How many players would be able to say they’ve won football league titles in 3 different countries?

David Beckham celebrates with LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan.

After taking trophies in England and Spain, that’s the task of David Beckham come Sunday, when the Los Angeles Galaxy face Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup Final.

It’s on ESPN at 830 pm ET here in the United States – and get this – it’s also on live at 1.30 am local in London – on the UK version of ESPN. Anyone staying up to support your native son? In fact, our friends at Major League Soccer tell us the match is being broadcast in 122 countries around the globe.  

I’m not going to carry on here about the Beckham Experiment, the troubles with Landon Donovan and the Galaxy fans.

With the boos ringing loud, Beckham came back to a good Galaxy team, and made them better.  Before Becks – six wins, 3 draws, 2 losses. With Becks – six wins, 3 draws, 2 losses, first place in the Western Conference, surviving the knockout round playoffs for a berth in US soccer’s biggest match.

So we can validate what Becks means to the LA Galaxy. But has he raised the profile of US Soccer?  I think so, but I’m too close to it, and I need your help. Please sound off below.

Here’s what we know: Major League Soccer has set a new record for attendance during these 2009 Playoffs matches. One of the highest TV ratings ever for Major League Soccer was last Friday’s Galaxy v Dynamo match from Los Angeles, even though it kicked off at 1130 pm East Coast time. When the Galaxy hosted Barcelona this summer, the crowd was the biggest at any soccer match globally since the 1994 World Cup.

My own barometer? An increasing amount of people from all walks of life here in the CNN Center were getting excited about “World Cup Wednesday” and dialing us to tell where they might be able to keep an eye on the matches while at work. I can feel the increased interest in soccer in my immediate proximity. Can I pin it all on Beckham? No, but my feeling is that his presence has only helped grow the sport here, not hurt it.

Let’s look at what Sunday’s MLS Cup Final will be up against on American TV.  Oh no, the NFL! American football, especially the National Football League, is a ratings monster, all but devouring everything in its path. And it’s Philadelphia at Chicago (at 8pm ET), two major markets.  Can Beckham make a dent? I hope so.

Throw-ins:

Has anyone played more football in 2009 than David Beckham? 18 for Milan, about to be 17 for the Galaxy, and seven for England.

Any irony, maybe irony isn’t the right word – to the fact the Galaxy are facing “REAL” Salt Lake, a name based on Beckham’s former team in Spain?

The match will be played on an artificial pitch in at Seattle’s Quest Stadium, the first MLS Cup final to not be contested on real grass. (Real Salt Lake has never won away from home on an artificial pitch in 11 tries.)

Prediction: Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 1

When all the dust has settled on Le Handball debate, what will we have learned from this debacle? Well, first and foremost it’s been confirmed that FIFA is unwilling to see their rules as an organic set of conventions.

Henry may have apologized but Ireland will not be going to the World Cup finals.

The decision not to replay the France/Ireland play-off was, of course, widely anticipated, as FIFA is a bureaucratic body renowned for following the letter of its laws even if that seemingly goes against their ethos of 'fair play.'

To order a re-match would have been a watershed moment in world football, and FIFA does not willingly change the status quo.

A human reaction to the public clamor for a replay would have been totally out of character, and I doubt there’s one person in football who expected the sport’s governing body to right the injustice that so many around the world witnessed.

So, what else have we learned? Well, we now know that Thierry Henry, for all his talents, is not the icon he was considered when he played for Arsenal.

Not because he committed the handball, but because he celebrated the goal by Gallas so fervently without a hint of guilt, even though he knew it wasn’t legitimate.

To admit to handling the ball after the fact and then absolve himself of blame by putting the responsibility on the ref, smacks of a man without honor.

And what of the ref? Well, surprisingly I can sympathize with Martin Hansson and his assistants.

In the dying moments of a tense battle they blew the vital call. But I’m not a conspiracy theorist, so I genuinely believe it was an honest error. Granted, as the Swedish press wrote, it’s probably “the worst refereeing mistake in 20 years”, but I feel sure he didn’t make it with bad intention.

However, what his howler demonstrates once and for all is that football needs a safety net, or possibly two.

