It’s rare enough for a field player to play in goal these days. Let alone twice in his career.
Columbus Crew winger Eddie Gaven made another cameo in the net after starter William Hesmer fell to injury and the team was out of subs against the Philadelphia Union on Sunday.
It made for a busy day for Gaven, who also set up a penalty kick and a goal before making two saves. He did give up Philly’s consolation goal in a 3-1 victory.
One columnist contends that with the need to go to their back-up goalkeeper in the postseason, the Crew are likely not complaining any more about their congested 2010 schedule.
Gaven will feel better about his few minutes in goal than Colorado Rapids netminder Matt Pickens probably does about how he let Real Salt Lake back into the season finale on Saturday. The RSL stoppage-time comeback forced LA manager Bruce Arena to make some changes while one of his players felt sick to his stomach.
The Galaxy’s Landon Donovan says he feels especially bad for teammate Edson Buddle for missing out on the Golden Boot because he feels his teammate was punished for representing his country in the World Cup.
Donovan also says that he would have passed along any PK attempts to Buddle in Sunday’s finale.
There may not have been any PKs whistled in Sunday’s match between FC Dallas and the Galaxy, but there was still plenty of controversy. FCD’s Colombian playmaker David Ferreira says that everyone on the field felt that Donovan fouled FCD’s Jackson to lead to the Galaxy’s equalizer.
LA’s win meant that Real Salt Lake had missed out on the Supporters’ Shield by three points and are set for a date with FC Dallas in the first round. RSL defender Nat Borchers knows that the defending champs will likely have to overcome their road record at Dallas, where they have lost every single game in club history.
If they think it will be a war against FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake are seemingly in for a battle to keep prospect Alex Nimo, who is under contract with RSL but wants to stay with the Portland Timbers in MLS. He says if he doesn’t stay in Portland, he’ll quit the game.
There has never been any quit in US and Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride, who has the reputation of being a class professional. That did not change on Saturday night when he passed along the captain’s armband to C.J. Brown before the final MLS match for both players against Chivas USA. That was before McBride scored a goal on a backheel flick.
Speaking of the Goats, the club has confirmed that Martin Vasquez will be back for his second year in charge of the club, despite the fact they missed out on the postseason.
D.C. United, another team that did not make the postseason, have stated that they will be in the market for two forwards come the offseason.
In international soccer, there’s a big Monday afternoon Serie A match between Napoli and AC Milan today (2:30 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel). Napoli’s president, who happens to be in Washington, says he doesn’t want his team to let down fans in Italy or the US.
In Spain, Real Madrid’s José Mourinho makes like Tony Soprano while FC Barcelona are forced to take helicopters for this week’s Copa del Rey match.
American Giuseppe Rossi scored again for second-place Villarreal in Spain while Feyenoord suffered the humiliation of the weekend at the hands of Dutch Eredivisie rivals PSV Eindhoven with an unprecedented 10-0 thrashing.
There are more revelations in the bidding scandal for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups with a former FIFA official now allegedly implicated in the mess.
Lastly, the unlikeliest of rumors involving Galaxy star David Beckham: a move to English second-tier club Leicester City.
MLSsoccer.com Must-Reads
Crew break down Eddie Gaven’s cameo appearance as a goalkeeper
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