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WWW.SOCCERAMERICA.COM
NEWSLETTER
. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"Steve hadn't coached in MLS before. It takes awhile to understand that it's a different game. To his credit, he adapted. Early on, he had a style that he wanted to impose. He kept a lot of what he wanted, but he also changed a lot. A lot of coaches don't do that."
-- Forward Landon Donovan of 2005 MLS champion Los Angeles on his coach, Steve Sampson, whose job looked in serious jeopardy during the Galaxy's .500 regular-season campaign. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
"Our interest is in the future, starting an FC Barcelona team or obtaining a franchise in MLS. We are at the beginning of the process and phase of starting. ... I don't know time, date, where. We are only thinking about the possibility. I love the States."
-- Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who attended the MLS Cup in Texas. (mlsnet.com)
"For the first 20 minutes they were by far the better side, they were first to the ball, their passing was sharp and they put us under a bit of pressure. But we started to play a bit after that and gain a bit of confidence."
-- Scotland coach Walter Smith after is team's 1-1 tie at home with the USA on Saturday. (AFP)
2. WINNERS & LOSERS: Los Angeles takes MLS Cup with Pando goal
Winners:
The LOS ANGELES GALAXY, which finished the regular season in fourth place of the Wetsern Conference, is MLS champion thanks to a 1-0 overtime win over New England on a goal by late sub Guillermo "Pando" Ramirez, who saw only 30 minutes of action in the Galaxy's previous seven games. Ramirez had taken a team-high 62 shots in the regular-season but scored only once, on a penalty kick.
The USA's tie 1-1 against Scotland in Saturday's friendly gave several players who hadn't figured in the qualifying campaign to impress Coach Bruce Arena. Left back JONATHAN SPECTOR defended solidly and launched several forays down the flank. Also showing well enough to stay in the picture during World Cup preparations was defensive midfielder BRIAN CARROLL.
In the first-leg of playoffs for the final spots in World Cup 2006, SPAIN thumped Slovakia, 5-1. SWITZERLAND upset 2002 World Cup third-place team Turkey, the CZECHS eked out a 1-0 win over Norway. BAHRAIN picked up a 1-1 tied in Trinidad. URUGUAY managed only a 1-0 win over Australia in Montevideo.
Losers:
NEW ENGLAND's MLS Cup history now reads 233 minutes of play without scoring. The Revs, who fell, 1-0, to Los Angeles in overtime on Sunday, lost in similar fashion to Los Angeles in 2002, when it was another Guatemalan, Carlos Ruiz, whose goal in overtime - then sudden death - downed the Revs.
American defender OGUCHI ONYEWU of Standard Liege has been handed a four-game suspension by the Belgian federation for two red cards he received earlier this season.
World Cup favorite ARGENTINA fell, 3-2, to England in a friendly in Geneva despite leading 2-1 until the 88th minute, when Michael Owen scored the first of his two goals.
3. COLLEGE-MLS WINNERS: Sampson joins Schmid & Arena
The Galaxy's MLS Cup victory gives Coach Steve Sampson a championship during his first full season as coach of a pro club. Sampson, the USA's coach at the 1998 World Cup, replaced Sigi Schmid late last season.
Sampson guided Santa Clara to the 1989 Division I NCAA title, which the Broncos' shared with the University of Virginia, coached by Bruce Arena, who won two MLS titles with D.C. United after five titles with Virginia.
Schmid, who guided the Galaxy to the 2002 MLS title, won three NCAA titles at UCLA. That means all three coaches who entered MLS with NCAA Division I titles under their belts also succeeded in lifting the pro crown.
The late Tom Fitzgerald won an NCAA Division I title with UCLA after his stint at the helm of the Columbus Crew, which has not won an MLS title.
4. MAKING A LIST: MLS champions
MLS Cup history
2005 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2004 D.C. United 3 Kansas City 2
2003 San Jose 4 Chicago 2
2002 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2001 San Jose 2 Los Angeles 1
2000 Kansas City 1 Chicago 0
1999 D.C. United 2 Los Angeles 0
1998 Chicago 2 D.C. United 0
1997 D.C. United 2 Colorado 1
1996 D.C. United 3 Los Angeles 2