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      French's Award Predictions

      By SCOTT FRENCH,
      AOL
      Posted: 2008-03-28 17:28:35
      Predicting individual awards is tougher than pegging the conference races. Who's going to break out as a star? Who's going to surpass expectations? Who will be injured? Who will stay healthy? It all enters into it, and anyone's guess is as good as anyone else's. So here are some guesses:

      MVP: David Beckham (Los Angeles)

      A healthy Beckham probably is the best player in the league, and the Galaxy will need a healthy Beckham to have any real hope of success. If L.A. is a real threat by season's end -- and the guess here is it will be -- then the biggest star in the Galaxy will deserve some hardware.

      Rookie of the Year: Brek Shea (FC Dallas)

      The U.S. under-17 veteran, taken by the Hoops with the No. 2 pick in January's SuperDraft, is versatile and talented, and he'll make an immediate impact.

      Coach of the Year: Jason Kreis (Real Salt Lake)

      MLS's No. 3 all-time goal-scorer has changed the culture at RSL, and his club should challenge -- for real -- in Year 4. If it does, this is a slam dunk.


      Newcomer of the Year: Claudio Lopez (Kansas City)

      Several big names and a few smaller will make impacts this season, but Lopez -- Kansas City's first Designated Player -- ought to climb among MLS's elite. If he performs as expected, the Wizards will fight for the title and Lopez will be in contention for MVP and scoring honors.

      Defender of the Year: Eddie Robinson (Houston)

      Many, yours truly included, thought the Dynamo's backline anchor deserved this award last year, when it went to New England's Michael Parkhurst. No forward enjoys battling the physical, disruptive Robinson, and he'll again be key to Houston's defensive performance.

      Goalkeeper of the Year: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA)

      The best keeper in MLS should be in England -- he was turned down for a work permit after agreeing to an Aston Villa contract -- and he could be gone, to Villa or perhaps a club on the continent, sometime this summer. If he stays in L.A. all season, he's the frontrunner to repeat as the league's top netminder.

      Scoring champion: Juan Pablo Angel (New York)

      MLS's best pure finisher missed out on this award by one goal last year, scoring 19 to D.C. United star Luciano Emilio's 20. Emilio also captured the MVP award, which Angel richly deserved. Watch for him to be in the thick of the race for both honors again in 2008.

      Spot Kicks

      -- Hard to argue with those critical of U.S. coach Bob Bradley for calling in the MLS stars for Wednesday's 3-0 win over Poland in Krakow with the MLS openers just three days away. On the other hand, Bradley has only so many opportunities to put his first-choice lineup on the field, and Landon Donovan and Ricardo Clark clearly are first choices. Brian Ching? Maybe, maybe not, but he's in the mix. (And Clark still has two games left on his MLS suspension from last year.) The Americans impressed, scoring all three goals off set pieces: two Donovan crosses headed home by Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu and Eddie Lewis' phenomenal free kick. And there were several fine performances, especially those of right back Steve Cherundolo and central midfielders Clark and Michael Bradley.

      -- Our neighbors were hit-and-miss on their European treks. Did embattled Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez help his cause with a 2-1 comeback win over Ghana in London? Sanchez could learn his fate Monday, when the Mexican Primera Division's club presidents are set to meet. Canada, stifled by financial and infrastructural troubles, fell 2-0 to Estonia in Tallinn. Canada's federation crisis could be lifting: The CSA announced this week a new general secretary (Peter Montopoli, who ran the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada last year and previously was chief marketing officer for Skate Canada, Canada's governing body for figure skating) and technical director (Stephen Hart, longtime CSA coach who guided Canada to the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals last year).

      -- The U.S. learned its opponent for this summer's home-and-home World Cup qualifiers: Barbados. The Barbadans, who had been expected to advance, topped Dominica 1-0 on Dwayne Stanford's goal for a 2-1 aggregate victory. They'll face the Americans on June 15 in Carson, Calif., and June 21 or 22 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

      Others moving on to CONCACAF's second stage: Belize (to play Mexico), El Salvador (Panama), St. Lucia (Guatemala), Antigua & Barbuda (Cuba), Grenada (Costa Rica), Suriname (Guyana), Netherlands Antilles (Haiti) and Puerto Rico (Honduras). Two more first-round series will be completed Sunday. Canada will face St. Vincent & the Grenadines; both had first-round byes.

      -- The Koreans' 0-0 draw in Shanghai -- the match was moved when host North Korea refused to fly South Korea's flag or play its anthem -- was the most anticipated match of Asia's round of World Cup qualifiers, but other results were more meaningful, such as Bahrain's 1-0 triumph over Japan, on Aala Hubail's 77th-minute goal, to grab the top spot in Group 2. Bahrain seems certain to join the Japanese in advancement to the fourth round of qualifying. Then there was Australia's 0-0 draw at China, which kept the Socceroos atop Group 1, and Uzbekistan's 3-0 mauling of Saudi Arabia in a top-of-Group 4 clash.

      Any animosity over the flag/anthem scrape was wiped away by North Korea's players, who ran over to South Korea's fan section and bowed following their game.

      -- Nice to see David Beckham get his 100th cap, in England's 1-0 loss to France in Saint-Denis, and with a typical Beckham performance, no less. A Franck Ribery penalty lifted the French, but Beckham was the big story in the friendly at the Stade de France. He's the fifth Englishman to claim 100 caps, joining Peter Shilton (125), Bobby Moore (108), Bobby Charlton (106) and Billy Wright (105).

      -- Seattle's MLS club has selected three finalists for club name, and the best choice -- Sounders -- is nowhere to be found. Fans may vote for Seattle Alliance, Seattle FC or Seattle Republic (or write in another choice, such as Sounders) at www.mlsinseattle.com through Monday. The winner will be announced April 7.

      2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
      2008-03-28 17:14:25


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      marriedinsf 08:37:38 PM Mar 28 2008

      Report This!

      DAVID BECKHAM BEST SOCCER PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE, BETTER THEN MARCELO GALLARDO OR PIOJO LOPEZ SOCCER WISE????? I ,VE BEEN FALLOWING MARCELO GALLARDO SINCE THE BEGINING OF HIS CAREER WITH RIVER AND THEN MONACO AND HE IS MUCH TALENTED AND TECNICALLY MUCH BETTER PLAYER THEN BECK. PIOJO LOPEZ ANOTHER PLAYER WHO IN HIS PRIME WAS REALLY FUN TO WATCH FAST, MEAN FAST AND WITH SUCH A TECNIQUETO RUN IN FULL SPEED WITH THE BALL CLSE TO HIS FEET WAS A CHAMPION WITH LAZIO IN ITALY AND VALENCIA, PLAYED COUPLE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL WITH VALENCIA TO BAD THAT THEY PALYED THEE BEST TEAM IN THE HISTORY OR CLUB SOCCER AS REAL MADRID ( 9 TIMES UEFA CHAMPIONS) LETS NOT BE IGNORANT SAYING THAT BECK IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE,BEST MARKETING NOT DOUBT ABOUT IT BUT PEOPLE WHO KNOWS ABOUT SOCCER KNOW THAT HE IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BE A GREAT SOCCER PLAYER!!!!!!!

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