The Argentine national team flashed the kind of form long expected of such a talent-laden side with a World Cup qualifying masterpiece on Saturday night.

Four different players scored goals, including Lionel Messi and birthday boy Sergio Aguero, to help Argentina post a 4-0 pummeling of Ecuador in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying action in Buenos Aires.

Constructing the Perfect Football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

It goes without saying, but the footballs of today are miles more advanced than those that were used in the early days of the beautiful game. But as advanced as they are, there are still some kinks with even the best and most advanced soccer balls out there.

(Yeah, I can't help myself. A Crew game requires a LEGO Village People picture)
It's finally time to get the season started! Tomorrow the Rapids host the Crew to kick off Oscar Pareja's coaching career. Game time tomorrow is 4pm, the first game (along with Vancouver-Montreal kicking simultaneously) of the whole MLS season.

Colorado announced its TV plans today, and once again their on Altitude. Not a surprise since KSE owns both the Rapids and Altitude TV. 28 games will air live on Altitude. One game, April 1st, will be live on Altitude2 which is only available in SD on Comcast. April 1st is a home game against the Fire though so I'll be seeing it live in person.

With a new season, brings new kits. It's just the way it is -- but what sets you apart is how you unveil those kits. Take Chivas USA for example, they did their's at 30,000 feet in the air some where between Guadalajara and Los Angles during a Volaris commercial flight.

Modeling these new kits in flight were Juan Pablo Angel, goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and midfielder Jorge Villafana.

First he was great and thin then fat and great and now Gaucho is back to looking like his old self. For those who thought dinho's best days were behind him, guess again.

The 31 year old has lost more than 80kgs (or so i could be wrong) to get back to his lean physique and if you don't believe me, take a look at these pictures.

It was rough being a Sounder's fan last night. Amidst discussions of a CONCACAF Champions League curse, playing at altitude and missing one of their best players of the season in Mauro Rosales, the Sounders had a tough playoff matchup against Real Salt Lake. While most fans would have been surprised if the Sounders had come away with a first leg lead, going down 3-0 was a bit of a shock.

A cold night in Commerce City worked to the Rapids advantage as they got a first half lead and then suffocated any chances the Crew might have had to get back into the game. Colorado won 1-0 and moved on to the Conference Semi-Final round to face Kansas City.
The Rapids took control early as they had the majority of play in the first half.

Last night the New York Red Bulls beat FC Dallas 2-0 to move on to the Conference semifinals. Due to them being the 10 seed they will take on the top seeded LA Galaxy. That means that the Eastern Conference's top seed, Sporting KC will play the winner of tonight's game between Colorado and Columbus in cold and snowy Denver.

The Rapids start the playoffs tomorrow night at the Dick against the Columbus Crew. 4 games in the next 11 days separate them from another trip to MLS Cup. Tomorrow night its simple, win or go home. There will be 30 minutes and, if necessary, PK's to decide a winner. Of course last year when Colorado started their run to MLS Cup they did it by beating the Crew in the first round.

There are good road teams, and then there are great road teams. In a league so well known for its parity a common practice for teams is to tie on the road and win at home. When the Seattle Sounders travel to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake they will defy convention and go for the win. In a two leg series it isn't necessary to win the away leg.

By Clemente Lisi – Harrison, NJ (Oct 10, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Ecuador comes to the New York area to play the United States on Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena four days after embarking on their two-year quest to reach the 2014 World Cup finals. Ecuador defeated Venezuela 2-0 on Friday in their opening game in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.

Morelia 2 Galaxy 1

With Donovan Ricketts in goal - the first choice Galaxy keeper sat out this one and was replaced by Josh Saunders - the Galaxy would arguably have won this game.

In fact the Galaxy came within 10 minutes of a famous away win at altitude in Mexico, but Saunders failed to hold shots that led to both goals in the last 10 minutes in Morelia's come from behind victory.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 19, 2011) US Soccer Players -- I know, I know. We're not supposed to question FC Dallas's win in their opening CONCACAF Champions League group stage game. They beat a Mexican team in Mexico, playing at altitude in Mexico City. It led to quotes like this from FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman: "I thought the Pumas team was outstanding.

Brian Mullan made the most of a Friday night game, launching a goal of the week nominee, and Sanna Nyassi turned provider as the Colorado Rapids downed the Columbus Crew 2-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.

Colorado improved to 9-6-10 (37 points) and dispatched the third Eastern Conference leading team in the past four games.

