YouTube Clip Of The Week

Well folks, it is good to be back posting after a 10-day layoff. I must apologize, for I have been enjoying my last Welcome Week here at Michigan State and have been hitting the partying quite hard as of late. Round six commences tonight!

But for now, I thought I would share this vid with you. In it, Brazilian starlet Neymar, who just recently turned down a big money move to Chelsea to stay with his hometown club of Santos, gets his shorts tackled-off after executing a step-over dribble on a defender. Yeah, I know; you need to see it.

Walcott Bags Hat-Trick

Remember Theo Walcott? The supremely talented winger/forward that scored a hat-trick for England against Croatia in 2008 and was dubbed "Wonderkid" immediately after? The same player who, since then, has battled injuries and poor form on his way to missing out on the squad for the 2010 World Cup, an apparent snub by England manager Fabio Capello?

At 21-years-old, many soccer pundits were already starting to write-off Walcott's career prospects.

YouTube Clip Of The Week

Check out this humiliating goal miss from Rui Miguel of CSKA Sofia.

Real Madrid 3-LA Galaxy 2

In front of 89,134 in attendance last night at the Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Galaxy took a 2-0 lead going into halftime against Real Madrid. All was going well for the Major League Soccer side in this friendly match and the club was only 45 minutes away from a huge win.

Then Jose Mourinho brought in the big guns.

With Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Gonzalo Higuain all taking the field for the second half, Madrid stormed back with three unanswered goals to win, 3-2. In the end, it was too much class from the La Liga side for LA to overcome.

Here are the highlights:

The Original Cowboy

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the original cowboy: Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi.

Thanks to Jason Minnick of FC Dallas for the photo. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Spaghetti Western," eh?

2010 PDL Championship Preview

Here's a preview I wrote for USLsoccer.com today. It's all about the 2010 Premier Development League Championship being held in Portland, Ore. this weekend.

For those of you who do not know, the PDL is an amateur soccer league that is predominantly made up of college soccer players looking to stay fit and keep their skills sharp. It is unique in that it fills a gap in the American soccer pyramid between the professional ranks and college soccer.