Sounders, United close out MLS' pre-World Cup schedule

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06/09/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United travels to Seattle to take on the Sounders FC on Thursday night to close out Major League Soccer's pre-World Cup schedule.

Both teams are coming off positive results, but are looking forward to the extended World Cup break to work through early season struggles.

The Sounders (4-5-3) topped the New England Revolution in dominating fashion this past weekend to snap a two-game losing streak. They are hoping their raucous home crowd will benefit them again against a struggling Eastern opponent.

"We played good attacking soccer, which we always want to do," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid told mlssoccer.com after the win over New England. "We want to be an entertaining team. We're able to win at home and now it's a matter of continuing to refine what we're doing, getting to know each other better in this system of play and even finishing off more opportunities. It was nice to break out and get three goals."

Those three goals were more than his team had scored in its previous six games combined.

"We put a lot on our plate with these last two games at home, we've got D.C. coming in on Thursday we wanted to get our record to .500 before we go on the break," Schmid said. "We want to make this a tough place for teams to play, I think we made it that way [vs. New England] so it does a lot for our spirit, it does a lot for our confidence, it just does an awful lot for the morale and it was good to win and score some fine goals."

United (2-8-1) is coming off more of a moral victory, holding defending MLS Cup champions Real Salt lake to a scoreless draw at home this weekend. The draw put the team on a two game unbeaten run for the first time this season.

"It was our first shutout of the year," United coach Curt Onalfo said. "We defended and limited them to very few chances. And they're a good team. They're the defending MLS Cup champions. We had some clear chances that you just have to put in the back of the net. But our guys persevered and made sure we didn't let anything happen at the other end. We're making good progress and we're going to build on it. It's all we can do. If we can play that way, the way we've been over the last five games or so, we're going to get points. We just have to stay positive, stay the course, and keep improving. We've got to lick our wounds a little bit and get ourselves ready for Seattle on Thursday.

United have a lot of wounds to lick, with midfielder Brandon Barklage and defenders Marc Burch, Bryan Namoff, Juan Manuel Pena, Carey Talley and Rodney Wallace all out with injuries. Also, midfielder Christian Castillo is not expected to be available with a hamstring injury.

Seattle will be without Nate Jaqua, midfielder Michael Fucito and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, while midfielders Osvaldo Alonso and Peter Vagenas are doubtful with injuries.

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A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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