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CARSON -- Oswaldo Minda grew into a commanding central midfielder while with Deportivo Quito, where he won three Ecuadoran titles in four years before signing with Chivas USA in December.

His new club, of course, is strongly affiliated with the original Chivas -- Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The Goats are, more or less, under their big brother's umbrella.

So when Deportivo Quito plays Tuesday night at Guadalajara in a Copa Libertadores group opener, who is Minda cheering for?

“Oh, you're putting me on the spot here ...,” he said through a translator. “It's going to be a very dynamic game.

“Quito's bringing in a lot of young players. They're a team that's very dynamic, and this is a group that's been together for four or five seasons. I saw [Guadalajara] play against Morelia [on Saturday]. It's a team that unfortunately has a lot of problems -- they're very young, primarily. As time goes by, they'll bring it back. They'll be all right.”

Guadalajara is struggling -- winless in its first five matches in the Mexican Primera Division's second-half Clausura championship after posting the best regular-season record in the fall Apertura. Deportivo, with Minda, just won the Ecuadoran title, and it's making its fourth straight trip to South America's club championship (and seeking its first knockout-stage berth since 1989).

Minda says he'll be watching (Fox Deportes, 6 p.m.) with Ecuadoran friends, and that he hopes it's “a good show for everybody ... and that the best team wins.”

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David Beckham's proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain is looking iffier and iffier, with the latest reports across the Atlantic claiming he's leaning toward re-signing with the Galaxy.

It's about family, as we always thought it would be, with sources “close to” Beckham telling British tabloid Daily Mail that he is reluctant to relocate his family, which is happily settled in Beverly Hills.

And now there are questions about Paris Saint-Germain's desire to sign the English superstar. French sports daily L'Equipe reports that new PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti would rather bring in Brazilian midfielder Kaká, from Real Madrid, as Leonardo, the club's sporting director, says he's willing to give Beckham more time to consider the offer.

“The question has never been professional but about family. It is a difficult choice to make the whole family move to Paris,” Leonardo said in remarks published by Sky Sports. “We will wait a little. It is a personal choice, and it is not that easy to him. We have some time, and he has some time, too.

"We never stated it has been done. There is no contract. We won't push him -- we respect him a lot. I know him and have an amazing admiration toward him both as a player and as a father. I can understand it is difficult to move. We will leave him in peace.”

Beckham is expected to make a decision after talks with Simon Fuller, whose XIX Entertainment serves as Beckham's agents. His five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Galaxy expired Dec. 31, but L.A. reportedly has offered a rolling one-year contract to replace it. PSG is dangling an 18-month, $18.7 million pact, according to media reports.

KEANE TO VILLA?: Robbie Keane was adamant following the Major League Soccer season that he was not interested in an offseason loan, but there appears to be interest in England to bring him back for a spell.

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Major League Soccer's annual Generation adidas tour of Europe begins Monday, and the 18-man team Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes will guide includes Zarek Valentin, who would still be part of Chivas USA if he were still in the Generation adidas program.

Valentin, 20, who went to Montreal in last week's expansion draft, is one of four players “graduated” last month from the developmental program on the roster for the 10-day trip, which includes games against Ajax Amsterdam's reserve team, FC Volendam and Almere City FC. Vermes played for Volendam in 1990.

The other “graduates” are Columbus midfielder Dilly Duka and Tony Tchani and Philadelphia forward Danny Mwanga.

Garden Grove's Luis Gil (Santiago HS), a rising midfielder with Real Salt Lake, Philadelphia midfielder Amobi Okugo (UCLA) and Seattle defender Michael Tetteh (UC Santa Barbara) are among continuing GA players on the roster.

MLS's decision to “graduate” Valentin from the GA program led the Goats to leave him exposed in the expansion draft, where he was nabbed by Montreal coach Jesse Marsch, a former Chivas captain. Galaxy coach Robin Fraser last week said it “extremely baffling” and said he was “extremely, extremely disappointed” to see Valentin, 20, pulled from the program.

