photo from CDSOCCER.com

Roberto Brown was not good enough for Fernando Clavijo. But he's been good enough for Montreal of the second flight, USL leading the Impact to the league semifinals and now more importantly scoring two goals to give the Impact a huge road three points in Honduras against Olimpia in the CONCACAF Champions League.

DeRoux's heroics were not enough for the Minnesota Thunder/photo by Paul Phillips

Darren Tilley was among the heroes of the 1999 US Open Cup final, the last major trophy won by a current USL side. Pat Onstad and Yuri Alnatt were also key figures that night at Crew Stadium for the Rochester Rhinos.

The indispensable American Soccer News had a good story on Don Garber's plans for MLS 2.0, which will be discussed later this year with the league's board. While Commissioner Garber deserves lots of credit for steering MLS away from the troubled waters that threatened its existence a few years back, the arrogance and hubris of the league which we've recently editorialized on this site threatens its long term credibility in the football world.

Jorge Rojas: MLS Super Signing

I'll be honest. Late in this season with European Football having kicked off, the US National Team's qualifying in full swing, USL about to decide its playoff participants, and College Soccer having started up I'm having my difficult being motivated to watch MLS games.

The recent press reports linking Arsenal and other Premier League clubs to 14 year old attacking midfielder Charles Renken whose sterling play for the US U-17 team in the Bradenton Invitational last year caught many eyes is terrifying from my perspective. Despite the success Arsenal has had in developing young footballers, Americans have had nothing but trouble when they go to England at a young age.

Six points in the bag and little doubt the US will advance to the hexagonal. However the truth be told I think the United States finishes third in the hexagonal on current form and must improve its linkup play and general possession play in the final four matches of this qualifying stage. With this in mind this is the lineup I would like to see tomorrow assuming the bucket is being used by Bradley again.

Reuters Photo

Three points is three points I suppose. But tonight's game unlike last months qualifier in Guatemala City has me very concerned about the state of play regarding the US Team. Against a side that in its own stadium last month gave up three relatively quick goals to Trinidad and Tobago, the US had to grind out a result again dependent on some clutch goalkeeping and quite frankly some mistakes by the Cuban team.

AP PHOTO

Throughout Mike Petke's Metrostars career a sign draped the wall at Giants Stadium which read Petke Power. For my money no lasting image of MLS early years was more vivid and more poignant than that sign. Mike Petke in fact has been one of the better defenders in MLS during his entire career.

The Islanders used two late goals to advance Wednesday Night

Tropical Storm Hanna has reaked havoc on Haiti and it also delayed the start of tonight's CONCACAF Champions League match between Puerto Rico and Alajuelense. For the first time ever a Costa Rican club has been eliminated from a CONCACAF tournament by an American club with the USL-1 side doing the honors.

Longtime FC Dallas GK Matt Jordan kept a clean sheet as USL-1 side Montreal Impact advanced in the Champions League

Even after DC United beats the Charleston Battery in tonight's US Open Cup Final, USL will have achieved something tangible that MLS failed at attempting, and failed badly at: to advance a team out of the qualifying round of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching celebrate a goal against Barbados, the only game which a current US striker has scored a goal in the last 14 months for the national team.

Bob Bradley's tenure as United States National Team manager has gone about as well as can be expected: A CONCACAF Gold triumph, several victories in the "old world" and thus far a smooth run in qualifying including an elusive win over Guatemala.

A day after amazing achievements for USL-1 sides in CONCACAF Champions League action Major League Soccer continued its pattern of showing that they don't get it by rejecting New York's $200,000 bid for Macoumba Kandji according to Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives. The apparent stumbling block: MLS does not believe any player in USL could possibly be worth $200,000.

Today's goalscorer for USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders Osei Telesford against England in May/Reuters Photo

Can you believe that headline? After seeing MLS sides lose in all eight attempts to even get so much as a draw in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match on Costa Rican soil, tonight in the new CONCACAF Champions League USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders got a shock 1-1 draw at Alajuelense.

Marco Etcheverry is the type of creative player MLS lacks today/MLSNET.com

The CONCACAF Champions league was built up as Major League Soccer's opportunity to show how well it sides perform while in season. The complaint about the now retired Champions Cup was that it was played during the MLS preseason.

The lone American goal scorer from World Cup 2006 now has consistently played so poorly for the national team if the opponent is not Barbados, that his presence seems to actually help stagnate the side. Dempsey's last good performance for the National Team against a decent opponent was last October in Switzerland.