Spain, Portugal and Germany are all in. Who will take the final spot in the semifinals of Euro 2012? It’s a clash today between England and Italy, and today’s DKA highlights the keys for each team.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news coming out of Euros, with the death of an overzealous fan in China to report. This, plus more on Title IX’s impact on the U.S. Women’s National Team, Heather O’Reilly’s debut for the Boston Breakers and MLS regional rivalries fill today’s headlines.

Euro 2012

ESPN reported today that a fan in China has died from fatigue as a result of staying awake for 11 straight days watching Euros in the early morning hours:

Jiang Xiaoshan, 26, died after Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to Italy on June 18, according to the report.

[snip]

“Jiang was in good health. But staying up through the night and not sleeping enough weakened his immune system and he drank and smoked while watching the football, triggering his condition,” Liu Zhiling, a doctor from the local People’s Hospital ER, told the Chinese paper.

While this is certainly a tragedy, I can’t help but think that with all of China’s technological advancements, nobody has yet thought to bring DVR to the country?

Italy and England face off today for the last spot in the semifinals, where the winner will face Germany. ESPN’s Euro2012 blog preview highlights the keys for each team, including England’s success on crosses in the tournament, which led to three out of their five goals, and Italy’s 80% passing rate, “highest for any Italian side at the Euros since the tournament installed group play in 1980.”

Whoever faces Germany likely won’t have to worry about midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. He’s likely out of the semis with a lingering ankle injury.

Have you checked out the Euro 2012 hashtag page on Twitter? It’s the latest in Twitter’s topical curation of tweets around major events into hashtag pages, rather than searches of all tweets on the topic, and you can follow a selected group of perspectives throughout the matches. I love that Twitter is helping to highlight perpectives and conversation around major sporting events with these pages, but is it too much to ask that it work on a mobile platform? I primarily use Twitter on my iPhone and iPad, and I’m not alone: as of last September, 43% of Twitter users accessed the service from mobile devices. I haven’t found a more recent stat than that, but in nine months it’s got to be nearly half by now.

U.S. Women’s National Team

In yesterday’s DKA we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Title IX legislation that gave female athletes equal opportunity under educational law. If you missed ESPNW’s Title IX special, Leveling the Field, I highly recommend watching. Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Donna de Varona, Tony DiCicco and Heather O’Reilly discuss on the impact of Title IX on the 1999 USA World Cup Championship team, and their influence on women’s soccer in the U.S. since.

WPSL

Heather O’Reilly made her debut yesterday for the Boston Breakers of the WPSL Elite division, drawing a sellout crowd in a 2-0 win over the New York Fury. O’Reilly won’t be back home with the Breakers for long, though. She and Breakers teammate Tobin Heath will head back to the national team for the Olympics sendoff match against Canada this Saturday.

The win brought the Breakers back into first place in the division, a sigh of relief after the Breakers were forced last week to forfeit a win against the Western New York Flash when they found out that Melissa Henderson’s paperwork had not been cleared by the U.S.S.F. Henderson, a recent graduate of Notre Dame, was the second overall pick in the 2012 WPS Draft by Sky Blue FC, before the league folded.

Major League Soccer

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Chris Wondolowski scored a late goal, this one in the 85th minute, to lead the San Jose Earthquakes to a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake and first place in the Western Conference. Wondo now leads the league in scoring this season with 13 goals, and his Quakes boast the best record in MLS. Our resident Quakes fan, Alyssa Olszewski, breaks down the team’s late-scoring magic.

RSL’s reaction?

“I don’t know if there has ever been a time when I felt as mad as I do right now, to be honest with you,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said after the match. “Soccer can be a very cruel game, and tonight was every indication of that.”

“Honest to God, we didn’t lose the game, we gave the game away,” Kreis said. “If somebody comes in here and beats us, endline to endline for 90 minutes, then I’ll have a different answer for you, but right now, we’re beating ourselves.”

Next week’s California Clasico showdown between the Earthquakes and the Galaxy is shaping up to be better than you’d have thought a few weeks ago. With the Galaxy on a roll after their third straight win this week, they’ll be looking for revenge after their collapse against the Quakes on their home turf earlier in the season.

The Chicago Fire are heating things up in the Midwest, and our editor Trista Lutgring, a rabid Crew fan, doesn’t like it one bit.

