MLS Cup: Revs unlucky in opener

Chicago 0-0 New England (Gillette Stadium)
The 2008 MLS Cup playoffs opened up with arguably the best match-up that fans will see until the Cup final, as New England drew 0-0 with Chicago in the first leg of the #2 vs. #3 Eastern Conference semi-final. The Revolution, who were without three starters -- Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston and Adam Cristman, were unlucky to come away with only a point, as they clearly had the better run of play in the second half and would have scored if not for some timely tackles by John Thorrington and Bakary Soudmare. Chicago may count themselves unlucky as well, considering they had a Brian McBride goal disallowed for offside, but replays showed that it was the correct call. The Fire will host New England at Toyota Park on November 6 in a winner take all match.

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MLS Cup: Format tougher for East seeds

The 2008 MLS Cup tournament begins on Thursday, October 30, and while Houston get to play the worst qualifying team (ranked eighth on a single table), Columbus (who won the true championship of MLS -- the Supporters Shield) have to play the sixth team overall, a streaking Kansas City. And thanks to MLS Cup's farcical format, Chicago face New England, while Chivas USA get Salt Lake. Here's the rundown of match-ups.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

#2 (#3) Chicago vs. #3 (#4) New England

#1 (#1) Columbus vs. #4 (#6) Kansas City

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

#2 (#5) Chivas USA vs. #3 (#7 ) Salt Lake

#1 (#2)Houston vs. #4 (#8) New York

*Conference Rank (Single-Table Rank)

Click here for the complete MLS Cup schedule.

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Week 31)

GOALKEEPER

W. Hesmer (CLB)

DEFENDERS

R. Cochrane (SJ), J. Curtin (CHV), F. Hejduk (CLB), D. Moor (DAL)

MIDFIELDERS

L. Donovan (LA), J. Morales (RSL), R. O'Biren (SJ)

FORWARDS

C. Rolfe (CHI), Y. Movsisyan (RSL), C. Lopez (KC)

MLS Sunday: United, they fall (Week 31)

DC United 0-1 Columbus (Crew Stadium)

In one of those season defining moments, Luciano Emilio beat the keeper one-v-one, fired a shot past the the fractured defense and ... hit the far post. Brad Evans scored the lone goal of the game, a spectacular long-range effort, and shattered the hopes of DC United fans, knocking the once dynastic club out of the playoffs in the final game of the regular season. DC's loss clears the way for the New York Red Bulls to back into the MLS playoffs, where they will switch conferences as the last team to qualify for the Cup.
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Los Angeles 2-2 FC Dallas (HDC)
Landon Donovan's 79th minute penalty kick gave LD the regular season Golden Boot and assured that the Galaxy would not suffer the humiliation of finishing dead last in Major League Soccer this season ... by themselves at least. The point assured that they would finish level on points with re-expanded San Jose. Edson Buddle scored his 15 goal of the season, but the LA defense did what it do. You know what I'm sayin'? They surrendered two goals in five minutes to Drew Moor and Victor Sikora, a couple of guys who have a total of three goals this year between them. Each side also saw players ejected, as Alvaro Pires (LA) was sent off with a straihgt red in the 40th and Aaron Pitchkolan was sent off four minutes into the second half with a second caution.

MLS Saturday: Colo cry Salty tears (Week 31)

Salt Lake 1-1 Colorado (DSG Park)
With a dramatic 90th minute goal, Yura Movsisyan saved RSL from elimination by equalizing Conor Casey's 11th goal of the season. The draw allows RSL to punch their ticket into the MLS Cup and eliminates Colorado on the final weekend of the regular season.
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Kansas City 3-1 New England (Gillette Stadium)
It was not the way New England wanted to go into the playoffs, as the Revs saw two players sent off in a 3-1 loss to KC. The Wizards Claudion Lopez scored from the spot after Gabriel Badilla was ejected for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the 28th minute. Just before halftime, Khano Smith was also sent off for a hard foul on Herculez Gomez (retaliation for Steve Ralston, perhaps?). In the second half, KC added a goal from Davy Arnaud and an own goal scored off the Revs Michael Parkhurst. The Revolution's Jeff Larentowicz managed a consolation goal in the 90th minute.

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Toronto 0-2 San Jose (BS Stadium)
In a game with no MLS Cup implications, San Jose managed the home win, getting goals from Ryan Cochrane and Shea Salinas (from the penalty spot). The win put San Jose a point over Los Angeles, who currently have the worst record in MLS but have a game to play.

