The post-World Cup lull in soccer is ending. On the global front, the US national team has moved into the Top 10 in world soccer rankings for the first time ever, tying Italy for ninth in the list released yesterday. This is a well-deserved reward after reaching the round of eight at the World Cup and winning the Gold Cup. On the home front, the San Jose Earthquakes seem determined to repeat as Major League Soccer champions. The team is sitting atop the league table three fourths of the way into the season, have Landon Donovan and Jeff Agoos back from their national team duties, have one of the league’s top scorers (Ariel Graziani) and best keepers (Joe Cannon), and a great young coach in Frank Yallop.
Liverpool FC, on the other hand, is not looking as good early on. The Premiership season gets going this weekend and the Reds travel to face Aston Villa on Sunday for their opener. However, the preseason has not gone well; in the last four matches, they’ve been shut out by Lazio, Real Madrid, and Arsenal. Some fan writers claim the future’s bright and point to the return from injury of Markus Babbel and Stephen Gerrard, the emergence of young Czech striker Milan Baros, and the additions of El Hadji Diouf and Michael Foley as the reasons. Diouf and Baros will certainly be pushing one of my team favorites, Emil Heskey, for the second front line starting spot. But LFC’s main competition for the top place in the league, last year’s champions Arsenal and perennial world leader Manchester United hardly sat still over the summer either. Should be an exciting race if goalie Jerzy Dudek can show his first year was no fluke. And is manager Gerard Houllier completely recovered from last season’s heart troubles? Three away points Sunday against a clearly weaker team will be a very good sign.
BillSaysThis 
