Get Real Rafa

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is in a bit of an argument with the club's new owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks. The fight is over transfer funds, with Benitez insisting money be made available now to tie up any deals to be done in the January transfer window. The owners say nothing will be done until they come to England for the Liverpool-Manchester United match on December 16th. This isn't good enough for Benitez, who suggested that the owners don't understand the intricacies of the European transfer system. Maybe what they really don't understand is why Benitez, after spending over $100 million on players this past summer, is demanding new players after just six months. Or maybe they don't understand why the team is only in fifth place in the Premiership and hanging on by the thinnest of threads in the Champions League after spending all that cash in the summer. TWG isn't a huge fan of all the foreign ownership in the Premier League, but we agree with what Gillett and Hicks told their manager: you focus on coaching the players you have now, not what players you wish you had.

Judgment Day

Barcelona defeated Rangers 2-0 earlier today, the opposite of what TWG predicted. Barcelona's goals came from Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, two pretty good players. Damarcus Beasley, obviously, did not score for Rangers. In fact, nobody did. Looks like they could have used Nolan Ryan, or at least Mike Richter in the nets. Don't worry, TWG will continue to make bold predictions, regardless of what anyone thinks, especially you Kate.

Prediction

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means: It's business time. It also means European Cup action (you might know it better as "The Champions League"). Plenty of matches on tap for today, but we'll keep it short and sweet. TWG is going out on a big limb and saying Rangers will pull the upset over Barcelona in the Nou Camp (or is it Camp Nou? we've heard it both ways). Look for Rangers to sit back and soak up pressure from Barcelona's vaunted attackers and try to catch them on the counterattack, much like they did in the game two weeks ago in Glasgow, which ended in a 0-0 tie, and had Barcelona lamenting the fact that Rangers didn't want to play, just defend. TWG is tipping fellow U.S. American Damarcus Beasley to snatch a late winner for Rangers. Bold? Yes. But it's business time.

Mourinho Out at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho, the self-proclaimed "Special One," has left Chelsea, apparently by mutual consent. Speculation about his departure had been rampant for months, but the move is still a bit of a shock, even when taking into account Chelsea's recent run of poor results. Despite the talk of "mutual consent" and Mourinho's huge payoff, TWG thinks Mourinho was simply fed up with all the outside meddling in the day-to-day affairs of his squad and decided enough was enough, he was leaving on his own terms before he was forced out. Regardless of what you thought about Mourinho, he knew how to get results and his coaching record speaks for itself. He'll have no shortage of offers for his services (Lions FC, losers of its past two games, may be in the market for a new manager). What effects will this have on Chelsea and its high-priced squad? Their first match without Mourinho is against Manchester United on Sunday, and the management team of Avram Grant and Steve Clarke have their work cut out for them....

Weekend Action

Interesting match between the US and Brazil. The US took an early lead only for Brazil to equalize on an unfortunate own goal from Oguchi Onyewu. Brazil's counterattack leading up to the goal was pure class, especially the final pass from Ronaldinho to Kaka. Tim Howard made a good save, but the rebound bounced off Onyewu and into the goal. It was a tough match for the 'Gooch, as he was also beaten by Lucio for Brazil's second goal. Clint Dempsey scored the second goal for the US after nice build-up play and a great pass from Steve Cherundolo, before Ronaldinho and Elano finished off the scoring for Brazil. The US can take many positives from the match, but the most positive thing for them would be to get back to their winning ways from the first part of 2007, before the streak of 5 straight losses began.

Virginia Tech won their annual tournament with big victories over Clemson and St. John's. The win over Clemson was also their first ACC match, and they now sit in first place in the league. While it is early, it's always important to get off to a positive start. Next up for the Hokies is a friday night match at Tulsa, which will be televised live by Fox Soccer Channel. Kickoff is 8pm.

Lions FC opened up the CVSA season with a dominating 5-2 victory over the Fan Rats. There were strong performances all over the field for the Lions, with the returning players not missing a beat and the several new recruits fitting in nicely. Things won't get any easier for the squad though, as a matchup with archrivals X-Rams looms next Sunday. Kickoff is set for 9am at Bryan Park.

USL2 Final

Harrisburg City Islanders vs. Richmond Kickers
8pm, University of Richmond Stadium
TV: 10pm, Fox Soccer Channel (delayed)

Not so much a preview, but more of a prediction from TWG. The first goal will be crucial. This may seem obvious but for the most part championship matches are pretty tight, as teams look to defend and avoid making mistakes that lead to goals. Richmond has scored in the first half of the last two games, which forced their opponents to commit more numbers forward, leaving them vulnerable to quick counterattacks. The Kickers were unable to capitalize on those opportunities in last week's semifinal and ended up conceding a late goal. Harrisburg is known for its physical approach and generally commits more fouls than its opponents. This will make it harder for Richmond's attack to break them down. The Kickers, however, boast one of the top defenses in the league and can depend on goalkeeper of the year Ronnie Pascale to keep things organized and come up with the one or two big saves a team needs to win a big match. TWG sees Richmond scoring midway through the second half, then sitting back and absorbing Harrisburg's attack, waiting for the chance to break. This time the Kickers will get the bounces to go their way and put away the crucial second goal, sealing the side's second straight USL2 title.

Should the match go into penalty kicks, TWG gives the edge to Richmond and spot-kick expert Charlie Howe.

Your thoughts?

Other Player Moves

It appears as though Real Madrid will finally get winger Arjen Robben from Chelsea after a long, drawn-out transfer process. The Spanish champions are also set to sign Gabriel Heinze after the Argentine defender's attempted move from Manchester United to Liverpool was blocked by the Premier League. Meanwhile Chelsea have signed defender Juliano Belletti from Barcelona. Looks like Dani Alves won't be making the switch from Sevilla to Stamford Bridge.

