Player Profiles: Zoltan and Edgaras

The MLS transfer window has brought two interesting developments, new players not from South America, but from Western Europe. Hungarian striker Zoltan Hercegfalvi was introduced today as Kansas City’s newest, and much needed, footballer.

Earlier this month, New England added a footballer with a very interesting past and storied carrier. Edgaras Jankauskas hails from Lithuania and has been named the Lithuanian footballer of the year five times.

Let’s look a little closer at each of their pasts, the clubs they have represented, and any video available of them working magic.

A Life in a Few Words: Zoltan Hercegfalvi

Zoltan Hercegfalvi, was introduced today as Zoltan (and shall here forward always be known in the media as Zoltan), was born in Budapest, Hungary.

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If you were a fan of the Hungarian football league, you would know who Zoltan is. Now at age 29 he has arrived in the United States having spent much almost all of his life playing in the tumultuous league.

Zoltan began his playing career with Budapest Hunved in 1998, where he stayed for five years before moving on to two other Hungarian teams, as well as one Czech team, before returning to his first team in 2006. Much of his life he has played in the small confines of Bozsik Stadium, a small but storied 5,000 seat arena.


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A Life in a Few Words: Edgaras Jankauskas

Edgaras Jankauskas was born in Vilnius, Soviet Union in 1975.

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By the age of 16 he was picked up by a local youth side and continued to make his ways up the ranks, moving from team to team until he made history by signing with FB Bruges for 2.3 million Euros.

Once in Bruges, Edgaras’ stock continued to climb until he reached the pinnacle of his career, signing with FC Porto, then coached by the special one, Jose Morinho, where he won every trophy imaginable except the FA Cup.

With Porto, Edgaras picked up two Portuguese league trophies, the Portuguese Cup, the Portuguese Super Cup, the UEFA Cup, and most impressively in 2003-2004, the UEFA Champions League, making him the only player currently in Major League Soccer to hold the honor.

Although Edgaras was not a starter, he still played an important part in the victories. After winning the Scottish cup with Hearts, he was about to settle down into coaching when Steve Nichol gave him a shot.

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Scoring a cracker for Porto (3 minutes in)


Scoring for the Lithuanuia vs Belgium in 2004


Playing Basketball in a High School gym?


Edgaras scored his first goal in America in this year’s Superliga.


Watch Edgaras as he romps through MLS and remember the storied history and trophies he has gathered along the way.

Beckham vs the Wizards

Not a full update, but I had to share this insider video of Beckman shaking hands with the KC supporters. It captures exactly what was said that made Beckman so angry.


I love it.

Tweet Tweet: American Soccer Stars on Twitter

Thanks Sean!

My Twitter evolution is gradual and slow. While most people manage to grab hundreds of followers by following random morons and being awesome people I’ve probably been way too cautions. I first followed the blogs I liked, and then when I felt like blogs were just a big dick contest I tried to just follow the people who didn’t have blogs and just followed me because they probably liked my blog. Lately I realized the best reason of all to use Twitter.

Following the Soccer Stars

For some idiotic reason I’ve spaced up till now probably the best reason to use Twitter. Following the MLS stars I care about. I started by finding a few and then going through all their friends. Because the MLS players generally only friend each other, family, and strippers it’s a good way to track them all down.

Below is my list of all the MLS players and National Team players I’ve found on Twitter so far. Feel free to add the ones you know in the comments.

MLS and Soccer on Twitter

International
Aston Villa
Brad Guzan @bguzan

Benfica
Freddy Adu @FredduAdu11

Villarreal
Jozy Altidore @JozyAltidore17

Sochux
Charlie Davies @CharlieDavies10

Rangers
Maurice Adu @MauriceEdu

Antalyaspor
Joseph Ngwenya @jngwenya

MLS
FC Dallas
Bobby Rhine @RamblinRhino

Chivas USA
Dan Kennedy @1DanKennedy

Sacha Kljestan @SachaKljestan

Columbus
Robbie Rogers @robbierogers

Kansas City
Jimmy Conrad @JimmyConrad

Houston
Kie Kamara @keikamara

Paul Dalglish @pauldalglish

Brian Ching @brianching

Bobby Boswell @littlebobby

Stuart Holden @stuholden22

Danny Cruz @Cruz05 US Soccer Profile

DC United
Bryan Namoff @NAMOFF


What does this list tell us? Someone in Houston really liked Twitter and passed it on. Probabyl Stuart Holden.That was a lot of copying and pasting. Enjoy!