Chelsea made a winning start yesterday in Malaysia and looking at Twitter I cannot understand for the life of me the mentality of some Chelsea fans at the moment. People moaning and complaining about the performance, about the way we are playing, what we are lacking and all I can say is just listen to yourselves at the moment.

Without speaking a lick of the language, it's painfully obvious why this clip from Argentinean broadcaster TyC has garnered such popularity on the YouTube. Because despite the linguistic roadblock, there's this sudden urge to watch some Copa America. Right now.

Luckily, it will only be a few hours time on YouTube's Live Streaming Copa America channel, among others.

In my game preview on Friday I said:

1-1 draw, goal by Casey. The Rapids haven't shown the ability to put a team away in a long time, and with the injury report I don't see that changing. Colorado will take the lead but give it back. Our defense is strong enough, with the altitude, to prevent a loss but our offense won't be able to get a win.

Some of the luster is off of Real Salt Lake. They lost the CONCACAF Champions League 2nd Leg at home, they lost their MVP candidate and have drawn their last two matches. None of these mean that they are even just an average team. They are still quite good, but the Seattle Sounders have a few things going for them in that RSL has been hit by the Gold Cup already.

Toronto came to town with 4 former Rapids on their roster, 2 of them from the Clavijo era. As part of their return to Denver they returned Clavijo-era ball to the Rapids. An ugly 0-0 game then played out.
The closest the Rapids got to a goal was right before halftime when Quincy Amarikwa was tripped up in the corner of the box, but didn't get the PK call.

Another big Dick's crowdCOLORADO (5th) VS. TORONTO FC (14th)
　
DICK'S SPORTING GOODS PARK - SUNDAY 7PM ET
TV: GOLTV
　
Disclaimer: If religious kooks are somehow correct and there's a Rapture this weekend, the match may be delayed - if not, business as usual.

On this date 197 years ago the British successfully attacked Fort Oswego, stealing supplies before withdrawing the next day. Tomorrow the British-led Rapids will attempt to successfully attack the Revolution in their fort of Gillette Stadium and will hope to steal 3 points. This will be Colorado's third game this week, and the lineup is still depleted by injury.

Colorado has to bounce back quickly from last Saturday's disappointment. Tomorrow the Rapids are back at it, this time on the road in Houston to face the Dynamo. The Dynamo, especially in Houston, has been a bit of a nemesis for Colorado and they'll be looking to break this 4 game winless streak against a team that beat DC 4-1 at home on Friday.

Obviously the post game focus has been on the Mullan-Zakuani incident. I covered that in length yesterday so I won't say any more about it other than correct red card to Mullan doomed the Rapids in the game. Playing a man down for 87 minutes is too much to overcome.
I thought Colorado actually had the better play most of the game but that was partially because Seattle got an early goal.

Maybe it's nothing more than wishful thinking, but the Sounder at Heart crew thinks this could be the week Alvaro Fernandez reclaims his starting spot, taking the right midfielder spot in our projected lineup when the Seattle Sounders visit the Colorado Rapids tonight. There doesn't seem to be any reason for Sigi to rush Fredy Montero back, and with the game being played at altitude, bringing him on as a late sub would make a lot of sense.

I was gonna talk about the San Francisco Giants fan who was hospitalized at Dodger Stadium last week, and What We Can Learn From It. Thank heaven, Salt Lake gave us something more fun to talk about.
Now I can admit it. I thought the Royals were going to get jobbed like an American boxer at the Olympics.

Boy, that felt awfully familiar, didn't it? Makeshift starting lineup due to injuries/suspensions. Decent amount of fight and a few nice combinations in the middle third. Missed marks and poor one-v-one defending. Lack of a cutting edge. Undone on the counter. It could almost be 2010 all over again.
That said, biblical weather at altitude without half of the normal starters.

Boy, that felt awfully familiar, didn't it? Makeshift starting lineup due to injuries/suspensions. Decent amount of fight and a few nice combinations in the middle third. Missed marks and poor one-v-one defending. Lack of a cutting edge. Undone on the counter. It could almost be 2010 all over again.
That said, biblical weather at altitude without half of the normal starters.

Two big pieces of news today. first the Rapids officially announced that they'll be back on altitude in HD this year for 27 games. That appears to be every non-FSC or ESPN game, and the two ESPN games will be rebroadcast on Altitude. When the games overlap a Nuggets or Avalanche game the game will be on Altitude 2.

Two big pieces of news today. first the Rapids officially announced that they'll be back on altitude in HD this year for 27 games. That appears to be every non-FSC or ESPN game, and the two ESPN games will be rebroadcast on Altitude. When the games overlap a Nuggets or Avalanche game the game will be on Altitude 2.