Friday is here and we are faced with the somewhat surprising reality that the first team eliminated from this year's MLS playoffs is the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew. You can complain all you want about the playoff format, and the fact that Real Salt Lake barely edged its way into the playoffs, but RSL played great soccer when it mattered most, while the Crew bumbled and stumbled to the finish line and ultimately paid for its inconsistency.

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Friday is here and we are faced with the somewhat surprising reality that the first team eliminated from this year's MLS playoffs is the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew. You can complain all you want about the playoff format, and the fact that Real Salt Lake barely edged its way into the playoffs, but RSL played great soccer when it mattered most, while the Crew bumbled and stumbled to the finish line and ultimately paid for its inconsistency.

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Former DC United Coach Tom Soehn

Earlier this morning came the news that DC United coach Tom Soehn would not seek to extend his current contract with the team. Set to expire at the end of this year, Soehn will instead leave the club he has been a part of for the past six seasons – three years as an assistant and three as the head coach.

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BMO Field finally turned into a fortress in 2009. (Getty Images)

2009 was expected to the be year that Toronto FC turned the corner and really made a splash in Major League Soccer. The moves were made to get local star Dwayne De Rosario at the start of the season and things looked promising early on but midway through the first full month of action manager John Carver stepped down and if you ask me the club never really rebounded from that change.

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Now here's something interesting. United Soccer League's CEO Nick Papadakis told a Canadian radio station that "the negotiations are finished" and Vancouver and Montreal are out of the league for 2010. Neither club has issued a statement though so perhaps this is just a hardball tactic on the part of the honchos at USL 1. Click to continue reading...

So did you enjoy the MLS regular season?
Were you compelled to watch not only your own team's games, but others as well since they all mattered?
Are you looking forward to some exciting playoff games?
If so, Richard Snowden wants you to know that every time New York loses a CONCACAF Champions League qualifier, God kills a kitten. Click to continue reading...

Tickets for the seventh annual tournament that serves as the qualifying tournament for the Copa Libertadores for Mexican clubs go on sale next month.

Home Depot Center hosts games Jan. 9, 10 and 12.

More info from today's press release:

InterLiga 2010 will determine two Mexican club berths (Mexico 2 and Mexico 3) for Copa Libertadores.

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The final regular season numbers look like this...

5 year comparison  Final Week YTD   Avg  +/-  GP  Avg  +/-  GP  2005  18,417   6  15,108   192  2006  20,277  10.10%  6  15,504  2.62%  192  2007  20,575  1. Click to continue reading...

Chivas USA (playing its third game in nine days) and the Houston Dynamo (eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League Wednesday) stagger to the MLS finish line at noon at Home Depot Center with playoff seedings and pairings on the line for themselves and virtually every other club in MLS it seems.

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I've updated my CONCACAF club/country coefficients with data from the now-completed group stage of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League. I'll discuss the results in a future post, but the coefficients confirm the near-total domination of the Mexican clubs in the region's top club competition. I've posted the coefficients on my Soccermetrics blog, and you can find the files here. Click to continue reading...

Once again, all four Mexican teams made it through to the quarterfinals, as did one MLS team. Here's the survivors:
Mexico (4): Cruz Azul, Pumas, Toluca, Pachuca
Guatemala: Comunicaciones
Honduras: Marathon
Panama: Arabe Unido
USA: Columbus Crew
Here's the updated results by country:
Country W L T GF GA GD win% PPG
Mexico 21 3 4 77 21 56 75. Click to continue reading...

With Chicago's defeat of Chivas USA on Thursday, the Columbus Crew wrapped up the 2009 Supporter's Shield. This feat automatically qualified them for next year's CONCACAF Champions League. Earlier this year, the Seattle Sounders grabbed a slot when they defeated DC United for the US Open Cup Title. Click to continue reading...

Congrats to the Columbus Crew whose tie in Bayamon, Puerto Rico was enough to punch their ticket into the CONCACAF Champions League knockout stages.
Congratulations to DC United as well, who became just the second MLS team to get any sort of a result in Mexico, tying Toluca 1-1. Had Lawson Vaughn not gotten his legs tangled up with Isaac Lopez in the box, DC would have advanced. Click to continue reading...

Hyperbole to be sure, but still...ouch! You'd be forgiven for being miserable if you were a USA and DC United fan poking about in assorted RSS streams and illegal internet feeds yesterday. To recap... Snatched Away! In simultaneous games, United... Click to continue reading...

DC United exited the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night. United needed San Juan Jabloteh to beat Marathon. Instead, Marathon finished in second-place in Group B with a 4-2 win over Jabloteh. Jerry Palacios had a second-half hat-trick for Marathon. Click to continue reading...

