Goals by FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja and New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel gave the MLS All Stars a 2-0 victory over visiting Celtic of Scotland.
Ok lets get all the conditions out front first.
Celtic is in pre-season and the MLS All Stars are put together for one game.
Yes at this point it is important for MLS to get results in this game especially in a country where the world of soccer is still trying to be understood.
On the evening they were clearly the better team and should have produced a few more goals.
So enough of the result. This was a celebration of soccer, a soccer specific facility that is gorgeous in Commerce City, Colorado and more a night to reflect on the stability of the league and it’s future helped by the spike of the arrival of David Beckham.
When interviewd at half time he quickly let ESPN know that it is no guarantee that he would play against Chelsea this weekend in what ESPN is dubbing his debut relentelessly despite doubt over Beckham participating which he confirmed himself. Why would anyone in their right mind want Beckham to play in this game if he is not fully fit with all that is ahead of him?
Beckham was articulate and reminded us of the objectives. Grow awareness for the sport, play well and contribute over his five year deal and his like for America.
Beckham jetted back to LA after the game with Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan.
Dynamo players Dwayne DeRosario, Brian Ching and Ricardo Clark all played in the 2-0 win.
Your thoughts on the All Star game?

Catch the Dynamo Soccer Report with Glenn Davis Friday at 6pm and Saturday at 5pm on Channel 55. The show features an interview Glenn Davis did with David Beckham last Friday. This version of the show also includes coverage of the David Beckham press conference, the most comprehensive Dynamo highlights, All Star game highlights and Copa America highlights.
Dominic Kinnear is also interviewed on the show.

The San Jose Earthquakes will return to MLS in the year 2008 according to a Major League Soccer press release.
The new ownership group is headed up by the Oakland Athletics and Lew Wolff. Plans to get a stadium built near the San Jose Airport are in the works with the stadium slated to be finished in 2008.
“This is a momentous day in the maturation of Major League Soccer,” says commissioner Don Garber.
“One, because we were able to reward fans in the Bay Area for their patience and complete our commitment to return a team to them, Two because it shows how much the sport’s credibility has grown in just two years time. The Earthquakes now have a solid foundation on which to build.”
In other news Toronto FC will host next years All Star Game.

All the talk of David Beckham and his professionalism lifting the LA Galaxy better come through because after watching them lose 3-0 to Tigres of Mexico one has to be concerned and intrigued if Frank Yallop can get his squad cohesive.
With Beckham watching from the press area the Galaxy lacked cohesion and understanding.
Is the support system there? Beckham will ultimately slot into central midfield and will be seen drifting naturally to the right when he takes his place in the starting lineup. His passing skills will be what wows crowds but the question is will anyone other than Landon Donovan be able to take advantage of his skill. Gavin Glinton, Alan Gordon, an older Cobi Jones and Carlos Pavon will be some of his targets.
Monday Beckham did light training (more of a PR event) and then did some re-hab on his ankle at an open practice at the Home Depot Center. Executives at ESPN are probably losing sleep at night over if Beckham will play or not Saturday against Chelsea.
With 19 cameras and the “Beckham cam” it seems taylor made for the worldwide leader in sports.
Do the Galaxy have the team to support Beckham?

Toronto FC left Robertson Stadium with exactly what they wanted a draw. In this case 0-0.
Electing not play Jeff Cunningham may have helped Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston determine their “road tactics” but was it ugly.
Toronto FC did not want to win this game. Did they even try to attack in the first half? Apart from a free kick or two did striker Daniel Dichio even get in the Dynamo penalty area?
This type of soccer will not sell the game although right next to Mo Johnston was Bob Gansler who won an MLS Cup with the KC Wizards playing by defending deep and counter-attacking. A thing of beauty for coaches maybe but not fans or the media in a league only 12 years old. And don’t forget, despite winning the MLS Cup nobody was going to KC Wizards games in 2000 so it was not a style that was embraced by fans.
Now I could understand Toronto if they were playing their third game in 8 days like Houston using these tactics but they had not played for a week. Ok you get the point, in a young league like MLS there should be a standard put on the type of soccer played and those who don’t put attacking teams together should be criticized. The sport still needs to be seen in an attacking light.
More than results are needed to grow MLS, this is not the EPL.
No excuses for the Dynamo who started slowly and hesistant but still in the end found ways to get behind Toronto’s back four and create chances.
Now the Dynamo are accountable for not producing that one goal that would have altered Toronto’s tactics, Brian Ching’s chance goes in instead of off the post and Toronto FC have to come out and play and then we have a more open game.
I heard one radio announcer say here in Houston when he heard the scoreline was 0-0 that Dynamo fans should have gotten their money back. He clearly didn’t see the game because it still remained entertaining and frustrating at the same time as the Dynamo tried to produce that ever important goal. It never came but it still was a game of interest and excitement.
I believe media and fans have to put pressure on teams to play attacking soccer. After all, where would we be in Houston if we had acquired Columbus instead of the San Jose Earthquakes? Now that is something to think about……….
Glenn

