| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
Former Wizard Yura Movsisyan had a goal as Real Salt Lake buried San Jose 4-0 in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game on Wednesday in Utah.
It was a winter wonderland as snow forced the referee to use an orange ball instead of the usual silver ones during the second half. The players applauded the change.
“It was tough enough to see the orange ball let alone keep going with the silver one,” goalkeeper Chris Seitz told the Deseret Morning News.
But his breath smells fine
This is not the Barry Bonds defense.
Kazuki Ganaha, a player in Japan, was suspended for six games for breaking the J-League’s anti-doping rules, according to a Reuters story.
For taking intravenous garlic infusions.
Ganaha, who was battling the flu, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Ganaha told the Japanese media. “The slate needs to be wiped clean. I’m not attempting to betray soccer. I’m doing this so other players don’t end up in the same position.”
Garlic is OK. But intravenous treatment is banned by the J-League, which is following FIFA’s directive.
Fantastic finishes
The U.S. women’s national team needs to schedule more games with Australia.
Even non-soccer fans would love seeing those teams play. On Saturday, the U.S. team blew a 4-1 lead as Australia tied it. But deep in second-half stoppage time, Angela Hucles scored the winner for the United States.
A week earlier, the U.S. team lost a 2-0 lead in the second half, but pulled out a 3-2 victory as Carli Lloyd scored in stoppage time.
“As a team, I think you grow the most during these tough times,” said midfielder Lindsay Tarpley. “Having these types of games and situations is definitely helping us prepare for the Olympics.”
Ex-Wizards abroad
•It’s now five weeks in a row that Eddie Johnson hasn’t dressed for Fulham. And for the third time in four weeks, Fulham won. A 2-0 victory over Birmingham City pushed Fulham out of the relegation zone heading into the final week.
•Josh Wolff was an unused substitute for 1860 Munich in its 3-0 loss at home to SC Freiburg on Friday.
Throw-ins
•No MLS team has lost after scoring the first goal this season (32-0-7). Last year, the teams that scored first went 134-21-34 overall.
•The Crew’s start with 15 points is tied for the fifth best after six games in MLS history. Every other team that started that strong made the playoffs.
•D.C. United finalized its deal with Volkswagen and will wear the company’s logo on its jerseys.
Weekend’s best in MLS
Player: Christian Gomez, Rapids. The former United star helped set up both Colorado goals in a 2-0 win over D.C.
Team: Chicago Fire. It doesn’t matter who New England is missing, a 3-0 win in Foxborough is impressive.
Goal: David Beckham. All four goals in the Galaxy’s 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake were beauties. But Beckham’s first against a lax defense was the best. He swerved a shot from about 25 yards out from the right side into the side netting of the left side of the goal.
Quote: “Talking is easy-peasy; it’s what you do on the field that counts. And you have to be prepared mentally. We have to sit down and look at what we did this week, and try to figure out why we were so dead in the brain tonight, because that’s really what we were: we were dead above the neck. So we have to figure out why.”
| Revolution coach Steve Nicol
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.