Columbus Crew win MLS Cup 2008

The Columbus Crew won their first ever MLS Cup by beating the New York Red Bulls 3-1 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Guillermo Barros Schelotto had three assists to his name- a record for a MLS Cup final. Schelotto, also became the third player after Tony Meola (2000) and Carlos Ruiz (2002) to win the MVP award in both the regular season and the MLS Cup in the same year. It was a sweet return to the Home Center for Crew boss Sigi Schmid, who had been sacked as Galaxy coach in August 2004. Crew are also the first winners of the newly designed Philip F.Anshcutz Trophy.

Columbus Crew are the first winners of the Philip F. Anschutz trophy
Columbus Crew are the first winners of the Philip F. Anschutz trophy

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Markus Babbel succeeds Armin Veh as Stuttgart manager

German side VFB Stuttgart have appointed former Bayern Munich and Liverpool defender Markus Babbel as their new manager after parting ways with Armin Veh. Veh and his assistant Alfons Higl were shown the door after Stuttgart were soundly beaten 4-1 by Felix Magaath’s Wolfsburg on Saturday. Stuttgart lie in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table, and are currently thirteen points behind league leaders TSG Hoffenheim.

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Schalke 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach

Two first half goals from Halil Altintop allowed Schalke to beat neighbours Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 at the Veltins Arena on Saturday. The win ends Schalke’s two game losing streak and comes at an important time, just before their European clash against Manchester City on Thursday.

Altintop opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute, sending a right footed shot into the bottom left corner of Gladbach keeper Uwe Gospodarek. Five minutes later, Tobias Levels fouled Jefferson Farfan in the box, and the Peruvian international duly converted the resulting penalty to put the Royal Blues 2-0 ahead. Rob Friend reduced the margin for Gladbach on 30 minutes, but Altintop added one more on the stroke of half time to put Schalke into a comfortable 3-1 lead.

Gladbach had drawn with Bayern Munich last week.

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