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Houston 1-1 Chivas USA (HDC)
Also, no direct playoff implications in the other nightcap, as Houston's Dwayne DeRosario and Chivas USA's Jim Curtin exchanged second-half goals. But Chivas USA will be without their keeper for the first match of the playoffs, after Dan Kennedy, who stopped one PK, was sent off for taking down Nate Jaqua on a breakaway.

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MLS Thursday: NY Rolfed up (Week 31)

New York 2-5 Chicago (Toyota Park)
With their playoff chances on the line, a win and your in scenario, the Red Bulls did what it does best ... they choked -- hard. Chris Rolfe rolfed all over the NY defense, scoring a FIRST-HALF hattrick, en route to a rout. Juan Pablo Angel equalized after the initial Rolfe score, but after two-more by the diminutive University of Dayton product and then two more Fire goals by Brian McBride and Daniel Woolard on the other side of halftime, the Red Bulls were looking like pink ponies. Macoumba Kandji scored a meaningless goal for NY in the 88th. Now, New York must pray that both DC and Colorado lose their matches, so they can back in to the MLS Cup playoffs. New York's loss also puts KC in to the playoffs regardless of this weekend's results.

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TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Week 30)

GOALKEEPER

L. Crayton (DC)

DEFENDERS

J. Bornstein (CHV), W. Barrett (HOU), P. Mastroeni (COL)

MIDFIELDERS

S. Holden (HOU), R. Ricketts (TFC), D. DeRosario (HOU), J. Morales (RSL)

FORWARDS

F. Doe (DC), J.P. Angel (NY), C. Lopez (KC)

The MLS Cup playoff picture

What if I show them my man boobs?

With one match to play, five teams are vying for the final three spots in the MLS Cup playoffs. Taking into consideration tie-breaks (head-to-head, then goal differential), these are the current standings:

TEAM	GP	W	L	D	Pts.	Diff
Kansas City	29	10	10	9	39	-4
New York	29	10	10	9	39	-3
Salt Lake	29	10	10	9	39	1
Colorado	29	11	14	4	37	-1
DC United	29	11	14	4	37	-7

As you can see, Kansas City, New York and Real Salt Lake are all in the driver's seat. The match to watch next week will be Real Salt Lake versus Colorado, with the winner most likely punching their ticket to the MLS Cup playoffs. The other four clubs will face teams that have already qualified or have been eliminated. DC face Columbus on Sunday, who will likely rest their starters, but even if the Red-and-Black manage a win, they could be eliminated if Colorado beat Real Salt Lake. This is because Colorado boast a much better goal differential, meaning DC would have to win by something like eight goals (depending on the score of Colorado v Salt Lake) to move ahead on the tie-break.

Is all that too confusing? 

MLS Sunday: Rapid ascent (Week 30)

Colorado 2-1 Chivas USA (HDC)
Conor Casey's penalty kick in the 85th minute gave Colorado the win they needed to have in order to stay in contention for the final three playoff spots. After Colin Clark gave the Rapids the lead in the 65th minute, Jonathan Bornstein, nearly played spoiler, equalizing in the 72nd, but Shavar Thomas fouled Omar Cummings in the box and Colorado was awarded the PK.

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MLS Saturday: Penultimate (Week 30)

Saturday
Chicago 2-3 Toronto (BMO Field)
A brace by 50-cent fav Rohan Ricketts gave Toronto the 3-2 win. Amado Guevara put TFC up in the 12th minute and Ricketts doubled the lead six minutes later, putting back a PK rebound. Chicago's Justin Mapp pulled one back in the 25th minute, but Ricketts scored again in first-half injury time. Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored a 59th minute conciliation goal for the Fire. It was all for naught, however, as Toronto was eliminated from playoff contention due to results around the league.

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Columbus 1-3 New York (Giants Stadium)
Danny Cepero? Wasn't he Ralph Macchio's character in The Karate Kid? Cepero -- who assumed goalkeeping duties for the Red Bulls after starting keep Jon Conway tested positive for andro this week -- became the first goalkeeper to score in Major League Soccer history with a long ball sent in from his own half. The ball took a big bounce on the artificial turf and went over Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum's head. But this embarrassing goal was only the icing on a 3-1 win, powered by a Juan Pablo Angel brace, that kept New York in contention for one of the last three MLS Cup playoff spots with a match in hand. Steven Lenhart had the Crew's lone goal.

