Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Obodai

It’s a cheery Monday morning here at the solar-powered soccer blog. Yes, we’ve put the words “cheery” and “Monday morning” in the same sentence, because we’re still savoring the 4-0 pasting the Quakes laid on the Revolution Saturday night. Speaking of which, you can now cast your ballot for Ronnie O’Brien’s first strike from Saturday in the MLS Goal of the Week voting.

O’Brien is also the subject of an excellent one-hour radio special created by East Coast FM, a station in his hometown of Bray, Ireland. It covers his development as a youth player, his early days with Middlesborough, Juventus, and other clubs,  and his long career in MLS. Included are interviews with a number of figures from O’Brien’s footballing past as well as the man himself. Great stuff from the Emerald Isle.

In other news, the web site ModernGhana.com reports that the Quakes are among four teams interested in Anthony Obodai, a 26-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam  midfielder who has also seen time with Ghana’s U-17 and U-20s and whose last name inspires today’s headline. (As for the “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” part, we present to you what may be YouTube’s best example of a lame video paired with a great soundtrack.)

According to Modern Ghana, Obodai is on the outs at his current club, RKC Waalwijk, due to a disagreement with his coach, Ruud Brood (which would make for a good name for a band, we think). According to Obodai’s Wikipedia page, it’s not the first time he’s found himself in this sort of situation — a similar disagreement is said to have led to his dismissal by Sparta Rotterdam in 2007. Modern Ghana says that Holland’s NEC Nijmegen, Switzerland’s Young Boys, and Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach are also interested in signing him.

Considering the MLS transfer window closed last Friday, it seems unlikely that he’ll be appearing in Quakes blue anytime soon. We’ve contacted the club about their alleged interest and will let you know if there’s any truth to the rumor.

Scenes from the locker room
Plus, post-game press wrap

Genuine happiness is a pretty rare commodity these days, but everyone in blue and black at Buck Shaw Stadium last night had a chance to take a big swig of the stuff. You can measure it lots of ways: seven goals in two games, two wins in a row, a five-game unbeaten streak, or a whole ton of smiling faces both in the stands and in the locker room after the game.

The post-game scene was just short of giddy. Darren Huckerby bounced through the Santa Clara gym on his way to the Quakes’ locker room, grinning and shirtless because he had thrown his jersey to some lucky fan. There was Huckerby again in the locker room, talking to the press when Ronnie O’Brien mischievously whispered something in his ear, and soon Huckerby was telling the assembled scribes “with players the class of Ronnie O’Brien on the other wing, it makes it a lot easier.”

The good feelings extended to the whole team, not just the players. Head trainer Bruce Morgan, usually a very busy man after a game, was hanging out near the buffet table. “No one is injured after a 4-0 win,” he said when asked about the team’s health. “If it was a 4-0 loss, the treatment room would be filled with people, but not tonight.”

Even coach Frank Yallop broke character for a moment in the post-game press conference.  He had just finished explaining that the Quakes’ task was made a bit easier by Shalrie Joseph’s suspension when someone asked if the win was any less satisfying because of his absence. “No,” came the quick reply, then Yallop waited as the reporters cracked up. “You’ve got to be kidding me. No, we’ve had enough times when we’ve been undermanned this season… it’s MLS and you’ve got to get on with it.”

As pleased as everyone was last night, the team is clearly aware that they have more challenges before them than they do behind them.

“We’ve still got to beat the teams that are in front of us,” O’Brien explained. “It’s a good result this week. Monday morning we come back in, we work for next week, and hopefully we can do the same against Chivas because if we keep putting wins together — Dallas lost today, Colorado lost last week to Toronto — we’re getting in there a little bit now. We might make a playoff push.”

Huckerby echoed those comments.

“It’s not one game — we’ve got to keep it going for the rest of the season… At this present time, it’s falling into place and we’re playing well, so long may it continue, but it’s only going to continue if we keep on working hard and keep on getting better.”

So far, so good. Long may it continue, indeed.

• • •

If you were wondering why the crowd turned on New England’s Khano Smith during the second half, it’s because of a brief shoving match he got into with O’Brien. It didn’t end there — Smith tried to intimidate O’Brien with his beefy body, even going so far as to try to bait out O’Brien with a fake head butt, much to the horror of the fans on the southwest side, who took the opportunity to begin booing every touch of the ball by the Revolution player. Clearly Smith didn’t have much luck with the strategy, as O’Brien hit a picture-perfect goal to close out San Jose’s scoring — with his left foot, no less. Sometimes, a head butt just makes you a butt head.