The match of the week tonight is another heated rivalry, New York Red Bulls vs D.C. United at Red Bull Arena. D.C. is on a four-game winning streak, while the Red Bulls have cooled off after their six-game unbeaten streak, losing to the Fire 3-1 and eking out a 1-1 draw with the Whitecaps in the last week. The match will be on NBC Sports Network at 7:30 ET.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for more league news, match recaps, and of course our own agony and ecstasy!

Fans at the US Women's National Team World Cup sendoff match vs Mexico. Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ, June 5, 2011. Photo by Dana Wagner

It’s Memorial Day Weekend here in the good ole U.S. of A, and there’s nothing that gets my American flag flying more than a good ole U.S. National Team game – or two, for that matter. Tonight we get the men vs Scotland from Jacksonville, Fl. and tomorrow, the women take on China from Chester, Pa in preparation for the Olympics. In today’s DKA, we also have some news about USMNT star Clint Dempsey and what the future holds for him in EPL, more on the L.A. Galaxy’s woes and what Julie Foudy thinks women’s professional soccer needs to survive.

U.S. Men’s National Team

The U.S. men set a new attendance record at an international friendly in Florida, with more than 32,000 tickets sold to the May 26 match vs Scotland as of this past Monday:

The previous record was set on March 25, 2007, when 31,547 witnessed the U.S. MNT defeat Ecuador 3-1 behind a hat trick from Landon Donovan at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

The USA’s game in Jacksonville will be its first in the city in more than a decade, with the last match representing one of the biggest upsets in U.S. history. On Feb. 6, 1999, the MNT defeated defending European Champion Germany 3-0 in front of 17,259 fans, the previous attendance record for a U.S. match in Jacksonville.

U.S. Women’s National Team

Good news, WNT fans! After much grousing this week from fans that the Sunday friendly vs China was not going to be televised, despite the women selling out PPL Park, U.S. Soccer has come to the rescue with an exclusive webcast, streamed live from ussoccer.com.

Sunday’s match at PPL Park marks the second meeting between the U.S. and China at the soccer specific venue. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 6, 2010, with Alex Morgan scoring her first international goal in the 83rd minute to tie up the score.

How quickly a year and a half, and 22 goals, flies by…

Captain Christie Rampone will become the all-time U.S. WNT leader in Olympic appearances this summer, playing in her fourth Olympic Games. As Rampone prepares for London, USSoccer.com talked to her about accomplishments in Sydney, Athens and Beijing.

2004 Olympics – Athens, Greece

“On the field, it was just like throwing your body every which way to make sure you won for the older girls. It was all about the players who paved the way. I remember just being in the locker room and looking at those players who were about to retire and thinking I would never give up for them.”

English Premier League

After scoring 23 goals this season (17 in EPL), and one year left on his contract with Fulham, Clint Dempsey’s future looks bright. USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann believes Dempsey should leave Fulham for the green pastures of a Champions League team:

 ”If he has the opportunity to go a Champions League team, that’s the creme de la creme in the world of club soccer, then you’ve got to do that. With all respect obviously to Fulham, as he often mentions, but you want to play in the biggest club competition in the world and that’s the European Champions League.

“So hopefully something will happen over the next couple weeks. But if it doesn’t happen, then he just has to keep kind of pounding away and knocking at the door.”

Dempsey was tied for fourth in the EPL in scoring, trailing only Arsenal’s Robin van Persie (31), Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (27) and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (23).

Major League Soccer

The L.A. Galaxy’s nightmare season continued this weekend, with another loss – their third in a row – to the Houston Dynamo in a rematch of the 2011 MLS Cup. This followed two losses earlier this week to their California rivals, Chivas USA and San Jose Earthquakes. Edson Buddle scored in the 10th minute, but the Galaxy couldn’t hold the lead up, thanks to a Mike Magee own goal in the 38th and an Andre Hainault header in the 57th.

The MLS Players Union released 2012 salaries on Friday. The New York Red Bulls, currently #1 in the league, carry the top two, Henry and Marquez, with the Galaxy rounding out the top five.

