CORNER KICKS
1. Thierry Henry is poised to add a little more gold to his already glittering resume by becoming France’s all-time scoring leader, surpassing the great Michel Platini. He can do so today if he grabs a goal when Les Bleus play Lithuania in a Euro 2008 qualifying game in Nantes.
Henry, who won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, has 41 goals, the same number that Platini, former French national team coach and now the president of UEFA, scored for France from 1976 to 1987.
“Beating Michel Platini would be something extraordinary,” said Henry, who this year moved from Arsenal to Barcelona for a $32-million transfer fee.
2. Look for David Beckham to perhaps be on the bench and possibly see a little playing time Thursday night when the Galaxy plays the New York Red Bulls in a game it has to win, or at least tie, to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Beckham has been sidelined for seven weeks by a knee ligament injury, but he trained Tuesday and Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop said he hoped the midfielder could play a limited role Thursday.
“We’re going to wait until David trains tomorrow and then make a decision,” Yallop said. “We’re hoping that he’ll be on the bench, but it could be that I’ve got to wait until Sunday” and the potentially crucial season finale at the Chicago Fire.
3. The United States plays Euro 2008 co-host Switzerland in Basel today (11:30 a.m., FSC) amid questions over why Coach Bob Bradley found it necessary to add Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan and New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman to his roster at the last minute.
Guzan has a decisive game against Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, with the MLS Western Conference title on the line, and a midweek trip to Europe will not help. Similarly, Twellman’s Revolution plays at Toronto on Saturday.
Bradley already had three other goalkeepers and four other strikers in camp in Switzerland when he called up the pair. The reinforcements might help prevent the U.S. from losing its sixth game in a row.
In another friendly of note today, world champion Italy plays 2010 World Cup host South Africa in Sienna, although Italy Coach Roberto Donadoni said he would field a second-string team.
4. Welsh international winger Ryan Giggs, who joined Manchester United at age 14 and has won 18 titles with the team, signed a contract extension that will keep him with the defending English Premier League champions until June 2009.
Giggs, 33, has played 727 games for United and the new pact means he could surpass Bobby Charlton’s record of 759 games for the club.
5. So far, Germany is the only team to have qualified for next summer’s European Championship in Austria and Switzerland, but six others could qualify today.
England will do so if it defeats Russia in Moscow, a result that also would propel Croatia into Euro 2008. Defending champion Greece can advance with a victory over Turkey in Istanbul, and the Czech Republic can clinch with a tie or a win against Germany in Munich.
Sweden, playing at home, will make it into the 16-team tournament if it defeats Northern Ireland in Solna, while Poland, which is idle, can qualify if Serbia and Portugal lose to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, respectively.
Meanwhile, Franz Beckenbauer has said Germany is “ready to win the championship” in 2008.
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BEST MLS SCORERS
With only one game left, D.C. United’s Luciano (20 goals, one assist) and the New York Red Bulls’ Juan Pablo Angel (19 goals, four assists), are in a tight race for the 2007 MLS scoring title. But the Colombian and the Brazilian have a long way to go to catch the 10 players with the most goals in league history. Here they are, ranked not by total goals but, more tellingly, on games per goal (GPG-games per goal):
Player: 1. Carlos Ruiz
Team: FC Dallas
Gm: 139
Gl: 81
GPG: 1.716
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Player: 2. Taylor Twellman
Team: New England
Gm: 155
Gl: 90
GPG: 1.722
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Player: 3. Raul Diaz Arce
Team: Retired
Gm: 150
Gl: 82
GPG: 1.829
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Player: 4. Roy Lassiter
Team: Retired
Gm: 179
Gl: 88
GPG: 2.034
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Player: 5. Ante Razov
Team: Chivas USA
Gm: 239
Gl: 109
GPG: 2.192
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Player: 6. Jaime Moreno
Team: D.C. United
Gm: 269
Gl: 112
GPG: 2.401
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Player: 7. Jeff Cunningham
Team: Toronto FC
Gm: 260
Gl: 96
GPG: 2.708
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Player :8. Jason Kreis
Team: Retired
Gm: 305
Gl: 108
GPG: 2.824
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Player: 9. Preki
Team: Retired
Gm: 242
Gl: 79
GPG: 3.063
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Player: 10. Ronald Cerritos
Team: Retired
Gm: 221
Gl: 71
GPG: 3.112
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STAT OF THE WEEK
When Brazil plays Ecuador in a World Cup qualifying match in Rio de Janeiro today, it will be the five-time world champions’ first home game in more than two years. Brazil has played 28 matches in a row on the road since October 2005, and has not played at Maracana in seven years.
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COMING UP
MLS
Thursday
New York at Galaxy (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Saturday
New England at Toronto FC
Columbus at D.C. United
Kansas City at FC Dallas
Real Salt Lake at Colorado
Houston at Chivas USA (7:30 p.m., FSC, FSE)
Sunday
Galaxy at Chicago (noon, TeleFutura)
MEXICAN LEAGUE
Friday
Monterrey at Veracruz (4 p.m.,
ESPN Deportes, Azteca America)
Saturday
Chiapas at Cruz Azul (3 p.m., Azteca America)
UNAM at San Luis (3 p.m., Galavision)
Club America at Pachuca (5 p.m., Azteca America)
UAG at Tigres UANL (7 p.m., delay, Galavision)
Atlante at Guadalajara (5 p.m., TeleFutura)
Sunday
Puebla at Toluca (10 a.m., Univision)
Atlas at Necaxa (noon, delay, Galavision)
Morelia at Santos Laguna (1 p.m., Azteca America)
MAKING THEIR PITCH
Alfio Basile, Argentina coach, on Juan Roman Riquelme’s scoring twice in a World Cup qualifying win over Chile despite not have played a game in three months:
“People can think what they like about Riquelme. A player of his standard is not going to forget how to play football.”
