Photo by ISIphotos.com

Qualification for the 2010 World Cup goes into full swing today as national teams from South America to Europe face off for one of the precious places in the South Africa World Cup.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

John Carver is looking for some soccer players, any soccer players.

In a story widely-reported in Canada, Carver's Toronto FC will have to take on Chivas USA on Saturday missing nine players due to international duty.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

For the first time since the European Championships gripped us with its drama and great soccer, there will be TONS of international soccer to watch as World Cup qualifying kicks off around the world.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Juan Carlos Osorio will be making his first trip back to Toyota Park since leaving the Chicago Fire to take over as coach of the New York Red Bulls and the reception for him isn't likely to be a warm one.

When it comes to the world of fantasy MLS, the credo of following the winners certainly applies and no team has proven more reliable in the past weeks and months than the Columbus Crew.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

It took a dozen years but D.C. United finally added a second U.S. Open Cup trophy to its loaded trophy case.

The four-time MLS Cup champions downed USL side Charleston Battery 2-1 in the U.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

One team is in desperate need of some offensive help while the other team might just be raising the white flag.

That's one way to look at the Colorado Rapids trading of forward Herculez Gomez to Kansas City for allocation money and draft picks (4th rounder and 1st round supplemental in '09).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. Under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida has produced many of the best players in American soccer and the next crop of would-be Freddy Adus, Jozy Altidores and Michael Bradleys is set to be revealed.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As we head into September the shift in MLS has gone from building teams to preparing for the stretch drive and securing playoff positions. The New York Red Bulls and D.

Talk about a week to remember for Manchester City.

As if posting a rousing 3-0 victory wasn't enough, City fans enjoyed Christmas a few months early when a new ownership group took over for Thaksin Shinawatra and promptly delivered Brazilian star Robinho in a record-setting transfer on Monday.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team is set for a historic trip to Cuba this weekend when it travels to Havana for a World Cup qualifier against the Cubans.

You can call Deportivo La Coruna Team CONCACAF.

Led by Canadian captain Julian De Guzman (above, left) and featuring Mexican winger Andres Guardado and striker Omar Bravo, Deportivo boasts a wealth of talent from the CONCACAF region. That group helped Deportivo pull off one of the upsets of the weekend, a 2-1 victory against Real Madrid.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Jozy Altidore will be staying with Villarreal for at least the first half of the upcoming La Liga season.

The U.S. national team striker and former Red Bulls standout revealed that he will not be going to another Spanish club on loan, which had long been expected, and will stay with Villarreal as the club deals with a rash of injuries at th forward position.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Venezuelan playmaker Jorge Rojas has joined the New York Red Bulls in Washington D.C. today and will play against D.C. United in tomorrow night's Eastern Conference clash at RFK Stadium.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Plenty of moving and shaking going on in the transfer market today, though sadly there are no completed deals to report on the Americans in the mix just yet.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

If you are a fantasy sports junkie, this might be a tough time a year for you. With fantasy (American) football and fantasy EPL joining the mix, it could be easy for you slack on your fantasy MLS team.

U.S. men's national team coach Bob Bradley has named his 20-man roster for the upcoming games against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.

Here it is:

• GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO)
• DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
• MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3)
• FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)

*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne are the new faces, earning call-ups after their performances at the Olympics while Ricardo Clark replaces injured central midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The SBI MLS Power Rankings are back.

Okay, so maybe you didn't miss the SBI MLS Power Rankings, but at least a few of you noticed their absence in recent weeks.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With three points in the bag after last week's 1-0 road win against Guatemala, the U.S. men's national team heads into the next set of World Cup qualifiers knowing that two wins could all but lock up advancement into the Hexagonal round.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Hello all. With the day winding down, here are some tidbits to pass along after another eventful Tuesday in the soccer world:

Edu poised for 'Old Firm' debut

U.

The New England Revolution and Chivas USA will kick off the first round of the first annual CONCACAF Champions League tonight with the Revs facing Trinidad & Tobago champions Joe Public while Chivas USA is in Panama to face Panamanian champions Tauro FC.

This year marks the first playing of the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament featuring 24 teams rather than the eight teams featured in the tournament's original version, the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the deadline fast approaching for players to make transfer moves in Europe, several American standouts remain in limbo with just days to go before decision day.

Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley, Frank Simek and Heath Pearce have all been mentioned as potential transfer targets this summer.

It is that time of year again. Time to find out how players from the CONCACAF region are doing in professional leagues across Europe. With more and more CONCACAF players heading to top leagues, the competition in the region is only getting tougher, and it is getting even more important to keep track of how potential U.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good morning everybody. It is Monday morning and time to bring back my weekly series 'Monday Morning Centerback', where I will focus on some topic in the soccer world, be it in MLS or abroad.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The forecast looked grim for the Red Bulls as they took the field against the Houston Dynamo. The Red Bulls were set to play without three key players, midfielder Jorge Rojas (visa issues), Jeff Parke (ankle injury) and Gabriel Cichero (red card suspension) and set to face a Dynamo team that hasn't lost an MLS match in more than two months.