Wednesday, June 01, 2005

The Week In Soccer: Veni, Vidi, Vici

A second-string squad of the English National Team had a good week in the former colonies, beating the US 2-1 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday, and defeating Colombia 3-2 at Giants Stadium yesterday. The Brits’ second match was played with regular starters David Beckham and Michael Owen, and the latter pumped in all three goals for England in front of a raucous 50,000+ at the swamp. Those with fortitude stayed for yesterday’s MLS nightcap where MetroStars captain Amado Guevara bent a Beckham-like ball into the upper ninety in the waning moments of injury time to beat Chicago 2-1.

US Team News
Late additions to the US squad for this Saturday’s quallie vs. Costa Rica in Salt Lake City include defenders Oguchi Onewyu (Standard Liege, Belgium) and Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), midfielders DaMarcus Beasley (PSV, Holland) and all-time US MNT caps leader Cobi Jones (LA Galaxy), and forward Pat Noonan (New England). My lineup for Saturday: Keller – Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Gibbs, Hejduk – Beasley, Ralston, Zavagnin, Dempsey – Donovan, Johnson. After the Costa Rica match, the US heads to the Canal Zone to visit Panama on the 8th.

Last and this Week’s MLS Results
Saturday, May 28th
New England 0-0 Colorado
DC United 0-2 FC Dallas
Columbus 0-3 MetroStars
Kansas City 1-0 San Jose
Salt Lake 0-3 Chicago
Chivas USA 0-2 LA Galaxy

Tuesday, May 31st
MetroStars 2-1 Chicago

MLS Standings as of June 1st (Team, Points, GD)
Eastern Conference
New England 21, +11
Chicago 16, -2
MetroStars 15, +6
Kansas City 15, +5
DC United 11, 0
Columbus 10, -10

Western Conference
FC Dallas 21, +10
LA Galaxy 19, +6
San Jose 13, 0
Salt Lake 11, -7
Colorado 8, -5
Chivas USA 4, -14

This Week’s MLS Matches
Wednesday, June 1st
Chivas USA vs. Kansas City, 10:30pm

Saturday, June 4th
Chicago vs. Chivas USA, 4pm, ESPN2
(US vs. Costa Rica, WCQ at Salt Lake City, 7:30pm ESPN2)
New England vs. Kansas City, 7:30pm
Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas, 10pm
LA Galaxy vs. MetroStars, 10pm, MSG
San Jose vs. DC United, 10:30pm, FSC, HDNet

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