Video Evidence Plus Upcoming

In case you missed it, David Beckham got two great assists during the Galaxy's friendly vs AC Milan but because of his stupid action, the focus ended up on his confrontation with the fans. Here's the video:


And an even better angle courtesy of du Nord:


And more of him being a douche:


I will be back tomorrow with a brand new post featuring the top MLS players you can follow on Twitter. See you then.

I hereby promise to stop posting about the National team and David Beckham all the time and instead follow the trends and new stars of MLS. Well next time at least.

The Beckham Experiment: Yup, Still a Dick

Anyone who reads Advantage Played regularly knows one thing about me, I really don’t like David Beckham. The “ultimate professional” has never been a true professional and his actions on and off the field have proven that to every Major League Soccer fan.

A Professional Unprofessional
When exactly did I realize Beckham was nothing more than a passive aggressive punk? I know the exact moment when my genuine dislike for Beckham was pushed over the top. The Wizard’s took on the Galaxy in the Home Depot Center and Eloy Colombano, a short lived Wizard’s forward was zooming around the field. At some point, Beckham and Eloy collided with each other. There was no intention from Eloy, it was not even really a challenge.

Instead of recognizing the situation, David Beckham picked the ball up off the ground, stood in front of Eloy, and pretended to drop kick the ball into his face.

What a dick.

Beckham has long coasted through his stay in Major League Soccer hiding his actions under the title of professional. No longer. Grant Wahl’s book, The Beckham Experiment, clearly exposes Beckham’s lack of professional décor.

What is a Professional?

Hello my name is Sanjeeve Himachali

What exactly is a professional, and does Beckham qualify? For that, let’s turn to an expert, Sanjeeve Himachali. Mr. Himachali eloquently wrote out his thoughts on what makes a professional. I sat down with Sanjeeve and together we discussed Beckham.


AP: Hello Sanjeeve, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. I just read the book "The Beckham Experiment" in which Beckham repeatedly calls himself a professional and then acts like a passive aggressive dick. I realized I didn’t know the official meaning of professionalism so I thought maybe you could help us out.


Sanjeeve: Ah yes, thank you very much Mr. Advantage. It is a great honor to be interviewed by such a honorary and established blog.


AP: Yes thanks Sanjeeve, thanks for that.


Sanjeeve: You are a great writer Mr. Advantage, I can tell we will be great friends, just call me San.


AP: Thanks San, just call me Advantage. So San, What is a professional?


San: I can tell you what a Professional is in just two short bullet points:

• Professionalism means not just knowing how to do your job, but demonstrating a willingness to learn, cooperating and getting along with others, showing respect, and living up to your commitments.
• It also means avoiding many kinds of behaviors that cause trouble in the workplace.

Advantage: Beckham know how to do his job. He’s proven that many times. He can put his balls into any hole with remarkable accuracy. But you have to be willing to learn, cooperate, show respect, and live up to your commitments.


San: Ah yes that is right Advantage. And by that standard Mr. Wahl has show time and time again in his most excellent new book that Beckham fails. He is a good footballer, but being a professional means excelling in times of hardship. It means taking a new situation and bringing everyone up with you.

It means working and playing with all your heart every day. It means embracing your co-workers strengths. Instead of saying that MLS needs better players, it means leading your teammates to victory through true leadership.

Most importantly it means living up to your commitments. That means you don’t leave practice early every day. It means you don’t run away to the other side of the world and talk, excuse me, shit, on your teammates.

Words are nothing. Professionals show results through their actions.


Advantage: Now San, you say that a professional avoids behaviors that cause trouble in the workplace?


San: Yes yes.


Advantage: So when Beckham leveraged his entertainment group to basically take control of the Galaxy he was not acting as a professional?


San: That is right Advantage, but not all of the fault goes to Beckham here. Sure he may be sleazy and unprofessional but the whole situation was caused by Tim Leiweke, head of AEG. He was taken in by the glam and glitz around Beckham and gave him the respect a professional deserves, instead of a very sneaky rich person.


Advantage: Thanks for you time San. You've got great hair.


San: Anytime Mr. Advantage. I just got it cut and my eyebrows were also refreshed by a good plucking.


Advantage: That about wraps it up for today. I know I’ve learned a lot about MLS and what professionalism isn’t by reading The Beckham Experiment and I know you will too.

Until next time, when I make fun of someone else and then show a random music video, this is Advantage Played signing off.

