We’ve added a new polling feature in the right navigation bar so you can now vote for Game of the Week. If you know a game that should be one of the options and isn’t listed, let us know in an email to admin [at] socceralums.com with a subject “Game of the Week” or shoot us a message with the contact form.

Ahhh, the unique experience of watching soccer games accompanied by American commentators and produced by Americans. We don’t want to tie this to recent global geopolitical developments, namely the rising tide of anti-Americanism throughout the world, but theses games probably aren’t helping.

Soccer Friendly Producers?
The producers must have been hired out of the football or baseball world, judging by their love of on-screen graphics and obscure statistics. The camera angles are often awkward, making it difficult for the viewer to gain an accurate perspective. During the recent Galaxy-Chivas game, for example, viewers missed most of the scrum that followed the Beckham-Marsch confrontation, because the camera was on Beckham. Two red cards were issued, yet the viewer saw only half of the first booking, and missed the yellow card handed out to Marsch.

In addition, the replays are ill-timed, often inappropriate. These games often feature interviews in the middle of the action—sometimes there’s no soccer player interviewed at all, but the producers see fit to cut away from a game in progress to a solitary ‘correspondent’ for a pseudo-news ‘update.’

Commentator (In)Competence
Finally, the commentators. We’re thinking especially of the commentators for the U.S. men’s national team, who can do no wrong in their eyes. During the recent Copa America, in which the men’s team were thrashed by superior teams (though some point out that the men took what amounted to a ‘B’ squad composed mostly of younger players—an insult in itself to all of South America and to the storied tournament), their comments often ran to things like ‘an unfortunate result’ and ‘they deserved better’ and ‘the scoreboard did not reflect the game.’ In the recent U.S.-Sweden game, one of the commentators said ‘I liked the way they came out tonight,’ despite the team’s lackluster (to be generous) performance.

Regarding Eric Wynalda, we could write a whole article on why Eric drives us crazy but here is a few lines instead; There is no denying he has been there and done that but must he always manage to pepper each comment he makes with a personal (and boring) anecdote from his playing days, and lets not go into detail about his halftime “red cards” and “orange slices.” One can only hope that as soccer picks up in the US commentators will become more aware of the sport they are watching.

On behalf of our editorial staff, a very heartfelt, very public apology for our most recent game of the week. We picked the U.S. men’s national team against Sweden as our game of the week because it was the first time the U.S. team had set foot on European soil since the debacle of the last World Cup in Germany, and we thought the resulting tensions and the wounded pride of the players would drive them—even the younger ones heretofore bereft of World Cup experience—to a greater level of play. For anyone watching, however, it was painfully obvious that there was no such effect.

Poor U.S. Play
The U.S. players looked tired, lethargic, jet-lagged, dehydrated, and possibly arthritic. Tim Howard was one of the few bright spots for the U.S., and he came up big on a number of occasions. However, he was only given the opportunity to shine because of the ineffectual U.S. defense, who looked especially weak against Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the twenty-five year old Swedish striker.

Ibrahimovic attacked the U.S. at will on Wednesday night, and in one memorable ten second episode, took a ball played from half and broke in on Howard, only to strike the ball against Howard’s chest. The resulting rebound was crossed back into Ibramhimovic, who overpowered the US right back like a pit bull on a poodle, and struck a stinging header off the crossbar.

What’s next for the U.S.?
Their defense was exploited time and again by a single Swedish player with a somewhat competent supporting cast.

Their offense was nonexistent—did Donavan ever take the field? Dempsey looked as bad as he did in his previous game with Fulham, when he had an opportunity to tie it and missed the net from just outside the six yard box.

Speaking of Fulham, when will Bocanegra pack it in? His clumsy, sometimes vicious tackling cost Fulham a penalty shot and the lead in a game they would eventually lose. He looked no better in tonight’s game.

The younger players look out of place, especially Bradley—by now the ‘coach’s son’ refrain should be getting louder. Although he often brings a strong defensive presence, his absolute lack of creativity with the ball is a serious handicap.

What will the U.S. do to turn things around?

The U.S. will take on 11-time World Cup finalists Sweden on Wed., Aug. 22 in Goteborg at Ullevi Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. local time) and will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel (with Galavision airing the match live at 2:30 p.m. ET and delayed at 2:30 p.m. PT). Fans can also follow the match live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

This is the first time the US will play in Europe since the poor showing in the World Cup.

[ussoccer.com]

After several weeks of a bum ankle Beckham finally decided to show up and play some soccer. After starting the game between DC United and the LA Galaxy he scored his first Major League Soccer goal and chalked up his first assist. The goal off of a free kick by Beckham and the assist to Landon Donovan earned the LA Galaxy a 2–0 victory over DC United.