Keller Joins Fulham

Kasey Keller has signed for Fulham, becoming the fourth American to play for the Premier League side. He joins Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Brian McBride, who is currently out with a long-term knee injury. Keller did not re-sign with his last team, Germany's Borussia Moenchengladbach, at the end of the 2006-2007 season and was a free agent. Fulham will be his fourth team in England, after playing for Millwall, Leicester City and Tottenham.



The question is, is Keller being brought in as backup for Tony Warner, or will he compete for the starting job right away? Warner had a huge mistake that led to a goal last weekend, although he made several other excellent saves in the same game. Fulham's usual first-choice goalkeeper, Antii Niemi, is currently injured. Don't be surprised to see Keller in the nets sooner rather than later.



Speaking of goalkeeping mistakes, The World's Game (TWG) finally got to some highlights last night, and while Paul Robinson's blunder for England was bad, TWG argues that Warner's error on saturday for Fulham, and Jens Lehmann's for Arsenal against Blackburn were even worse. Those two critical errors led to both teams losing points (Arsenal ended up drawing 1-1, Fulham lost 2-1). Robinson's came in a friendly match, and although it was an extremely high-profile game, no points were at stake. You could even go as far as saying that England's attack should have made up for the error but wasted several excellent scoring opportunities (looking at you, Kieron Dyer and Michael Owen). So, Robinson is suspect, but the real time to judge players is when points and trophies are on the line.

Mr. Lalas, Your Thoughts...

...On David Beckham playing the full 90 minutes against Germany on that ailing ankle? Will you be waiting until tomorrow to call Steve McClaren, or have you rung him already to pick his brain on that decision for a friendly match? Granted, Beckham had only played for England 96 times before tonight, so the coaching staff probably needed to get a good, long look at him to make a decent evaluation. Hey fellas, apparently he hits a pretty good free kick. Hope that helps. Now Beckham will attempt to make it back to LA for the Galaxy's Thursday night match against local rival Chivas USA. Will he make the lineup? And what about McClaren playing him for the full 90? Let's hear your thoughts...

Results

Some surprising and some not-so-surprising results from today's matches.
First, the surprising results:
Hungary 3-1 over World Cup winner Italy
Switzerland 2-1 over Holland
Norway 2-1 over Argentina
Armenia holds Portugal to a 1-1 draw- in an actual Euro 2008 qualifier, which makes it all the more surprising
And we'll throw in Ireland's 4-0 drubbing of Denmark in as a bit of a surprise as well

And the not-so-surprising results:
Sweden 1-0 over USA
Germany 2-1 over England
Brazil 2-0 over Algeria
France 1-0 over Slovakia
Spain 3-2 over Greece

And DC United regains the Atlantic Cup with a 3-1 victory over Red Bull New York in a match that saw three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Jaime Moreno also set a new MLS scoring record, getting his 109th career goal with a penalty kick in the second half.

As always, your thoughts on today's results are encouraged. Having not seen any highlights yet, we'll hold our thoughts until later, although word on the street is England's Paul Robinson didn't have the best match of his career....

Midweek Action

Today brings us a full slate of international friendly matches, with most of the big guns of world soccer in action. The US takes on Sweden in Goteborg, finally giving me an occasion to wear my recently acquired USA jersey, which is good news. It will be interesting to see if Bob Bradley's side can get a victory in a European stadium, where they traditionally have done quite poorly (see World Cup, 1998, 2006). Sweden brings a nearly full-strength side, as they are preparing for the next round of Euro 2008 qualifiers in early September. One notable absence for the Swedes is Freddie Ljungberg, as he is nursing an injury picked up while playing for his new club, West Ham. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm and the match can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Other matches of interest include England v. Germany in the new Wembley. Surely some in the 90,000 crowd will revive the classic chant, "Two world wars, and one world cup," which is also a favorite of people walking back to their hotel after a Velcro Pygmies show. World champion Italy takes on Hungary, and Brazil faces Algeria.

In MLS action tonight, DC United and Red Bull New York renew their rivalry and both teams will be looking to continue their recent good form. Start time is 7:30pm and the game will be shown on Comcast Sportsnet.

Give us your thoughts on all today's action...

New Coach for Adu

Portuguese side Benfica has brought in Jose Antonio Camacho to replace Fernando Santos as head coach. This will be Camacho's second time in charge at Benfica, and the big question for American fans is what effect, if any, this will have on Freddy Adu's place in the squad. Adu, 18, was recently brought to Lisbon by Santos amid much fanfare, but every coach is different and Camacho will be looking to put his own stamp on the team. Will Adu thrive under the former Spain coach and become a fixture in the starting eleven? Will he play a Clint Dempsey-esque role and get 20-25 minutes of action off the bench like the Fulham man? Or will he languish in the reserves? Only time will tell. Let's hear your thoughts...

Kickers Go for 2 in 2

Richmond, VA- The Richmond Kickers go for their second straight USL2 title this weekend against the Harrisburg City Islanders. The local side needed overtime to advance to the finals, using a goal in the 110th minute to defeat the Charlotte Eagles 2-1. Harrisburg also won their semifinal match in overtime, defeating Cleveland 1-0. The match will be held Saturday at University of Richmond Stadium, with kickoff set for 8pm. Fox Soccer Channel will be showing the game on a delayed basis at 10pm. So you can go to the game, then rush home and watch yourself on tv. How perfect. Look for an extended preview of the match in the coming days. Why not now you ask? I have to get back to work.