NEW YORK – Robert Griffin III's dramatic rise to prominence might have raised the possibility of a draft-day shock that sees Andrew Luck toppled from the No.1 position that has long been considered his personal property. However, for Washington Redskins outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, any last-minute surprise that would take Luck to FedEx Field would only be a disappointment.

[ Related: Robert Griffin III declines to work out for Colts ]

Orakpo believes that while Luck enters the league as one of the most-hyped prospects in recent years, the Redskins, who pulled off a daring trade with the St. Louis Rams to land the second pick, would benefit far more from bringing Griffin into their organization.

"I would love to get Griffin," said Orakpo, speaking at a Nike event where the company unveiled new jersey designs for all 32 NFL teams. "Depending on what the Colts do."

The Redskins went a dismal 5-11 last season to finish at the bottom of the NFC East, and have not had a winning season

CARSON, Calif. – The Los Angeles Galaxy's miserable start to the MLS season could be set for another downturn with potential cracks in the relationship between star midfielder David Beckham and head coach Bruce Arena starting to show.

Beckham suffered the embarrassment of being substituted at halftime of the team's 3-1 home defeat against the New England Revolution on Saturday night and left the Home Depot Center without speaking to reporters.

Arena admitted that the decision to replace Beckham with youngster Michael Stephens had angered the 36-year-old former England international, who signed a two-year extension to his Galaxy contract after flirting with French side Paris Saint-Germain over the winter.

"I'm sure he is not pleased about it," said Arena, whose defending MLS Cup champion side sits at 1-2-0 in league play, with both defeats having come at home. "But that's not the issue in the game. The issue in the game was that 11 players from New England soundly outplayed 11 players

This week's edition of the Yahoo! Soccer Podcast, in conjunction with World Football Daily, takes a look at the controversy brewing in the English Premier League, following comments from Manchester City's Patrick Vieira that title rival Manchester United gets the benefit of preferential refereeing decisions.

[Podcast: Man City, BBC fallout discussed by Rogers, Bates]

Vieira, who won the World Cup with France and now works for City as an ambassador, made the claim in an interview with the BBC's Dan Roan, then subsequently tried to backtrack and insisted he had been misled by the reporter's line of questioning.

City followed up by taking the extraordinary step of banning Roan from its press conferences and forthcoming home matches.

As the podcast host, I dig beneath the surface of the issue. This week's podcast includes the Vieira/Roan interview, courtesy of the BBC, plus a special segment from renowned soccer writer Steve Bates, who is also chairman of the Football Writers Association

The steps Barcelona took toward another Champions League final were not the most delicate Wednesday, yet it was still impossible to shake the sense of inevitability that accompanies this team whenever it reaches the latter stages of its favorite competition.

Barca and its players have come to regard the Champions League trophy as their own personal property in recent times, winning it two of the past three seasons and three of the past six with dominance and style.

A 0-0 draw at AC Milan in the first leg of this year's quarterfinal was without the thrills we have come to expect of Lionel Messi and Co. After all, Messi scored six goals in a 10-2 aggregate score rout of Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round.

Even so, heading back to its fortress of Catalonia with scores even gives the Spanish side a huge advantage that it, and most of the soccer world, will expect to be exploited in the second leg next week.

Business as usual?

Not so fast.

While Barca looks as forceful as ever in the

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In the wake of a "brutal" setback that rocked United States soccer a day earlier, men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann came out fighting – on behalf of his players, himself and the system he believes can turn this county into an international powerhouse.

Klinsmann was at LP Field on Monday night to see the USA under-23s miss out on a place in the London Olympic Games in devastating fashion, when an injury-time goalkeeping meltdown from Sean Johnson allowed El Salvador to grab a 3-3 draw.

Failure to reach the Games was a stunning outcome not only for these players but for the entire program, and Klinsmann knows that such disasters are bound to raise pointed questions and a hunger for answers.

Before replacing Bob Bradley at the end of last summer, Klinsmann wanted – no, demanded – overall control of not only the senior men's team but of the whole system, running all the way down the age-group ranks.

The theory was that from a young age players needed to be

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On a night of swings and dips and controversy and drama – and one catastrophic error – the United States' Olympic dreams were washed away amid a flood of tears.

The most rudimentary of follies from substitute goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the final seconds of injury time eliminated USA from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in the cruelest fashion possible, as El Salvador snatched a 3-3 draw at LP Field.

The suddenness of it all, the end of an adventure that was supposed to span several more months and cross the Atlantic to London, was too much for many players and head coach Caleb Porter to bear.

Porter bravely fought back tears in his press conference, nerves still raw and shredded, scarcely able to believe the hand fate had dealt him and his young team. Olympic soccer is played by squads of players in the Under-23 age bracket and, for some, Monday may have been their final night in a USA shirt.

Porter and Johnson had embraced in the locker room; the coach tried

NASHVILLE – Cuba defender Yosmel De Armas was believed to be attempting to defect to the United States on Monday night after being listed as absent for his team's final game in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying competition.

Rumors began to circulate that De Armas had become the latest Cuban athlete to seek exile in the United States when he did not appear at LP Field for Cuba's Group A clash with Canada.

Coach Raul Triana Gonzalez claimed that to his knowledge De Armas still was at the team hotel in Nashville as of Monday afternoon and cited illness or injury for the player's absence.

Two Cuban players sought asylum during the Olympic women's qualifying tournament in Vancouver in January, and seven players defected during the 2008 version of the men's CONCACAF tournament in Tampa, Fla. Yosniel Mesa, of the full men's team, defected during the CONCACAF Gold Cup last summer.

A string of Cuban baseball players have earned lucrative MLB contracts after fleeing their homeland and being

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Christmas has long since passed, but Canada used a festive formation to take a giant step towards qualifying for the Olympic Games on Saturday night.

A shock 2-0 victory over the strongly fancied United States at LP Field put Canada at the top of Group A in CONCACAF qualifying and in position to reach the London Games thanks to a defensive but mightily effective system known as the "Christmas Tree."

The tree-looking formation (with a single striker at the top) provided the backbone for a famous victory that featured goals from Doneil Henry and Lucas Cavallini. A victory over a weakened Cuba on Monday night would not only clinch first place in Group A for Canada but it would also leave it just one win away from an Olympic berth.

Wave after wave of American attacks were repelled by a stubborn and tenacious backline and some excellent goalkeeping from Michal Misiewicz. Misiewicz , who now plies his trade with NASL side FC Edmonton following six years bouncing around the