U.S. Professional Women’s Soccer

In an article for ESPNW after the fallout of the WPS collapse, Julie Foudy discusses why MLS is in a better position now than in 1999 to adopt the women’s game:

In 1999, I said no. MLS was only three years old. It was fully immersed in trying to get a men’s pro soccer league off the ground; it was not in a position to add a women’s component. And the women’s national team wasn’t willing to embrace MLS (read: the U.S. Soccer Federation) at that time. No need to rehash the details, but let’s just say the U.S. Soccer Federation and the U.S. women’s national team were not singing Kumbaya together around the campfire in late 1999/early 2000.

Ask me now if it would make sense to have a women’s side to MLS, I would say yes.

Yes, but …

It may be a viable option for some MLS owners, but not all of them. And that really is the key moving forward for women’s soccer to make it in this country over the long term. It needs a group of owners who want to do it because it makes sense financially and they believe in it, not because it is something they “should” do.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for more reactions from all of this weekend’s U.S. Soccer and MLS action!

USWNT forward Alex Morgan

I was starting to think that there really wasn’t anything particularly attention-grabbing for today’s DKA. Sure, we have the latest updates in MLS, including the tear Sporting K.C. is on, and the races for the FA Cup and EPL titles, but nothing caught my eye to say “wow, this is headline worthy.”

Then, this morning, as I was drinking coffee and getting ready to watch the Manchester United-Aston Villa match, I came across a link to a letter that U.S. Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan wrote to a high-school female soccer player, who tore her ACL in her senior year. Read on for this story on someone who’s not only talented, but whose perspective during times of adversity is incredibly inspirational.

U.S. Women’s National Team

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Alex Morgan. She continues to establish herself among the elite of U.S. women’s soccer, with 22 international goals, scoring at a pace of 1.23 goals per 90 minutes as of the U.S.’s latest match vs Brazil. Her relatively quick rise toward the national spotlight is inspiring to many young women, but it’s her actions off the field which may have even more impact on the next generation of professional female soccer players. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle just published  this inspirational letter that Alex wrote to a local high-school player who she didn’t know, but heard was doubting her future after tearing her ACL in her senior year of high school, just as Alex did:

I heard that you have done extremely well for yourself in the past few years, but you just tore your ACL and got surgery less than a week ago. I want to first tell you that tearing your ACL will not be the end of your career.

You decide your destiny. I don’t know if you are religious, but I like to think of it as God testing our strength. You will become a stronger person because of this, and I’m sure you already are. If you know what you want, and if that is playing college soccer or professional soccer one day, do everything in your power to accomplish that.

You need to stay positive, look ahead not back, and use the time you have now in the present to create the future you want.

Make sure to click on the link above to read the full letter.

Abby Wambach is still fully entrenched as the USWNT’s No. 1 forward, but Pia Sundhage is preparing for the future with the addition of another young, dynamic forward to the national team roster. Christen Press, the No. 4 overall 2011 WPS draft pick, and WPS Rookie of the Year has finally been called up, as Pia Sundhage announced the 27-player roster for the Florida training camp, in preparation for their May 27 friendly against China. Press, the 2011 MAC Hermann Trophy winner at Stanford, who previously played with WPS magicJack until the league suspended its 2012 season in January, is currently playing with Sweden’s Göteborg FC.

Major League Soccer

Remember last week when we mentioned that Sporting K.C. set an MLS record for minutes without allowing a shot on goal? Well, that record was unfortunately broken last night, as Real Salt Lake ended the streak at 335 minutes. I’m sure they weren’t fretting too much over it, though.  Sporting beat RSL 1-0 to keep a much more important streak alive, starting the season 6-0. They are only the second MLS team to do so, after L.A. Galaxy’s 9-0 start in 1996.

Speaking of the Galaxy, they actually won! David Beckham was back on the field for Saturday’s match against the Portland Timbers, scoring in the 91st minute to ice the 3-1 victory for L.A.

The Red Bulls-Earthquakes match lived up to the hype, with a flurry of goals in the first half, finishing in a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately, it felt more like a loss to the home team, as the Red Bulls led twice early, only to have their defense betray them and forget how dangerous Chris Wondolowski can be. Despite the result, the Red Bulls goals were textbook lessons in brilliance, with the second coming off a beautiful cross from Richards at the end line, flicked back by Cooper and struck by Dax McCarty for his first goal with the Red Bulls. I can’t stop watching that one. Highlights are here.