• • •

The post-game press:

- CLS columnist Pete Ratajczak wrote the match report and post-game story for MLSnet.com, plus a story which includes  comments from Revs coach Steve Nicol, goalkeeper Matt Reis, and defender Chris Albright.

- Other match reports are available from the Mercury News, the Boston Herald, and Goal.com.

- Video highlights are available online from MLSnet.com.  New England’s post-game TV show, Revs Wrap, is also available.

Pre-game press wrap

If it’s Saturday, it must be New England. Tonight’s tilt should be a good test for the Quakes — it’s one thing to score lots of goals against the Galaxy, the worst defensive team in the league, but it should be a lot more challenging to do so against the Revolution, who have allowed exactly half as many as L.A. this season (42 to 21). San Jose is much improved — we’ll start to find out just how much this evening.

We’ll get to the pre-game press in a moment, but first, a couple updates. Ryan Cochrane is serving a yellow card suspension and will be ineligible for the Quakes. Shalrie Joseph is in a similar predicament for the Revs, serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card last week against Chicago. New England may be a bit thin at forward tonight: Kheli Dube is out with a groin strain, Kenny Mansally is listed as “doubtful,” and Taylor Twellman is questionable with a left hip strain. Twellman’s injury kept him out of Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match against D.C. United, so we’ll see if the cross-country plane trip has helped his recovery.

Now, on to the pre-game stories:

- On the fishwrap front, we have stories in the San Jose Mercury News and the San Mateo Daily Journal.  The Boston Globe’s pre-game story focuses on the resurgent Quakes.

- Web and wire-service reports include stories from Goal.com, The Sports Network, and STATS.

- The “just the facts, ma’am” pre-game report is available from MLSnet.com.

Also, we’ll note again that  two special events are happening at the game today:

- The Earthquakes are partnering with San Jose City Council member Nora Campos to hold a backpack drive tonight and on August 30, when the Kansas City Wizards are in town. Fans who donate backpacks on those days will receive a coupon for a half-price ticket to a future Quakes game. The backpacks will be donated to underprivileged children at Goss Elementary School in San Jose. There’s additional info on the team’s web site.

- Tonight’s the night for the San Jose Earthquakes blood drive. Fans will be able to donate blood at the Stanford Blood Center Blood Mobile prior to the match, and four donors will be selected at random to win either a team-autographed ball or a game-worn jersey. Call (888) 723-7831 or visit the Blood Center’s web site if you’d like to sign up.

Finally, the HDnet broadcast will feature a halftime segment on the return of the Quakes, and apparently the best they could do was to interview yours truly for the fan perspective. Thanks to Judd Sirott and the rest of the crew at HDnet for the opportunity and to Peter Plumley for the photo, below.

Galaxy to choose Arena?

“Two thousand zero zero
Party over, whoops, out of time
So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999″

Our friends over at Soccer by Ives are reporting that the Galaxy will name Bruce Arena head coach on Monday, and, hmm, interesting choice. The team is essentially betting that Arena will be able to coach like it’s 1999, after he had won two MLS Cups and was on the way to a stunning run in the 2002 World Cup, and not like the 2007 Arena who flamed out of Germany and left New York in shame after signing the injury-ridden Claudio Reyna for more than $1 million a year and leading Los Toros Rojos to a 16-16-10 record. Still, at least they made the playoffs, so that’s a step up from where L.A. has been the last two seasons.

On paper, the decision appears to make sense — but that’s always been true of the goings-on at Galaxy central, where they have shown the ability to fall far enough in love with an idea that any potential negative ramifications are swept away with the sound of big checks being written. Tim Leiweke and Bruce Arena! Bruce Arena and Tim Leiweke! What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong?

Well, everything. There are so many warning signs on this deal that it would take hours to put them in some sort of logical order, so we’re just going to throw them out shotgun style:

- In recent years, the Galaxy’s coach has been the subject of extreme micromanagement. After the Galaxy ended Frank Yallop’s tenure as coach, Landon Donovan said this to the L.A. Times:

“I like Frank as a person and I think he’s a great coach. The unfortunate part is, he hasn’t been allowed to show what a good coach he is this year. He’s not been able to be himself. He’s had people in his ear telling him what to do, and he’s not been able to just get on with it. When he finally was left alone, we went on a seven-game unbeaten streak. I don’t think anyone wants to work in those circumstances.”

