Portuguese striker Joao Pinto wants to play in MLS

If Joao Pinto gets his way, he will be playing in MLS this season. After training with Toronto FC last week, he terminating his contract with his current club SC Braga and appears to be in continual negotiations with the league. His statement on a move:

“I went to the USA for three days and the subject is practically closed."

“Portuguese football is finished for me. It was a sensational time for me and I am happy with the work achieved at Boavista, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Braga.”

So could Pinto be joining 2002 World Cup teammate Abel Xavier in MLS? If so, do the refs have something to fear?

Pinto has had some good years and has been an important part of many teams (including the team that won the 1989 & 1991 U-20 World Cups), however he has had a rougher time of it of late.

At 36 (the Setanta story incorrect tags him as 39) age seems to be catching up with him. During this current season, he has only started 7 matches with 2 subs for his club and has but one goal to show for his work. Last season his stats we similar with 17 starts, 2 subs and 2 goals.

If he does come to the league, Toronto seems like his likely destination, but I wonder about a couple things. First, how will his often-injured body react to playing on turf. Second, does TFC plan on teaming him with Danny Dichio? Both players can be good in front of net, but neither really have the speed that will catch defensives off their mark. Then again, last year TFC didn't have a great problem with getting balls in the final third, they just had a problem finishing them, so maybe speed is not that important.

One last thing, if TFC goes this way, it will be interesting to compare the results of Pinto with new Houston signing 21 year old Franco Caraccio.

SuperLiga 2007 - Pachuca wins, Beckham gets hurt, LA dooms themselves

LA Galaxy 1 (3)-(4) 1 Pachuca

Before I talk about the outcome I just got to say that last night was a wonderful match. If MLS games could have even half as good an atmosphere as the fans showed in LA's half-filled stadium*, it would raise the level of the sport in this country more then any international signing.

So what about the play on the pitch? This was LA's best game of the season, but even in that, their own mistakes are what killed them. The fact that Pachuca, one of the most power offensives in the world, only got six shots on goal over 120-minutes says a lot. However, what says even more is the own goal the Galaxy surrendered to give Pachuca the lead in the 28'.

The good news is LA didn't bottom out and give up. Even when Beckham went down with a tweaked knee, the team kept rolling and had chances but could not put one away till the very final moment of second-half stoppage time. That bicycle kick goal by Chris Klein is the sort of thing all players dream about and Klein made it happen.

But all that joy was almost erased in the first OT period by another own goal as Xavier defected a cross right towards the net. If it weren’t for Cannon making a fingernail save, Pachuca would have gone up again off a mistake. LA started pushing back in the second OT, but it was not enough so to penalties we go.

Pachuca goes first and Lugo scores. Then come Vagenas with a chance to make up for his own goal mistake and, well his night just got a little worse as his shot is saved. Ray scores for Pachuca but good old Cobi Jones gets LA on the board with their second kick. And then Cannon did what he needed to do for his club and stopped Caballero's attempt and then Klein evened the shootout. Both Masure and Buddle made their team's fourth shots bringing us to the final round.

Marvin Cabrera steps up needing to make it or give the Galaxy a big opening. He takes the shot and bangs it off the crossbar, LA fans go nuts. All they need is one goal and the title is theirs. And who is up, Mr. PK himself, Landon Donovan. The man who stuffed ever pk for the US in the Gold Cup can become the hero. He takes his time making his crosses and kissing his arms and goes for the shot. He goes left as did Pachuca keeper Miguel Calero. The shot is stopped. Donovan is not the hero.

The thing about Pachuca is they don't give you many chances to beat them and if you don't take advantage of what is in front of you, well it is going to cost you. Sure enough, Carlos Rodriguez finished his shot meaning the pressure was on Xavier to come up big for his club. Needless to say, he didn't come up big. In fact, he seemed to shot the ball so far to the right that it almost went over the sideline instead of the end line (okay, that is an exaggeration). And Pachuca win yet another trophy.

LA did perform better then expected but without a victory, it doesn't mean much. As if this game wasn't hard enough, the Galaxy now find themselves in last place in MLS play after Real Salt Lake shocked KC in league play. So no title, Beckham hurt, defense still off and last place in the league, not a great Wednesday night for any club. Still, thanks for putting on such a great final act to the SuperLiga story.

Goals: Pachuca: Own Goal (Peter Vagenas) 28'
LA: Chris Klein (1) 93+

Penalty-kick shootout:
P: Rafael Marquez Lugo (Goal) (1-0)
LA: Peter Vagenas (Saved) (1-0)
P: Luis Gabriel Rey (Goal) (2-0)
LA: Cobi Jones (Goal) (2-1)
P: Gabriel Caballero (Saved) (2-1)
LA: Chris Klein (Goal) (2-2)
P: Julio Mansur (Goal) (3-2)
LA: Edson Buddle (Goal) (3-3)
P: Marvin Cabrera (Crossbar) (3-3)
LA: Landon Donovan (Saved) (3-3)
P: Carlos Rodriguez (Goal) (4-3)
LA: Abel Xavier (Wide Right) (4-3)

* The stadium was only half full because LA can only sell 12,500 tickets to matches held on nights when California State University has classes, so the smaller crowd was still a sellout.

LA Galaxy signs Abel Xavier, where do they get the money?

Looks like Abel Xavier's last place to make something memorable out of his talents will be in MLS playing for the LA Galaxy.

Xavier still has flashes of his past brilliance, but his best days seem long past. Then again, with just 26 club matches played since 2003, who can tell how much his skill has declined.

I guess the Galaxy organization is betting that linking him up with Beckham and exposing him to a culture that doesn't know him nor do they care about the exploits of soccer players, will be just what he needs to bring him back to form.

It will be an interesting gamble, but the bigger question I have is where are they getting the money to pay Xavier?

LA already has the biggest payroll in the league at $9.179 million. Now that is a bit inflated, but even when you take out the $6.1 million for Beckham ($400,000 of his salary counts towards the salary cap), they are still over $3 million. I seem to recall that only part of Donovan's $900,000 counts towards the cap, but still, even if it is only $400k, that still puts the team at $2.6 million.

With the cap being roughly around $2.1 million per team, one has to wonder how are they able to afford Xavier?