International Football - Galaxy lose MLS final

Reuters - Mon, 23 Nov 07:04:00 2009

David Beckham's LA Galaxy lost a penalty shoot-out as Real Salt Lake won their first Major League Soccer championship.

Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham takes a penalty kick against Real Salt Lake in the penalty shootout at the MLS Cup final in Seattle, Washington. Beckham's team lost 5-4. - 0

The game went to spot kicks after finishing 1-1 after extra time.

Beckham scored his penalty but Galaxy captain Landon Donovan was among those to miss as Salt Lake won the shoot-out 5-4 to capture a surprise victory just four years after entering the league.

Galaxy took the lead four minutes before the break through Mike Magee, who turned in a low cross from Donovan after good work from Beckham, but Salt Lake equalised in the 64th minute when Robbie Findley blasted in from close range.

After a scoreless extra-time, the shoot-out went into sudden-death and the Galaxy's Edson Buddle had his shot saved by Salt Lake keeper Nick Rimando before Robbie Russell slotted home to secure the championship.

"Its always tough losing, whether it be penalties or normal play but of course we can be proud of where we have come to," said Beckham, whose team reached the championship final a year after having one of the worst records in the league.

Salt Lake were crowned champions, in front of a 46,000 crowd at Seattle Sounders' Qwest Field, despite having lost more games than they won in the regular season.

But Beckham, who had three injections in his right ankle before the game, said that Salt Lake deserved their success.

"They deserved to be here and they deserved to win tonight in the end," the midfielder said.

The scrappy game featured a number of injuries and ended with both teams looking exhausted as a limping Beckham, who played with bruised ankle, struggled through the extra-time period.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said that Beckham was one of several players on his team who were not fully fit for the game.

"There are probably very few players that are 100 per cent, this time of the year. No, he was obviously a little bit hobbled, certainly wasn't 100 per cent," he said.

The England midfielder was involved an early incident when his challenge on Salt Lake's Argentine playmaker Javier Morales left the player needing to be substituted.

Rimando continued his fine record in shoot-outs, adding to his three penalty blocks in the Conference final win over the Chicago Fire with a further two saves against Galaxy.

Real coach Jason Kreis felt justice had been done.

"We deserved to win the game... we are the best team in this league," he said.

Arena agreed that the result was a fair one, saying: "We didn't play well enough over the 120 minutes to win the game".

Reuters

Comment 1 - 12 of 12

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. I watched the game last night and could not stand the­ fact that beckham had no help in distribution of the­ ball in the midfield. He did not have one of his­ greatest games but nor did any of the other plays shoed­ any class to be professionals. I'm a huge fan of­ soccer and it will take more than salary caps and­ investments to make the MLS in the same level as­ European leagues. First it will take generations of­ true great games, generations of supports that are of­ all different age, gender and race. Perfect example ­ ask soccer fans around the world who Ajax or Benfica or­ Standard Leige are and they will know. Ask the same­ fans who Real Salt Lake or DC United are and they will­ draw a blank. Note the example teams are from Holland,­ Portugal and Belguim smaller leagues that the MLS­ thinks that they are in the same level. Plus I've­ never heard of .500 a stat that was adopted by MLB and­ NBA not real Football

    From domingosmendes, on Tue 24 Nov 2:13AM

  2. Sports history in this country (the US) just never­ developed promotion and relegation (probably because in­ the 19th century the first association of baseball­ clubs wouldn't allow professionals in, so they HAD­ to set up a closed shop and it all went from there). ­ When there is no relegation, no meaningful continental­ tournament (CONCACAF is Mexico+USA+awfulness),­ unbalanced schedules, and a closed shop of teams with a­ wage cap, there is nothing unusual about having a­ postseason for the top 8 teams. It's the only way­ to be sure you give whoever actually is the best team­ their shot. Even if there is one universally accepted­ "best" team, Americans are used to, and­ therefore prefer, a little radnom excitement in giving­ out their trophies, and not so stuck on pretending that­ there is a perfect way to determine who is­ "best."

    Of course, some ways are definitely­ worse than others. If you Brits want a real and­ well-deserved laugh, investigate how we Americans crown­ our best college American football team.

    From cowtown, on Mon 23 Nov 6:08PM

  3. I watched the MLS Final last night and thought as a­ whole it wasn't a bad match. One thing I didn't­ like was the match being played on artifical turf which­ allowed the ball to move faster as well as bounce­ higher then it would have on real grass. As for those­ who compare the EPL to the MLS the difference is the­ pariety in MLS that you don't have in the EPL as­ well as the quality of players. That being said the EPL­ is a better league but has been around much much longer­ and grew over the years as will MLS. One thing I­ don't like about the EPL is the fact you have 5­ maybe 6 teams consistantly in the top half of the table­ due to the funds they have available and the rest of­ the teams are all trying to avoid relagation as they­ don't have the funds to compete with the top 5 or­ 6. The league Champion is always the same few teams­ year in and year out while the rest just try to stay­ up. So what is the purpose of the league, one to find a­ Champion or one to avoid relagation. It seems as if the­ league actually has a split table. One half who can­ pursue a Championship and the other half just playing­ to avoid relagation. At times I wonder if maybe the­ Champions are the teams that avoid going down more so­ then the actual team that wins the Cup due to more­ teams in the league trying to avoid relagation versus­ the few who can actually via for the Cup..
    ­
    TheBeast

    From THE BEAST, on Mon 23 Nov 5:00PM

  4. It was actually a pretty good game I thought. Salt Lake­ deserved to win in the end. Beckaham played well I­ thought.

    For what its worth I am British but now live­ in the US and the MLS isn't really that bad. There­ have been some great games this season. The main­ difference to me in player quality is the salary caps­ in the MLS. The EPL is in some ways just a money game­ these days, if the MLS lifted salary caps then you­ would see a similar situtation to the UK where a few­ teams would dominate eveything.

    From Karla, on Mon 23 Nov 3:52PM

  5. Boring league, sorry USA.!!

    From JAIME, on Mon 23 Nov 2:25PM

  6. MLS is only fmaous becuase of Beckham.

    From Jeby, on Mon 23 Nov 11:25AM

  7. Does anybody actually take the MLS serious. I'd say­ Beckham has more respect for a 5 a side medal he won in­ school than anything he might win in that joke of a­ league.

    From john, on Mon 23 Nov 11:08AM

  8. The MLS post-season playoff system is ill-conceived and­ is why a sub .500 team can win the cup. I guess­ because the big 4 US sports have a post season they­ feel like they need to have a post season too. Two­ tired teams playing a rather dull game. The sooner­ they copy the EPL, the better.

    From DonB, on Mon 23 Nov 10:26AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    UCB UK from United Christian Broadcasters. Broadcasting­ Nationally
    On DAB Digital Radio From 1st December 2009­ and on the internet right now!! at ucbmedia dot co dot­ uk

    From John, on Mon 23 Nov 9:37AM

  10. That's ironic...Donovan is the one that lays into­ Beckham pre-season, but he's one that blows his­ penalty and their chance of the championship.

    From DamonD, on Mon 23 Nov 9:24AM

  11. good game for beckham n other lads.becks played a good­ game altough with pain....

    From lampard019, on Mon 23 Nov 8:07AM

  12. despite having lost more games than they won in the­ regular season - I lol'ed at american soccer.

    From fast_corey, on Mon 23 Nov 8:03AM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account