Read Trista Lutgring’s Saturday MLS Rewind for more scores and details!

English Premier League

After a stunning 1-0 defeat at Wigan midweek, Manchester United could feel City breathing down their necks, only two points behind, after United led by eight just a week ago. Maybe they just needed a little extra pressure to get back to form, as United bludgeoned Aston Villa 4-0 to move back up by five. Kayla Knapp has the full recap.

FA Cup

Everton’s Sylvain Distin is going to be haunted for a while by a horrible back pass that set up an opening for Luis Suarez to knock home the tying goal in the 62nd minute of the FA Cup semifinal. Liverpool capped the win with an Andy Carroll goal off a free kick minutes before the end of the match, sending them to the final.

W-League

With the dissolution of the WPS for 2012, many players have moved on to the semi-professional W-League and WPSL for the season, but no team has benefited more than the Seattle Sounders Women, who grabbed up USWNT players Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe. Yep, it’s magicJack all over again, without Abby Wambach and crazy Dan Borislow. Naturally, the Sounders drew more than 4,000 to their first match — of the pre-season. Not too shabby. Even Morgan was impressed with the crowd:

“I’m really impressed with Seattle and the support that we’ve got for the women’s team. It’s been great so far. I was really surprised at how many fans came out to support us. With the WPS we were lucky getting a crowd like this. This was a crowd we would get maybe directly after the World Cup.”

Here are highlights from Friday night’s Sounders 5-0 win against Seattle University, including interview with Leroux, who had a hat trick, and midfielder Keelin Winters.

Keep up with @AerysSoccer on Twitter for our reactions to all the latest news in EPL, MLS, La Liga and U.S. Soccer.

Yawwwn. Soccer is so boring. I don’t even know why we bother watching. Let’s see if we can find anything particularly interesting to talk about in Saturday’s slate of MLS and EPL matchups.

L.A. Galaxy came out flat, losing 1-0 to Sporting K.C. at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Photo via fuckyeahsportingkc.tumblr.com

Major League Soccer

Our Canadian MLS clubs had quite the day, eh? It kicked off with the bitterest of rivalries, the “Canadian derby” as they say, with winless Montreal Impact hosting winless Toronto FC. Toronto was coming off a surprising CONCACAF Champions League run, but fell to the first-year Impact, who picked up their first franchise win with a 2-1 victory:

Sinisa Ubiparipovic, making his first appearance of the season for Montreal, coolly slotted home a shot in the 17th minute and No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick Andrew Wenger doubled the Impact’s lead with his first professional goal in the 81st minute as Montreal (1-4-1, four points) held off a late rally by 10-man TFC.

Toronto (0-4-0, zero points), who were reducted to 10 men when central defender Logan Emory was sent off in the 65th minute, got their consolation goal with two minutes to play on a header by Designated Player Danny Koevermans.

On the other side of the country, the Vancouver Whitecaps were the victims of the San Jose Earthquakes, who once again handed a team their first loss of the season (last week it was the Seattle Sounders who the Quakes reduced to rubble). Even more crazy, however, was how it was done. Not only were the Whitecaps undefeated all season, but they had not conceded a goal. In the 63rd minute of the game, they set an MLS record for consecutive scoreless minutes to start a season at 422. But then, at the 427th minute of the streak, the 68th of the game, Chris Wondolowski ended it with an equalizer. Must’ve been our Midweek Muscles feature this week that brought him some luck. The wheels fell off for Vancouver at that point, and they surrendered two more goals in a matter of 10 minutes – one to Alex Gordon and another to Wondo, to fall 3-1.

Wondering what the secret sauce has been to San Jose’s success this season? Our Quakes writer, Alyssa Olszewski, has the answer.

Sporting Kansas City is also having a mildly interesting season. They improved to 5-0 to start the season, the first MLS team to do so in 14 years, with a 1-0 victory over the stumbling defending MLS Champions, L.A. Galaxy (1-3). Kei Kamara scored the decisive goal on a header at the 40′ mark.

The Galaxy failed to record a shot on goal in a match. Yep, you heard that right. ZERO. And that gives us yet another record!

Sporting KC, which hasn’t allowed a shot on goal in back-to-back 1-0 wins against Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, set a new MLS record with 245 consecutive minutes without a shot on goal.

