Zenit St. Petersburg earns win over Rangers of Scotland

Before half of Glasgow descends into a fog of self-doubt and second-guessing -- the Celtic half is still pretty boisterous -- let it be said that the better team won Wednesday's 50th UEFA Cup final at the sold-out City of Manchester Stadium in England.

Zenit St. Petersburg, a Russian club founded in 1925 but largely unheard of until some investment money started pouring into it a few years ago, out-thought and outplayed Rangers of Scotland for 90 minutes and came away with a deserved 2-0 victory.

The Russian goals came late -- from Igor Denisov in the 72nd minute and from Konstantin Zyrianov in injury time -- but they were well-created and reflected Zenit's commitment not only to going forward but also to playing a patient and attractive passing game, with Andrei Arshavin the outstanding player on the field.

It was the first European trophy earned by Zenit St. Petersburg, which is coached by Dick Advocaat, the former Dutch national team coach who spurned an offer to become Australia's coach to stay in Russia.

Indicative of England's apparent inability to get anything right these days, one of the giant screens set up in the city to show the match failed -- leading to fan violence and half a dozen arrests -- and there was no champagne in the locker room for the victorious Russians.

"They brought us beer; everyone wanted champagne but we had to make do with beer to celebrate," Arshavin said.

Rangers, meanwhile, are still on course to win the Scottish league at the expense of Glasgow rival Celtic, and also to take the Scottish Cup. But the big prize has escaped Rangers Coach Walter Smith.

"You don't get the opportunity very often to get to European finals," he said, "and when you do, it's very disappointing to lose. Zenit looked the more offensive team, but . . . we've had a terrific tournament. In the end, I can have no complaints."

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The Galaxy dragged itself home from Canada on Wednesday, having been comprehensively beaten by the minor league Vancouver Whitecaps in a meaningless friendly in Edmonton on Tuesday night.

The final score was 2-1, but it in no way reflected the superiority of the Whitecaps, who could have won by two or three goals.

In addition to the goals scored by Nicholas Adderly and Eduardo Sebrango, Vancouver also hit the post once, had another shot cleared off the goal line and had at least two more goal-worthy efforts well saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Wicks.

Alan Gordon scored the Galaxy goal, looping a header into the net off a cross from David Beckham.

The playing surface at Commonwealth Stadium was appalling, bringing into question why the Galaxy would risk the likes of Beckham on a divot-destroyed pasture with more sand than grass.

The answer? Money. The game drew 37,104.

Beckham, incidentally, lasted 75 minutes and then limped off and stuck an ice pack on his right foot.

Landon Donovan had the good sense not to make the trip, pleading a strained calf. The rest of the players didn't have that option.

The conclusion at the final whistle was that there were at least three Vancouver players who could step straight into the Galaxy starting lineup and actually improve matters for a team that has gone 5-6-6 since Ruud Gullit took over as coach.

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The Home Depot Center in Carson has been snubbed for the rest of the U.S. national team's World Cup qualifiers this year.

Coach Bob Bradley's squad will play Barbados in Carson on June 15 in the first of its eight 2008 semifinal-round qualifying matches en route to the South Africa 2010 World Cup tournament, but the three remaining U.S. home games will be played elsewhere.

If it gets past Barbados, as expected, the U.S. will play at home against either Trinidad and Tobago or Bermuda on Sept. 10 in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Ill.; against either Cuba or Antigua and Barbuda on Oct. 11 at RFK Stadium in Washington, and on Nov. 19 against either Guatemala or St. Lucia in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colo.

If the U.S. team advances to the final round, again as expected, it would play another 10 qualifying games in 2009, five of them at home.

The fact that the Americans and Mexicans have to go through 18 qualifying matches seems ludicrous when the outcome is a foregone conclusion in a region in which neither the U.S. nor Mexico has any appreciable opposition.

Both should be given byes to the final round -- or better yet to the World Cup directly -- eliminating the need for lopsided games that serve no purpose other than to give both teams the false idea that they are better than they really are, line a few pockets along the way, and cause some flag-waving by the delusional who believe that something great has been achieved.

Better yet, CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America) should all be in the same qualifying group, which would lead to some truly meaningful and competitive matches.

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For comments or questions on soccer, e-mail: grahame.jones@latimes.com