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San Jose 2-2 Kansas City (CAB)
Despite a valiant effort by the Quakes and a sick save by Joe Cannon in the final two minutes, a 3-2 loss saw the re-expansioners eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs. The two clubs traded shots, with Claudio Lopez scoring first in the 18th minute and then Scott Sealy answering two minutes later. The Wizards regained the lead in the 27th minute but rookie Shea Salinas scored his first goal of his MLS career, a pin-ball putback, to finish the scoring. Then, Herculez Gomez scored the winner in the final minute of extra time off a corner.

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Los Angeles 0-3 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
Another year, another Beckham-less MLS Cup playoffs...just goes to show that you can't trade the whole farm for one prized cow. With ol' Bessy on the sideline due to yellow card accumulation, the terrible Galaxy defense surrendered three first half goals (own goal-14, Dwayne DeRosario-20 and Nate Jaqua-23) and were eliminated from playoff contention by the Dynamo, who clinched the Western Conference crown.

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FC Dallas 1-3 Salt Lake (RES)
From hero to goat, Marcelo Saragosa scored to put Dallas ahead, but then saw two yellow cards inside of 20 minutes and was shown the door. Five minutes later, Yura Movsisyan equalized for the home team. Then, Will Johnson put RSL ahead on the other side of halftime, and finally Robbie Findlay finished the scoring in the 86th minute. The Hoops lost midfielder Pablo Ricchetti on a straight red in the 90th minute. They also lost out on a playoff spot, thanks to results in other matches. SIlly, Dallas. You should have kept him.

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MLS Wednesday & Thursday (Week 30)

Wednesday, October 15
San Jose 1-2 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
San Jose's playoff hopes are on life support, after Houston's Stuart Holden put back two post-rattling rebounds. The win was made all the more impressive due to the fact that Houston's Kei Kamara (ex-Quake) was ejected in just the 11th minute. Scott Seally equalized for the visitors in minute 68, but Holden would find the back of the net with an injury-time thriller.

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Thursday, October 16
New England 1-2 DC United (RFK)
Despite the turds they've been laying since winning the US Open Cup, DC United is still in the hunt for a wild card spot in the MLS Cup playoffs, thanks to a second-half brace by Francis Doe. Doe's dos doozies came following Taylor Twellman's 58th minute goal, his eighth of the season.

Proof MLS is major: A steroid scandal!

So it turns out that wings aren't the only thing you get from Red Bull.

MLS announced on Friday that it was suspending New York Red Bull players Jeff Parke (defender) and Jon Conway (goalkeeper) for 10 matches for failing drug tests for banned performance-enhancing androstenedione and boldenone metabolites.

According to espnnet's account, MLS officials acknowledged that the players injested over-the-counter supplements, unaware that they contained the banned substances.

"We have met with both players and they informed us that they ingested an over-the-counter supplement that unknowingly contained a banned substance," Erik Stover, club director, said on the team's website.

If the unknowingly injested the substances, isn't 10 matches a bit too harsh a punishment? Ten matches is the longest suspension in league history, and they didn't even break anyone's leg. Also, are they even given a list by the team doctor of supplements to avoid? Do MLS clubs even have team physicians?

Columbus are MLS Champs! Really!

Although you won't hear it from ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel or even the league office, the Major League Soccer champion was decided this weekend when Columbus picked up a point on the road against Chicago, putting them an unreachable 10-points ahead of second-lace Houston in the single table.

By picking up the Supporters Shield for the most points in the regular season, Columbus should be named league champions, but alas, MLS execs cling tightly to the playoff system, a bastardization of all that is good in American soccer. It makes no sense to refer to the MLS Cup winner as the MLS champion. This club has been successful in a single club tournament, consisting of four matches. The league champion should be the club that managed to secure the most points in the course of the season, not simply the team that plays best in October.

After all, the Supporters Shield winner gets all the rights and privileges of a champion (see last year's league champion DC United).

Every year I rail against the injustice, the blatant stupidity of naming the MLS Cup champion the league champion and every year it's the same. I have a dream, a dream that one day the club that finishes atop the league standings after the 30-game schedule will be named the MLS champion.

But I fear I'll be forever dreaming.