The SKC-LAG game aired live on ESPN, and featured a halftime spotlight on Kamara and his inspiring journey from growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone to reuniting with his mother, after almost ten years apart, in the United States. Don’t read on without watching it.

Here are more scores from Saturday’s matchups:

Columbus Crew 1 – 4 New York Red Bulls

DC United 0 – 0 Seattle Sounders

Real Salt Lake 2 – 0 Colorado Rapids

Portland Timbers 1 – 2 Chivas USA 

English Premier League

Clint Dempsey scored two goals in Fulham’s 3-0 win over Bolton on Saturday, breaking the club record for goals scored by a single player in a season with 15. His 30′ free kick strike was the first free kick goal of his career. You can watch it here. Dempsey now as 21 total goals this season, between Premier League and Champions League appearances. Yeah, Americans really can’t compete in European soccer, can they?

Has Manchester City’s lack of experience when the lights are brightest blown their chance at the Premiership title? The Telegraph’s Gary Lineker argues that Roberto Mancini’s public criticism of his players has led to a divisive atmosphere that’s prevented them from responding to pressure and closing out the season, and that their hot start disguised problems that later have come to haunt them:

When City enjoyed a blistering start, just like Spurs, we were probably sucked into thinking they were better than they actually are.

For a while it seemed they were running away with it, especially while Yaya Touré and David Silva were at their best, but the warning signs were still there. The Champions League performance was a disappointment, offering the first clues that the overall standard of the squad wasn’t as high as it seemed in the Premier League…

What matters isn’t how a player performed earlier in the season, but how they’re coping when the pressure is on, which is why you’d now look to someone such as Wayne Rooney as the most influential player of the season.

U.S.  Women’s National Team

Tickets are now on sale for the U.S. Women’s next friendly, against China at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Independence, on Sunday, May 27. It’s Memorial Day weekend, so you have no excuses not to go.

U.S. Soccer has also announced the women’s send-off match before the Olympics, a rematch of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Final against Canada, which will take place June 30 in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, April 13, with advance tickets for VISA card-holders on Thursday.

Keep up with us on Twitter at @AerysSoccer throughout Sunday’s matches, and check back here for more game recaps and league roundups.

Happy weekend footy fans! Today’s headlines have a few interesting tid bits: from the Vancouver Whitecaps new acquisition, the new

USMNT assistant coach, Becks in Paris, Man United back in the Champions’s League . . . Well, you get the idea. Here’s your Saturday Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

As MLS teams continue to shift, grow and pick up players where they can, the Vancouver Whitecaps, who struggle at the end of the season, were the lucky lottery winners of U.S. Men’s National player Lee Nguyen. Because Nguyen previously played in the MLS, his return to the league meant a lottery process had to be held to see who would have the midfielder. The Whitecaps lucked out and could use Nguyen’s skills in the mid.

Speaking of contracts and moving, has anyone heard anything more about David Beckham leaving L.A.? Yeah, we haven’t either because the Galaxy midfielder STILL isn’t saying what he’s gonna do. HOWEVER, twitter is buzzing that a deal between Becks and Paris Saint-Germain is going down as I type this and he could be in Paris by tomorrow.

  La Liga

Ah, the great Pep Guardiola speaks! Apparently the rumor that Messi doesn’t like David Villa and the Spanish striker is on the way out of Barcelona is all a lie, according to the Catalan boss. Guardiola admitted he hadn’t spoken to Villa after the last match – which is odd considering Villa broke his leg in that game and is out for at least six months – but stated “all my players are in my plans.” Hmmmm.

Atletico Madrid are sitting in the 10th spot on the table and their striker Jose Antonio Reyes hasn’t been anything to write home about. There have been rumors Reyes is heading out of the Spanish club, but Atletico boss Gregorio Manzano insists that he still has faith in his player.

English Premier League

Can you tell it’s almost January? I have another supposed false-rumor for you. This time a transfer claim has been shot down by Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.  The claims lately have been the lack-luster Spanish striker Fernando Torres has lost favor at Stamford Bridge (surprise) and the Blues were looking to push him off on someone else. But Villas-Boas firmly stated Torres is not for sale.