It’s possible, of course, that Donovan was referring solely to the now departed Alexi Lalas as the “people in (Yallop’s) ear,” but even if that was the case, it seems likely to us that Lalas would have been acting on Leiweke’s behalf. Nobody goes from laid back, goatee-wearing, guitar-playing jock to uptight, obsessive kibitzer without at least some provocation.

- Historically, Arena has not been the kind of guy who tolerates people questioning his judgment. In his extensive interview with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl after he was hired for the New York job, Arena had this to say about his former bosses at U.S. Soccer (and, amusingly enough, about what is now his home stadium):

Let me tell you this: I wasn’t convinced I would come back if they wanted me back. It couldn’t go on the way it was going. There’s too many people who want to be technical directors and soccer experts that aren’t. They’re micromanagers. U.S. Soccer needs a real thorough technical direction in terms of how you go about doing business in this sport every day, and it’s not there. The national training center [at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.] is a joke in terms of a national training center. It’s an amusement park. That has to be the foundation of that organization, which it won’t be.

SI.com: What do you mean by “amusement park”?

Arena: Everything running through it, from the X Games to tennis to this to that. That’s not a national training center. Which is a shame, because there are resources to do that right. It’s always been a sticking point. So what I’ll do is, I’ll try to demonstrate with this club how you do that stuff.

- Ironically, Leiweke may not be insulted by Arena labeling the HDC “an amusement park.” In fact, when the Galaxy hired Ruud Gullit, he told Grahame Jones of the L.A. Times that he thinks of the whole club as a circus:

“I understand that there are some who don’t like the circus. Well, I love the circus. If people want a retirement home, they can go someplace else. We’re not a retirement community here. We live in the circus and we should relish the fact we have 94,000 people coming to watch us [play an exhibition] in Australia. I like that. I like the fact that half the media in that room today was not from L.A. Ruud’s going to make us bigger. He’s going to create even more demand and expectations, and I like that.”

Leiweke may like it but there’s a pretty good chance that Arena won’t. Add to this stew the fact that Arena, who has always had a prickly relationship with the press, is now going to be under an international spotlight thanks to the presence of David Beckham, and it looks more and more like “Arena to the Galaxy” is a ticking bomb, waiting to go off.

This will end well. Oh yes. This will end well.

(As a side note, we’re going to take a moment to pat ourselves on the back for a second. Last fall, when the press first speculated that the Galaxy would hire a big-name foreign coach to replace Frank Yallop, we noted on the Soccer Silicon Valley blog that such a move would “almost guarantee another season of befuddlement, in-fighting, and confusion among the Galaxy brass.”  We get things wrong, too, but we nailed that one.)

• • •

In other news:

- The Earthquakes are partnering with San Jose City Council member Nora Campos to hold a backpack drive tomorrow and on August 30, when the Kansas City Wizards are in town. Fans who donate backpacks on those days will receive a coupon for a half-price ticket to a future Quakes game. The backpacks will be donated to underprivileged children at Goss Elementary School in San Jose. There’s additional info on the team’s web site.

- Tomorrow is also the day for the San Jose Earthquakes blood drive. Fans will be able to donate blood at the Stanford Blood Center Blood Mobile prior to the match, and four donors will be selected at random to win either a team-autographed ball or a game-worn jersey. Call (888) 723-7831 or visit the Blood Center’s web site if you’d like to sign up.

- Michael Parkhurst, who is coming off a solid performance for the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics, will not suit up for New England on Saturday. He’s been given the weekend off.

Frankly, this strikes us as being very unfair to the Revolution’s other players. We suggest Steve Nicol give Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston the day off, too.

What a difference a month makes

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost exactly one month since Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, and Scott Sealy first joined the Earthquakes. So much has changed since then — a team made up largely of reserves stomped the Honduran Olympic team 4-0, Joe Cannon saved a PK and a point in Toronto, Huckerby scored the equalizer in his home debut against Los Toros Rojos, and the world was given its first opportunity to witness the firepower of the fully armed and operational Earthquakes on August 3 against the Galaxy. Hard to believe it’s only been 30 days — heck, Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas even had jobs back then.

The despair caused by the team’s early results is gone, too, and there are ample signs that everyone on Earthquakes Planet is enjoying the gift a little momentum can bring, along with the feeling that this is now a team capable of winning against any opponent in MLS. Even head coach Frank Yallop, who maintains his even-tempered demeanor almost religiously, is feeling a bit giddy — check out his performance in the opening moments of this week’s “Quake Shake Online.”