Cooper to Bradley: Thanks, but no thanks

Dallas forward (and my new hero) Kenny Cooper declined an invitation to play in a meaningless qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago this Wedesday, saying:

"I feel so fortunate and honored to have been invited to join up with the U.S. Men's National team in Trinidad and Tobago. I made the difficult decision not to report because I had picked up a virus and have been playing with a sprained ankle. Considering the importance of my club's game versus Real Salt Lake this week, and that the National Team has already clinched a berth in the next round of qualifying, I felt it was the right thing to do to stay in Dallas and make sure I get well, and hopefully there will be other opportunities down the line."

Let me translate into realspeak:

Look, douchebag. You don't call me up through all the important qualifiers, even though I'm tearing up defenses in MLS, getting calls daily from European clubs and attracting all kinds of tail, even though I look like Boris Karloff. Now you invite me to the dance after we've already qualified for the next round and the best I can hope for is some Carribean crapfactory doesn't cut me down and tear up my sore ankle. Thanks, but no thanks, Sadley. Frankencoop out.

So, here's who did agree to come out:

Goalkeepers: Troy Perkins, Brad Guzan.

Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein, Danny Califf, Frankie Hejduk, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne.

Midfielders: Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Pablo Mastroeni, Danny Szetela, Jose Francisco Torres.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Robbie Rogers.

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Week 29)

GOALKEEPER

J. Conway (NY)

DEFENDERS

M. Wynne (TFC), J. Conrad (KC), C. Suarez (CHV), M. Velez (TFC)

MIDFIELDERS

G.B. Schelotto (CLB), E. Lewis (LA), J. Mapp (CHI)

FORWARDS

K. Cooper (DAL), B. McBride (CHI), J. Braun (CHV)

Too easy: U.S. smoke Cubans (again)

After a subpar couple of national team matches, DMB came to play versus Cuba in our nation's capital, scoring two first-half goals against the ill-matched Cubans before a whole cast of Americans got into the action. Final score U.S. 6, Cuba 1. Take that, Castro!

Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu all made the scorers' sheet before it was said and done.

DMB on whether the team is more dominant against teams from the region, especially at home:
“I think so, but at the same time you want to be tough at home, whether it is qualifying or a friendly. Over the years that I have been here, we have always had strong performances at home, and our fans are great. We want to keep that streak alive."

The win clinches a berth for the U.S. in the Final Round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. Here's a recap of USA v. Cuba.

TYH's Patriot of the Pitch©: DaMarcus Beasley

MATCH REPORT

TEAM	1st half	2nd half	Final
USA	2	4	6
CUB	1	0	1

Scoring:
USA – DaMarcus Beasley (Sacha Kljestan) 10th minute
USA – DaMarcus Beasley (Landon Donovan) 30.
CUB – Jenzy Muñoz (unassisted) 32.
USA – Landon Donovan (Heath Pearce) 48.
USA – Brian Ching (Sacha Kljestan) 63.
USA – Jozy Altidore (Clint Dempsey) 87.
USA – Oguchi Onyewu (Freddy Adu) 90.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.),15-Heath Pearce (4-José Torres, 68); 12-Michael Bradley 16-Sacha Kljestan (17- Freddy Adu, 76); 8-Clint Dempsey, 10-Landon Donovan; 11-Brian Ching (9-Jozy Altidore, 68)

CUB: 12-Odelín Molina; 6-Yoel Colomé, 16-Reysander Fernández, 3-Yeniel Márquez, 2-Silvio Miñoso; 14-Jaime Colomé (8-Alianas Urgelles, 72), 5-José Luis Clavelo (capt.), 7-Luis Villegas (13-Carlos Domingo, 46), 9-Alain Cervantes, 11-Jenzy Muñoz (10-Mario Ruiz, 80), 15-Leonel Duarte

Misconduct Summary:
CUB – Yoel Colomé (caution) 21st minute.
CUB – Yoel Colomé (caution) 41.
CUB – Yoel Colomé (sent off) 41.
CUB – Reysander Fernández (caution) 62.
USA – Michael Bradley (caution) 90+

STATS	USA	CUB
Shots	18	4
Shots OG	13	2
Saves	1	6
Corners	9	1
Fouls	11	9
Offside	3	3

MLS Saturday & Sunday (Week 29)

Saturday
New England 0-1 Kansas City (CAB)
Jimmy Conrad scored his sixth of the year for the Wizards. Flashback to preseason...Conrad tells Extratime tools that if he scores 10, KC wins the MLS Cup. Four more to go, Jimmy. With three playoff spots left, KC kept pace with RSL and New York with the win.

