Real get their Scottish striker

Real Salt Lake has been looking for a marvelous striker and they think they found one in a Scottish doctor.

Kenny Deuchar has decided to leave his Scottish club Gretna for the wide-open spaces of Utah. Deuchar can be a bit of a scoring machine as shown by his 6 goals in 10 matches while loaned out to St. Johnstone this past fall and his two goals this past Sunday against Glasgow Rangers. In fact, it was the goals against Rangers that convinced Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis that Deuchar was his man.

"He was a player we talked to a few weeks ago and knew there was a possibility of something.

"When you go to see a player play against Rangers and he scores twice, it tends to be a bit of an element."

At 27, Deuchar should have a number of good years ahead of him, so might this mark the final stabilization of the team's front line? Combining him with Argentine striker Fabián Espíndola or Robbie Findley should provide Real with a much better attack force then was shown in 2007.

Interestingly enough, Deuchar is also a doctor who worked one day a week at a hospital even while playing with Gretna, which he hopes to also do in Salt Lake.

Real has made some good moves this off-season and should finally be seen as a real playoff challenger. Combine this with their soon-to-be open stadium and it looks like the team from Salt Lake has weathered the worst.

Beasley out for months

US and Rangers midfielder DaMarcus Beasley will miss months of play due to a knee injury he picked up in his clubs 3-2 Champions League defeat this past Tuesday. Beasley suffered the injury after colliding with the Stuttgart goalkeeper.

With surgery and a long lay off ahead of him, it is pretty safe to assume that he will not be wearing the US jersey anytime soon. This is a real shame as his move to Scotland has been a good for him. His touch on the ball and attacking style has improved after a less then grand time with Manchester City last season.

Let's hope for a fast recovery.

By the way, I had to fight the temptation to roll out the pun in the title on this one. I mean DaMarcus Beas-knee is just screaming to be heard.

Racist chants made against DaMarcus Beasley

In yet another disgusting display of human behavior at a soccer match, American midfielder DaMarcus Beasley and his teammate Jean-Claude Darcheville were the recipients of racist chants against them during their 1-0 win against FK Zeta. The so-called fans of the game made 'monkey chants' to taunt the two players.

"It happened to me a few years ago when PSV played Red Star in Belgrade, and I can't believe racist abuse is still in football," Beasley was quoted as saying on Rangers' Web site. "People can come to a match and jeer, but the racist thing just has to get out of football."
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"It sickens to hear these chants, but when you are on the pitch, you have to try to blank it out," Beasley was quoted as saying. "It degrades the game for everyone. I will discuss the situation with Rangers because I feel strongly about it, and we will decide if we should file a complaint.

Hopefully UEFA will investigate and if Zeta is found guilty, punish the club harshly.