We attended this morning’s practice and it’s safe to say the team looks loose, but that doesn’t mean they look sloppy. Just the opposite, in fact — crisp passes were being delivered precisely all over the pitch and the whole team has a look of being “in tune” that they lacked in the early months of the season. The biggest change is in their mentality. Balls are played with a purpose in mind and a real intent, not just a hope that something good could possibly happen if maybe a bit of luck comes their way.  This is a team that is starting to look, in a word, dangerous. If they beat New England on Saturday, stand back — the momentum will be huge.

• • •

- We had a chance to talk with Earthquakes assistant coach Ian Russell after practice. You can listen to our conversation here.  We also spoke with Joe Cannon today and will post a story tomorrow. Also, for those of you who are fluent en español, our own David I. Gálvez taped an interview with Ramiro Corrales today, which we’ll be posting before game time on Saturday.

- The word from Quakes GM John Doyle is that it is unlikely that Malaysian Super League hero Marlon Alex James will be able to join San Jose before the MLS transfer window closes tomorrow. James’ current side, Kedah, is on their way to what would be a second consecutive treble and the final of their current competition, the Malaysia Cup, doesn’t take place until August 24. Doyle thought it was possible that James could sign with a USL-1 team since that league’s transfer window closes on August 25, but current indications are that a potential signing of the St. Vincent and Grenadines striker by the Earthquakes would not take place until next year. In any case, Doyle confirmed that San Jose own his MLS discovery rights.

- The Washington Post’s Steven Goff reports the salaries of some MLS mid-summer signings today.  Those of you who are tracking San Jose’s salaries will be interested in hearing that Darren Huckerby is pulling down $355,000 and Francisco Lima is making $207,000. A complete list of salaries for all MLS players is available on the players union’s web site.

- Former Quake Danny Califf had a good game with his new side in Denmark, FC Midtjylland, as they defeated Manchester City 1-0 in a UEFA Cup qualifying match at the City of Manchester Stadium. Their home leg is August 28.

- The Galaxy is still working to sign former Clash winger Eddie Lewis, but Soccer by Ives reports that someone is going to have to take Carlos Ruiz off their hands first. Hmm… $460,000 for a guy who’s scored 8 goals total in the last two seasons? Good luck with that! (Despite our skepticism, Ives reports that Toronto might be interested.)

Meanwhile, back in San Jose…

Despite the continuing entertainment offered by watching the Galaxy suffering more self-inflicted wounds, it’s time to refocus our attention on the Quakes, whom we last saw two Sundays ago celebrating their 3-2 victory over L.A., thereby sending their rivals into their current desperation. Remember this moment, captured exquisitely by CLS photog Joe Nuxoll?

OK then. Now we can pick up where we left off.

Up next on San Jose’s “Little Engine that Could” pursuit of a Western Conference playoff berth is the New England Revolution, who will be visiting Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday night. While the Quakes have been idle since last Sunday, the Revs have been  anything but. They won the Superliga final last Tuesday, beating Houston in PKs after extra time, lost to Chicago at home last weekend, and lost to DC United in the U.S. Open Cup semis last night. Even though they rested several regulars against DC, including goalkeeper Matt Reis and midfielder Steve Ralston, it’s likely that the last place they want to be now is on a cross-country flight. The Revs will also be without star midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who earned himself a red card last weekend against the Fire, and may miss Taylor Twellman as well, who was held out of last night’s Open Cup match because he re-aggravated a left hip strain.

As to the Quakes, they waived developmental defender/midfielder Amir Lowery this morning, but there’s not much else to report. CLS will have a few people at practice tomorrow, though, so look for updates on Friday (and maybe sooner).

• • •

In other news, the U.S. men played their final Olympic group match this morning, against Nigeria. We won’t report the result here, but if you’d like the news, our own Jeff Carlisle has a match report and post-game reactions for ESPN.com.

- Soccer by Ives is reporting that former San Jose Clash star Eddie Lewis is ending his unsuccessful stint with Derby County to join the Galaxy.  Lewis, who grew up in the SoCal burg of Cerritos and played college soccer at UCLA, turned 34 in May. Doesn’t strike us as being the answer that L.A. needs, but we’re sure it makes sense to somebody down there.

