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Published on June 23, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


* This Week's MLS Matches * LA Galaxy Forward Landon Donovan Wins Player of the Week for Week 13 * United-Galaxy Match to Open Sunday Doubleheader with Euro 2008 Final on ABC * FC Dallas Forward Kenny Cooper on ESPN.com Web Chat, Tuesday 3 p.m. ET * Online Fan Voting for 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game Closes on July 2; Top 10 as of June 22 Revealed * Who Will Earn the Honor to Coach the MLS All-Stars on July 24 Versus West Ham United

MLS Week 14: June 26-29, 2008

Thursday, June 26

FC Dallas @ Houston Dynamo, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN 2 / Deportes)

* These intrastate rivals meet for the third and final time during the 2008 regular season. The two previous encounters ended in ties, so this game could prove crucial - head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker in the standings. * Houston holds a 5-1-4 record against FC Dallas. The Dynamo are undefeated in their last six games against "The Hoops." * FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, the League's fourth highest goal scorer this season (7), has scored three career goals against the Dynamo, two in the first meeting this year and one in the second. * New FC Dallas head coach Shellas Hyndman will look to grab his first career MLS coaching win in his first MLS Primetime Thursday Match on ESPN2.

Saturday, June 28

Colorado Rapids @ Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (FSC / FSE)

* Two of the League's top playmakers will be on display Saturday night as the Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto (6 assists) prepares for a midfield battle against fellow Argentine, Rapids midfielder Christian Gomez (5 assists). * The Rapids are 1-5-0 this year away from home, and have not won in Columbus since June 26, 2004. * The Rapids welcome back goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul after a lengthy stint with the Senegalese national team. Coundoul missed four League games while playing for Senegal in its World Cup qualifying campaign. The Rapids went 1-2-1 in that stretch, allowing 1.75 goals per game.

Toronto FC @ New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (DK / MLSLIVE.tv)

* This important Eastern Conference duel also has All-Star game implications. With a Revolution victory Steve Nicol and his staff will be the All-Star game coaches. John Carver has a chance to coach the game as will, but will need some help from other teams. More information is included below. * This is the first regular season meeting between the teams in 2008. The Revolution were 2-0-1 versus Toronto FC in 2007. * Toronto welcomes back a host of players returning from international duty: Jim Brennan (Canada), Amado Guevara (Honduras), and Greg Sutton (Canada) all return to the lineup after successfully helping their respective nations advance to the next phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

Real Salt Lake @ Kansas City Wizards, 8:00 p.m. (DK / MLSLIVE.tv)

* Real Salt Lake heads into the match one of the League's hottest teams going 3-0-2 in their last five games, the last win coming versus the top team in the League, the New England Revolution. * Underrated Argentinean midfielder Javier Morales is the catalyst for Real Salt Lake's attack. He leads the League with seven assists, in 13 games played. He recorded one goal and two assists in seven games played in 2007.

San Jose Earthquakes @ Chicago Fire, 8:30 p.m. (DK / MLSLIVE.tv)

* After starting the season with two losses in their first nine games, the Fire have lost their past three League games. They will look to rebound against the Earthquakes who are 2-5-1 on the road this season. * Veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch has been stellar in goal for Chicago. He has the League's best goals against average at 0.92 goals per game. In the League since 1999, Busch has suffered several very serious knee injuries, but has bounced back and might represent the Fire as an All-Star in the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game.

New York Red Bulls @ Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m. (HDNet)

* This game pits two of the most exciting midfielders in MLS in Dane Richards and Sacha Kljestan.. The two may match up on the wings at times during the game, giving fans a chance to see speed versus finesse in the midfield. * Sacha Kljestan has picked up his scoring pace in the absence of injured teammate Maykel Galindo, and Ante Razov who returned recently form injury. Kljestan has scored five goals, and tallied three assists in 12 games. He scored only four goals in 25 games played in 2007. * New York holds a slight edge in the all-time series at 3-2-2 all-time versus Chivas USA. * The Red Bulls are 1-1-1 at The Home Depot Center versus Chivas USA.

Sunday, June 29

Los Angeles Galaxy @ D.C. United, 12:00 p.m. (ABC)

- The League's hottest players and top three scorers will be on display in front of a national audience. Landon Donovan (11 goals), Edson Buddle (9 goals) and Luciano Emilio (8 goals) rank one, two and three on the Budweiser Goal Scoring list.

- This game precedes the Euro 2008 Final on ABC.

- The teams rank first and second in goals scored - LA 31 goals and United 24 goals. The teams also allow the most goals in the League - LA 24 goals allowed, United 25 goals allowed).

All times Eastern, live broadcasts in parentheses; schedule subject to change

LA Galaxy Forward Landon Donovan Wins Player of the Week for Week 13

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan recorded his league-leading fourth multi-goal game of the season, as he scored two goals in the Galaxy's 3-3 tie at home versus the Columbus Crew. The Galaxy earned one point and retained sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. This is Donovan's third Player of the Week award this season, and the eighth of his career. He previously won back-to-back awards in weeks 4 and 5, when he scored five goals in a two-game span. The Galaxy (6-4-3, 21 points) return to action on Sunday, June 29 when they travel to RFK Stadium to play D.C. United at Noon ET as part of ABC's Sunday Doubleheader with the Euro 2008 Championship game. For more information on the Player of the Week, click here.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.