Good USA v Honduras Highlights Plus Fouling Coaches

If you didn't see the US goal vs Honduras live you are missing out on the full flow of the attack. Here is the best highlights of the two US goals.


Yesterday Mexico and Panama fought (literaly) to a 1-1 tie, but not before Mexico's coach tried to kick a Panamanian footballer in the groin. You have to watch this one to believe it.

A Brief How To: Spotting the Soccer Douche

I'm pleased to present my first guest post, and it's by my brother David. He's been playing pickup soccer every night so far this summer and developed the following survival mechanism.

When picking sides in the neighborhood pick up game, spotting the player that will end up hogging the ball, talking inordinate amounts of trash, and eventually storming off the field can be a great advantage. However, in the beginning stages it can be hard to pinpoint this player. In this short How To guide I will outline several basic tenants that most, if not all, soccer douches follow.

Gelled Hair

I am not talking about that you had gel in your hair this morning. I am talking about gelling your hair before the game, styling it in the mirror, and then constantly checking yourself out in any reflective surface that happens to be near the pitch. Oh extra shiny soccer ball, I think I will admire my beautiful hair in you.

Under Armor

Now there is a time and place for under armor, if you are a girl that time is when it is chilly out. However, if you are a man, under armor is only permitted to be worn when it is snowing out. If you happen to spot a player who shows up in 80 degree weather wearing skin tight spandex than you can be 70% sure he takes himself too seriously.

Neon Colored Cleats

This should be taken as a bright flashing warning that says, “This player craves attention!” He will always be open. He will always demand the ball by screaming. He will take shots every chance he gets. He will not pass, because he is, of course, the best player on his team. And you can be damn sure that he is too good for defense.

Now once in your lifetime you will stumble onto a player who walks onto the pitch with a freshly gelled fohawk, neon green Nike’s and skin tight under armor. Run for your life, and do not look back.

The Power of SuperLiga

This last Sunday night me and my new (first one) wife had the chance to celebrate our marriage by attending our first SuperLiga game, Kansas City vs Santos Laguna. For the first time I’d get to see a Mexican team in action, and I was excited to see Kansas City win.

Or tie, all they needed was a tie.

A Sea of Green

Driving up to the stadium it became apparent that this wasn’t going to be a normal Wizard’s game. Flags were flowing from cars and trucks, colors were represented by the supports marching to stadium, but instead of Wizard’s blue, they were Santos’ green.

Walking up to the stadium, Wizard’s fans were hard to find. A green mass covered the parking lot like algae on the Chinese sea before the Olympics. As we navigated through the crowd to the Cauldron bleachers behind the West goal a glorious vision laid itself out.

Instead of one section of the stadium standing, the whole stadium was on its feet. Wizard’s fans were minorities in their own stadium. Out of the 10,300 that fit into CommunityAmerica ballpark, at least 8,000 were Santos Laguna fans.

CommunityAmerica Transformed

Together we transformed the normal somewhat subdued atmosphere into something loud, spirited, and spiritual. The small mass of Blue in the Cauldron battled the larger Santos crowd. Together a roar emitted from CommunityAmerica that has never been heard before.

Sunday, the Wizard’s faltered. Jimmy Conrad picked up an injury in the 45th minute, effectively leaving a gaping hole in defense that his replacement, McKenzie, just could not fill. Santos took full advantage of the counter and despite good chances by the Wizard’s scored the first goal.

As I stood silent, I looked around me at the crowd, loud cheering, green, standing, happy. They had come together from all over Kansas for a taste of home. To see Santos Laguna run. To love the colors. To move away from rumors, telephone conversations, gossip, radio, and TV. A chance to see your home team after years in the flat fields of Kansas.

From Anger to Laughter

As the game moved on, Santos scored again rousing the crowd into ecstasy. The Wizard’s threw hope into the crowd when Lopez stroked an incredible free kick that floated into the goal.

My anger and frustration at the Wizard’s sloppy play made me yell and scream. It made me sit down and hold my head in my hands. It made me chant and sing.

Then Santos Laguna showed their speed and killed off the game on a lightning fast counter attack. All of a sudden our hopes were gone and my mood shifted from anger to laughter. I threw back my head and laughed. The Wizard’s had lost: we were destroyed, Santos had won, but my anger faded away.

Now was the time to enjoy the incredible atmosphere.

As the Santos Laguna crowd danced and sang, I smiled.