For me the best and most interesting game of the year at Robertson was the game against Pachuca back in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The intrigue of playing foreign competition is something that can help grow the Dynamo to fans of the Mexican League and just plain fans of soccer. In Houston you don’t get to see true “intfernational’ competition when the Astros, Rockets or Texans play.
The competition awards a million dollars to the winner and it is clear that Soccer United Marketing wants to create it’s brand and version of the Champions League. So after the Dynamo play at NE they have to turn it right around against famed Club America on July 25th and Morelia on the 29th and in August DC United.
These are historic games in the lore of the Houston Dynamo and fans need to get on board as to the importance of the defending MLS Cup Champions playing in this tournament.
I for one want to see Dwayne DeRosario , Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark and company up against top Mexican competition. More interaction with Mexican league teams in competition of meaning can and will grow the sport and help show fans that the Dynamo in both league and international competition is hugely important.
The LA Galaxy and David Beckham will take on both Pachuca and Chivas in this competition. The question remains as to how David Beckham can physically handle the rigors and schedule of travel and games that sits in front of him. His ankle is still not healed as he revealed to me in an interview I did with him in LA.
You can catch the interview this Friday at 6pm on the Dynamo Soccer Report with Glenn Davis on Channel 55. I hope you have a chance to catch the show and I would love you feedback.
Glenn

We talk David Beckham and what his influence on Major League Soccer will be on the field with the LA Galaxy, European transfers, MLS All Star game and Brazil’s smashing Copa America success over Argentina.
Stuart Holden on the Houston Dynamo in studio. Calls from you the fans at 713-212-5790.

They never came to play on Sunday night.
Clearly Toronto FC was looking for a draw and the season series edge against the Dynamo. Well for Mo Johnston and his squad it was “mission accomplished” but you might say they were fortunate. Badly outshot the Dynamo pressed the issue but didn’t have their finishing shoes on this night.
Brian Ching, Joseoph Ngwenya, Stuart Holden, Dwayne DeRosario, Ricardo Clark and Nate Jacqua all had good chances in this one.
But lets go back to Toronto…….they showed the ultimate respect to the Dynamo by employing “road tactics” by basically saying we can compete with them if we get opened up. So they scratched, clawed , fought and played absolutely no attacking soccer yet they got a point. The decision was probably made easier for Mo Johnston without wanting to use Jeff Cunningham but that was ugly.
The tactics became clearer to Toronto FC when Maurice Edu was sent off for a reckless challenge on Brian Mullan. The Dynamo challenge was breaking down Toronto’s defense which they did on a number of occasions with some great combination play but the finishing touch was not there.
Fact is alot of teams will employ this tactics at Robertson, that is fact. We know it and the Dynamo know it.
Toronto got a point and the season series over the Dynamo and that is what they wanted. Put they didn’t come to win.
Thoughts?

Well that might just apply to the tons of people who jumped on the Beckham bandwagon yesterday.
We had financial analysts weighing in on Beckham with comments like this: “I hope Beckham’s contract is guaranteed , the league won’t be around in another 2 years.”
I guess I won’t be rushing out to take that guys expertise on a stock based on his research of MLS and Beckham.
It was amazing to see the coverage but some might just want to spare themselves the embarrassment of trying to comment on the Beckham situation. If you take the plunge it might be a good idea to do a little homework.
Especially the so called “sports experts”.
Here was my gem of the day coming from Skip Bayless of ESPN and note the eloquent use of the word “pitch”:
“LeBron James has accomplished more on the court than David Beckham on the pitch.”
So here is a little advice for Skip. Do a google search on David Beckham and you will find that he has played and scored in multiple World Cups in international competition, some call it the world stage. You will also realize that he has won the Champions League title, English Premiership titles, FA Cups, Spain’s La Liga . Manchester United and Real Madrid the clubs that he played for are known around the world.
Now the Skipster is just one of the obvious sports anchors that didn’t do their preparation and are ignorant to the sport of soccer. It has been interesting to see the anchors who did their homework on soccer and Beckham and the ones that didn’t.
Irregardless all the press is good press, even Skip’s gaffe and it all grows the game.
Skip a word of advice, become a little more worldy and think a little out of your box in Bristol.
There is always google .

Catch the David Beckham press conference at MLSNET.COM.