And while I was scrolling through photos of the game from Getty Images I came across these two photos. At first I thought they were duplicates. And then I saw that they were different, and perhaps looked photoshopped. But then I realized that it’s probably the same shot taken within a second of the other by two different photographers. Yeah, I’ve got nothing better to do with my time.

Both Landon and Becks have reunited with their respective national teams in London for Wednesdays friendly. Several sources are reporting that the US is looking good to defeat England. I’m not so sure about that, but it should be a good game nonetheless. Jeff Carlisle has a good article previewing the match. As we all know, this will be Donovan’s 100th cap. Congratulations Landon! But I’m particularly interested to see his play on Wednesday. He has been doing more strength training this season and has been punishing defenders so far this season, so it’ll be interesting to see what he can do on the national level — especially when there are so many other good US players that need to be marked. Mark him one v. one and he’s guaranteed to slip dangerously by his defender several times. Can you tell I’m a big Donovan fan? Oooh, it’s going to be so fun to watch!

Of course, Beckham will be there for his 101st cap (a much greater feat when playing for England). It’s quite possible that he and Donovan will be marking each other. The media is reporting a big to-do about David Bentley going after Beckham’s starting spot. I’m not sure why the hoopla, of course that’s what Bentley wants to do. And Capello hasn’t decided yet whether or not the right wing spot is Beckham’s to lose. For the 2010 World Cup Bentley may become a better choice than an older Beckham, but let’s wait and see how things play out shall we?

The Galaxy’s next game is Saturday, May 31st, against Streamer FC Toronto FC. It will be broadcast on Direct Kick, and Fox Sports West.

AP Newswire – This just in, Landon Donovan creates international incident when he purposely crosses himself 50 million times before taking a penalty kick. After completing his hat trick, Donovan mimics the use of a bow and arrow and playfully “attacks” coaches and players on the Iranian bench as if he was a Crusader. Donovan ends his display with running with his arms extended, which looks like the “bomber run” done by British Players, but might be construed at creating a “cross.”

Yet another one of those things I wish I’d thought of first.

Whatever. Our boys are apparently going to play Iran in May. (Despite previous Galaxy front office protestations to the contrary.)

Iran. You know. The country that won’t let women come to their home games? Yeah, that Iran. (Is this still the law? It was, then it wasn’t, but now I think it is again.)

I’ll let Andrea Canales tell you all about the game itself in her ESPNsoccernet article, including some interesting bits about the Iranian community in LA and how its history intertwines with that of the Galaxy, and about the whole “soccer diplomacy” thing.

For my part, I’d like to give you what I thought were some fascinating links I stumbled across when I was researching news about Iran’s coach search. (As of a month ago, they were in the middle of managerial musical chairs. It’s apparently not quite resolved.)

But while I was looking into that, I found a fascinating page called Iran Sports Press, which pulls no punches in its criticism of the Iranian sports hierarchy. (And remember here that Iran doesn’t exactly have free press. And also that Iran recently faced FIFA sanctions for political meddling in football.) My guess is that this site is run by Iranian ex-pats, but I’m not certain of this.

TEHRAN- Iran’s coach Ali Daei launched a furious tirade against his football federation on Tuesday, threatening to quit and revealing he is still waiting for a contract to sign.

Daei, the holder of the world record for international goals, was appointed in March to reverse the flagging fortunes of the Team Melli in its World Cup campaign. However with crunch qualifying matches approaching in June, it appears that relations between the ex-Bayern Munich striker Daei and federation head Ali Kafashian have reached an all time low.

“If Kafashian does not have time to talk with me about friendly matches and my contract, then I am not free either,” Daei told the Hamshahri newspaper. “I have not won my honour so easily that I can lose it this way. If things go on like this, we should think about something else and they could appoint someone else who they like.”

Also on the same site, I found this description of challenges facing the Iranian game:

Clemente [Former coach, who was fired before taking the job] is being handed a shattered National team, who have not trained together for more than a week in the last 6 months, half of the foreign based players are regular benchwarmers, players are psychologically frustrated at the shortcomings in Iranian football state in the past year or so, and the team is under pressure of expectations to smoothly qualify for World Cup 2010.

Works for me. If we’re going to turn our boys loose against the best team another nation has to offer, let’s at least make it a dysfunctional one.

First off, is this not an awesome photo? It’s my new computer wallpaper, replacing this one of Becks and the kids. (Thanks, Mag!)

Second, look here! Jen and I get to tick off another minute from our fifteen minutes of fame. The answer to the questions we talked about in a previous post are now in a Toronto FC footy blog called “The Score,” which is apparently affiliated with a Canadian TV station? We have so arrived.

And last, I don’t know if any of you were following the U-23 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. I was covering it over on The Offside’s main page, and there were a few interesting subplots. Yes, the US qualified (woohoo), but the most interesting thing about the tournament (aside from the female semi-streaker) was the defection of seven Cuban players, following in the footsteps of Chivas’ Maykel Galindo, who defected in Seattle in 2005.

