Soccer Buzz

Well, where to start?

Real Madrid managed to take care of business against Mallorca to win the La Liga championship. Around the second half of the Madrid/Mallorca and the Barca/Gimnastic de Tarragona games, Barcelona supporters must have sensed that their club would take over first place on the final weekend as their team led 4-0 while Madrid was trailing 1-0. However, two goals from Jose Antonio Reyes sandwiched around a Mallorca own goal gave Los Galacticos their first Spanish league title in four years and let David Beckham leave Spain as a champion before joining the LA Galaxy. Also, it is good to see that Barcelona did not become champions after Lionel Messi’s handball goal against Espanyol a week ago (apparently, Messi needed to recreate both of Maradona’s goals against England in 1986.)

The United States managed to beat Panama 2-1 in a game that probably should have been a bigger victory for the US. The Americans once again could not finish some excellent scoring opportunities, including Clint Dempsey missing a chance while trying to showboat late in the game. Dempsey’s antics made the game interesting in the end with Blas Perez grabbing a goal for Panama a few minutes later. To be fair to Panama, Tim Howard had to come up with a big save against Perez early in the second half to keep the score at 0-0.

Of course, Panama should have finished the game with only 8 men on the field when the referee failed to send off Felipe Baloy for intentionally handling a through ball in the first half, and then didn’t send off Carlos Rivera for bringing down Landon Donovan when Donovan was through on goal. Manual Torres did eventually get sent off for dissent. The Panamanians complained about referee Neil Brizan, but he was awful for both teams, which is par for the course in CONCACAF.

And now for the MLS wrap up. I did fairly well on my predictions until Sunday when I completely missed both games.

FC Dallas 1, Real Salt Lake 0 (My prediction: FCD 2 RSL 1)

Nothing much to see in this game. Dominic Oduro scores in the 93rd minute to add some kind of excitement to this one.

Columbus Crew 3, New England Revolution 3 (My prediction: 2-2)

Exciting game with plenty of goals. Columbus coach Sigi Schmid made some changes to shake up the squad and they did produce some goals thanks to another good game from Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Both teams have defensive issues, especially New England without Michael Parkhurst

DC United 3, Chicago Fire 1 (My prediction DC 3-0)

United have started to play like they are capable, but the Fire are in total shambles at every single position. Goalkeeping, defending, midfield, forwards, you name it; Chicago has problems with. The Fire faithful are ready to form a lynch mob against Dave Sarachan and GM John Guppy, and right now, it’s hard to blame them.

New York Red Bulls 3, Kansas City Wizards 3 (My prediction NY 2-1)

It set up as the game of the week, and it delivered. I’ll talk more about this one tomorrow as there is much to discuss, but this game was not only entertaining from a dramatic standpoint, but the level of play was extremely high. It was also good to see a good crowd at the Meadowlands.

Chivas USA 2, Colorado Rapids 0 (My prediction Chivas 2-1)

Chivas continues to play well at home, and they are quietly putting together a decent season. Brad Guzan looked really good in goal for Chivas, and he should have a bright future with the US national team as well. Meanwhile, Colorado continues to struggle away from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (insert whatever joke you like).

Toronto FC 4, FC Dallas 0 (My prediction 1-1)

Big whiff on my part. Toronto continues to play well north of the border, but unlike their last two games at home, they were able to totally smash their opponent. Two pieces of bad news for Toronto, however. First, Danny Dichio had to leave the game for x-rays, and second, they have to go on the road for six consecutive games. Meanwhile, Dallas has shown that they are capable of some excellent play, but they struggle with inconsistency. I also realize they were injury-riddled and fatigued on Sunday, but I’d still take the East’s top three teams (New York, Kansas City, and New England) over Dallas.

Los Angeles Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 2 (My prediction 1-1)

Not a bad effort from the Galaxy, albeit against another cellar dweller. Perhaps the Galaxy can still put together a decent season. They have just signed Honduran forward Carlos Pavon, and he could be the box forward that the Galaxy need. Plus, they are waiting for the return of Landon Donovan (who will also play in Copa America), and they are waiting for some English guy to arrive next month. Salt Lake, on the other hand, continues to look for its first win. What a mess they have on their hands.

This weeks prediction record 4-3.

Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, US Soccer, MLS