Man in China supposedly beaten up over David Beckham haircut

If you're planning on traveling to China with a David Beckham-esque haircut, please use caution.

According to China Daily, a man from the Tongzhou district was beaten up multiple times by a group of men who were angered by his David Beckham "mohican-style" haircut.

The man with the Beckham haircut (here's Beckham's current style) claims he was beaten up by five men with a "stick and an empty beer bottle" after he refused to call his friends so that they could have a gang fight.

The man was then taken to a river and beaten up a second time after the gang saw him trying to hail a taxi to go for medical attention. The local prosecutor says the gang dunked his head in the river in an effort to ruin his hairstyle.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the attack and could face up to five years in prison.

I know what you're thinking -- what the heck is this all about? Does anyone know if Beckham is considered some sort of sporting hero in China who cannot be mimicked in any way? Or were these guys upset someone was trying to go for a hip, metrosexual look that Beckham has helped make popular in certain corners of the world? Ideas?

-- Austin Knoblauch

Photo: David Beckham. Credit: Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images

Galaxy's Landon Donovan is named MLS most valuable player

Galaxy and U.S. national team forward Landon Donovan today was named Major League Soccer's most valuable player for 2009.

Donovan finished ahead of New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph and FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham to win the award for the first time. He is the second Galaxy player to take the honor; Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz won it in 2002.

A nine-year veteran of MLS, Donovan won league championships with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 and 2003 and with the Galaxy in 2005. On Sunday, he will seek a fourth title when the Galaxy plays Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final in Seattle (5:30 Pacific, ESPN and Galavision).

Last year, Donovan finished as the top scorer in MLS with 20 goals. This season, he led the Galaxy with 12 goals and six assists in 25 games.

Thursday's award was Donovan's second in as many days. On Wednesday, his left-foot volley against the Revolution during a 2-1 victory on Aug. 8 was selected as the league's goal of the year. It was judged to be the best of the 571 goals scored in the 2009 regular season.

The Galaxy has received two other league-wide awards this year, with Coach Bruce Arena being voted MLS coach of the year and defender Omar Gonzalez chosen as rookie of the year.

The full list of MLS most valuable players:

Former Chivas USA Coach Preki to coach Toronto FC

Preki, the only player to be twice named Major League Soccer's most valuable player and to twice win the league scoring title, today was named coach of Toronto FC.

The move reunites the former Chivas USA mentor with Mo Johnston, Toronto's director of soccer. Preki and Johnston played together with the Kansas City Wizards and, before that, for Everton in the English Premier League.

Preki, 46, spent three years as coach of Chivas USA, taking the team to the MLS playoffs each season but failing to advance beyond the first round. He and the team parted company "by mutual agreement" last week.

"Preki has everything we are looking for, and we feel he will be a perfect fit with our club," Johnston said. "I think as a coach he is going to bring stability, discipline and his work ethic."

Preki has a 40-29-21 regular-season record as an MLS coach and an 0-3-3 mark in the playoffs. He was named the league's coach of the year in 2007. He signed a three-year contract with Toronto, financial details of which were not announced.

Swedish media blasts Swedish referees over Thierry Henry debacle

It wasn't French striker Thierry Henry who was at fault for cheating, it was Swedish referee Martin Hansson and his two Swedish assistants who were to blame for not spotting the infraction.

So says one of Sweden's top newspapers, Aftonbladet, which said Ireland has every right to be furious with the match officials who on Wednesday failed to see Henry's handball foul that set up the goal that clinched France's place in the 2010 World Cup.

"There are approximately 80 million Irishmen around the world," one Aftonbladet columnist wrote. "We guarantee they all feel pretty bad today.

"But I sincerely hope there are three Swedes who feel even worse. They are Martin Hansson, Stefan Wittberg and Fredrik Nilsson. 

"There will be no World Cup for Ireland, and I assume that Team Hansson has also forfeited its right to continue to take charge of major international matches. Anything else would be a further insult to the Irish nation."

Meanwhile, Ireland's soccer federation today appealed to FIFA to have the game replayed, but the request was likely to fall on deaf ears.

Having achieved its aim, through fair means or foul, FIFA is not going to reverse course and open the door for France to be kicked out of the World Cup.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Related: Thierry Henry's violation gets a thumbs-down in Europe

Photo: Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given, left, argues with referee Martin Hansson after France scores a goal during a World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday. Credit: Francois Mori / Associated Press

Thierry Henry handball video [UPDATED]

The French are in and the Irish are out.

That is the plain and simple fact of the matter.

But did France in the person of Thierry Henry cheat its way into the World Cup in South Africa next year? That's a question that will be debated long and loud in the wake of Henry's apparent deliberate handling of the ball before William Gallas' goal secured the French their ticket to the tournament at Ireland's expense.

This is what the goal looked like. I have viewed it a half-dozen times or more and still cannot make up my mind. Did Henry touch the ball or was his hand merely in its vicinity? If he did handle it, the goal should have been nullified by Swedish referee Martin Hansson (kind of an ironic name, incidentally--Hands On).

The Irish fans in Paris chanted "cheat, cheat" at Henry. The goal will stand. There is no appeal process. If FIFA has any doubts about the call, or non-call, it will be reflected in Hansson's not being called up to officiate at the World Cup. That will not placate the Irish, but there isn't much else to be done.

[UPDATED, 10:33 a.m.: FIFA announced today it is looking into Ireland's formal request for a replay.]

Diego Maradona got away with it in 1986, in much more blatant circumstances. Henry, if he did cheat, did it much more quickly and subtly than the Argentine.

You make the call, and let us know. Did Henry handle the ball or not? Is Irish rage justified?

-- Grahame L. Jones

RELATED STORY

Thierry Henry admits he cheated; how should he be punished?

