CORNER KICKS
Five things happening around the world:
1. But for goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Chivas USA probably would not have finished in first place in the Western Conference and would not be heading to the MLS playoffs as one of the four top-seeded teams.
Guzan had a league-high 13 shutouts, the second-best single-season mark in MLS history.
He played in 27 of Chivas USA’s 30 games and his 0.93 goals-against average was second behind only the 0.82 mark of Canadian international goalkeeper Pat Onstad of the defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo.
Guzan also earned half a shutout in his third appearance for the U.S. national team last Wednesday by teaming with Marcus Hahnemann in a 1-0 win over Switzerland in Basel.
Chivas plays Kansas City on Saturday in its first playoff match leading to the MLS Cup final on Nov. 18 in Washington, D.C. The last U.S. game of the year is one day earlier, on the road at 2010 World Cup host South Africa, but Guzan has no doubts about where he would rather be.
“I think it would be exciting to be able to go down there,” he said, “but obviously I hope I’m not part of that trip and that we’re in D.C. making a run at the championship.”
2. With the Galaxy’s year now reduced to four exhibition games in four countries, it will come as some relief to Coach Frank Yallop that one of the team’s upcoming opponents is struggling just as mightily.
Sydney FC, which the Galaxy plays in Australia on Nov. 27, has won only two of its first nine games in the A-League season and Monday fired Branko Culina as coach a mere six months into his two-year contract.
Culina was Sydney’s third coach in as many years, following on the heels of former Germany international Pierre Littbarski and former England international Terry Butcher.
The Galaxy also has road games planned against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Nov. 7 and the Minnesota Thunder on Nov. 11. The team’s 2007 finale is against Wellington FC in New Zealand on Dec. 1.
3. Venezuela international defender Jose Manuel Rey’s 45-yard goal from inside the center circle against Ecuador in a World Cup qualifying game in Quito became an instant hit on YouTube this month, but New England’s Michael Parkhurst scored an even more improbable goal in the Revolution’s final regular-season MLS game.
Taking a shot from within his own half, Parkhurst watched the ball soar more than half the length of the field and drop beyond Toronto FC goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos and into the net in a 2-2 tie at Toronto.
It is the first goal of Parkhurst’s three-year MLS career and it came on his first-ever shot. He said he “decided to give it a go” when he noticed Stamatopoulos well off his line and out of position.
4. Wembley Stadium in London, the Olympiastadion in Berlin, the Allianz Arena in Munich, Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid and the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, were identified by UEFA on Tuesday as potential sites for the European Champions League final in 2010 or 2011.
5. With U.S. Soccer seeking a new women’s national team coach after Greg Ryan’s dismissal, former coach Tony DiCicco is the early favorite but two other potential candidates also have emerged.
One is former Swedish standout Pia Sundhage, who scored 71 goals in 146 games for Sweden, and has coached the Boston Breakers of the Women’s United Soccer Assn. (WUSA) and five club teams in Europe.
On Tuesday, another Swede, Marika Domanski-Lyfors, resigned as coach of China’s national team after leading it to the quarterfinals of last month’s Women’s World Cup. She also led Sweden to the 2003 semifinals in the U.S. and would be considered a viable candidate if interested.
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COMING UP
MLS PLAYOFFS
Thursday
D.C. United at Chicago (5:30 p.m., ESPN2)
Saturday
New England at New York (4:30 p.m. FSC, FSE)
Houston at Dallas (5 p.m., HDNet)
Chivas USA at Kansas City (5 p.m., FSN PrimeTicket)
MEXICAN LEAGUE
Friday
Toluca at Chiapas (3 p.m.,
ESPN Deportes)
San Luis at UAG (4 p.m., FSE)
Saturday
Veracruz at Puebla (11 a.m., FSE)
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MLS HIGHS, LOWS
In the regular season just ended, MLS attracted 3,270,210 fans, or an average of 16,770 per game. The Galaxy’s 24,252 was the high. Kansas City’s 11,586 was the low. Here are a dozen other highs and lows:
Best record: D.C. United at 16-7-7.
Worst record: Toronto FC: 6-17-7.
Most goals: D.C. United with 56, average 1.87.
Fewest goals: Toronto FC with 25, average 0.83.
Top scorer: Luciano Emilio, D.C. United, 20 goals.
Most assists: Steve Ralston, New England, 14.
Top goalkeeper: Pat Onstad, Houston, 0.82 goals-against average.
Most game-winning goals: Eddie Johnson, Kansas City, 6.
Most multiple-goal games: Juan Pablo Angel, New York, 5.
Most fouls committed: Juan Toja, Dallas, 83.
Most fouls suffered: Alejandro Moreno, Columbus, 93.
Consecutive games with a goal or assist: Chris Rolfe, Chicago, 6.
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MAKING THEIR PITCH
Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea coach, on why he is not interested in becoming England’s coach:
‘Being the coach of a national team is not the same as being coach of a club. It’s a job for someone who doesn’t like working much.’
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STAT OF THE WEEK
Each MLS team played 30 regular-season games, but Galaxy midfielder Chris Klein, above, managed to start and play in a league-high 32 -- 11 for Real Salt Lake and 21 for the Galaxy after his June trade to Los Angeles.