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Toronto 2-2 FC Dallas (PSP)
TFC's Marco Velez and Marvell Wynne scored in between a Kenny Cooper sandwich. But considering the top piece of bread was a PK given in injury time, Toronto FC fans were left with a bad taste in their mouths. The PK was awarded after rookie Julius James tugged Adrian Serioux down by the shirt. No video evidence was offered on mlsnet.

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Chivas USA 1-0 San Jose (BSS)
Justin Braun scored in the seventh minute and than the Goats Americano shut it down with good defense for 83 minutes. The win clinched a post-season berth for Chivas USA, who have won four in a row.

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Sunday
Columbus 2-2 Chicago (Toyota Park)
This just in: Brian McBride plays for the Chicago Fire. I know this because he finally reared his head (pun intended) in their match with his ol' team Columbus. Providing the first and last goal of the game in a 2-2 draw. Eddie Gaven and Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored second-half goals for the Crew. But more importantly, the Crew secured the Supporters Shield and are thus, this year's MLS league champions.

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DC United 0-0 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
A nil-nil draw moves DC closer to the offseason and further away from the playoffs. Hope that Open Cup trophy is big enough for Tom Soehn's tears. DC also loses defender Bryan Namoff for the next match, as he was shown a second caution in the 73rd minute.

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Colorado 2-3 Los Angeles (HDC)
David Beckham is away. Landon Donovan plays just 27 minutes. And the Galaxy ... win. Go figure. Edson Buddle, a Ugo Ihemelu own goal and Brandon McDonald's first of the year gave L.A. the 3-2 victory. Former U.S. national team defender Cory Gibbs and a Tom McManus PK gave Colorado its two.

MLS Thursday: Her name is Rio (Week 29)

Real Salt Lake pulled the tarp off Rio Tinto* Stadium on Thursday, but could only manage a draw against the visiting New York Red Bulls. NY's Dave van den Bergh scored off a rebound in the 31st minute, and RSL's Jamison Olave equalized 10 minutes later. Even an 83rd minute ejection of Juan Pietravallo couldn't deliver the winner for RSL in their new stadium's debut.



*Rio Tinto is a London, England-based corporation specializing in mining and exploration.

Hey-dude Rulez!

How does Frankie spend his red card suspension? Chillaxing with Crew fans.

Columbus close in on MLS crown

As any TYH reader will tell you, we don't fancy an end of the year Cup playoff to determine the best in MLS when the previous 30 matches will tell the story just fine. Last year's true MLS champions were DC United and this year it will likely be Columbus Crew as they close in on securing the Supporters Shield, MLS's regular season champion.

Although the league still wrong-headedly calls the winner of the MLS Cup, the champion of MLS, the Supporters Shield is the true definition of a champion. The Supporters Shield goes to the club finishing with the most points after the 30-game season. In any other league in the world, the Supporters Shield would be the championship, but alas MLS execs drink far to often from the tainted well water of America's other (inferior) sports.

This MLS Cup "playoff" is a farce, however, as the Supporters Shield winner receives all the same rights and benefits as the winner of the MLS Cup "playoffs" -- an invitation to the various international tournaments (SuperLiga, CCL, etc.) and monetary benefits. It is as ridiculous as MLS's East/West bracket and seeding system.

The top three teams in each conference qualify and are seeded 1, 2 & 3 in their respective four-team playoff conference brackets. The two MLS teams with the next most points, regardless of conference, receive "wildcard" berths. The two wildcard teams will be seeded according to conference first. If more than four teams qualify from one conference, the team finishing lower than fourth in its conference will shift over to the other conference bracket. A team switching conference brackets will be seeded below all other teams in its new conference playoff bracket.

Now, go get a lawyer to figure it out.

Ok, Ok, I'll do it for you ... stop whining. If the regular season ended today. the seeding would look like this.

Eastern Conference

#1 Columbus

#2 New England

#3 Chicago

#4 New York

Western Conference

#1 Houston

#2 Chivas USA

#3 Real Salt Lake

#4 Colorado (based on head-to-head tiebreaker)

The last two spots are awarded regardlesss of conferences, which means that it is possible that a club like Kansas City could sneak in past Colorado. If there are five Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs, then the fifth team switches over to the Western Conference. I know, I know, it is confusing and seems like a stupid way to go about it -- especially given the per conference seeding, since the Supporters Shield winner doesn't get to play the 8th seed. Instead, #1 plays #4 and #2 plays #3 in each conference.