Don’t know much about Queens Park Rangers Gaffer Neil Warnock? Then check out this great piece in the Telegraph, where Warnock is candidate about many things, including his admiration for Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

Speaking of Manchester United, the Red Devils could be handed a very odd hand and get back into the Champion’s League. BBC Sport is reporting that if the Swiss FA doesn’t punish Sion for fielding uneligible players in the Europa League, FIFA will ban all Swiss teams from competing. If that happens, then FC Basel, who knocked the Red Devils out of CL, could be ejected from the Round of 16. Even as a Man United fan, that’s unfair. I honestly hope Basel get to keep the spot they earned.

U.S. Men’s National Team

Soccer guru Grant Wahl reported on his twitter this morning that former L.A. Galaxy player and Austria international Andreas Herzog has been named to be the assistant coach for USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The Washington Post also backed up the claim.

Wahl also reported U.S. Soccer Federation’s Sunil Gulati has been named to a FIFA reform panel. Hmmm. . . check out the full panel of names here.

Soccer

You know how you say, “Oh man, watching that game almost KILLED me.” Well, there actually is a woman who really could pass away from the anxiety of watching a soccer match.

Major League Soccer

Things were not looking up for the Vancouver Whitecaps yesterday as the CEO of the team Paul Barber stepped down, effective February 2012. Even though the team finished dead last, there seemed to be no ill will between anyone. Here’s hoping the Whitecaps bounce back next season.

One of the biggest supporters of soccer in the states right now? None other than basketball star Steve Nash. The Ottawa Citizen has a great interview here with Nash about his love of the beautiful game.

The Montreal Impact have already picked up former L.A. Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts and signed on its 2011 NASL goalkeeper Evan Bush, but the team announced yesterday they will also sign a former Impact legend, Greg Sutton. 

English Premier League

What would EPL be without the drama, huh? Now Tony Pulis and Harry Redknapp have joined Kenny Dalglish, who has lodged a complaint against FA. The EPL bosses believe there is a “double-standard” in how the association handles match bans and appeals. The complaint comes after the FA reduced Wayne Rooney’s red-card ban he picked up in Euro 2012 qualifying from three matches to one.

Former Manchester United player Gary Neville might not play anymore, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going after Chelsea. Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has lashed back at Neville – who is a commentator for SkySports – after a scathing criticism from Neville about Chelsea players.

La Liga

Let’s just face it kids; it’s Dec. 10 match day in La Liga and the only thing anyone is talking about is El Clasico. The epic battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid will kick off at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN3.com, GolTV or ESPN Deportes. YouTube will also be streaming the match live. Need a run down on the 101 of El Clasico? Our own Tamara Rinehart has a great piece to get you in the know with highly-anticipated match.

Serie A

Roma fans have been waiting to hear what Daniele De Rossi’s deal is – whether he’ll stay or leave the Italian club. After speculation that he would leave for England, De Rossi finally stated that while he loves EPL, he will remain in the capital for the “foreseeable future.”

It was a hell of a day yesterday in the Champions League, soccer fans. The footie ladies of Aerys are gathering our bearings; and Kayla Knapp and I are picking ourselves off the floor (We’re die-hard United fans). We hope you caught some of the great action yesterday, if not, here are your Thursday headlines!

Champions League

As stated previously, it was a mess yesterday, folks. From both Manchester teams getting knocked out to Lyon rousing an astonishing 7 goals, the CL turned Europe upside down yesterday. I have a recap of the Man. United game here and Tamara Rinehart has your match-day recap here.

Major League Soccer

Vancouver Whitecaps finally unveiled what many saw coming yesterday; the team announced the signing of Young-Pyo Lee. The former South Korea international said he chose MLS because he wanted “lifestyle over money.”

MLS recently invited four UCLA players to the pre-draft player combine to be held in Florida. A number of other players from California schools and UNC were also on the list announced Wednesday. The combine will be Jan. 6-10, with the SuperDraft set for Jan. 12 and the supplemental draft for Jan. 17.

Seattle has a replacement for the legend Kasey Keller; the club announced recently the signing of Austrian Michael Gspurning.

English Premier League

As the L.A. Galaxy wrapped up their Asia Pacific tour last week, David Beckham told media that a return to the EPL isn’t likely in his future. Rumors are milling that if Becks leaves L.A., it will be for Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is in hot water with the FA over a gesture he allegedly made toward Fulham fans during the two clubs last clash. This is the second charge Suarez has received this year after he was accused of making racial slurs toward Manchester United defender Patrica Evra.

