FIFA Updates

David Beckham “has no interest” in joining West Ham United and is happy playing for the LA Galaxy, his spokesman has said.

West Ham co-owner David Gold had previously said that Beckham had promised to think about signing for the Hammers, but Beckham’s camp have moved quickly to deny those claims.

“Whilst it’s flattering to hear of interest there has been no contact with or offer from West Ham,” Beckham’s spokesmen told the Press Association.  

“David is happy at the Los Angeles Galaxy and has no interest in leaving, and is looking forward to returning to the team on August 9.”

Beckham, 35, spent part of last season on loan at Italian giants AC Milan is close to completing his recovery from the ruptured achilles that scuppered his chance of making it to a fourth World Cup this summer.

For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) – English Premier League club
Manchester United suffered the first defeat on their pre-season
North America tour when they were upset 2-1 by the 10-man
Kansas City Wizards in Kansas City on Sunday.

Despite having Jimmy Conrad controversially sent off late
in the first half for a harsh tackle, the home team held on to
record a memorable victory over their far more illustrious
opponents.

In front of 52,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium, the Wizards
opened the scoring in the 11th minute through midfielder Davy
Arnaud before Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov levelled from the
penalty spot in the 41st.

Just one minute later, Kansas again edged ahead when Kei
Kamara headed Ryan Smith’s corner past Ben Amos, although
subsequent television replays did not confirm whether the ball
had crossed the goal line.

A scoreless second half concluded a game played at a
breakneck pace that featured several near misses.

United coach Alex Ferguson opted to field a relatively
young side, with Amos, Ritchie De Laet and Mame Biram Diouf
lining up with more experienced players Ryan Giggs, Paul
Scholes and Berbatov.

(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Laguna Seca, California;
Editing by Ian Ransom; To query or comment on this story email
sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

By Mark Egan

PHILADELPHIA, July 21 (Reuters) – English soccer giants
Manchester United beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Wednesday
in a scrappy game against Major League Soccer’s newest team.

United emerged with a victory at Lincoln Financial Field
but laboured in their second pre-season frenzy after beating
Scottish team Celtic 3-1 last week in Toronto.

The winning goal came in the 76th minute after Danny
Welbeck intercepted a sloppy pass in midfield and ran straight
through the defense before passing to Gabriel Obertan who
slotted the ball home.

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov nearly extended United’s
lead, hitting the crossbar from close range in the 80th
minute.

United started the game with the novel attacking trio of
Federico Macheda, Welbeck and Obertan but while the first half
saw the English team dominate possession, their young strikers
failed to convert a series of good chances.

The best chance of the first half fell to Welbeck after 36
minutes but he hit his close-range shot directly at the
goalkeeper.

Five minutes later, Union’s in-form French striker
Sebastien Le Toux found himself through on goal but dragged his
effort wide.

The Union, in their first MLS season, pressed United hard
in the second half and had several chances to take the lead.

The Philadelphia team enjoyed an unexpected victory last
week when they beat Celtic 1-0.

With the game still goalless after an hour, United made
several substitutions, bringing on Berbatov for Macheda and
Darren Fletcher for veteran midfielder Paul Scholes.

The Union could have tied the game in the 89th minute when
Andrew Jacobson skied the ball over the bar from just a couple
of metres out.

The game’s final chance came in injury time to United’s
Ritchie De Laet, who tried to chip the keeper but saw his
effort saved.

(Editing by Steve Ginsburg; To query or comment on this
story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

On Form

D.C. United, by Max Zeger: On the year, United has conceded the most goals in MLS (tied with Philadelphia and New England), but of late their defense, for a change, has been the only consistent part of the team. In their past two matches, D.C. has only surrendered one goal, a late winner for Seattle that was a product of a rookie error, rather than a defensive breakdown. Julius James has been the catalyst for improving a previously poor defense. He was able to stop Fredy Montero and Juan Pablo Angel, two of the league’s most talented forwards, from scoring in United’s past two matches.

Los Angeles Galaxy, by Jonathan Vera: Well, judging by last weeks meltdown against the Revolution—nothing. However, the Galaxy will be coming into Sunday’s match in the nation’s capital well rested. The face of American soccer, Landon Donovan, will be back in the lineup as “el capitan” along with defender Omar Gonzalez coming back from suspension—which means the passing will be more crisp, and the defense will be a wall.

Off Target

D.C. United: While defensively things have improved for Curt Onalfo’s side, offense still remains a major trouble spot. United has managed just one goal in four games since the World Cup break, and has resorted to playing Santino Quaranta as a forward, when he is more effective coming out of the midfield. In their last match, United created a handful of decent chances, but couldn’t finish them. Perhaps the addition of new signings Branko Boskovic and Pablo Hernandez can spark the team offensively and provide some much needed composure in front of the net.

Los Angeles: It was a rude awakening in the match against the Revs, who exposed and exploited a tired Galaxy side and revealed to the rest of the MLS the Galaxy are human after all. No one on the pitch was on the same page, the passing was all over the place, the defense was getting worked—the team was lost and disoriented. Not to take anything away from New England, they outplayed LA and deserved the win, but this needs to be a dominant team home and away. They’ve surrendered two losses and two draws on the road. LA needs to kick it up a notch while traveling and start showing up.

