Soccer

SEATTLE -- If David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the Los Angeles Galaxy are the focus of this Sunday's MLS Cup final (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET), then Real Salt Lake is the afterthought. The relatively anonymous, five-year-old club from the nation's 49th-most populous metro area could not be more different than the star-studded team whose presence forced organizers to release several thousand more tickets to fill the increased demand.

SEATTLE -- It's common knowledge that soccer fans are a bit of a different breed. They care less about comfort and more about spectacle. The sight of a whole section of supporters singing, waiving enormous flags and lighting flares would be shocking at Yankee Stadium or Heinz Field, yet it's expected at soccer venues around the world and is becoming relatively common in MLS. That passion also affects change -- executives know it's not a good idea to upset these people.

More so than any other American sports league, MLS has embraced that relationship. While fans elsewhere struggle with nonsense like the BCS, personal seat licenses and Daniel Snyder, MLS supporters have driven the league's evolution (speaking out against gimmicks like the shootout), have worked directly with clubs on ticketing and marketing and enjoy an annual audience with the commissioner that is unimaginable in any other league.

SEATTLE -- Landon Donovan's MLS goal of the year was remarkable on two levels. First, the curling volley was an incredible strike, with a beyond-the-post bend reminiscent of Roberto Carlos' famous free kick against France 12 years ago. Second, it was David Beckham who was the first to jump into Donovan's arms.

The feud and reconciliation between the league's two most recognizable players has been the story of the 2009 season, and there can be little question that the Los Angeles Galaxy would not be here for Sunday's MLS Cup final had the pair failed to resolve the differences that became public over the summer. Beckham's genuine excitement over Donovan's goal, and the club's run to the final, are clear indications that the two are on the same page. On Friday, FanHouse had the opportunity to ask them how they did it.

SEATTLE -- David Beckham continues to claim he's committed to both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Major League Soccer, and on Friday afternoon seemed to back that up with a promise to play in Sunday's MLS Cup final despite pain in his foot that will require pre-game injections, to return to the team following next summer's World Cup and even to involve himself in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the players and MLS owners.

SEATTLE - Remember Clint Mathis? He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2002 behind the headline "America's Best." He played in the World Cup that year sporting an awesome mohawk, and scored that critical (and technically impressive) goal against South Korea that kept the U.S. national team alive for a second round berth. He also scored five goals in one game for New York, conjured this Maradona-esque effort against Dallas and for a couple of years, thanks to his skill and ability to produce the spectacular, was considered a huge part of American soccer's future.

Then it all just unraveled. A knee injury, a row with his coach at Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga and a less-than-disciplined lifestyle reduced Mathis to an afterthought. He returned to MLS in 2005, played for four clubs in four anonymous years then went to Greece. Real Salt Lake brought him aboard 15 months ago and now, 10 years after playing in an MLS Cup final as a rising star for Los Angeles, his odyssey has returned him to American soccer's biggest stage.

LONDON (AP) -- Thierry Henry denied Friday that he was a cheat but said the "fairest solution" would be to replay the France-Ireland World Cup playoff that was decided by his handball.

Henry set up the deciding goal for William Gallas by controlling the ball with his hand in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at the Stade de France. The goal in extra time gave France a spot in next year's World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Ireland after two legs of the playoffs.

It seemed to be a long shot that he would actually miss the match, but L.A. Galaxy star David Beckham has confirmed that, despite lingering injuries, he will play in Sunday's MLS Cup against Real Salt Lake.

Beckham was recently photographed wearing a protective boot while playing American football in the park with his children. The images sparked a bit of concern over whether he'd be healthy enough to play Sunday, but upon arriving in Seattle (seen above) for the MLS Cup, Beckham spoke to the Telegraph UK and said that he was going to play through some lingering injuries.

Anfield, Saturday 1245 GMT

LIVERPOOL:
With just one win in their previous nine encounters in all competitions, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez knows a victory here is simply vital.

He has been buoyed by the return of captain Steven Gerrard, who has played just 70 minutes since injuring himself on international duty last month, but even his return does not lift all off the gloom on the red half of Merseyside.

A win against Mark Hughes's men would not only re-establish Liverpool's top-four credentials but it would simultaneously hamper City's own ambitions off breaking into the top four, so this match is a "six-pointer" in every sense of the word.

The World Cup is fixed.

But in the outrage from the illegal handball seen 'round the world (but not by the referees) Wednesday by France's superstar Thierry Henry, which earned the French team a plane ride to South Africa over Ireland for next summer's global soccer scrum, the small fact about the manner in which world soccer's governing body has arranged its grand quadrennial championship has been overlooked.

That is understandable given the implications of the missed call for as blatant a touching of the ball with a hand -- the ultimate no-no in futbol -- that has been witnessed in a major soccer match in sometime. Thierry, who all of us on this side of the pond know from his Gillette commercials with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, not only touched the ball once with his hand, but twice.

SEATTLE -- Surely Landon Donovan is now just 90 minutes away from tying up just about every loose end remaining in his Major League Soccer career. He is the player of the decade, but before Thursday never had been named player of the year. Perhaps a victim of his own consistency, Donovan raised the bar in 2009. He brought his fractured team together and captained the club to first place in the Western Conference, tallying 12 goals and six assists.

It is slightly ironic, however, that Donovan was not here in Seattle to accept the award. The Galaxy were not scheduled to arrive until later in the day, meaning the player who has been the real face of American soccer for the past nine years was unavailable to smile for the cameras. It is something the league may have to get used to. Rumors of a winter transfer have been circulating for months, and if Los Angeles completes its climb from the basement to the MLS Cup penthouse on Sunday, Donovan certainly has nothing left to prove.