La Liga

Can you feel it getting closer? El Clasico is in three days and the hype is building. With all the talk milling about, Barcelona midfielder Xavi would like to point out that IF Real Madrid beat Barca Saturday, it wouldn’t end the Catalans’ chances at the La Liga crown.

Serie A

It seems that Roma’s “Spanish experiment” is going astray. With players fighting and games being lost, Roma fans must be wondering what boss Luis Enrique is actually doing for the club.

Talks of Tevez making a move to Italy are still heated; former Serie A player Roberto Baggio thinks the Argentinian striker should go with AC Milan, who Baggio was a striker for.

Olympic Qualifying

Well the U.S. came away with quite an easy draw Tuesday as it was announced they would face Canada, Cuba and El Salvador in their group for Olympic qualifying. The Olympics are reserved mostly for the U-23 team, and qualifying matches will begin in March in the United States.

Landon Donovan and David Beckham share an emotional hug after the final whistle against Houston Sunday. After five years, Beckham finally was able to lift the MLS Cup with fellow teammates.

It was going to be intense. It was going to be gritty. The MLS Cup final that took place Sunday between the L.A. Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo on the Galaxy’s home turf was just that and more.

Coming into the match, L.A. were heavily favored; finishing on the top of the league table and having the force of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, the Galaxy were all calm and cool going in.

But Houston wasn’t going to be counted out. They may have finished 18 points behind the western conference powerhouse, but the last six games have seen the Orange Crush become very dangerous and they were looking to give L.A. a good run for the Cup.

The match started off strong and fast; Houston were very feisty, going hard against L.A. but unable to hold enough possession to look dangerous anywhere near the Galaxy net. L.A., however, were cool and calm and it didn’t take them long to start pushing against the Houston defense.

Houston obviously had someone looking out for them as a header from Adam Cristman (getting only his sixth start this season after Chad Barrett’s horrid ankle injury during practice) in the 12th minute went wide of the post.

Cristman was completely unmarked and it was no wonder the ball didn’t go in.

As the half dragged on and L.A. continued to not finish in the final third, Houston started to pick up some possession. Luiz Camargo had some great foot-work, however, nothing of note could happen in front of the goal for the Dynamo.

L.A. seemed to be biding their time for a goal and another header opportunity for Cristman happened in the 27th, but he couldn’t get the finish.

After Houston enjoyed some more possession, L.A. started to get more aggressive. Donovan, Keane and Magee all tried their luck, but the Houston defense held strong.

The half ended nil-nil luckily for Houston, but it was a score line they had to really fight for.

The second half started with much of the same of what happened in the end of the first; L.A. continuing to dominate and Houston fighting in the mid for the ball.

Dynamo’s Calen Carr had a good look on goal, pushing up the middle 10 minutes into the second, but was shut down and couldn’t even test Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders.

The stadium erupted in the 56th minute as it looked like Robbie Keane beat the back line and slotted the ball into the net. But the assistant referee called him off side, to the dismay of L.A. fans. On the replay, I have to admit, it looked like Keane was level with Houston defender Geoff Cameron. But the call was made and the game moved on.

L.A. wasn’t giving up though. A great run from Keane five minutes later found him up front with Landon Donovan, but Dynamo players Bobby Boswell and Adam Moffat played it cool and were able to defuse the play.

Finally, finally in the 65th minute, a look for Houston. Great service into the box and Moffat came up from no where, heading it toward goal and it went just wide. The frustration on his face showed how much he knew how important the goal could have been.

And then, the sweet goal. In the 71st minute, Beckham laid off a ball to Keane, who pushed forward again, battling off defenders as

It would be Landon Donovan's strike that would bring the MLS Cup back to L.A. The win against Houston Dynmao Sunday marked the Galaxy's third title. Photo courtesy of mlssoccer.com.

Donovan sprinted up through the middle to get the flick off from Keane. Dynamo keeper Tally Hall came out and got a flick on it, but it was taken well by Donovan and found it’s way in the back of the next to the delight of the HDC.

