Don't ya just hate it?

Don't you hate when a supposed quality addition to your team underperforms, leaves and then goes on to do well somewhere else?

DC United fans might feel a bit upset over a former player of theirs who fits this category. Marcelo Gallardo came in with high hopes a year ago but by the end of the 2008 season the club could not wait to get rid of him and his high salary.

Gallardo has regained his health and his form and punctuated that with a goal in the toughest scenario, down a goal at La Bombonera against Boca Juniors. Gallardo's equalizer helped River Plate earn a 1-1 draw with their hated rivals.

Here's something we didn't see enough of in 2008:

Robbed

Former DC United midfield Marcelo Gallardo was victim of a robbery at his home in Buenos Aires.

According to this story, robbers broke into his house in the middle of the night and waited for Gallardo and his family to come home. They stole various items and several thousands of dollars in cash.

Gallardo left DC after one season to return to River Plate.

Illustrious quartet

Not all outlets have done this but I've seen on several places how this tournament between Milan, Inter and Chelsea has been scheduled for this summer.

Um... there's this other team called Club America who are also participating in the tournament. Not sure if you've heard of them. I know, you guys barely pay attention to what goes on south of the border, but clearly you must have heard of one of the most popular clubs in the Western Hemisphere.

Ahem.

America, Chelsea, Inter Milan and AC Milan will play in a four team tournament this summer across six US cities. For America, this match presents an opportunity the club does not often have, and that's to measure up against top European clubs. America has played the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United before but it's a good opportunity for the team to play some high-caliber preseason friendlies while making some money in the process.

This series is expected to draw massive crowds as well, since NFL stadiums or other large stadiums have been called on, including the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, which will have played host to a Gold Cup match there prior to this game.

Here's the full slate of games, that kicks off between America and Inter Milan

Sunday, July 19
Club America vs. Inter Milan, Palo Alto 4 p.m. PT

Tuesday, July 21
Chelsea vs. Inter Milan, Pasadena 8 p.m. PT

Wednesday, July 22
AC Milan vs. Club America, Atlanta, 4 p.m. PT

Friday, July 24
AC Milan vs. Chelsea, Baltimore, 5 p.m. PT

Sunday, July 26
AC Milan vs. Inter Milan, Foxborough, Mass., 2 p.m. PT

Sunday, July 26
Chelsea FC vs. Club America, Arlington, Texas, 4 p.m. PT

Big loss

Honduras star David Suazo is done for the season after having severely injured his knee while playing for Benfica over the weekend.

How bad is Suazo's injury? Some reports said that Suazo's career is in danger.

Suazo who was in Benfica on loan from Inter Milan is widely considered one of the top players from CONCACAF. If and when he does return, it will likely be a struggle for him to reclaim such a lofty status. The former Cagliari standout will turn 30 this year, and his damaging injury coupled with his advancing footballing age may indeed spell doom for Suazo.

Still around... for now

Looks like David Beckham won't stay in Italy after all. Well, not sold on that but that's what the Galaxy said earlier today.

Here's the official statement from Bruce Arena:

Today's deadline imposed by Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber regarding a resolution of David Beckham's potential transfer to AC Milan has passed and we did not receive an acceptable offer for the player. As a result, David remains an LA Galaxy player and we look forward to having him back with the club starting March 9.

My take: I don't believe we've seen the end of this. The Galaxy know they have the advantage in this situation. They don't have to do anything; they don't have to get rid of Beckham, they don't have to meet any deadline (today's deadline wasn't imposed by them), they don't have to negotiate for anything. Beckham is their player and that's that. Milan is the club that wants him, and Beckham wants to stay. So Milan will have to pay extra to get him because the Galaxy don't have to get rid of him.

Now, the Galaxy also knows that Beckham has an escape clause, at least that's what has been reported. If he can walk at the end of the 2009 season, then maybe it's something to consider. But there's no guarantee that Milan would want him back in October or November or whenever he'd be free to go abroad, reportedly.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see more negotiations on the part of Milan. Supposedly they were sending some people over to talk to the Galaxy face-to-face. If they turn up, what are the Galaxy going to say: Mr. Garber says we can't talk anymore? No. Not a chance. If Milan people show up, expect the Galaxy to listen.

