Not a bad showing by Club America, eh?
The Mexican side is now 2-0 -- with wins over Chelsea Inter Milan a couple days ago and AC Milan last night -- in a tournament in which they were considered an afterthought.
Wednesday night was also the AC Milan debut for American stud Oguchi Onyewu.

In a sign that the US Open Cup has become more of an afterthought than ever to MLS clubs, four of the top-flight's six teams in action on Tuesday night were unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament in the third round. It's gotten to the point where it could be considered an upset when a lower-division opponent actually loses to an MLS club.

Earlier this week, Planet Football opened its doors to the circus that is the transfer window.

From now until the end of August, the ring master, in the guise of Manchester City and Real Madrid, will be orchestrating the greatest show of them all.

There is no price is too dear for the big boys to pay anymore, while back in the real world, regular people face the threat of redundancy and trying to work out where the next pay cheque is coming from.

As expected, the Exhibition Place board approved MLSE's proposal to expand the north end of BMO Field by 1200 or so seats. The plan will now proceed to Toronto City Council in the New Year for a final checkmark which will probably be met with little resistance. A short while ago this would have been joyous news for TFC fans.

by Jason Davis - Match Fit USA
Yesterday, as reported by MLS Daily, Major League Soccer released the schedule for this year's SuperLiga competition. Changes in the qualification process mean that this year's participating teams are the "second tier" of MLS clubs, teams that did not qualify for the next edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Admit it, you hate Giuseppe Rossi.

If you are a U.S. national team fan this morning you are cursing Rossi and have included him in the group along with Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Oswaldo Sanchez and Jared Borghetti in the pantheon of most hated U.

The third annual SuperLiga Tournament is set to kick off this weekend and what was once a tournament with so much promise has turned into a bit of an afterthought that isn't getting much in the way of attention.

Some of the best teams in MLS and the Mexican First Division are set to do battle in a tournament that has provided some entertaining, as well as feisty, matches.

The Los Angeles Galaxy faces Real Salt Lake in the 2009 MLS Cup Final tonight (8:30pm, ESPN/Galavision) in a match-up of teams that each seemed like MLS Cup long-shots at certain points in the season.

The Galaxy looked far from a title team through the season's first two months, but Bruce Arena's club came together during the summer and kicked into a new gear when David Beckham finally arrived during the summer.

Some Australia named Scott O'Donell was the coach of the Cambodia national soccer team.
Well, until the sponsors that paid his salary suddenly stopped and he had to become a TV pundit to pay the bills.
Turns out the grassroots program raised some money and got their man back!

"I'm happy to be back," O'Donell told Reuters.

Photographs of the new Stoke City home jersey for the 2009-2010 season have been revealed on the club'a web site featuring the familiar red and white stripe design of one of the most historic clubs in English football.

Designed and manufactured by Le Coq Sportif, the new design is the perfect balance between tradition and style with a neat V-neck collar, and shirt sponsorship that fits in with the design rather than looking like an afterthought.

Couple of fast switches here.

Alberto Aquilani moves to the Reds on a 20m transfer. He will come with a reputation as an exciting playmaker, a long range threat, and an excellent deadball expert. Rafa on Aquilani:

"He can play a little bit higher than Javier Mascherano - maybe between him and Steven Gerrard.

It was meant to be the night when Gareth Barry showed Aston Villa just how much they are missing him.

But instead it was Richard Dunne, cast aside by Manchester City almost as an afterthought after Barry's arrival at the City of Manchester Stadium, who proved how strong a character Martin O'Neill has gained.

Originally part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine played their first official match in 1992. But for their first few years as a national squad many of the best Ukrainian players decided to play for Russia (since it was the major Soviet Union country) and playing for the Ukraine squad was often considered an afterthought for players that were not good enough to make Russia's squad.

I've been thinking about Barcelona-Chelsea for the last two days, including during most of the time when I was ostensibly watching the Man Utd-Arsenal match. That second game played out like an afterthought to the first game in any case, not just because it felt less vital as it was happening but because of the way it seemed to present the principles of Barça-Chelsea in a compromised and depreciated form, as if Arsenal were what happened when the mind that first imagined Barcelona had a moment to think "Oh, but.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Admit it, you hate Giuseppe Rossi.

If you are a U.S. national team fan this morning you are cursing Rossi and have included him in the group along with Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Oswaldo Sanchez and Jared Borghetti in the pantheon of most hated U.

Ramón Morales and Chivas only have 5 points in 8 games
Before the Mexican Clausura started this season, the consensus was that one of the Ramirez coaches, either Paco (Guadalajara) or Jesus (America) would be gone by mid-season. Neither of them have the pedigree to lead such prestigious teams is what the pundits cried.

Tom Anselmi defended his decision to extend Mo Johnston's contract by saying, and I quote: "Our expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would."
Bra. Vo.
Not expecting Toronto FC to qualify for the playoffs? In a league where half the teams move on to the post season?

The third annual SuperLiga Tournament is set to kick off this weekend and what was once a tournament with so much promise has turned into a bit of an afterthought that isn't getting much in the way of attention.

Some of the best teams in MLS and the Mexican First Division are set to do battle in a tournament that has provided some entertaining, as well as feisty, matches.

The Wizards continue their schedule of playing 2 games in a week again tomorrow night when they play the Seattle Sounders at Starfire Sports Complex outside Seattle. Seattle had this past weekend off from league play, so they come into the game tomorrow night more rested than the Wizards. The Sounders last game was their 3rd round Open Cup game against the Portland Timbers.

It is hard to see England overcome Brazil even if they were at full strength with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, and Glen Johnson given how the Brazilians moved with ease around the pitch. Meanwhile, the English attack was barely able to make a dent.

Fabio Capello probably knows by now that Brazil is the team to beat.

The Los Angeles Galaxy faces Real Salt Lake in the 2009 MLS Cup Final tonight (8:30pm, ESPN/Galavision) in a match-up of teams that each seemed like MLS Cup long-shots at certain points in the season.

The Galaxy looked far from a title team through the season's first two months, but Bruce Arena's club came together during the summer and kicked into a new gear when David Beckham finally arrived during the summer.

Interesting photo of Ruben Hector Sosa on the cover of the Sunday Globe sports section. Sosa appears to be shooting on goal while playing for the Boston Beacons at Fenway Park in a 1968 North American Soccer League game. Utilizing Colin Jose's NASL history book, I figured it was probably a June 21, 1968 game in which the Chicago Mustangs took a 6-5 win.