The experiment with 5 officials at the Under-17 World Cup and in the Europa League must surely be adopted throughout the game. Everything else in football is decided by large committees, why not the thing that matters most - what happens on the pitch.

I also think the use of instant video replays is now essential. Other sports, like rugby, tennis, and American football utilize technology. FIFA and every other governing body in the game has embraced television for financial gain, so why not use the cameras to help preserve the sport’s integrity?

Of course, all this will not put Ireland on the plane to South Africa next summer. But like the Bosman incident that revolutionized football transfers in the 1990’s, some good could result from the bad. I wonder if FIFA will change?

Believe me when I say that I feel sorry for Ireland and I think it's scandalous they were prevented from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup by a goal which was scored after such a blatant handball. However, FIFA rules state and have always stated that the referee decisions are final. There was never a chance of a replay.

A dejected Irish player reacts to his team's loss to France.

Before I explain why Ireland's argument is misdirected, I will answer the question you are probably asking in your mind. What about the World Cup Qualifier in 2005 between Bahrain and Uzbekistan? That was replayed!

Yes it was, but for different reasons. The referee at the time made a crucial technical error which concerned the laws of the game. Instead of ordering a penalty to be retaken following encroachment in the area, he gave the opposing team a free kick. Therefore the rules had been compromised. This time they weren't. It was a judgment error on the part of the officiating crew.

So, onto the barking and the wrong tree. Ireland should use this opportunity to call for union between football federations around the world in a call for technology in football. This is a perfect time to have one voice in favor of using video replays. At a time when fans around the world have the chance to see every play from 10 different angles, it seems silly that the only man who doesn't have this benefit is the referee.

To their credit, UEFA have started experimenting with five referees, but even they have already made basic mistakes. At a recent Europa League match between Fulham and Roma, they sent off the wrong player after a foul in the area.

So Ireland, take this one on the chin, and take one for the team. You're not going to get a replay, so re-direct your energy towards uniting football federations to change the way the game is played. Is it fair? No. But focus your attention on a battle for a clearer and brighter future in football.

An unpleasant whiff of injustice is polluting the air for football followers across the globe. France are through to the World Cup but only after a blatant handball from Thierry Henry.

Henry: I will be honest. It was a handball. AFP/Getty Images

Although they are celebrating qualification Les Bleus look distinctly red-faced.

If you haven’t seen the controversial goal in question it shouldn’t take you long to find. Thousands have watched it online – many leaving outraged comments, believing that Henry handled the ball to stop it going out of play.

Without that illegal act there was no way he would have been able to set up William Gallas’ winning goal. And there is no debate over his guilt, because the Barcelona star has admitted as much.

“I will be honest. It was a handball,” he confessed afterwards. However, he insists it was up to the referee to spot the incident not for him to own up.

I agree it would have been an astonishing act of sportsmanship if Henry had rushed up to the match official to tell him the truth. There was so much at stake. A World Cup without France, the champions as recently as 1998, would have been unthinkable. And if the goal was ruled out because Henry intervened he would have been vilified in his home country.

Instead, he has become a villain for football fans everywhere else. There is a real danger that Henry’s reputation will be dented. The former Arsenal man is a skilful, speedy striker, graceful and so clean-cut that razor company Gillette use him to promote their brand globally, alongside stars like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.

However, before we rush to sign the sporting obituary of this enchanting and genial performer we need to bear two things in mind.

First, Ireland’s manager Giovanni Trappatoni, given the chance to blame Henry, instead pointed the finger at the referee for missing the incident.

Second, even if the goal had been disallowed, the Republic would not necessarily have qualified for the World Cup finals. There were still 17 minutes of extra time to be played and then the tie would have gone to a penalty shoot-out, with no guarantee that Ireland would have come out on top.

Ultimately, Le Hand of God will again call into question FIFA’s refusal to use television replays to assist the referee during a game.

Within seconds of France’s "goal," replays showed the truth to viewers around the world. When will football’s governing body see what is staring the rest of us in the face?

The apparent suicide of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke is a stark reminder that top footballers aren’t immune from the slings and arrows that life throws our way.

We are mourning Robert Enke - Hannover 96's website has been removed of regular content.

