The U.S. soccer team was trounced 3-0 by the Samba Kings of Brazil at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup earlier today. In attendance were the usual Brazilian soccer babes who seem to follow the Selecção everywhere they go. Here's a look at some of them. If you like this stuff then you may as well check out [.

FIFA World Cup 2010-bound Mexico and a young Trinidad and Tobago side battled to a very entertaining 2-2 draw last night at Port of Spain's Hasely Crawford stadium. While attendance to the game was quite poor because of the Soca Warriors already being knocked out of the qualification process, several Mexican and Trinidadian soccer babes [.

The Italian football team was trounced 3-0 by the Samba Kings of Brazil at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup yesterday. In attendance were the usual Brazilian and Italina soccer babes who seem to follow the Selecção and Azzuri everywhere they go. Here's a look at some of them. If you like this stuff then you may as [.

Three road qualifiers. Three losses. Three points from four matches.

That is the sorry state the Mexican national team finds itself in four games into its World Cup qualifying campaign. Saturday's 2-1 loss to El Salvador has Mexico in must-win mode mid-way through the Hexagonal Round of CONCACAF qualifying.

Think Seattle is killing it in attendance this season?
Next season could be better, as one report says the club might open up the north-end bleachers (often referred to as the Hawk's Nest, where that Xbox banner is) for games next year.
That would add 2,200 seats to the capacity, making it 34,600.

Amazing. Unbelievable. Magical. Job-saving. Lucky. So many words could be used to describe the series of events that transpired on Sunday afternoon, as the U.S. Men's National Team did what they had to do (with a lot of help from Brazil) to move on in the 2009 Confederations Cup. The word I would choose to describe the performance?

Week 6 attendance was an improvement over last week.

This week's nine matches averaged over 15,800, about 100 more than last year's week 6 matches.

First place Chivas disappointed again, drawing only 14,611 with clear weather and 67 degrees. On the plus side, they are drawing about 2,000 more than last year through the first 4 home games.

I spent this evening at a do organised by the club which launched the new kits ahead of the 'official' release of the kits this July and August.
I'm not normally one for being big on the kits, but I was really impressed with the 2009/10 offerings. Umbro have taken some stick on the forums and the like, but from what I saw tonight they are anything but like some of the other Umbro kits around, and Umbro were keen to emphasis the tailoring and design that has gone into them, with the material used being similar to that used for the England kit.

After almost 2 months of games, Major League Soccer has seen a significant drop in attendance in several key markets. Is this reason for concern, a sign of today's struggling economy, or are serious changes needed in these cities. First, let's look at which teams and markets are showing significant drops in attendances numbers from last season.

It's Friday, and although we always start (and finish) the day with an alcoholic beverage and/or chocolate infused with alcohol, we're quite certain we're sober enough to I.D. Arsenal's Samir Nasri on holiday with Sunderland/Marseille striker Djibril Cissé.

Their partners, tennis player Tatiana Golovin and Jude Cissé, were also in attendance and have been taking shoulder taxis throughout Miami beach.

Major League Soccer's regular season wrapped up yesterday and here are the final attendance figures:

Team G Total Avg Med Hi Lo Change Seattle 15 463,455 30,897 32,404 33,108 28,548 NA Los Angeles 15 306,240 20,416 19,718 27,000 16,649 -21.5% Toronto 15 305,167 20,344 20,384 20,902 19,843 1.

One of the folks who commented on the Expansion's Effect on MLS Attendance post pointed out that the Sounders have been seen by over 20% of the people attending a game this year. Another person thought that David Beckham's Flying Circus had probably beaten that mark. (This is in fact true.)
However it turns out that neither of these sides hold the record for the largest percentage of tickets sold to see a given team in a season.

The Italian football team was trounced 3-0 by the Samba Kings of Brazil at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup on Sunday. In attendance were the usual Brazilian and Italian soccer babes who seem to follow the Selecção and Azzuri everywhere they go. We featured a ton of them yesterday in the first installment of The [.

It is not often that MLS Commissioner Don Garber seldom pisses off people in other sports. But yesterday he did.
Courtesy of ESPN:

NEW YORK -- Mention those empty seats at Yankee Stadium at your own risk.
Don Garber did.
A day after the Major League Soccer commissioner raised the subject, New York Yankees president Randy Levine blasted back.