If MLS were a single table league (like it should be), a Cup tournament would be simpler and seeding would actually reward a club for a successful regular season. In a single-table format, the playoffs would look like this if the season ended now:

#1 CLB vs. #8 COL

#2 HOU vs. #7 NY

#3 NE vs. #6 RSL

#4 CHI vs. #5 CHV

Ok, so maybe it isn't radically different than the system they have now. After all, Houston and Columbus could end up in the Final still, but it would create far better second round match-ups. And shouldn't the playoffs get better, not worse, each round?

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Week 28)

GOALKEEPER

G. Sutton (TFC)

DEFENDERS

M. Wynne (TFC), A. Iro (CLB), M. Harrington (KC), J. Hernandez (SJ)

MIDFIELDERS

Dejair (CHV), J. Morales (RSL), S. Joseph (NE)

FORWARDS

A. Eskandarian (CHV), C. Barrett (TFC), B. Ching (HOU)

MLS Saturday & Sunday (Week 28)

Saturday
Chivas USA 3-0 DC United (RFK Stadium)
A tale of two teams headed in opposite directions, as Chivas put three past United at RFK. Ex-United striker Alecko Eskandarian scored in the first half (after a horrendous gaffe by United keeper Louis Crayton) and added an assist in the second. Sasha Victorine and new-Goat Dejair provided the second and third goals.

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Los Angeles 0-1 Columbus (Crew Stadium)
Alejandro Moreno's 43rd-minute goal was all the Crew needed to fend off the LA Beckhams who have won just once in their last 15 matches. Ouch. Can that be right? Yes it can. Highlights
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Salt Lake 2-2 New England (Gillette Stadium)
Javier Morales scored a beauty in the 13th minute and then set-up Andy Williams in the 73rd minute. With the 2-0 lead it looked like RSL would coast. Well, it looked like that for about four minutes, as Steve Ralston scored in the 77th and Taylor Twellman added the equalizer just two minutes later. BTW, Williams received his walking papers in extra time.

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Toronto 3-1 New York (Giants Stadium)
TFC broke an eight-game winless streak in style, thanks two goals by Chad Barrett. Sandwiched in between was a goal by Dane Richards, and then, TFC's added a icing goal in the 86th minute. Check out the extra gear on defender Marvell Wynne:

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Houston 3-1 Colorado (DSG Park)
After three goals in nine minutes, Hawaii 5-0 Brian Ching's two goals had Houston up 2-1. Conor Casey's goal would prove to be a conciliation goal, as Ricardo Clark iced it in the 19th minute. No goals in the second half, despite the 53rd minute double-caution ejection of Casey.

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Sunday
Chicago 1-1 Kansas City (CAB)
Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Michael Harrington traded goals on either side of halftime and the Wiz and Fire split the points.

Is Torres just a Mexican David Regis?

Bradley named the U.S. national team roster for the October 11th qualifier against Cuba in Washington, D.C. We should run a sweepstakes where you have to guess the member of the Cuban national team that will defect this time.

Here's the roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard, Troy Perkins

Why three goalkeepers? And no love for Dominic Cervi who was recently bought by Scottish powerhouse Celtic.

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce

No surprises in this bunch but Bradley's lack of imagination when it comes to roster selection, particularly at left back) continues to astound me. Orozco is not ready and Danny Califf's and Frankie Hejduk's better days are behind them.

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela, José Francisco Torres

Decent selections in the middle of the pitch, but will Jose Torres prove to be a Mexican David Regis?

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan

It's about damn time Jozy made this team, but there are still better options than sacred cow Brian Ching (Franken-Cooper or Cristman for example). And when did Charlie Davies earn a call-up?

MLS Thursday: No break for Quakes (Week 28)

Los Angeles 1-3 Chicago Fire (CAB)
An 89th minute PK, converted by Kenny Cooper (his 16th goal of the year), saved a draw for the Hoops at home against San Jose. Ryan Johnson scored for the Quakes in the 58th minute after collecting a ball chipped over (and dummied by Scott Sealy) the Dallas backline and beating the keeper. But a Francisco Lima handball in the box gave Dallas the equalizer from the spot.

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