GA players do not count against clubs' salary caps nor roster sizes.

MLS officials have not addressed the reasoning behind the decision despite requests to do so.

The GA roster is bolstered by former GA Kevin Alston, a defender for New England, and three Home Grown Players: New York's Sacir Hot and Matt Kassel and D.C. United's Conor Shanosky.

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A historic weekend has passed in Major League Soccer, with five teens scoring goals -- including two local products.

Garden Grove's Luis Gil, who at 17 has become a real contributor for Real Salt Lake, netted his first MLS goal in the Utahns' 3-0 romp over New York, firing inside the far post for the second goal.

Woodland Hills' Orr Barouch, 19, continued a fine rookie season for the struggling Chicago Fire, scoring his second league goal -- and eighth in all competitions -- in a loss at Vancouver.

Jack McInerney, 19, scored his first of the year and fourth of his young career with Philadelphia, and Gershon Koffie, 19, scored his first for Vancouver.

The biggest impression was made by 16-year-old Diego Fagundez, who has overshadowed two experienced debutants -- New England teammate Milton Caraglio and Chivas USA's Laurent Courtois -- by scoring a goal and drawing the penalty for another in the Revolution's loss to the Goats.

This week's rankings:

1. GALAXY (13-3-9, 48 points), Last week: 1
Week 21: Poor effort ends 14-game unbeaten streak in 3-0 loss at Portland; three David Beckham set pieces add up to 3-1 win over FC Dallas
Remark: Landon Donovan joins New York's Rafa Marquez and Man United's Wayne Rooney on the cover of EA Sports' “FIFA Soccer 12”
Captain: Donovan, with Beckham, Gregg Berhalter and Donovan Ricketts down the pecking order
Next: Tuesday in a CONCACAF Champions League Group A game vs. Motagua (Honduras) at Home Depot Center (Carson), 7:30 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel, 9:30 p.m.); Saturday, Aug. 20, vs. San Jose at Home Depot Center (Carson), 7:30 p.m. (Prime Ticket)

2. FC DALLAS (12-6-6, 42 points), Last week: 2
Week 21: Ugo Ihemelu's goal completes 2-0 aggregate win over Alianza (El Salvador) in the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round; Marvin Chavez's early goal won't stand up in 3-1 loss to the Galaxy
Remark: Daniel Hernandez says Galaxy had 12th man in showdown: “It doesn’t help when you have a ref that listens to Beckham and Donovan at the beginning and does what they want”
Captain: Hernandez, a one-time Galaxy midfielder who played for Hoops coach Schellas Hyndman at SMU
Next: Saturday at Philadelphia, 5 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick)

3. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (11-5-8, 41 points), Last week: 3
Week 21: Nate Jaqua's overtime goal delivers preliminary-round triumph over San Francisco FC (Panama) in the CONCACAF Champions League; Mauro Rosales scores, creates stoppage-time goals to beat Sporting Kansas City, 2-1
Remark: Heroic performances prod Sounders to Champions League group stage, past K.C. in clinical comeback
Captain: Goalkeeper Kasey Keller
Next: Saturday vs. Chivas USA, 1 p.m. (Prime Ticket and KWHY/Channel 22); Tuesday in CONCACAF Champions League Group D game vs. Comunicaciones (Guatemala), 7 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel)

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Garden Grove's Luis Gil netted the third goal for the U.S. under-20 national team in a 3-3 draw Tuesday with France, part of a six-day training camp in Vichy with interim head coach Tab Ramos, the former U.S. national team star.

Gil, 17, who plays for Real Salt Lake, scored in the 54th minute to give the Americans a 3-1 lead in Carquefou, France. UCLA midfielder Kelyn Rowe also was in the starting lineup.

The teams will meet again Thursday.

U-17 DRAW: The U.S. under-17 national team was drawn into Group D with the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan and New Zealand for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.

The U.S. will play the Czechs on June 19 and Uzbeks on June 22, both in Torreon, and New Zealand on June 25 in Pachuca.