- Jimmy Conrad’s latest column, about his experiences at the MLS All-Star Game, is available over at ESPN.

Galaxy’s mistakes should be familiar to MLS observers

With so many new signings and a great improvement in play, we really should be back to Earthquakes-related items today. But our attention is still captured by the slow-motion train wreck occurring some 400 miles to the south in Los Angeles, after the coup de grâce was applied to Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas by the Quakes on August 3. The Galaxy have finished in fifth place each of the last two years and are currently out of the playoff picture again this year, too. They are now on their fourth head coach in three years and are searching for a fifth. At the rate their going, they should just go ahead and drop the Galaxy name for something more appropriate, like “MetroStars.”

Or even “Clash.” MLS must still hold the rights to that name, don’t you think? They could modify the logo just a bit (see illustration, left) and fans could type it “cLAsh.” Kewl.

There are some new stories in the press about the departures of Gullit and Lalas today, and each of them offers some interesting insight on what happened. Grahame Jones of the L.A. Times, the dean of U.S. newspaper soccer writers, spoke with AEG head Tim Leiweke about the Galaxy’s changes, and Leiweke’s comments are not exactly going to ease the team’s transition into the post-Gullit era.

“Unfortunately, you can’t fire 22 players,” he told Jones. “I think they’re all responsible. What I told them this morning was, ‘Now no one has any excuses.’ I eliminated all excuses. Now it’s up to Cobi to straighten it out with the team and on the pitch, and for us to make a decision on how we structure this organization going forward so we no longer have the split we clearly have.”

Hey, here’s a thought: Why not eliminate the guys who do nothing but point fingers and blame everyone else for the team’s failures? Maybe that behavior contributes to this split he’s talking about? Besides, it would hilarious watching Leiweke try to fire himself.

But hey, it could be worse for Galaxy fans. Leiweke could be pointing fingers at David Beckham, too. Oh, wait — back to the L.A. Times:

“Ruud was (Beckham’s management team’s) guy, so Ruud resigning and us accepting that obviously is not a great day for them,” Leiweke told the paper.

Oops. Looks like Leiweke has dissed Golden Balls, too. Maybe he’s trying to unite the team by volunteering himself as a common enemy? Could be — it certainly helped the Quakes to a Supporters’ Shield in ‘05.

MLSnet has a story on the resignation/firing, too, in which the following quote from Gullit appears:

 ”In truth, it has proved a lot more difficult than I anticipated for my family to settle in the area and the club has been very supportive and understanding of my decision,” Gullit said. “I would like to thank the players and the fans for their fantastic support and I wish the LA Galaxy much success in the future. I would now like to spend some time with my family before considering any other position in football.”

Yes, he’s stepping down to spend more time with his family. Who knew covering MLS would ever be so similar to reporting on Washington politics?

The best story by far, though, comes from Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney, the dean of the U.S. soccer magazine writers, who takes a look at the Galaxy’s situation and suggests the following help wanted ad:

“Job listing: Major League Soccer Head Coach. Must manage ambitious and clueless subsidiary of global entertainment empire. Modicum of experience necessary, ambition a plus, ignorance required. Salary commensurate with nothing but whims of those at the top and their well-connected entertainment pals.”

The problem in L.A. epitomizes one that has been ingrained in MLS since the league’s birth, and that problem is a lack of respect for the game. Leiweke’s emphasis of flash over form shows the same mindset that considered larger-than-standard goals for higher scoring games* and brought us the shootout, along with marketing-savvy names like Burn, Wiz, and yes, Clash. It’s still with us today, every time a player steps up to take a corner kick and is pelted with rolls of crepe paper or, as we think of them here on the blog, “tiny banners with no words written on them due to a lack of imagination.”

We’re not anti-commerce. We understand that one element of sports is entertainment, and we understand that teams need to be profitable for the league to exist. We applauded the Beckham signing as a great step for the league, and we’re still happy he’s in MLS. He’s an icon whose worldwide popularity is unmatched. The thing is, though — he can play. He’s one of the best free kick takers on Earth, and anyone who has ever played with him will tell you that he’s as professional as they come. What makes the Beckham signing work is that he puts the game first. Yes, he does the underwear ads and hangs out with Hollywood celebs, but the root of everything he does is his performance on the field.

Compare that to Gullit. He was a great player, he’s colorful, and he’s got enough media savvy to come up with phrases like “sexy football,” but he never demonstrated that he’s a very good coach during his stints at Chelsea, Newcastle, and Feyenoord. That didn’t matter to Leiweke, who jumped for style over substance. In choosing Gullit, he failed to put soccer first.