For anyone who was wondering what happened next, the official Galaxy blog has the answer, at least for three of them: They’re trying out with the Galaxy. I’ve read elsewhere that getting work permits and dealing with all of the red tape that would allow them to play professionally in the US isn’t an easy thing, so no telling whether or not we’ll see them in blue and gold. But what a story, eh? And judging by the one U-23 game their keeper played, he kicks butt. He’s the one thing that kept the US from a win that day.

If I were Cronin, I might be sweating a bit. Just sayin’.

And oh, wait, one more thing. Galaxy fan and Galaxy Offside regular commenter Nathanhj has a Galaxy Supporter’s View up over on Soccer by Ives. Be sure to stop by and read his insights.

*He worked tirelessly on both offense and defense.

*With the exception of one or two, his crosses were spot on.

*He had a chance at the goal early on, sliding far post, that would have silenced his detractors.

*Regardless of the missed chance (and I’m not sure three English midfielders sliding onto that would have been able to put it in) his performance and his effort were superb.

*When he came out of the game in the 63rd minute (England made 3 substitutions) the English game fell flat.

*Capello said of his game, “David played like I know he can play. I only substituted him because I wanted to see other players and I know him well.” (UK Reuters) Fairly high praise coming from Capello.

Now, as for all of the headlines I’m reading about the England loss spoiling his 100th cap, or by receiving a yellow card it dampened his achievement. Give me a break! Such drama.

I’m proud of him, and happy for him, and I can’t wait to see him take on Landon and the US later this spring. You’re a good man, David Beckham.

(I’m still trying to process that one. What’s up with his temper in this off-season? Is he trying to prove that he’s still got the passion for the game? Or is he just losing patience with life as his career winds down?)

Didn’t find that video, but I did find this one of his sending off in the 1998 World Cup. Thought you might like to see it.

Beckham looks SO young!

Did anybody else who was watching the game know that we went to penalties after drawing in regulation time? Did they show it on TV? Did they say anything about it? I know my brain is fuzzy at 1:30 in the morning, but I think I would have heard if somebody had said penalties. But maybe not.

We apparently lost 2-1 on penalties last night after everybody but Becks had his PK saved. Since Beckham is not traditionally known for his penalties, perhaps that’s good news?

Oh, well. I think Ruud learned a lot of the things he set out to learn, and that’s what counts in the preseason.

A couple of things worth noting. First, according to the announcers, Alvaro has been officially signed. My thought: He’s Brazilian, he has some skill on the ball, and he has an almost Ruiz-like ability to get fouled in areas that could allow Beckham to deliver lethal free kicks. What’s not to like?

Also, when I re-read my liveblog last night, it came across as too hard on Xavier. X has incredible positioning skills and an ability to get his head on the ball where needed. He’s invaluable defensively on corners, free kicks and crosses and any time the ball heads toward goal in the air. Where he falls short is when it comes to keeping up with speedy forwards. If he’s going to be on the field, we’re going to need some faster defenders to compensate for this fact. He should never end up in a situation where he’s the only one between a fast player and our goalkeeper. Jiggle the defense however necessary, but don’t leave him back there alone.

Next. About Carlos Ruiz. This pains me a bit to say it, but I may have been wrong about him. He was nothing but professional last night. And you know those Beckham balls that sailed off into space last year and made you think, “Why don’t we have anybody who can get on the end of those?!?!” Last night it looked like we just might. He’s rusty, of course. I don’t know that he’s even played since his knee surgery, aside from the closed-door Houston game. But I saw serious potential in this game, and it made me hopeful.

But if replays at any time this year show him taking a blow to the leg and going down holding his face? I’ll cheerfully go out on the field myself and deliver the punishment blow, Rico Clark-style.

(Note to Galaxy security: I am joking.)

As far as the youngsters, would you believe I missed Tudela last night? Not that there was a gaping hole in the midfield for him to fill — there wasn’t. But I like the kid. I’m hoping there’s at least a spot for him as a sub this year.

Also, Ely Allen shows great promise and could be awesome with a little experience. Alan Gordon was a pleasant surprise in the withdrawn forward role, Bryan Jordan has a good workrate but is still a bit of a question mark for me. And I’m hoping Mike Randolph and Celestine Babayaro will click a whole lot better than they did last night. (Should their positions be reversed?) And I’m looking forward to Landon being better.

And I think I may have liked the look of 4-3-3. Or more kind of 4-3-1-2. It’s…different. But in a fun way. When Landon is better, are you seeing him up front with Ruiz, with Gordon behind them? Or Gordon and Ruiz up front with Landon withdrawn?

Does that about cover things? What did you think?

That Galaxy game is scheduled for tonight (yes, tonight, Feb. 29) at 11:30 Pacific. Be there!

I’m not sure that I’ll be liveblogging, but I’ll definitely be watching the game with my computer on, so feel free to stop by and leave comments.

It also looks like they’ll be doing a replay of the game tomorrow (Saturday) at 8:00 p.m.

Does anybody know if Celestine Babayaro’s work permit issues have been cleared up yet? I’m looking forward to seeing him play. Ruiz too, believe it or not.

But anyhoo. I believe the goal in this game was his first one professionally, which makes me all maternally proud. Seems like just yesterday that I was writing his “Welcome to the Galaxy, Josh Tudela” post.

They grow up so fast.