitting each other. The hitting was fierce and the passing was horrible. FC Dallas had terrible passes through out the entire first half, and it made me wonder if it was only time until Chivas snuck in with a goal. Chivas themselves weren't that much better, but they did have faster build ups in the offense, which I thought would be the difference. I figured teh score would be 1-0 for Chivas.
Freddy off to Benfica?
The AP is reporting that MLS and Benfica have agreed to a $2 million dollar transfer for Freddy Adu, but Freddy and Benfica have yet to agree to personal terms of the contract. Freddy was back in the Real Salt Lake line up as they hosted Boca Juniors in an international friendly last night, which finished 1-1. Negotiations appear to be on going.
I really, really like this move, assuming that Freddy can agree to personal terms with Benfica. Moving to Portugal provides Freddy with the chance to face an entirely different environment and get alot more playing pressure on him, rather than marketing pressure. At Benfica, Freddy will have to fight for playing time in training, something that Peter Nowak was trying to get him to understand and what he said he figured out with his two week training session last year with Manchester United. He won't be the media darling of the entire league, like he head been over here. His game should improve greatly, assuming that he moves. I am just happy that he wants the greater challenge, unlike some other guys.
Eddie Johnson turns Derby down.
Speaking of Americans getting chances to move overseas, Eddie Johnson has reportedly turned down Derby's offer to joining the EPL side this season. Derby has just been promoted to the EPL and were looking to bring EJ in to bolster its offense. In 2005, Benfica offered MLS a reported $6 million for EJ's contract, but the league turned them down.
As I said before, I think that EJ should move, especially with his stock so "high." The guy has been lighting up MLS, 12 goals in 11 games, but his game needs to go higher, especially if he wants to truly be an international goal scoring threat for the USMNT. Playing in the EPL would have forced him to become quicker, not only on his feet, but in his head.
Poor decision EJ, poor decision.
Labels: Benfica, Boca Juniors, Chivas, Eddie Johnson, FC Dallas, Freddy Adu, LA Galaxy, Pachuca, SuperLiga
posted by Brian at 6:49 AM
1 Comments:
depends on what angle you look at it. As a Wizards fan I'm very happy he's staying.
Besides, if he continues to have the season he's having he's gonna hit 20 goals at least. Which could land him a much better deal in January.
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