Do you have a Facebook page? Become a fan of the Times' Sports Facebook page and get World Cup news and other sports news delivered to your Facebook page.

Thursday's poll: What should FIFA do about the Thierry Henry handball violation?

There have been several ideas among the hundreds of comments we have received on Thierry Henry's obvious handball in the France-Ireland World Cup qualifier. We have taken the best six ideas for punishment, and put them in this poll. So, what should FIFA do? Vote now and let your voice be heard, then leave a comment letting us know why you voted the way you did.

-- Houston Mitchell

RELATED STORY

France cheats its way to World Cup bid.

How should Thierry Henry be punished after admitting handball foul?

So, in these days of permissiveness on and off the soccer field, what is to be done with Thierry Henry?

The French striker admitted after France's 1-1 tie with Ireland in Paris that he had intentionally handled the ball on the play that brought about William Gallas' game-tying goal for France and put Les Bleus into the 2010 World Cup.

"I will be honest, it was a handball," Henry said. "But I am not the referee."

I will be honest too. The guillotine is a fearsome thing, but much as the Irish would like to employ it, it's not going to happen. If Swedish referee Martin Hansson and his assistants did not see or call the foul, how can FIFA act after the fact to punish Henry?

Should he be suspended for a game or two? Should he be banished from the entire tournament in South Africa? Should he be denied entry to Ireland for the foreseeable future? Should he be made to play in Major League Soccer next year?

It's tough to come up with a sanction that fits. After all, look at Argentina's Diego Maradona, another famous handball player. He disgraced himself and his country with his lewd rant at the media after Argentina had qualified and all FIFA gave him was a slap on the wrist, a pathetic and meaningless two-month suspension. So what. Maradona will still be in South Africa, and as a coach no less.

Henry will be there too. All the Irish can hope for is that the French stay is a very short one.

-- Grahame L. Jones

RELATED STORY

France cheats its way to World Cup bid.

2010 World Cup field complete as Uruguay qualifies

The 32 World Cup teams are set and the soccer world now awaits the Dec. 4 draw in Cape Town, South Africa, when the groups will be determined for first-round play starting June 11.

Two-time winner Uruguay clinched the last place in the quadrennial world championship when it tied Costa Rica, 1-1, at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo tonight after defeating the Ticos, 1-0, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Saturday.

Sebastian Abreu put Uruguay in the lead in the 69th minute, only for Walter Centeno to tie it up four minutes later and keep fans of both countries on edge until the final whistle, which came only after an agonizing seven-plus minutes of stoppage time.

With the two-year global qualifying campaign finally at an end -- only two more years before qualifying for Brazil 2014 begins! -- it will be the Costa Rican players and their fans who reflect longest about how close they came.

Costa Rica was literally only seconds away from securing its place when Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein scored the injury time goal for the U.S. that sent Honduras through instead and consigned Costa Rica to a playoff against Uruguay.

The addition of Uruguay to the tournament means that all seven previous winners are in the field: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay.

The best thing about Uruguay qualifying? South Africans, whose own national team can't buy a goal, get to see what a real striker looks like in the shape of Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Did Thierry Henry (handball) cheat France into the World Cup?

The French are in and the Irish are out.

That is the plain and simple fact of the matter.

But did France in the person of Thierry Henry cheat its way into the World Cup in South Africa next year? That's a question that will be debated long and loud in the wake of Henry's apparent deliberate handling of the ball before William Gallas' goal secured the French their ticket to the tournament at Ireland's expense.

This is what the goal looked like. I have viewed it a half-dozen times or more and still cannot make up my mind. Did Henry touch the ball or was his hand merely in its vicinity? If he did handle it, the goal should have been nullified by Swedish referee Martin Hansson (kind of an ironic name, incidentally--Hands On).

The Irish fans in Paris chanted "cheat, cheat" at Henry. The goal will stand. There is no appeal process. If FIFA has any doubts about the call, or non-call, it will be reflected in Hansson's not being called up to officiate at the World Cup. That will not placate the Irish, but there isn't much else to be done.

Diego Maradona got away with it in 1986, in much more blatant circumstances. Henry, if he did cheat, did it much more quickly and subtly than the Argentine.

You make the call, and let us know. Did Henry handle the ball or not? Is Irish rage justified?

-- Grahame L. Jones

RELATED STORY

Thierry Henry admits he cheated; how should he be punished?

Do you have a Facebook page? Become a fan of the Times' Sports Facebook page and get World Cup news and other sports news delivered to your Facebook page.

Overtime goal against Ireland puts France in 2010 World Cup

France, which won the 1998 World Cup as host and lost the 2006 final to Italy on penalty kicks in Germany, today was taken to overtime by Ireland in Paris but eventually managed a 1-1 tie that secured the French their ticket to South Africa.

A goal by veteran William Gallas in the 104th minute canceled out a 33rd-minute goal by Ireland's Robbie Keane and gave Les Bleus a 2-1 aggregate victory over two games.

Coach Raymond Domenech's team had beaten the Irish, 1-0, in Dublin on Saturday on a goal by Nicolas Anelka that deflected into the net off defender Sean St. Ledger.

France became the 31st team to reach next year's 32-nation tournament, with only the Uruguay-Costa Rica playoff series yet to be decided. That game is later this afternoon in Montevideo, Uruguay, with the South Americans holding a 1-0 advantage after the first match in San Jose, Costa Rica. Check back here for the final result.

In all today, Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and France have qualified for the World Cup. See earlier posts.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Related story

Did France cheat its way into the World Cup?

Photo: France's William Gallas, right, is congratulated by teammates Alou Diarra, center, and Bacary Sagna after scoring against Ireland on Wednesday. Credit: Laurent Rebours / Associated Press