L.A. continued to push after the goal, Donovan almost notching another and Keane again almost claiming a goal, but nothing. Houston even had a great attempt in a corner toward the end, but wasted the opportunity.

Tensions stretched in the last ten minutes as Houston desperately tried to contain possession and L.A. continued to force the Dynamo defense.

Then the final whistle blew and that was it. Galaxy players and fans went nuts. Donovan and Beckham shared an emotional hug which encompassed the emotions of a whole season and a few-years stretch for Galaxy; the Cup was finally coming to L.A. on a 1-0 win.

I’m sure the celebrations will deservedly go on for a few hours – or days – in L.A. Live it up, Galaxy fans. Your team deserves it!

Major League Soccer

What is being heralded as one of the most anticipated MLS Cup finals, L.A. Galaxy will host the Houston Dynamo today at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Kick off is set for 9 p.m. EST on ESPN. Here’s hoping you East Coasters can stay up late!

As a special treat, if anyone is going to the final (I’m jealous, by the way) MLS and Foursquare are offering a check-in special, along with tons of other events that will occur in the hours leading up to the match.

It was also announced today by MLS that changes will occur in the 2012 MLS schedule. Because the league is now 19 teams, with the addition of the Montreal Impact,  MLS executive vice president Nelson Rodriguez said in a statement the new schedule will be more conference-based and offer more games between regional rivalries instead of traveling matches.

La Liga

It was business as usual yesterday for Real Madrid and Barcelona, with both clubs taking wins during the day. Real’s win kept them at the top of the table.

English Premier League

There was excitement at Stamford Bridge today, but not for Chelsea fans as Liverpool came and dominated the Blues with a 2-1 win. I’m sure Chelsea’s back line will have nightmares about Glen Johnson’s winning goal for a few nights to come.

American football fans are going to get a little surprise from Fox, as the network announced it’s going to add a little EPL action to it’s Sunday lineups. That’s right, after you watch your football games, you are going to get treated to tape-delayed EPL games like Liverpool v. Chelsea, which Fox is airing today at 4:30 p.m. ET. The games will continue to air live on Fox Soccer.

International soccer

The U.S. Women’s National team were able to keep their at-home unbeaten streak alive yesterday as they tied Sweden 1-1 to end out 2011. It was the combination of Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan that game the U.S. the equalizer. Read our own Dana Lancaster’s recap here.

Major League Soccer

Ahead of what some are calling the biggest MLS Cup final in years, L.A. Galaxy and Time Warner Cable just agreed to a 10-year TV deal to air all of the Galaxy’s home and away games, in HD, in English and Spanish. Wow, way to go Time Warner for bringing soccer to everyone.

Still think MLS isn’t popular and no one cares about soccer in the U.S.? Well, according to an article in the L.A. Times, attendance at games across the league was up 7 percent this past season, and all signs are pointing that numbers will continue to grow.

This news makes me a little sad: Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching alluded Friday after practice at the HDC that he might hang up his boots after the 2012 season. The 33-year-old has had a 10-year career in MLS.

English Premier League

Ahead of the big Chelsea and Liverpool clash Sunday, Fernando Torres is alluding to the fact that he is returning to his “blistering form of old,” finally. Chelsea fans are probably holding their breath a little big, but Sunday would be the best opportunity considering the Blues are way behind in the EPL standings.

Tottenham’s Gareth Bale said he was flattered by Barcelona’s interest in him and . . . that’s about it.

Bad news for Manchester United fans; Tom Cleverley has been ruled out of the squad until Christmas after ligament damage to his ankle. He suffered the injury last month against Everton, but scans revealed the injury was more serious than previously thought.

La Liga

Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen said recently that he would like to move to Spain. Only 19, Eriksen is one of the rising stars in Europe right now and interest is already being shown from Barcelona, Manchester City and AC Milan.

You can tell it’s getting close to January with all the transfer rumors. Word is going around now that Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger is eyeing Athletic Bilbao’s striker Fernando Llorente and winger Iker Muniain, and Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero. Hmmm.

U.S. National Teams

The U.S. Women’s team will take on Sweden today in Arizona  for the third time in 2011. The match is said to have a record attendance and fans can follow the game at 7 p.m. MT live via webcast on ussoccer.com.

If you missed it yesterday, my interview with U.S. Men’s keeper Tim Howard can be found here.