I apologize for the slight delay; as I write this, I am in Texas, taking care of some various site business. But I'd be remiss if I didn't post a little something on Wednesday's US Open Cup...

Questions raised after National Championships by one onlooker.
The National Under 13 Boys competition finished yesterday. Girls and Boys results below. Also below is a post from one "Anonymous" poster.
I have no view on the Capital Football Academy of any real expertise or depth so I won't comment.

From the Comparing Things You Can't Really Compare Department, here's a list of MLS, USL-1 and WPS teams ranked by their average attendance to this point:

Team League G Total Average Seattle Sounders FC MLS 8 234,909 29,364 Toronto FC MLS 9 181,979 20,220 Los Angeles Galaxy MLS 7 135,085 19,298 Houston Dynamo MLS 8 125,510 15,689 Real Salt Lake MLS 6 92,691 15,449 Chivas USA MLS 8 122,494 15,312 DC United MLS 8 118,491 14,811 Columbus Crew MLS 6 74,501 12,417 Colorado Rapids MLS 5 61,054 12,211 Montreal Impact USL-1 4 48,183 12,046 San Jose Earthquakes MLS 7 82,421 11,774 Chicago Fire MLS 6 70,357 11,726 New England Revolution MLS 5 57,557 11,511 New York Red Bulls MLS 8 91,076 11,385 Kansas City Wizards MLS 7 67,924 9,703 FC Dallas MLS 8 69,429 8,679 Rochester Rhinos USL-1 2 17,039 8,520 Portland Timbers USL-1 6 46,466 7,744 Los Angeles Sol WPS 8 53,486 6,686 Washington Freedom WPS 6 40,021 6,670 Vancouver Whitecaps USL-1 6 31,026 5,171 Boston Breakers WPS 5 24,706 4,941 Chicago Red Stars WPS 6 26,840 4,473 FC Gold Pride WPS 5 21,549 4,310 Sky Blue FC WPS 5 19,048 3,810 St.

Yup! Even he looks shocked!
Could the US left back prayers be answered after an amazing run at the Confederation's Cup?
According to a clue from the editors at MLSR, Brooke Tunstall at USSoccerPlayers.com reports that Edgar Castillo has said that he would play for the US!

UPDATE: 2243
More than 60 firefighters have been tackling a blaze in Great Wakering involving several fields and a housing estate. These are the first pictures of the incident.
Crews were working at multiple addresses in Shoebury Road, Poynters Lane, Seaview Drive and Estuary Gardens.

Sometimes it's pretty easy to bash MLS. Attendance is sparse at times. There are still fields with American football lines. The play can be downright awful. And now the champion is a team that has never compiled a winning record.

The Wizards may have finished at the bottom on MLS in attendance this past year, but they finished atop all sports when it comes to venue capacity. The Sports Business Journal (subscription only to read the article unfortunately) has complied the attendance for all the teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS and compared them to the size of the stadiums they play in.

As heard moments ago on Glenn Davis Soccer Hour.
Seattle's Media market = 1.745 Million people
1 ratings point = 17,450 people watching on TV
On over the air, NBC affiliate KING 5 the live game drew a 4.1 rating = 73,185 households
On cables FSN Northwest drew a 1.

Wednesday's round of World Cup qualifiers started with the marquee matchup between the United States and Mexico at Estadio Azteca. With all the pressure on Mexico, who needed a win to get their qualifications hopes back on solid ground, the United States was looking to secure its first win in the altitude of Mexico City.

After week 29 the numbers look like this...

5 year comparison WK 29 205 GP YTD Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP 2005 18,417 6 15,959 15,108 192 2006 20,277 10.10% 6 16,235 1.73% 15,402 1.

The playoff numbers look like this...

5 year comparison Conference Semifinals 1st Leg Avg +/- Home Teams 2005 12,147 NA Chicago NY Colorado Los Angeles 2006 9,533 -21.52% Chicago NY Colorado Chivas USA 2007 14,245 49.

Even in DC there were many seats to be found Saturday Night.
We received this via anonymous email:

Hello, Please keep my name and email address anonymous but I can tell you that any hopes MLS might someday switch to a European calendar were dashed recently. The league in planning this year's schedule had a number of objectives.

Got a ticket? Want one?
Wanna go to an LA Galaxy game post-Beckham? Haven't been down to the beautiful Rio Tinto stadium? Well you're in luck. It seems that it never has been easier to do both as both clubs appear to be giving away tickets left and right to boost anemic early season attendance numbers.