Besides, there's the negative PR that could come from all of this. Many Galaxy fans have expressed some form of dissatisfaction with Golden Balls, and frankly I can't blame them. On the field, the Galaxy is a shadow of its former greatness. Off the field, there are priorities in place that weren't there four years ago. The atmosphere at times around the Galaxy is arrogant and pompous, and that certainly wasn't the case four years ago, even after they won the double. A lot of that has to do with Beckham, because they certainly haven't won jack since 2005. The Galaxy would be better off continuing to negotiate with Milan and try and get rid of Beckham. I'm sure that Milan will come back with another offer, probably higher than the $10 million or whatever has been reported. That's a nice bit of money for any player, even Beckham. They can start putting the focus back on soccer - they're going to make money anyway, with or without Beckham.

Anyway, Beckham is still property of the Galaxy, and the team still is counting on him to return on March 9. But that does not mean we've seen the end of this drama.

One last look back

I neglected to post this yesterday as I was busy taking down the Christmas tree and all that...

Andrea Canales of Goal.com took a look back at the year that was, for all the wrong reasons. This probably wasn't a list players would have liked to have been on, and probably not one players would like to be on for 2009 either.

Hate to see Michael Orozco on there but his red card was a major factor in the United States' Olympic hopes. Hopefully Orozco gets a shot to redeem himself this year.

Year in preview

I don't have a crystal ball but that doesn't mean I can't make predictions. I made five predictions for SI.com on what 2009 will bring.

What do I foresee? An historic road win for the US, massive failures for a pair of strong national teams and no MLS action for one superstar.

Year in review time already?

I guess so. The huge letdown known as Dec. 26 is here and now we've got little to look forward to in the next week except a slew of bowl games and wondering where we'll spend New Year's Eve.

One way of passing the time is to look back at the year that was. I can't say I'm much of a year-in-review type person, though if put on the spot I would probably be able to formulate some sort of list.

But Goal.com saved me the trouble. Now, this doesn't mean that I can't go back and do my own list. After all, it isn't specifically on US-related soccer items. Items 10-4 are but then No. 3... well, not saying it wasn't a memorable moment but come on. So it's mostly US with some Euro stuff at the top.

An all-time fave

It's Christmas and there isn't much going on except for the unwrapping of presents and eating sugar cookies.

I figured I'd post a clip of one of my favorite goals of all time today, if nothing else for nostalgia's sake.

Dennis Bergkamp was a great goal scorer back in the day but one of the best goals he ever scored - possibly the best he ever scored - came in the 1998 World Cup against Argentina. I really didn't have a rooting interest in the game but I picked the Dutch to win the World Cup that year so I kinda wanted to see them make me look good. After this game, it seemed as if they really had something special going on.

As far as the goal, I don't know how it could get any better than that. The pass from Frank de Boer was perfect, dead-on precision. For Bergkamp to gently control it and slip past the defender and knock it past the goalie all while keeping his poise and wits about him, it really takes a master with the skill of a Bergkamp to have scored that kind of goal.

Seriously, though, what makes this goal even better is this Dutch commentator. I didn't hear this until a couple of years after the goal (I actually found it on Napster!) and only recently re-discovered it on You Tube. If you haven't heard the commentator, it's really great. Just pure emotion at its best.

Boca champions

Boca Juniors lost to Tigre 1-0 on Tuesday night but walked away with the Argentine league title nevertheless. Boca Juniors won the championship on goal differential. Had Tigre won by two goals, they would have won the championship.

Here's the goal that helped Tigre get close but not close enough to glory:



And here's the glory Boca tasted for the 23rd time:

Sanchez back again

Remember Hugo Sanchez? Of course we all do. How could we forget him? Well, we may have forgotten some of his tenure, some of the overblown promises he made when he took over as Mexico coach in 2006. I do recall, however, his desire to coach in Spain. Somewhere along the line he said something to the effect of 'I will coach Real Madrid after winning a World Cup' or something.

Well, he fell waaaay short of winning a World Cup and now he's fallen waaaay short of Real Madrid. Sanchez is back in coaching as he is now coach of Almeria in the Spanish first division.

Technically Almeria are in the same league as Real Madrid but they aren't in the same class as Sanchez's former club. It will be interesting to see if Sanchez is a different man, perhaps a quieter one, someone who doesn't promise the moon and the stars only to deliver rocks and some dust.

