Beckham

The big news yesterday was that European soccer superstar David Beckham was leaving Real Madrid at the end of this season and coming to the US to play in the MLS for the LA Galaxy. He is the biggest name to come to US soccer since Pele joined the Cosmos in the 70's. The 31 year old midfielder seems to be on the downward slope as far as his career goes(he's only started in 5 games this season for Real Madrid), still he has enough star power to give soccer in the US a boost. By that I mean that people who like soccer will make a bigger effort to watch a few more games, especially when the Galaxy come to town, but soccer in the US still faces an uphill battle. A lot of talk show hosts made mention to the big soccer news only to follow it with the predictable "WHO CARES?!" and then a jab at the sport. That's one thing I never understood about the attitude here towards soccer. If you don't like the sport don't watch it, don't talk about it, pay no attention to it. Why the put-downs? I'm not going to justify soccer here, I played it and enjoy it. I welcome getting an opportunity to watch one of the great soccer players when they play the Chicago Fire.

There's also talk that another big name may be leaving Real Madrid soon. Ronaldo from Brasil also seems to be past his prime for European soccer standards. No news of where he may end up or if he'll just retire all-together, but he would also be a welcome addition to the MLS.

Now for a player who has not yet reached his prime, Matias Fernandez from Chile. I learned about Mati, as he's known from Felipe who is staying with us. He just started playing for Villarreal in Spain. Virtually all of Chile is watching him and expecting big things out of him. The few clips I've seen of his play on the Chilean team Colo Colo really show that he's got some talent. I wish him the best of luck. I'll have to go look up Villarreal jerseys on ebay now.

Joga Bonito