Looks like we have some catching up to do. The Seattle Sounders have sold about 14,000 tickets for the March 7 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against Santos Laguna. With a month left before the game, that's a perfectly respectable total, but it's also about 25,000 fewer than Toronto FC has sold for their quarterfinal against the LA Galaxy the same day.

From Joe Roth to Adrian Hanauer to Sigi Schmid to players like Mike Fucito Seattle Sounders FC has been quite clear about their goals for this year. Another US Open Cup title will not be enough. It is a consistent organizational chorus that started at the End of Year Business Meeting and is hinted at in most conversations about the upcoming season.

Continuing their preseason tradition of a Community Shield match to raise funds for charity partners, the Seattle Sounders today announced that their opponent in the Feb. 29 7 PM match will be Jaguares de Chiapas of the Mexican Primera. In a new twist, the match will be free and seating on a first-come, first-serve basis, but the club will be accepting donations at the door.

"You are just on loan Dave..."A SALARY CAP FAR, FAR AWAY
In the most uneventful (in a good way) pre-season of Toronto FC's history, we can't help but gaze into the distance at our next meaningful opponent, LA Galaxy. In one of the shrewdest moves in MLS governance, Galaxy persuaded the league to allow them to use Mexican Pesos as their salary cap currency.

Photo by Neil Tingle/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Despite Aston Villa's best efforts, it appears Robbie Keane will head back to the Los Angeles Galaxy later this month -- just as scheduled.

The Villans had hoped to tack another week onto Keane's loan after the Ireland international bagged three goals in his first four EPL appearances for the mid-table club.

I woke up this morning to Josh Mayers of the Seattle Times reporting that the LA Galaxy had managed to secure Leonardo on a free transfer and they got Juninho back on a free loan.Suffice it to say that my initial response was not fit to print.

The top of the LA Galaxy roster boggles the mind.

Now with a stunning 1-1 draw in the books against the Vancouver Whitecaps the Seattle Sounders announced five preseason scrimmages in their "Florida" phase of training. Florida in quotes because the key note match will be against Atlante FC behind closed doors in Cancun, Mexico on February 22nd at 4PM Pacific.

The Los Angeles Galaxy's search for Juninho's replacement has ended with Juninho himself.

The Sao Paulo central midfielder is on his way back to Los Angeles for another loan spell with the Galaxy. Multiple reports out of Brazil say that Sao Paulo manager Emerson Leao had no plans to use the 23-year-old Juninho, who signed a new three-year deal with Sao Paulo during the MLS offseason.

Clint Dempsey will try to keep his torrid hot streak in the English Premier League going against a Manchester City side looking to hold on to first place in one of today's best matches.

The Cottagers are in need of points to move further away from the relegation zone, but earning any in Manchester against a City side coming off a loss to Everton won't be easy.

A year ago, the Seattle Sounders opened their season on March 15. This year, they will essentially do so eight days earlier. On paper that might not seem like a huge difference.

But unlike last year when they opened against a LA Galaxy team that was in the same stage of its season, the Sounders' first opponent will be Santos Laguna, a Mexican Primera side that will have already played nine matches.

Sounder at Heart is co-hosting (along with Golazo) an away viewing party for the second leg of the Sounders-Santos Laguna CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal on March 14 from 4 p.m.-9:30ish. The event will double as our scarf distribution event. We of course appreciate those of you who have bought and will buy scarves, but buying a scarf is not a mandatory part of attending.

"I have a squad thiiiiiiis big"FILLING HOLES, FEELING WHOLE
Isn't it refreshing to hear Aron Winter and his troops talk about how the club is "almost complete"? Barely a week in to training camp and the club's depth charts are nearly full. With the most recent acquisition completed, Chilean defender Miguel Aceval, the biggest hole of the off-season - the defence - has pretty much been taken care of.

The Seattle Sounders have played in three U.S. Open Cup title games and three MLS Cup playoff series, but the match against Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League on March 7 may be the biggest match in franchise history. Not to be too much of a shill, but if you're enough of a fan of this team to be reading this blog, you probably should plan on being at Century Link Field that day.