ABC Hosts Sunday Doubleheader with MLS and the Euro 2008 Championship Game

The Euro 2008 Championship game will be broadcast live from the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, Austria on ABC on June 29 at 2:30 p.m. ET. The final will be preceded by the Los Angeles Galaxy vs. DC United game at Noon ET. Four teams still remain in the tournament as Germany, Turkey, Spain, and Russia compete in the semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday to determine who moves on to the championship game.

D.C. United's Rod Dyachenko will have a vested interest in the results of the European Championships. Born in Georgiyevsk, Russia, the 24-year old forward's home country will be looking to to pull off another upset after their 3-1 victory over the Netherlands. Other players who share a link to the Championships include LA Galaxy keeper Josh Wicks (Born in Landstuhl, Germany), Landon Donovan and Luciano Emilio (Both played in Germany for Bayer Leverkusen and FC Koln/Alemannia Aachen respectively).

FC Dallas Forward Kenny Cooper on ESPN.com Web Chat, Tuesday 3 p.m. ET

FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper will chat live with fans, Tuesday, June 24 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.com. Cooper, who leads The Hoops in goals (7) this season, will discuss a range of topics including the Thursday Night Primetime game on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes against FC Dallas intrastate rival, the Houston Dynamo. Thursday's match kicks off at 9 p.m. ET at Robertson Stadium in Houston.

Fans can submit questions and read Cooper's responses via ESPN's SportsNation by clicking here.

Online Fan Voting for 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game to Close on July 2; Top 10 as of June 22 Revealed

Online voting for the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game continues and will be open on www.mlsnet.com through Wednesday, July 2. After approximately five weeks of votes being tallied, the duo of Landon Donovan and David Beckham lead all vote getters with the Chicago Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco not far behind. Beckham, Donovan, and Blanco rank as the top three vote getters with players from the Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC rounding out the top ten.

Fans can vote for the All-Star First XI online at www.mlsnet.com by selecting one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. Fans can vote up to 10 times per day. The online fan balloting program, which concludes on Wednesday, July 2, will comprise 25 percent of the total vote for the All-Star First XI, with coaches and general managers, players, and media each holding 25 percent of the vote to combine for the remaining 75 percent.

The MLS All-Star First XI will be announced on Thursday, July 10 and the All-Star Reserves and Commissioner's Selections will be announced on Tuesday, July 15.

Top 10 Vote Getters as of June 22 (Ranked by percentage of total vote)

1. David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 4.89%

2. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 3.67%

3. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) - 3.28%

4. Amado Guevara (Toronto FC) - 2.20%

5. Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo) - 2.11%

6. Greg Sutton (Toronto FC) - 2.11%

7. Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew) - 2.05%

8. Maurice Edu (Toronto FC) - 1.83%

9. Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew) - 1.78%

10. Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC) - 1.63%

2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game Coaching Scenarios

Following are the scenarios that will determine the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game coach. The coach that has the most points per game after June 29 will have the honor of coaching the MLS All-Stars versus West Ham United in Toronto on July 24. In case of a tie in points per game, the same tiebreakers used to determine playoff participants will be used to determine the head coach. Tiebreaking procedures are available by clicking here.

1. If the Revolution defeat Toronto FC, Steve Nicol is the All-Star Game coach. 2. If the Revolution tie Toronto FC and Columbus loses or ties, then Steve Nicol is the ASG coach. 3. If the Columbus Crew defeat the Colorado Rapids and New England ties or loses, then Sigi Schmid is the ASG coach. 4. If Toronto FC defeat New England, and Columbus loses and Los Angeles loses or ties, then John Carver is the ASG coach. 5. If Toronto FC defeat New England and the LA Galaxy win and Columbus loses there is a two-way tie with Carver and Gullit each having 1.714 points per game. 6. If Toronto FC defeat New England and the LA Galaxy win, and Columbus ties there is a three-way tie with John Carver, Ruud Gullit and Sigi Schmid each having 1.714 points per game.

Saturday, June 28

Colorado Rapids at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.

Toronto FC at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 29

Los Angeles Galaxy at D.C. United, 12:00 p.m.

New England currently 8-4-3, with 27 points

Nicol Wins - 1.875 ppg

Nicol Loses - 1.688 ppg

Nicol Ties - 1.75 ppg

Columbus Crew currently 7-4-2, with 23 points

Schmid Wins - 1.857 ppg

Schmid Ties - 1.714 ppg

Schmid Loses - 1.64 ppg

Toronto FC currently 6-4-3, with 21 points

Carver Wins - 1.714 ppg

Carver Ties - 1.571 ppg

Carver Loses - 1.50 ppg

Los Angeles Galaxy currently 6-4-3, with 21 points

Gullit Wins - 1.714 ppg

Gullit Ties - 1.571 ppg

Gullit Loses - 1.50 ppg

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