*Tickets priced as low as $15 remain for MLS Cup Sunday, but officials have begun to sell $36 "seats" on the grass berm in an indication the game between the Columbus Crew and New York Sunday is heading for a capacity crowd.

*The Chicago Fire's Cuauhtémoc Blanco became the latest MLS player to go out on loan during the MLS offseason, joining Santos Laguna of the Mexican Primera Division for the playoffs of the Apertura.

How big of an accomplishment is this?

Franklin played all year in the center of a bad Galaxy defense, yet according to Coach Bruce Arena he's not a central defender.

Keen-eyed readers will notice I've eliminated some outdated links, scrubbed some of limited interest entirely (most of the junior colleges are gone, for instance) and generally streamlined the list that's on the right-hand side of the blog.

I added a few here and there, too, that were long overdue for inclusion (such as the official Chivas USA blog) and Luis Bueno's new offering (the successor to Sideline Views minus Andrea Canales).

As always, it's hard to fit everything into a column.

Let's get to it:
*An undermanned New England Revolution predictably succumbed to the Chicago Fire Thursday and now it's Chivas USA - in a similar situation in terms of personnel and facing a must-win game in Carson - that's feeling the pressure.

With a win, the Dynamo can clinch the Western Conference and eliminate any lingering Chivas USA hopes of the regional title.

The Galaxy are four points out of the last of the two MLS wild card playoff spots - currently occupied by Kansas City - but no longer have control over their own destiny even with a win.

Meanwhile, Frank Yallop's chances of returning to MLS Cup at Home Depot Center are all but gone after the San Jose Earthquakes tied 1-1 Wednesday with a 10-man Houston Dynamo (Lawndale's Kei Kamara was sent off early in the affair).

And there's plenty of soccer on TV and live locally to distract us.

I'll be back with a Chivas USA preview Saturday and a Galaxy one Sunday, but the bottom line is although the 1-1 draw last night between Real Salt Lake and the Red Bulls did little to clarify the playoff picture Chivas USA can still qualify for the playoffs while the Galaxy can put themselves (and us) out of their misery and be eliminated from the post-season.

*Chivas USA defender Eric Ebert, already on the season-ending injury list, underwent right knee surgery Tuesday afternoon in Santa Monica.

Neither team exhibited much rhythm and attacking opportunities were sparse - especially in a dull first half dominated (and I use the term loosely) by Mexico.

BTW, Mexico and Chile last met June 4 in the Copa America when they played to a 0-0 draw.

Here's more on the challenges facing Sven.

And former CD Guadalajara prodigy Carlos Vela was otherwise engaged Tuesday banging home a hat trick for Arsenal in his first start for the London club.

I plan to blog from the game tonight and fans who are attending should remember there's a pre-game Futbol Fiesta Zone with live music and a massive 50-foot-tall Mexico National Team jersey fans can sign.

Fans who want to get an autograph or two from Mexican National Team stars should show up at the adidas Sports Performance store Tuesday on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

The Galaxy (6-10-8) look for their first victory in 12 games at 8 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (live on Fox Soccer Channel) against D.C. United (10-11-3), while Chivas USA (8-10-6) are on the road in Salt Lake (live at 6 p.

Some observations:
*Neither Brian Ching nor Eddie Johnson were particularly convincing (again) at forward.

Right now, for instance, Carl Robinson of Toronto FC is leading Wales against Russia and the sensation of Euro 2008, Andrei Arshavin, on Fox Soccer Channel.

Televised games later today include the Netherlands against Macedonia at 11:30 a.

David Beckham started on the bench for England in the win over Andorra and Croatia downed Kazakhstan, 3-0.

Up next for Mexico Wednesday: a likely dispirited Canada.

The U.

So briefly:
*The U.S. continued its domination of Guatemala Wednesday with a 1-0 win in the first game of the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

*Sven Wins For Mexico.

*CONCACAF WCQ Scores.

It will be Mexico's fourth game of the year on U.S. soil.

Question: What did Preki et al see in Roberto Nurse?

I only watched the last 10 minutes of the game (work intervened), but that was enough to see some ugly scenes at game's end for the second consecutive SuperLiga semifinal.

*The U.S. Men's Olympic Team drew 0-0 with the Ivory Coast in Hong Kong in what was the wee hours of the morning our time. Cameroon is up Saturday in the final tune-up before the games begin.

The Mexican season started resumed play this weekend, but you wouldn't know it by reading the English-language media in this country (and, yes, that is one of the only summaries I could find on the opening weekend of play on a Google News search.

I do not profess to be any sort of Mexican soccer expert (and this is a good place to acknowledge the insights and suggestions of Chivas USA spokesman Keegan Pierce for his invaluable assistance in researching and writing today's column), but this piece is undoubtedly long overdue.