Tactics

D.C. United: Coming off just two days of rest, United will need to make a few changes if they want to compete with the league’s best team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jaime Moreno, 38 years old, will likely be replaced, and Curt Onalfo may opt to bring some fresh legs into the midfield in place of Stephen King. Don’t look for new Designated Player, Branko Boskovic to start, as Onalfo intimated that he has a long way to go in the fitness department.

Los Angeles: It’s going to be their regular 4-4-2 formation with Donovan looking to set up play. The backline of Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, and Sean Franklin will hold and on the other side Edson Buddle and Tristan Bowen will be stalking the goal. Look for them to press on and create pressure on the D.C. defense—looking and waiting for them to make a mistake until BAM, LA seizes an opportunity and strikes like a viper.

Intangibles

D.C. United: The United locker room was quite somber after their gut-wrenching loss to Seattle on Thursday, but the players will be relieved that they only have two days to sit on their stinging loss before hosting Los Angeles. Look for D.C. to come out motivated and aggressive against the league leaders.

Los Angeles: LA is walking into D.C. with a full squad in a match against the worst club in MLS. They have a lot to make up for and playing D.C. United is the ideal opposition for them to bounce back from that loss, while United try to muster up a repeat miracle and defeat the MLS giant.

Outcome

D.C. United: RFK has been a fortress in the past, but when you have a team as woeful as D.C., it becomes a much easier place to play for visitors. Add on that Los Angeles has Landon Donovan back in the lineup, and it is tough to see how the home team can pull out a win. We should see a 2-0 Los Angeles victory.

Los Angeles: The Galaxy may have been knocked off their high horse but they’re going to get back on the saddle this Saturday when they defeat D.C. 2-0.

For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page

By Steve Keating

TORONTO, July 16 (Reuters) – Empty seats proved that in
some markets, even the world’s most famous soccer club must do
more than simply show up to fill a stadium as Manchester United
kicked off their North American tour with a 3-1 win over
Celtic.

Making their first visit to Canada since 1982, the Red
Devils were greeted by an enthusiastic audience of 39,139 on a
perfect summer’s evening but the number of empty seats were no
doubt an unfamiliar sight for a club use to seeing sellouts
wherever they go.

The slightly disappointing crowd might have been expected
with ticket prices for Friday’s match against their Scottish
opponents ranging from $75 to $165 and United doing little to
help promote the contest.

United manager Alex Ferguson cancelled his only pre-match
media appearance on Thursday and when his squad were delayed
arriving in Toronto by bad weather, only one player was
available to the media with Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher
fielding just five questions.

The Red Devils were also forced to share the sporting stage
this weekend, going head-to-head with the Toronto Indy being
raced on city streets and offering free admission on Friday.

Despite the absence of players who represented their
countries at the World Cup in South Africa, the crowd was
treated to an entertaining contest with Dimitar Berbatov, Danny
Welbeck and Tom Cleverley scoring for United and Georgios
Samaras replying from the penalty spot for Celtic.

“I thought the atmosphere was very good,” Ferguson said,
downplaying the 10,000 empty seats. “The first game is one you
always want to get over because fitness comes into it.

“The surface was quite firm and it is a pitch I would not
have taken a risk on with certain players to play 90 minutes.”

Toronto had rolled out the green carpet for the Red Devils,
laying down a temporary grass field on the Rogers Centre’s
concrete floor with 18 tractor-trailer loads of specially grown
Kentucky bluegrass shipped in for the one off friendly.

UNIMPRESSIVE START

While the four-city tour is being billed as preparation for
the upcoming Premier League season it is also an opportunity to
expand sport’s biggest brand and reconnect with their nearly 10
million North American supporters after a six-year absence.

Attendance may not have been what organisers had hoped,
they averaged 60,000 a game in 2004, but there was no
dismissing United’s massive appeal.

Wearing their new kit in competition for the first time,
United’s legions of loyal supporters were lined up five deep
around souvenir kiosks at halftime eager to be among the first
to grab the new shirt.

“Interesting that they (United) chose to go to Toronto to
launch their Tour which I guess is a reward for soccer having
taken off in Toronto with the incredible fan base there,”
Robert Tilliss the CEO of Inner Circle Sports, a global
investment and advisory merchant bank focused on sports, told
Reuters.

“I’m sure they took some direction from the MLS who said,
“Toronto has been one of our stalwarts, you guys should think
about playing up there, they’ll sell a lot of tickets and its a
soccer haven”.

United continue their tour with a games against Major
League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union (July 21) and the Kansas
City Wizards (July 25).

They wrap up the tour in Houston on July 28 against the MLS
All-Stars but before returning home they will travel to Mexico,
where they will help Guadalajara (July 30) open their new
stadium as part of the deal when they signed Mexican striker
Javier Hernandez.

(Editing by Patrick Johnston)