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Seven L.A.-area players have been called up for camps involving the U.S. under-23 and under-20 women's national teams and under-18 men's team.

The U-23 women are headed to La Manga, Spain, for a Feb. 21-March 2 tournament with Sweden's, Norway's and England's U-23 teams. Former UCLA midfielder Kylie Wright, a first-round pick by the Atlanta Beat in Women's Professional Soccer's draft last month, is among 10 WPS players on the U.S. roster.

The U-20 women opened a weeklong camp Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista and play the University of San Diego's women on Saturday.

The U-18 men began a nine-day camp Saturday in Phoenix. They have games planned against four MLS clubs: Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids on Tuesday, and Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers on Saturday.

The local players:

U-23 WOMEN
M Kylie Wright (Rancho Santa Margarita), Tesoro HS/UCLA, Atlanta Beat

U-20 WOMEN
F Michelle Cruz (Thousand Oaks), Thousand Oaks HS/University of Portland, Real So Cal
F Ariana Martinez (Moorpark), Moorpark HS/UCLA, Real So Cal
F Tawni Martino (Irvine), Beckman HS/Loyola Marymount, So Cal Blues

U-18 MEN
D Pablo Ocegueda (Riverside), Saddleback HS, UANL Tigres (Mexico)
M Luis Gil (Garden Grove), Santiago HS, Real Salt Lake
F Steve Palacios (San Clemente), San Clemente HS, United Football Club

Major League Soccer's Generation Adidas trek to Madrid started off swell, with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid's reserve team Thursday.

Galaxy forward Tristan Bowen (Van Nuys), former UCLA standout Amobi Okugo and rising star Luis Gil (Garden Grove/Santiago HS) are among 19 players -- all either in MLS' developmental Generation Adidas program or recent grads -- on the team guided by FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman.

Injured Chivas USA midfielder Blair Gavin is one of two current GA players who are missing the trip.

Sporting Kansas City forward Teal Bunbury, who last month made his U.S. national team debut, and Columbus midfielder Dilly Duka scored for the MLS side. Okugo, who plays for Philadelphia, was a standout in midfield, and Real Salt Lake's Gil came on in the second half.

Others on the roster include national-teamers Juan Agudelo (New York) and Brek Shea (FC Dallas). The team will face the reserve teams from Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday and Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Until it cleared up so nicely on Saturday, Major League Soccer’s playoff scenarios were complicated, to be sure. The Galaxy might have ended up with a first-round series with Colorado or San Jose or FC Dallas; that they’ll face Seattle is fine with them.

Not that it’s perfect.

“Seattle’s not going to be easy. It never is,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said after Sunday’s victory over FC Dallas set up encounters with the Sounders on Sunday in Seattle and Nov. 7 at Home Depot Center. “But I think the choices were … what were the choices? I think they were Dallas … none of the choices were real good, to be honest. I wouldn’t want to be going into Dallas either.

“I do prefer going to Seattle than going into altitude. There was always a chance at some point we could go to Colorado or Salt Lake, and the altitude is an issue, and the one thing we’ve assured ourselves is that we’re not going to be playing in altitude. Not that guarantees anything, but I think that’s good. It’s a lot easier for the players to adjust to the artificial field [in Seattle] than to altitude. So In think that’s a positive out of this.”

Perhaps so. If L.A. and Real Salt Lake win their first-round series, they’ll meet in Carson. Toronto, where MLS Cup will be played Nov. 21, has a lower elevation than downtown L.A. But the Galaxy are hardly happy they’ll start their home-and-home, total-goals series on the fake turf at Qwest Field.

“I don’t like it,” said Edson Buddle, who led the Galaxy with 17 goals. “I’m not a big fan. I never was. But I have to deal with that and get over it.”

Said David Beckham: “At the end of the day, it is what it is. We have to go there, and we have to play. It’s the same for both teams. Obviously, it’s an advantage for them, because they play on it every other week, but it is what it is.”

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