The absence of stars Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand hardly mattered for Manchester United Wednesday. The Premier League powerhouse defeated the MLS All-Stars 5-2 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 70,728 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Eighteen-year-old Federico Macheda opened the scoring for Man U in the first minute, intercepting a pass in the MLS back field and slipping an easy shot past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. It was all downhill from there for Team MLS.

Macheda scored again in the 12th minute, followed by goals from Darron Gibson (69th min), Tom Cleverley (72nd min) and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (83rd min).

Cleverley’s goal was particularly spectacular. The 20-year-old received a pass in the penalty box, flipped the ball over his defender’s head, ran around the defender and volleyed home a shot before the keeper could react.

It was an amazing goal, but the biggest applause of the night was reserved for Chicharito.

The 22-year-old Mexican prodigy made his Man U debut in the second half and, much to the delight of the pro-Mexico crowd, delivered his first goal as a Red Devil on a volley late in the game.

Man U fans hope it will be the first of many goals from the recently acquired striker.

Four-time All-Star Brian Ching scored the MLS’ first goal on a header in the 63rd min, and former Houston Dynamo forward Dwayne De Rosario added one more for the hometown crowd with a minute remaining in the game.

Late goals aside, it was a poor showing for the MLS squad. They suffered multiple lapses in defense and failed to capitalize on the second half appearance of Landon Donovan, who had played the night before in Los Angeles.

Here are the game highlights:

All in all, it was an uncharacteristic blowout loss for a squad that had won five of the last six All-Star showdowns, including a win over Chelsea in 2006.

Given the staggering attendance, though, I doubt the MLS will look at Wednesday’s result as much of a setback.

• David Beckham is selling his 2002 Bentley Arnage T for $157,000

David Beckham of the LA Galaxy and AC Milan (?) is clearing some space in his garage by selling his 2002 Bentley Arnage T. Beckham orginally paid around $295,000 for the vehicle and had $120,000 worth of upgrades added to the car which he is now selling for $157,000 on Auto Trader.

Here are some of the features you get for an extra $120,000:

• Folding rear picnic tables
• Polished wheels
• Bespoke cup-holders to both front door pockets
• ‘Le Mans’ style wing vents
• Alpine hi-fi with sub-woofers
• Half wood/half leather steering wheel
• Roof mounted illuminated vanity mirrors to rear compartment
• Rear fridge
• Diamond cross handles
• Televisions in the rear headrests with bespoke covers

Picnic tables, televisions, and a refrigerator.. Sounds like a luxury RV more than a Bentley. If the Arnage is a little out of your price range you can pick up Wayne Rooney’s 2005 Mercedes G55 AMG for $103,000.

When David Beckham signed to play with the L.A. Galaxy some people believed Becks would bring Americans to soccer. And he did in his first year, but in his second season Beckham is seeing less people in the stands on the road. The Galaxy plays to a packed house at home, but the hopes of the MLS were that Beckham would fill stadiums league wide.

The economy could be a factor although MLB isn’t suffering any attendance problems. It’s more likely that a past his prime David Beckham can’t put the MLS on the map by himself.

There were 21,000 fewer fans in New York to watch Beckham play last weekend against the Red Bulls than a year ago. Last month’s visit to soccer-crazed Washington, D.C., drew about 10,000 fewer fans than the previous year despite the fact the 2007 game was played in a rainstorm.

If the numbers keep falling like this David Beckham won’t want to finish his contract let alone make it to his 100th cap. I can’t blame David Beckham for the MLS hyping him up when his best days were behind him, and I can’t blame Beckham for the league’s lack of other major stars. If the MLS can get 5-10 high profile players in their prime to come to the US and play, then and only then, will the sport move ahead of bass fishing and hotdog eating contest in popularity in the States.

David Beckham, MLS, Los Angeles Galaxy, attendance

I’m sure the first thing 98% (with a sample error of +/- 2%) of you said is “who the hell is Maykel Galindo?” I’m glad you asked.. MG is a striker for USA Chivas in the MLS. He defected from Cuba to the United States in 2005, by himself, without telling his family and friends. I had never heard of Galindo until today, and I’ll admit, the only times I see soccer being played are 1. The World Cup, 2. FIFA on playstation, and 3. If I’m driving by the park in the evening or on a weekend.

Galindo’s hard upbringing in rural, destitute Cuba combined with his fight to make it in the U.S. have helped him to identify with Tony Montana. He doesn’t associate himself with the coked-out murdering Montana but rather the smart, ambitious, ruthless Tony. Maykel sees the film as a “Cuban guy who has to fight to survive”. Yeah.. And Jaws is just about a hungry fish.

I wonder if Galindo goes with Scarface themed trash talking on the field. I would probably die of laughter if I heard Maykel say “Fuck David Beckham and fuck the fuckin’ Freddy Adu. Fuck them all. I’ll bury those cocka-roaches.”

Soccer: More than word to Galindo. Courtesy of the LA Daily News

And speaking of Adu and Beckham, Freddy has a little warning for the people expecting a lot out of Becks. Courtesy of Soccer 365

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