By Clemente Lisi NEW YORK, NY – Don't expect Honduras – eager to earn a World Cup berth for the first time since 1982 – to just roll over and become CONCACAF road kill when they play the United States on Saturday night in Chicago. For starters, not only will Soldier Field be teeming with Honduran fans passionately cheering in the stands (possibly half of the over 50,000 fans expected in attendance could be waving.

Great work by MLS Daily on this information, be sure to take a look.
In short, there are a lot more empty seats out there compared to last year.
Only five teams (Toronto, Chivas, N.E., K.C., Columbus) are averaging more fans now than in 2008, and only two of them (Chivas +6.51%, N.

By: Michael Paar -- Owner of The Business of US Soccer
Ever since the fall of 2006, when Major League Soccer first announced the new initiative, teams in the young league have been allowed to put advertisers' brands on the front of their jerseys. While this was a new thing in the world of major sport in the United States, it brought MLS more in line with the rest of the world, especially the older, more established leagues.

The Los Angeles Galaxy have called a press conference for tomorrow at ESPN Zone to make a 'major player announcement'. Head coach Bruce Arena and captain Landon Donovan are scheduled to be in attendance. It is expected that the team will announce a short-term loan that will send Donovan to English club Everton FC as soon as the winter transfer window opens up in January.

On Saturday, MLS goals were scored by guys we all know: Freddie Ljungberg, Kenny Cooper, Steve Ralston and Luciano Emilio. On Sunday, MLS goals were scored by guys nobody ever heard of: Eduardo Lillingston, Marco Pappa, Andy Iro and Aaron Hohlbein.
Chicago got a sendoff in the 14th minute and went on to win, while Columbus got a sendoff and not only lost but are now down to about six guys who are both a) healthy and b) available.

So we've passed the first day of what will be a long summer of MLS/MNT/FIFA fixture congestion. We've all heard the discussion before about the MLS schedule and its position that it is impossible for the league to avoid fixture congestion and unable honor FIFA international days.

Without getting into the whole winter/summer, apertura/clausura and a host of other 'new' scheduling models, I thought I'd try to examine one of the arguments the league has put forth; i.

It's Friday, and although we always start (and finish) the day with an alcoholic beverage and/or chocolate infused with alcohol, we're quite certain we're sober enough to I.D. Arsenal's Samir Nasri on holiday with Sunderland/Marseille striker Djibril Cissé.

Their partners, tennis player Tatiana Golovin and Jude Cissé, were also in attendance and have been taking shoulder taxis throughout Miami beach.

The 2009 Showdown in Chinatown was this past Wednesday. If you're unfamiliar, that's where the NBA's Steve Nash organizes a game of soccer in New York City featuring big names from the worlds of basketball and football. In attendance this year were... from the world of football: Claudio Reyna, Thierry Henry, Javier Zanetti, Salomon Kalou, Ryan [.

After week 23 the numbers look like this...

5 year comparison WK 23 164 GP YTD Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP 2005 15,133 7 14,807 14,857 151 2006 11,814 -21.93% 10 15,065 1.74% 15,139 1.

In an brief article in todays News and Observer out of Carry, NC, they are reporting that the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is in New York and meeting with United Soccer League (USL) officials and members of the Team Owners Association (TOA). This confirms reports that IMS has received from several sources that Sunil Gulati, president of the USSF has called a meeting in his home state of New York to attempt to resolve the conflict.

There's not a lot of new information coming in on the accident that Charlie Davies was involved with early Tuesday morning and still no word on who the driver is or their condition.

Steven Goff was reporting this morning that US coach Bob Bradley visited Charlie on Wednesday morning and that he was responding to doctors but was still heavily sedated.

Sitting in sunny Ft. Lauderdale back in January, coaches in attendance at the 2009 MLS Combine started out wondering where all the talent was that they had heard about. However, with each passing day, it was clear that there was plenty of talent to be had, including several players who could step in and make immediate impacts.

Yesterday, Ben Olsen and Devon McTavish were invited to participate in the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll. Both players read to the kids in attendance and ran mini-soccer clinics. A couple of Washington Redskins - kicker Shuan Suisham and guard Derrick Dockery - were also on hand.

More photos from the event on our Flickr account.