Beckham’s First Goal

Game Highlights

NCAA Division I

1. UC Santa Barbara
2. UCLA
3. Wake Forest University
4. Duke University
5. University of Virginia

More Division I

NCAA Division II

1. Dowling College (N.Y.)
2. Fort Lewis College (Colo.)
3. University of West Florida
4. Lenoir-Rhyne College (N.C.)
5. Lincoln Memorial University (Tenn.)

More Division II

NCAA Division III

1. Messiah College (Pa.)
2. Wheaton College (Ill.)
3. Ohio Wesleyan University
4. New York University
5. York College (Pa.)

More Division III

NAIA

1. Graceland (Iowa)
2. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
3. William Jewell (Mo.)
4. Rio Grande (Ohio)
5. Webber International (Fla.)

More NAIA
Rankings from National Soccer Coaches Association of America

NCAA Division I

1. University of North Carolina
2. Notre Dame
3. UCLA
4. University of Portland
5. Texas A&M University

More Division I

NCAA Division II

1. Metropolitan State College of Denver
2. Grand Valley State
3. West Chester University (Pa.)
4. University of Tampa (Fla.)
5. UC San Diego

More Division II

NCAA Division III

1. Wheaton College (Ill.)
2. The College of New Jersey
3. Messiah College (Pa.)
4. Virginia Wesleyan College
5. Calvin College (Mich.)

More Division III

NAIA

1. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
2. Martin Methodist (Tenn.)
3. Concordia (Ore.)
4. Lee (Tenn.)
5. Houghton (N.Y.)

More NAIA

Rankings from National Soccer Coaches Association of America

It’s been announced, New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore will share the cover of FIFA Soccer 2008 with Ronaldinho and Guillermo Ochoa. In an interview with Fox Sports Altidore gives a peak into the latest version of the game and tells us “the new ‘Be-A-Pro’ mode really takes the game to a different level”.

In addition to the “Be-A-Pro” mode that allows the player to take control of an individual player for the entire match, Wikipedia lists some other new features:

• A new engine that enables players on the team to react to situations around them and make decisions just like in real life.
• After the ball is hit infinite factors now affect the ball; including ball spin, pressure from defenders, player attributes, and even air resistance and air pressure.

Another article reveals the 30 different leagues that will appear in FIFA 08:

* Austrian Bundesliga
* Australian A-league – NEW
* Belgian Jupiler League
* Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro
* Czech Grambinus League – NEW
* Danish Superligaen
* Dutch Eredivisie
* Premier League
* Football League Championship
* Football League One
* Football League Two
* French Ligue 1
* French Ligue 2
* German Bundesliga 1 * German Bundesliga 2
* FAI Premier Division - NEW * Italian Serie A
* Italian Serie B * Korean K-League
* Major League Soccer (USA and Canada) * División de México
* Norwegian Tippeligaen * Polish Orange Ekstraklasa
* Portuguese BWINLIGA * Scottish Premier League
* Spanish Primera División * Spanish Segunda División
* Swedish Allsvenskan * Swiss Axpo Super League
* Turkcell Super League

The Fox Soccer interview with Altidore gave the release date of the game as September 28^th, the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions of FIFA 08 are both available for pre-order through Amazon.com.

What better way to spend the summer than watching soccer? This is one of the busiest summers for soccer we can remember. Here is a short guide to help you keep up on all the soccer action.

• World Cup U17
• World Cup U20
• Women’s World Cup
• Asian Cup
• PDL League
• Super Liga
• Major League Soccer

Copa America and the Gold Cup just ended last month, check out those sites for a recap. A great resource to see what soccer is on TV is Live Soccer TV. Enjoy the summer of soccer!

So what exactly is a Quasar and what does it have to do with soccer? Los Angeles Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas tells Fox Sports about the Galaxy’s crest as the team launches its new look.

“A Quasar is the heart of a galaxy and generates incredible light and energy. Our crest shows a Quasar shining brightly in a deep blue California sky. It illuminates the initials “LA”, used globally to refer to our City of Angels. The color gold honors the Galaxy’s proud history and tradition in the Golden State.”

Sounds pretty fancy, schmancy. The quasar is also accompanied by two stars, each representing one of the Major League Soccer championships the club has won. The reaction to the new jersey has seemed pretty favorable overall but I wonder if people are getting a little carried away. Especially when you hear Antonio Zea, Head of Soccer for Adidas America talk about “worldwide demand for the new Galaxy jersey”.

Lalas and the rest of the Galaxy management are obviously hoping for a hit. “We wanted a classic and clean look that would stand the test of time, something that generations of players and fans would wear with pride on and off the field,” said Lalas. “We strived to create a jersey with an eye to the future and a nod to the past.”

The real question is what does David Beckham think of the jersey? Wouldn’t that be a headline? Crappy Jerseys Drive Beckham Back to Europe! What do you think of the new uniform? Love it, hate it, or big yawn?