The Beautiful Game (pt. 37)

Grand Anse Beach, Grenada

Photo: TSI

Special 1 TV (S.2 Ep.22)

"Alex, does this mean Rooney gets one of those funny looking phones as well?"



Video: doitchampions

Guatemala Eliminates US U-20

In the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF U-20 championship that determines who advances to the U-20 World Cup in Colombia, hosts Guatemala defeated the United States 2-1. The US U-20's are eliminated from the U-20 World Cup qualifying. The top four teams qualify, so Guatemala are in for the first time in their history, while the United States streak of seven consecutive U-20 World Cup appearances is broken.

The United States were clearly the better team, but simply could not catch a break. But don't just take my word for it. See the dominating performance of the United States, and all their bad luck, here.

LeBron Jumps on Liverpool Bandwagon

Despite sitting 6th, 5pts out of 5th place, Liverpool got some good news (of sorts) today. LeBron James has picked up a minority stake in the club. The WSJ points out that this is "the first time that a professional athlete at the top of his game has taken an ownership interest in a team with the size and reach of Liverpool"...

Yawn. Most people don't really care that a sports athlete owns a stake in another sport's club. Are you going to see LeBron at games regularly? No. Do you see Spurs/Vancouver Whitecaps fan Steve Nash attend games? Yes. I would contend that the part ownership by Nash of the Whitecaps is more meaningful. Nash is a fan of the sport and actually enjoys going to and watching matches. LeBron? No. He sees this only as a marketing move, likening himself to Michael Jordan.

Real Salt Lake Advances to Final

Last night, Real Salt Lake took a 2-0 aggregate lead in their CONCACAF semifinal matchup into Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, home of the Saprissa "Monstruo Morado" known as the "Monster's Cave." Though one of the most intimidating places in all of North and Central America to play, perhaps second only to Estadio Azteca, Real Salt Lake played superbly in a 2-1 loss, winning the series 3-2 aggregate.

Honduras > USMNT

In a seemingly surprising blow, Andy Najar has finally made his NT decision. Honduras. The 18yo is a mere 2 months from finishing high school and is already starting for MLS's DC United.

Najar moved to the US from Honduras when he was 13 and has since received his green card, with vocal aspirations of getting his US citizenship.

Obviously, this will make quite a few US fans upset.

Why? Well, playing in MLS, seeking citizenship, yet deciding to play for Honduras are all valid reasons. Yet...

Despite his wining Rookie of the Year in MLS last season, chances are, at 18, he wasn't going to be starting for the USMNT for the next 2-3 years. And that said, Bob Bradley has a tendency to play favorites.

Did Najar see the writing on the wall? Was being too short and so young negatives for the USMNT? Possibly.

Either way, we wish the kid luck. Except when he plays against his adopted home.

Photo: Washington Post