The Galaxy’s next move will be interesting. Will they bring in another coach whose reputation is greater than his ability, hoping to make headlines around the world, or will they bring in someone who actually knows how to coach American players and how to deal with the Byzantine regulations of MLS? Soccer by Ives suggests that Peter Nowak and Bruce Arena are on the shortlist, so maybe there’s hope for the Galaxy yet, but we have confidence that they’ll find a way to screw up even a good hiring. The potential for a Leiweke/Arena shouting match is just off the charts if Arena gets the job.

Or, they could go the other direction and simply hire the biggest celebrity they can find, whether they know anything about soccer or not. Paris Hilton? Britney Spears? Miley Cyrus?  The Jonas Brothers?

How about a compromise? Someone who has a history with the Galaxy but is famous for other reasons as well. Quick, get Andrew Shue on the line!

 

 

* Yes, the league’s head honchos actually considered at one point in the mid-90’s.

“The buildup of steam under pressure…”

We have some news out of Los Angeles but first, we want to take a moment to salute the gang over at Mythbusters, the Discovery Channel hit that’s filmed locally over at M5 Industries, a visual effects house in San Francisco.

What does this have to do with soccer? Imagine, if you will, that the L.A. Galaxy is a tiny red house. Then, watch the following. As the narrator says, “the buildup of steam under pressure can cause many things to go off.”

There. Now, with that introduction, we can properly share the news that Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit are no longer employed by the Galaxy. To continue with our analogy, a review of the Galaxy’s press release reveals that the role of the water heater was played by AEG president Tim Leiweke.

“Look at the house!” “What house? I don’t see a house!”

The news is sure to come as a disappointment to Earthquakes fans, who undoubtedly had hoped that Lalas and Gullit would remain at the team’s helm for the foreseeable future.

Have any thoughts on the move? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Weekend update

Hi, we’re not Chevy Chase and there’s only a remote chance that you are. Our top stories tonight:

- There wasn’t much action this weekend for teams in the Western Conference of MLS, but the news was all good for the Quakes. Toronto beat Colorado 1-0 and Kansas City topped Chivas USA 3-2, so the standings are just as they were before the weekend started (except for the additional number in the “L” column for the Rapids and the Goats). That means the Quakes could draw level in the standings with Colorado if they win next weekend.

- In Olympic action, the U.S. blew a golden opportunity by allowing a stoppage time equalizer to Holland. In that moment, the U.S. went from a certain quarterfinal berth to needing a result against Nigeria on Wednesday to advance. Their task will be made that much more difficult by the yellow card suspensions that will be served against the African side by Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley. Our own Jeff Carlisle has the report from China for ESPN.

- The Olympic goal of the day, and maybe of the tournament, came from Argentina against Australia. The whole play is amazing but we are particularly impressed with Ezequiel Lavezzi’s off-the-ball run that put him in position for the shot and the pass the found him there.

- Kedah, the current club of Earthquakes “person of interest” Marlon Alex James, won 2-0 (5-0 aggregate) against Perak to earn a spot in the semifinals of the Malaysia Cup. James didn’t score, so his streak of games with a hat trick ends at two. The Malaysian national news agency reports that Kedah will face Terengganu in the semis, with the first leg coming on Wednesday.

Malaysia, China, England, and more

We’ve got a little news from a lot of places today. Let’s just jump in, shall we?

- Marlon Alex James has scored his second consecutive hat trick in Malaysia Cup play for his soon-to-be ex-team, Kedah. Remarkably, all three goals came in an 11-minute span in the first half. His contract ends on August 31 and Malaysian soccer officials have decided to kick all the foreign players out of the league afterwards, so we know for sure he’s going to be looking for a new team. Whether or not he ends up in San Jose is still up in the air, but the MLS transfer window closes on August 15, so if it’s going to happen, it has to happen in the next week.

Here’s the video showing James’ trio of goals. The quality of the competition in Malaysia is undoubtedly not on a par with MLS, but we’re still impressed with his composure around goal and finishing ability.

- Olympic soccer has already begun, and our own Jeff Carlisle is in China reporting for ESPN. His preview of the U.S. men’s Sunday morning match against Holland can be found here, along with his story on yesterday’s US/Japan match. NBC’s Olympic web pages are here, along with TV listings and an online viewing schedule.