The Canadian Soccer Association championship club series will have a new logo and title sponsor this season. Amway Canada has returned as sponsor of the tournament that determines the Canadian club representative in the CONCACAF Champions League for its 2012-2013 competition. While the Canadian competition will change names from the Nutrilite Canadian Championship to the [.

Can-Am Connection - not Nut-Can ConnectionPYRAMID TOURNAMENT
A day after getting all kinds of pun-related gifts, one of our faves was pulled out from under us like a rug covered in health supplements. The Nutrilife Canadian Championship, or as we so lovingly called it - "The NutCan" - is no more.

When Sigi Schmid said Saturday, "there are a couple guys I'm concerned about a little bit that I don't think came back as fit as I would have liked," some alarm bells went off in with in the Seattle Sounders fanbase. The question asked concerned how the team needed to change training in light of the CONCACAF Champions League series against Santos Laguna that starts a week and a half prior to League play.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

Major League Soccer made official Tuesday what was reported on Monday, awarding the 2012 MLS All-Star Game to PPL Park at an announcement at Philadelphia's City Hall Tuesday morning.

The game will take place Wednesday, July 25, at 8 p.

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. –Fresh off one of the most successful seasons, the Los Angeles Galaxy returned to the practice field amid a steady downpour at the Home Depot Center.

Missing several pieces like Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane (both on loan), Omar Gonzalez (injury) and Juninho (joined Sao Paulo) the club returned to the training ground in preparation for their CONCACAF Champions League matches against Toronto FC in March.

Socawarriors.net is reporting that 22-year old Trinidad and Tobago striker Jamal Gay is close to a deal with the New England Revolution. The article states:

"Gay's agent Dion Sosa said the deal is expected to be for a year with the option of an extension.
According to Sosa the US club is eager to have the former El Dorado Secondary and National Under-23 forward under their fold as soon as next week when pre-season preparation kicks off.

Se está disputando la O-League, el máximo torneo de clubes de Oceanía. Se trata del nuevo formato que en 2007 adoptó la antigua Copa de Campeones de Oceanía, imitando a la Champions League europea.
En esta edición 2011/12 participan ocho equipos de siete paíes, lo que demuestra un constante crecimiento.

*UCLA product Sydney LeRoux and Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach were named by U.S. Soccer as the Young Female Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year respectively. Brek Shea and Clint Dempsey won the corresponding awards for male players. All the award winners were picked by fans

Photo by Patricia Giobetti/ISIphotos.com

D.C. United's wing options got a little more intriguing on Friday.

The club acquired midfielder Danny Cruz from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a partial allocation, adding an up-and-coming player to the team's already up-and-coming nucleus.

With the ice storm following the snow storm Seattle Sounders FC canceled today's practice. It was to be the formal opening to training camp, even though most players have participated in voluntary workouts for some time. They've been doing that not just because of the roster competition, but because game one this year is in the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna.

By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 19, 2011) US Soccer Players -- With the longest season ever in the offing, Major League Soccer's preseason is here earlier than ever before. There's much to do and little time to do it, especially for those clubs preparing to play in the poorly timed (from an MLS perspective, anyway) continental tournament known as the CONCACAF Champions League.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- It's easy enough to pick on Major League Soccer and the CONCACAF Champions League. Not only are their flaws obvious, in most cases they can't fall back on obvious success. Not so for Europe, where the UEFA Champions League can overlook its faults while generating massive amounts of money for all involved, especially for those teams advancing to the knockout stage.

BY ADAM SERRANO

David Beckham is returning to Los Angeles.

Sources confirmed to Soccer By Ives on Wednesday that the English star would be returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy for the upcoming 2012 season.

A press conference is expected to take place on Thursday in Los Angeles to announce Beckham's re-signing.

Supplemental Draft

The MLS Supplemental Draft takes place at 2pm ET today. There is plenty of talent available this year since the SuperDraft was shortened to two rounds. The Union have the 13th selection.

