Becks Beats Us

Well, he did it. David Beckham got it done last night, and was by far the Man of the Match as DC United crashes out of the Superliga 2-0.

If you want to see one of his patented, Bend it like Beckham freekicks, watch the highlights here.

The freekick that Beckham took was just fantastic. An amazing take, and one that completely fooled poor Troy Perkins.

It all started when he picked up a Caution for being late to the ball in the 18th minute. Up to that point, United was by far the better team, and only good goalkeeping had kept them off the board. But when Beckham went in hard, studs up, and took out two DC United players, I was watching the reaction. And man, but while he rubbed the ankle, then got up and kept going, you could see his confidence level rise real fast. Real fast. From then on, it was just a matter of time until he got one or set up a goal.

All of Beckham's balls were played right to where they needed to be, he was all over the pitch, sideline to sideline, going after the ball and winning it. And when Wolverine (Benny Olsen) went in and got Beckham hard in retaliation for his yellow, the Golden Boy popped back up and was smiling. And I knew we were in trouble.

He is by far the best player in MLS right now. It was clear, very clear last night. His technical ability and his tactical awareness are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Case in point, the perfectly weight through ball he put Donovan in alone on (although without the McTavish deflection that ball is saved by Perkins). If he keeps going out, jumping up to try when he was excited that Kyle Martino should have had a goal in the 66th minute.

That said, United looked awful. My player ratings (since I watched this game sober and alone on my bed) with 10 being the highest:

Troy Perkins - 4; Bobby Boswell - 4; Devon McTavish - 3; Bryan Namoff - 5; Greg Vanney - 3; Fred - 4; Brian Carrol - 4; Ben Olsen - 4; Josh Gros - 4; Jaime Moreno - 6; Luciano Emilio - 6. SUBS Christian Gomez - 5; Guy-Roland Kpene - 3.

As you see, pretty much everyone was below average last night. Only Emilio and Moreno did anything really good, and Gros would be a 3 except he almost snuck in that great drive about 10 minutes in.

Let me just quickly say that I think that Kpene has a lot of work to do. Feet like bricks, checks back too much and doesn't know how to lay off the ball quickly or turn himself. Does he have a goal yet?

Now we just have to focus on Copa Sudamericana and getting either the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup. Vamos United!!!

F**k off Duberry

And this is terrible news:

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will be out of action for two months after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot in Manchester United's game with Reading on Sunday.

I love Wayne Rooney, and not just because he's a former goaltender like yours truly. He just likes to play, and that "Joga Bonito" Nike commercial he filmed last year, with Tim Howard scoring the great goal was just perfect.

If anyone can find video evidence of Wayne in Match of the Week last year, miked up, telling the ref to "F**k off" over thirty times, please share in the comments section. A video I miss seeing.

Drinking like a Soccer Star

So David Beckham did make an appearance on the pitch at RFK. For a long period of time, and actually looked pretty good for not having played anything in two months. I was impressed, but it was also clear that he wasn't going to get anything easy or just be the best player on the field just by showing up. Which was good.

Best of all, DC United won 1-0 on a Luciano Emilio goal. Great stuff guys!!! And I hear the fans were great. Usually, I'd post my player ratings here, but I can't remember the game too well (See below).

Then it was the BobbyBoswell.com after party at Lima last night (Bobby, why aren't there pictures up and a recap yet?) I did see Bobby, who walked in like a rockstar and didn't acknowledge the drunk guys on the patio yelling his name. Then got to watch Brian Namoff hitting on ugly chicks. He's tiny, like five inches shorter than me. And the girls he was talking to last night were UUUUGGG-LY!! My apologies if that was his girlfriend or something, but I had my jack and coke glasses on and still thought poorly of her. C'mon Brian, you're an all-star right back for the best team in MLS. Take it up a notch man.

Anyways, if you want the rundown on it all, the night, the Beckham experience, game report, check out Steven Goff's Soccer Insider. And yes, we rock here in D.C. when it comes to soccer. Can we start calling ourselves New Trafford? English Premier League Starts this weekend!