In an age when European soccer has never been richer and the rewards for the best players have never been higher it’s easy to envy the game’s stars. Many of them earn more in a week than you or I get paid in a year, simply because they have been born with an exceptional, physical talent.

It’s not easy to empathise with people who are cheered by tens of thousands of fans every week, who travel all over the world at someone else’s expense and who can afford to buy almost anything – houses, jewellery, cars – without thinking twice.

International footballers have lifestyles we can only dream of but that doesn’t mean their lives aren’t a nightmare.

Football may only be a game but, like all professional sport, it is also big business and the pressure to achieve results is huge. Of all the players on the pitch, none is more exposed than the man guarding the net.

As England goalkeeper David James wrote, in the Guardian newspaper earlier this year, “Whereas an outfield player can risk a bad pass and expect to be covered, a goalkeeper has no margin for error. It makes us pretty pedantic and intense at times.”

Tellingly, he goes on to say, “Keepers are guarded and we become more so as we get older.”

Goalkeepers have always been viewed as independent, aloof, a bit quirky even. They pride themselves on being the rock on which a successful team can be built while running the risk that they’ll become the shaky foundations of a bad side.

Robert Enke was a good goalkeeper. He was tipped to be Germany’s number one at next year’s World Cup. After spells with clubs as famous as Barcelona and Benfica, he was playing for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 and his form had attracted interest from the mighty Bayern Munich.

But Enke’s excellence on the field couldn’t protect him from life’s vagaries off it. His two-year-old daughter died three years ago from a heart illness and his wife has admitted the player was suffering from depression. They adopted a baby girl in May and it’s thought Enke was concerned she would be taken away if the authorities learnt about his condition.

If that doesn’t seem an insurmountable problem maybe it simply underlines that Robert Enke’s death is as tragic and mystifying as anyone else’s suicide.

Footballers may be rich and privileged but, in the end, they have no special immunity against the reality of life.

Any thoughts we may have had that Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson might just be a little more conciliatory after a recent brush with English football’s hierarchy over criticism of referees have very quickly proved to be misguided.

Ferguson still makes sure not to pull any punches when dealing with the football authorities.

Just minutes after his team’s thrilling Champions League draw with Russia’s CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, the fiery Scot was at it again only this time I have to say he was well justified in his viewpoint.

Fergie, lamenting the fact his men were denied a blatant penalty for a foul on midfielder Darren Fletcher, told post- match reporters that he simply couldn’t believe the decision, describing it as “one of the worst I’ve seen in my lifetime”.

Now how’s that for damping things down!

But for me this latest spat only goes to prove the veteran coach’s appetite for the game is as fervent as ever.

Sir Bobby's advice

The footballing community recently witnessed an emotional farewell to another legendary manager, Sir Bobby Robson.

They came from far and wide to pay tribute to a man who's left an indelible mark on the game he loved. Among those gathered was another of the game's true giants and another "Sir" to boot. That man Ferguson!

There was nothing especially noteworthy about the fact the Scot was at that memorial service in the north- east of England in late September. After all, the great and the good of the football world were all pretty much in attendance. It was more really the little snippet of information Fergie let slip while there that intrigued me.

Remember when he was originally due to retire back in 2001 two seasons after delivering United's first European cup title since 1968? Contrary to popular belief that it may have been his wife Cathy who talked him out of it, the United chief revealed it was in fact Sir Bobby who had a major bearing on his decision. The former England head coach made it quite clear he felt Ferguson was leaving the game far too early.

Once that opinion had been registered, the Scot needed no further reflections. And, as they say, the rest is history. Eight seasons on and one of the sport's most successful managers is still going strong. And how!

Since 1986 he has ruled the roost at Old Trafford, and it's quite clear the passion still burns as brightly as ever. Just witness those frantic last-gasp celebrations when a jubilant Fergie punched the air with glee as United scored the game-winner against a shell-shocked Manchester City recently, scenes hardly in keeping with someone who's not a million miles away from his 70th birthday!

I recall going into the match Sir Alex somewhat demeaningly said that his club's "true" derby was against Liverpool. That's the clash most fans truly relish he added. While there's doubtless plenty of truth to that, judging by the way he danced a jig of joy on the pitch, the fiery Scotsman still keeps plenty in reserve for victories over Mark Hughes' money- laden City.