Subotic is Su-bye-bye

Greg Seltzer over at No Short Corners gives us the scoop on Subotic. I'd linked to a report last week about Subotic's decision to play for Serbia and not the United States but several people here and elsewhere said 'Not so fast.'

Now Seltzer has dispelled whatever doubts there were regarding the youngster's decision.

It's a shame on one hand as Subotic could have stepped in and started at central defense immediately. But as I said before he wasn't born here and may never have felt comfortable here in the US. It's one thing when you are born here and go to school here from kindergarten all the way to high school and all that and then you skip out on the national team. But in Subotic's case, he was born in Europe and came over here when he was already well into his childhood.

The United States' loss is Serbia's gain apparently.

Becks' new team

On Sunday, David Beckham watched his new team from the stands. His new team is a little bit more effective in keeping balls out of the back of the net than his old team, which is actually still his current team.

I wonder how much playing time Beckham will actually get with AC Milan, though. If they keep scoring this efficiently, it may be hard for him to crack the lineup.

To kill a pigeon

Poor pigeons. During the San Lorenzo-Tigre playoff match in Argentina, Gaston Aguirre tried to clear a ball out of danger but instead nailed a group of pigeons, killing one in the process.

Here's how the pigeon's life ended:



Still, that wasn't the best pigeon death we've seen on a sports field. Not even close.

Americans abroad

For my weekly PE column, I took a look at the year several Americans had while plying their respective trades in their respective foreign leagues. I may have missed a player or two, but not really. I actually didn't try and rank the players' seasons and wanted to include some Americans who do not play for the US national team.

I don't know about others but I think it's a big deal that Americans have found success on top clubs in Europe and Mexico, even if they don't play for the US. It's a signal that there is talent to be unearthed here and MLS and US Soccer just need to do a better job of grooming that talent and keeping it home (at least with regards to the national team).

You're the tin pot, buddy

If you read my first-ever post on The Touchline, you know how I feel about the English Premier League. I've pretty much always felt like that. To many, I suppose I'm missing out or less of a soccer fan or whatever because I don't get up early and spend all my Saturdays watching the EPL.

I got an e-mail last night that gave me absolutely no desire to change my position. I don't much care for arrogance.

This is from some wanker named Keith near London, who felt the urge to write to me about my most recent column for SI.com:

Cuauhtemoc Blanco! Never heard of him untill he was at the Fire..hmmm hardly a legend in the making, lets be honest if he as anygood he would be over here and not in a tin pot league like the Mexican or the MLS!

Little club, big achievement

If you are a casual fan of the German Bundesliga, you may have been caught off guard by the club near the top of the table. Normally you'd expect to see teams like Bayern Munich, Schalke, Werder Bremen and Dortmund but what the heck is Hoffenheim? Where'd they come from?

Well, Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune fills us in on this tiny club from a tiny town that could bolt to the top of the table soon enough.

Struggling defenders

The Touchline's Sean Grybos will have this as part of his El Tri in Europe recap but I wanted to post this video nonetheless.

PSV Eindhoven's Mexican defenders had a horrendous match against Altetico Madrid in a Champions League match on Thursday. Both Carlos Salcido and "Maza" Rodriguez made terrible mistakes inside the box and each led to a goal as Madrid won the game 2-1.

The match was played in an empty stadium as crowd troubles in a previous Champions League match led to a ban on fans for this game.

And as far as this video goes, I have no idea what they're saying.

International highlights, 11/19

Alright, a couple of highlights to share with you.

First, England beat Germany in Berlin 2-1. Here are the lineups and other statistical info.



Argentina beat Scotland 1-0 in Maradona's debut as coach. As usual, the Argentine goal is a product of some nifty passing. Here are the lineups.



Greece and Italy tied 1-1. Lineups here.

Brad gets shutout

Brad Guzan posted a shutout for Aston Villa on Thursday as the English club beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in a UEFA Cup match.

The former Chivas USA goalkeeper appeared for just the second time since leaving MLS for Europe. Now, not sure how long these highlights will last on You Tube but here is a clip of Guzan in action. Towards the end is his best save of the match. And no, this clip does not include the goal. Sorry but it's the best I could find.