The UEFA believes that the salary cap will help lesser financially able clubs stay competitive against other clubs who can afford to pay for the big players. The decision to enforce the salary restrictions are still in the process of being debated but it has been a hot topic after the recent acquisition of $300 million in new contracts payed to players for Real Madrid.

There is no doubt that bigger bucks means better players. Better players on the other hand do not guarantee a better team. Look at the LA Galaxy for example. Despite paying David Beckham a then record salary, the LA Galaxy have yet to win any MLS Cup.

On the other hand keeping players wages to a minimum might help rebuild soccer clubs throughout the world.

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Real Madrid's Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo (L) vies with DC United's Chris Pontius (2nd L), Christian Gomez (2nd R) and Ben Olsen (R) during a friendly match on August 9, 2009 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, as part of Real's pre-season tour of Canada and the US.

72,368 fans made it to the FedEx Fields in Washington DC Sunday night to catch a glimpse at Real Madrid’s MLS tour. They played Toronto FC which ended in a 5-1 attack. After realizing what the typical MLS teams were up against it wasn’t surprising that they won last nights game with Washington. What was surprising was that they were able to fend them off for the first half of the game.

Though last nights game ended in a 3-0 shutout (excuse my hockey lingo) it was still great to see a great MLS player like Josh Wicks find out what he’s made of. And at the end of the day that’s what this friendly Real Madrid tour is all about. Playing against the best to see what you are capable of.

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I have been getting slack from a few TheFootie readers who dislike the fact that I continue to use the word soccer. While the rest of the world say football, us fans of the game are forced to say soccer because the word football is already taken.

Toronto FC vs Real Salt Lake

We can’t change that fact overnight. If I were to say football all the time people would be confused as to which sport I am referring too. Not to mention the confusions of other readers of EveryJoe.com, TheFootie’s parent blog.

What I am trying to say is that yes I realize the sport is called football but unless everyone else in your community use the term it cannot be used to identify the sport. Let’s also not forget that soccer and football/rugby were essentially the same sport when in the 1800’s two groups couldn’t agree on a specific set of rules. Some believed that only the feet should be used while others believed that a combination of hands and feet are allowed. Rugby of course then evolved into American Football.

If you want to get technical then we should call soccer cuju as it was originally called in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. or call it ‘kick the can’ as it was played in England.

It isn’t important what we call the sport so long as it is played internationally by the same set of rules. It should be a way of uniting the world instead of diving it between the Footballers and the heathen Soccer North Americans.

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Manchester player Carlos Tevez leads the ball during the final of the Champions League between Manchester United and FC Barcelona in the Estadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, 27 May 2009.

He just refused signing a new five year contract with Man. United stating that he would be better appreciated elsewhere. Where does elsewhere mean, well has expressed a desire to remain in England and play for either Chelsea or Manchester City.

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They will be playing at the humble BMO fields located in Toronto. A small stadium compared to the giant one’s they are used to playing at in Milan. It will definitely be a different kind of atmosphere than what AC Milan are used to.

The BMO Fields need to have a little makeover though before they agreed to play there. Most soccer clubs and players for that matter hate the new fake turf that was installed in Toronto. So they will be covering the pitch with temporary grass to appeal to AC Milan. In Toronto’s defense the turf was installed because it promised to be more durable and be the same as playing on real grass. Despite the hype, professional players still seems to prefer the real thing.

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With Real Madrid under new management executives were becoming despirate to aquire a star player to help turn the team around. After going through a cupless season and replacing the head coach something needed to change.

In some interesting bit of news it was reported that Kaka was offered even more money to join Chelsea. About $132 million in fact. But for some reason he decided that he wanted to help out Real Madrid.

At 27, Kaka is one of highest grossing soccer players in theworld. He has been playing with AC Milan since 2003.

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FIFA revealed today that they have earned over $957 million in revenues. After all of the bills were paid $184 million turned out to be pure profits. Executives believe that the earnings show that the world still love soccer and are willing to support their national teams.

Most of the revenue for FIFA was earned through sponsorship programs, brodcasting rights and so forth. FIFA also reports to have claim to over $1.6 billion in assests.

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He’s currently training with England before he makes the trip back to the United states. He promised to return to LA once the season was over with Milan. So he’ll basically have to work harder than most players in the business because he’s seeing two team through to the end of their seasons.

Beckham and AC Milan are still hopeful that he will be able to return to them by the begining of next season if things work out with the LA Galaxy.

It’s too bad that he couldn’t just see his plan through with the MLS and boost soccer’s popularity here. That was the idea wasn’t it?

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It is highly unlikely that team USA will make it past the World Cup qualifying round, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping people from buying tickets anyways. Despite setbacks in the economy 93,300 tickets have been sold to U.S. residents. That is compared to the 450,000 who are expected to flock to South Africa from all over the world. Special rates have been fixed for local residents who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford the tickets.

Not only is the U.S. leading in ticket sales but also in broadcasting rights. Again where is this money coming from? Does ESPN really believe that they will be able to make a profit selling World Cup games to an American audience. Well maybe they know something we don’t.

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Ronaldinho who is probably still one of the best soccer players in the world right now plays second fiddle to other stars with AC Milan like David Beckham. The excuse is that Ronaldinho is getting old and that he is starting to slow down. A soccer players life may be short but Ronaldinho isn’t showing signs of slowing down. At 29 he is hardly old. David beckham forexample is 34 years old and still has a few seasons left in him.

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