I personally thought Ferguson would have been strongly tempted to call it quits had his team beaten Barcelona in last season's European Cup final in Italy's magnificent capital city Rome. Indeed, I'm sure he's privately well aware that had his men scored in those opening ten minutes which they dominated, they would surely have gone on to victory against the Catalans.

As it turned out, Barca re-grouped and went on to take control before winning fairly comfortably and that's just one reason I feel the United manager will be around for some time to come. I've got a sneaking feeling, Sir Bobby would have it no other way!

Arsenal are flying. They haven’t lost since early September – a run of eleven matches – and if they win their game in hand Arsene Wenger’s side will be second in England’s Premier League.

Wenger's Arsenal have started the season brightly but doubts persist over the Gunners' long term prospects.

However, even admirers of the Arsenal manager – and I count myself among them – can’t shake a nagging concern.

Is Arsene Wenger’s obsession with beautiful football masking an ugly neglect for winning titles?

I know. I know. That sounds like one of Carrie’s diary entries from “Sex & The City” but you don’t have to be an Arsenal fan to have a crush on Wenger’s young Gunners. Their silky skills and pretty passing can set pulses racing and hearts fluttering.

But the coach who once talked about the metaphorical “prettiest wife at home” must know the best romances are marked with permanent reminders. After four trophy-less seasons, the Arsenal groupies want something to show for their courtship.

In an exclusive interview for CNN, Wenger told me that it was the intelligence of his players which made him confident Arsenal can win the Premier League. He said, “I believe that we have a fair and true chance.”

However, the biggest strengths of his team – its youthful exuberance and technical ability – is also its biggest weakness. The average age of Arsenal’s squad is 23.3, more than a year younger than any other in the Premier League and more than five years younger than the oldest squads. But how often does the youngest squad top the table?

Arsenal’s youth system has been prolific in recent seasons but Wenger has been forced to trust it because the club want to pay off the debt from their new stadium before they splash out on star names.

They have signed experienced players. Andrei Arshavin and Thomas Vermaelen both look like good signings and neither were particularly cheap. But over the same period Wenger sold Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.

In the five years up to the end of the 2007/8 season, Arsenal’s net spending (transfer money spent minus transfer money received) was $60 million versus $730 million by Chelsea, $208 million by Liverpool and $157 million by Manchester United.[1]

Those figures prove there is an element of genius about Wenger’s work. He is a master at delivering a lot for very little. Surely, though, now is the time for Arsenal to win a major competition instead of merely illuminating it with their brilliant brand of football.

The longer the wait for another trophy goes on, the stronger the argument that Arsenal’s professor is more of a mad scientist.

To spit or not to spit. That is the question in the Premier League right now, where the appearance of swine flu among the players and staff of Blackburn, Manchester City, and Bolton, and the potential for spreading the H1N1 virus by gobbing on the pitch during games has Britain’s Health Protection agency salivating with rage.

Masked Paris Saint-Germain players head home after an inter-squad outbreak of swine flu causes their game with Marseille to be postponed.

“Spitting is disgusting at all times.” said an HPA spokesman. “Footballers, like the rest of us, wouldn't spit indoors so they shouldn't do it on the football pitch."

A keen observation indeed. I can’t remember the last time I hawked up on the carpet. But then the most physical activity I resort to in the living room is reaching for the nachos while I’m watching a game, so the demand to expectorate (the technical term for spitting), is not really there.

When I played the game I spat though. We all did. It was the natural reaction to a lung-busting surge up the wing, a 40-yard track back for a last ditch tackle or a dodgy decision by the ref (you could spit in dissent in my heyday without getting a yellow card because yellow cards hadn’t been invented). Better out than in, that was the motto back then, and we thought no more of spreading disease via a loogey than we did of Chelsea winning the league title - it just wasn’t going to happen.

But, of course, times have changed. Chelsea now have a couple of Premiership crowns in the cabinet, and the fluid nature of the game is giving the medics cause for concern. Never mind that managers such as Mark Hughes of Manchester City have dismissed the threat posed to footballers from the virus as trivial due to their heightened level of fitness. No matter that Chelsea boss Carlo Ancellotti appears to believe that hot milk and red wine are an adequate substitute for the H1N1 vaccine. The fact remains that those with even greater medical knowledge than Sparky and the Italian bon vivant are adamant - phlegm kills, or at least can make you very sick.