Local club Reading United AC have five players near the top of the Supplemental Draft class: UPenn midfielder Christian Barreiro, Delaware winger Evans Frimpong, Virginia forward Brian Ownby, West Virginia defender Eric Schoenle and Creighton keeper Brian Holt.

The recent changes to the Major League Soccer schedule and competition format are hardly the only ones impacting professional soccer teams in North America.

Coinciding with the MLS SuperDraft, U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF announced major changes to the CONCACAF Champions League and U.

The recent changes to the Major League Soccer schedule and competition format are hardly the only ones impacting professional soccer teams in North America.

Coinciding with the MLS SuperDraft, U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF announced major changes to the CONCACAF Champions League and U.

It's gone to Extra Time!
Rather quietly last week, the pristinely un-corrupt body that oversees Caribbean, North and Central American football announced changes to its Champions League format. CONCACAF's changes are a good news-bad news scenario for Canadian clubs as the NutCan winner will get to skip the preliminary round and go straight to the group stages, but, be placed in a three-team group with at least one other MLS club or a Mexican giant.

It's gone to Extra Time!
Rather quietly last week, the pristinely un-corrupt body that oversees Caribbean, North and Central American football announced changes to its Champions League format. CONCACAF's changes are a good news-bad news scenario for Canadian clubs as the NutCan winner will get to skip the preliminary round and go straight to the group stages, but, be placed in a three-team group with at least one other MLS club or a Mexican giant.

Join the guys in the first episode of the 2012 Season. The guys talk about United's lack of action during the pre-season and their 7th round draft pick, Nick DeLeon. They also go over the rest of the moves across the league and discuss the changes in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League formats.

The changes to the CONCACAF Champions League may have slipped by some due to all the MLS SuperDraft news. The new format breaks into four positives and three negatives. Travel for most clubs will be reduced, for the clubs in the Preliminary Round that advance it can drop by about 10,000 miles through the elimination of two cross-continental trips (there was a scenario last year where Seattle could travel 4700 miles one way in the Group Stage).

Next year's CONCACAF Champions League competition will look significantly different from current and previous versions. Ted Howard, CONCACAF's acting general secretary, announced today that the preliminary round would be eliminated from the competition, and all 24 qualifying clubs will proceed directly to a group stage containing eight groups of three teams each.

Next year's CONCACAF Champions League competition will look significantly different from current and previous versions. Ted Howard, CONCACAF's acting general secretary, announced today that the preliminary round would be eliminated from the competition, and all 24 qualifying clubs will proceed directly to a group stage containing eight groups of three teams each.

Big time changes are ahead for the CONCACAF Champions League. A change that will certainly help out a couple MLS sides this summer.

Starting this summer, the two-leg preliminary round – in which 16 teams would face off in a home-and-home series – has been eliminated. Instead, all 24 teams in the event will be drawn straight into the group stage.

The 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League will drop the preliminary round, expand the group stage, and seed it by country North and Central America's Confederation announced on Thursday. "This new format will streamline the first phase of the competition," CONCACAF acting general secretary Ted Howard said.

The US Open Cup will have a slightly different format this year:

The biggest news is expanding the field to 64 teams, making it the largest in a modern era that started in 1995 (previous: 42 in 2005-06). That's an increase of 24 teams from last year and all professional clubs from the top three tiers of U.

photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com

After uncertainty clouded his future with Toronto FC, Joao Plata is staying right where he is.

One of MLS's most technically-gifted players, Plata has agreed to re-sign with Toronto FC on a multi-year deal.

The halftime show will be spectacular!"50,000 fans". This was the mantra repeated ad nauseam during TFC's Dutch Breakfast Extravaganza on Friday regarding the CCL Quarterfinal at SkyDome. There is a great expectation from the club's owners as well as many supporters that the fixture versus LA Galaxy will equal, if not eclipse, Montreal's memorable CCL Big O filler of a few years back.