-  Darren Huckerby was interviewed on a BBC radio show yesterday, where he explained, among other things, that San Jose fans are “very, very cool.” Here’s a transcript of the portion of the interview that covered Huckerby’s new life in America:

How much are you enjoying MLS and playing for San Jose?

I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s completely different from what I’ve been used to, but apart from that, it’s really, really good. The place is beautiful. It’s sunshine every day. It’s a good life.

When you say it’s different from playing in the championship, what is it like? A lot of us have never seen an MLS game in the flesh.

I think the pace is a little bit slower because, you know, the last two games we’ve played it’s been 85 degrees, at 12 o’clock in the afternoon. So, that makes it a little bit less intense, but you’ve got to do things when you’ve got the ball. It seems to be a lot more passing and keeping the ball — the Championship tends to be a lot of long balls and get it to the forwards and stuff, so technically, it’s a little bit different.

You’ve got two goals in your last two games. Are you already a hero to San Jose fans?

I don’t know, I don’t know. I’ve started OK. Before I got here, we’ve made a few signings — not just me, we’ve brought in another couple forwards as well. And we’re doing OK. The last three games, we drew two and won one, so I hope we can keep it going.

When you got that first goal for San Jose, did it give you the same sort of buzz as scoring here in England?

It gave me the same buzz, but nothing will change the way I feel about playing for Norwich. If I had a choice tomorrow I’d come back and play straightaway. But that’s life — I’ve got to work with what I’ve got. It’s not a bad second place, but it will always be second place.

And you got one over Beckham the other day, didn’t you? Tell us about that.

Yeah, he plays for L.A. Galaxy, and obviously they’re the biggest, highest-profile team in MLS. They’re not necessarily the best team but they’re the biggest team here, so it was kind of built up as one Brit versus another Brit. We came out on top that day, but that’s one game.

Did you get a chance to speak to him?

I did, yeah. Only for about 20 seconds, before the second half started. He just asked me how I was getting on, and, you know, what I thought of the weather and the different styles of football. It was nice for him to come and say hi, and he said some nice things after the game as well, because the press wanted to know about what I could bring to the MLS and stuff. He said some nice, complimentary things.

Is it quite a surreal feeling when you’ve got David Beckham talking about you in an interview after the game?

Uh, kind of. I’ve never been one to swap shirts or this or that after a game. He’s asked about everything after the games. He’s the main man in MLS so he’s got a lot of things he has to do after games, so it’s just nice that he acknowledged that we did OK.

How big is MLS over there in the States? When you walk around San Jose and where you’re living, do people recognize you yet?

No one — it’s great! It’s different — it’s fourth place behind basketball, baseball, and hockey, so that’s just the way it is. There’s a die-hard bunch of fans who follow the team, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing like it is in England.

So what are the fans like?

They’re good fans. They seem to be very, very cool. They enjoy the football, but like I said, it’s completely different. The stadium is - it’s just a college stadium at the minute, until they build the new stadium, so it’s not like Carrow Road which was awesome to play in front of. This is a little bit different, but it’s still good, in a different way.

Are there any new Darren Huckerby songs yet, or do American fans not really go down that line?

I think they’ve adopted a Huckerby one already. It kind of doesn’t sound right — “Oh Hucker, Huckerby” doesn’t sound quite right in America, but I’m sure they’ll figure something out.

I went on Norwich’s preseason tour to Sweden, and the fans on that trip have got a new Huckerby song. You know the Kim Wilde hit, “Kids in America.” It’s to that tune, but it’s “Huckerby’s in America, wo-oah.”

Good, good. 

Are you still number 6?

That was part of my signing, I had to be number 6. (laughter) No, not really. The number 6 came up, luckily for me. I had the choice between number 6 and number 10, so there was always going to be one number I’d pick. 

You’ll always be the Norwich number 6 in a lot of people’s eyes out here. 

Huckerby also spoke about the Canaries’ chances in the coming season, which starts this weekend against Coventry. If you want, you can hear the interiew in its entirety — an enterprising Norwich City fan recorded it and posted it online here.

- Finally, it’s been announced that Real Salt Lake’s new stadium will open for MLS action on October 9 and will host next year’s all-star game. You can take a gander using the RSL construction cam.  The team name spelled out in the seats is a nice touch but we’re not sure about the roof, which doesn’t look like it will do much to hold in the sound. Still, it’s almost infinitely better than Rice Eccles, so applause, applause.

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