Of course, that’s no laughing matter. So what is the EPL going to do about it? Well, they can discourage spitting, but they can’t really make it an offence because it’s so ubiquitous in football that you’d end up with 22 yellow and red cards every game ... or maybe they ought to introduce a green card!

They could postpone matches involving clubs where swine flu has been diagnosed, but they’ve already said they won’t do that (a measure derided as "irresponsible" by Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce.)

They could make players wear masks, (which sounded silly until I saw Mario Balotelli of Inter Milan playing with what looked like a scarf round his neck, at which point I realized anything goes.)

In fact, I’m sure greater minds than mine could come up with a myriad of measures to reduce the risks. But, in the end, a lot of it will surely come down to luck. Because, despite its air of invincibility, football is as powerless as the rest of us to halt the spread of the virus. So I ask you - will a few gobs of spit make a significant difference?

Most football fans in the UK don't rate Emmanuel Adebayor as a person.
Many consider the Togolese striker to be a mercenary who signed for Manchester City just for the money.

Adebayor is challenged by former team-mate Alexandre Song.

His actions in a recent Premier League game against his former employers did not do him any favors either.

Adebayor provoked Arsenal fans by effusively celebrating a goal scored against them, and also kicked out at Robin Van Persie, later receiving a three-match ban.

Now as we know and should never forget, there are always two sides of the story. I had a chance to hear Emmanuel's version of events last week during an interview in Manchester.

The first impression I got was that he was genuinely hurt by the way Arsenal treated him in the summer.

When Arsene Wenger told him he wouldn't play this season and that the club had agreed to sell him to Manchester City, initially he didn't want to leave.

He felt unwanted and under-appreciated. Following a couple of meetings with City representatives Adebayor was eventually persuaded that the club had high ambitions and that he would be a big part of them.

That is when he agreed to go. Not for the money, but because he felt wanted.

As far as the game with Arsenal is concerned, Emmanuel told me about how Arsenal players did not want to shake his hand in the tunnel and how their fans sang about his family.

How they insulted his mother and father, the people that always meant everything to him. He regretted his goal celebration, but said it was the only way he had to reply to the supporters.

He also apologized to Van Persie and wishes he had never kicked out at his former teammate.

Adebayor knows he made mistakes. He just wants a second chance. Every person deserves that.

The fact that Manchester United boss, Alex Ferguson is being brought to book over his comments on Premier League referee, Alan Wiley, will be seen as justice by many in England.

Ferguson is facing a touchline ban after his comments about Alan Wiley.

Fergie, for all his great qualities as a coach, is a serial baiter of officials and may be due his come-uppance.

However, while I agree that launching a public attack on a referee’s fitness was probably not the way to go, I can’t help but baulk at the notion that referees are untouchable.

Look at the facts, players, managers, coaches, chairman, directors, FIFA, UEFA, and every domestic governing body in the game are all subject to public scrutiny and questioning by the media every day of the week.

What’s more, the criticism is often personal, sometimes descends into ridicule, and, occasionally smacks of a witch hunt. Yet these people are expected to take it all with a pinch of salt.

But criticize a referee, and it’s a whole different ball game. Now don’t get me wrong. I think the match officials have an incredibly tough job, and the “Respect Campaign” introduced last year was a good and necessary thing in order to stop ref’s being bullied by players and managers.

But while I think a referee’s authority should not be undermined, I don’t think they should be considered infallible.

Almost every game you see contains mistakes, and there should be some legitimate system by which the teams involved can voice their criticism, because even one wrong decision can cost a club dearly in terms of cash and lost trophies.

Furthermore, when a referee has a calamitous game or is consistently bad, the public response of the various refereeing bodies often appears to be a shrug of the shoulders. Why? There are referees associations. There are assessors at every match. If questions are being asked about an individual’s performance and if punishments are being meted-out, why can’t we know about them?

Accountability and transparency is expected in all other areas of football, so why not in the referees fraternity? After all, as Fergie might argue, - respect should work both ways.