LONDON -- Carlos Tevez, it would appear, has committed the worst act that any soccer player has ever been guilty of. What he did, it seems, is to refuse to go on to the field as a substitute during the second half of Manchester City's Champions League game against Bayern Munich.

LONDON -- These are the words of Alex Ferguson: "Manchester United has some of the best sports medical staff in world sport ... they are brilliant. The doctor, his five physiotherapists, the sports scientists, all fantastic."

I regard the Red Bulls' Hans Backe as a jewel -- a coach who speaks his mind, who never minces his words, who doesn't dodge questions, who has a sense of humor.

Soccer in "mortal danger"? That's what a recent headline said, quoting the words of UEFA president Michel Platini. Seems a bit strong, but overkill is justified when a crisis threatens and no one is paying attention. Platini evidently feels strongly enough about this to dramatize his warning.

In early 2004, soon after Joe Keller had signed his contract with Adidas, UPS trucks arrived at Keller's house to deliver 134 boxes of Adidas shoes and gear for his team.

Youth development is now a hugely important part of the soccer structure in this country. The number of boys and girls enrolled by the USYS, US Club Soccer and AYSO keeps growing, while academies sprout like so many mushrooms.

Saints, said George Orwell, should always be judged guilty until they can prove their innocence. He got that exactly right. Perfection, you may have noticed -- whatever people may say about it -- is rarely admired. "No one can be that good," is the usual response, one tinged with suspicion and jealousy for sure, but also a healthy response because we know that there is something not natural, not human in perfection.

Losing 1-0 to Costa Rica in a meaningless friendly was probably the best result and the best scoreline that could have happened to Jurgen Klinsmann and his embryonic team.

Is it OK to feel sorry for Arsene Wenger? That 8-2 rout by ManU was a humiliation that he surely did not deserve, a sad, sad moment in the history of Arsenal, a cruel game that I found it almost agonizing to watch.