Pachuca solidified first place in their group with a 2-0 victory over to Panamanian club Arabe Unido in the final match of group play in the CONCACAF Champions League at home in Hidalgo Stadium. Click to continue reading...

The Houston Dynamo may have failed in their bid to become the second MLS team to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals but D.C. United still have a glimmer of hope left. After a rough start to the tournament that saw them drop their first two games, three consecutive wins and a draw have turned fortunes around.

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The Houston Dynamo may have failed in their bid to become the second MLS team to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals but D.C. United still have a glimmer of hope left. After a rough start to the tournament that saw them drop their first two games, three consecutive wins and a draw have turned fortunes around.

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So, the Dynamo fell 3-2 to Isidro Metapan. After a 7th minute goal from Elias Montes, plus an 8th minute goal from Anal Canal Anel Canales, the Metapan side gained plenty of momentum to push their way past the Orange.

Geoff Cameron managed to skip a ball past the opposing keeper after a perfect feed from Brian Ching who, in a weird entertainment twist, played the entire game while doing a spot-on Frankenstein impersonation (pictured right).

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Was it a foul? Houston ended up dropping the match 3-2 and falling out of the CONCACAF Champions League.
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Playing on the road against Group A's worst team, the Houston Dynamo couldn't get the win to send them to the quarterfinals. Instead, they exited the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night, losing 3-2 to Isidro Metapan at the Tiburcio Carías Andino. Metapan opened the scoring through Elian Montes in the 7th, and were up 2-0 a minute later when Anel Canales scored. Click to continue reading...

As the CONCACAF Champions League group stage entered its last week, all three MLS representatives were still with a chance of qualification to the knockout round of the competition. Results through Wednesday night have cleared up the fates of the Columbus Crew and the Houston Dynamo, while DC United must sweat out the last Group B game taking place tonight.

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Again, horrible music with these highlights. But you get the idea: The Crew coasted to a 1-1 draw with The Islanders on Tuesday night, playing some of the most uninspired, "lets just go play and get it over with" soccer I've ever seen The Massive play.

But they got the result nonetheless, and are moving on to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

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CCL: Houston Dynamo v. Isidro Metapán
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MLS on ESPN2: Chivas USA - Chicago at 8pm. Europa League on GolTV: Benfica - Everton at 1pm, Fulham - Roma at 3pm, and Lazio - Villarreal at 8pm. Copa Sudamericana on Fox Sports en Espanol: River Plate - San Lorenzo at 5:30pm and Fluminense - Universidad at 7:30pm. CONCACAF Champions League: Comunicaciones - UNAM Pumas at 10pm. Click to continue reading...

The Houston Dyanmo's second foray into the CONCACAF Champions League has left their quarterfinal chances to the very last matchday -- with their fate in some other club's hands. And unlike yesterday's matches involving MLS squads, the Dynamo must get three points in El Salvador in order to have any hope of finishing second in Group A.

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The Houston Dynamo's second foray into the CONCACAF Champions League has left their quarterfinal chances to the very last matchday -- with their fate in some other club's hands. And unlike yesterday's matches involving MLS squads, the Dynamo must get three points in El Salvador against Isidro Metapan (10pm, FSC) in order to have any hope of finishing second in Group A.

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***Spoiler Alert***
Man United scored a late one through Antonio Valencia to beat CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Russia. The rest of today's matches, including Kaka's return to AC Milan with Real Madrid are taking place right now. If you can find a TV, tune it to Fox Soccer Channel or the sports section on DirecTV. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer's D.C. United earned a well-deserved draw at Toluca on Tuesday night in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. However, they must now wait on the result of Thursday's match-up between CD Marathon of Honduras and winless San Juan Jabloteh in Trinidad to see if they advance to the quarterfinals of [. Click to continue reading...

Columbus Crew sealed their place in the Quarter Finals of the CONCACAF Champions League with this draw against the Islanders.

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The next few days promise to be big ones in US professional football. Major League Soccer has proven this summer and into the fall to be the most compelling and competitive first division the English speaking world. The MLS season comes down to the next few nights of football: every match in the final weekend has an impact upon the title race, unlike the final weekends in most European leagues.

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The CONCACAF Champions League began its final week of group stage matches on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Toluca faced DC United, the Columbus Crew traveled to play the Puerto Rico Islanders, and Cruz Azul faced Saprissa. Here's a recap of these matches along with video highlights.

Toluca draws with DC United 1-1 Video Highlights

DC United took an early lead with a great shot from Christ Pontius in the 5th minute but conceded a penalty as the two teams played to a draw.

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A year after every MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has stepped up to make sure Major League Soccer will be represented in the current Champions League Tournament.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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A year after all but one MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has become the first Major League Soccer team to earn a place in the quarterfinals.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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So, that was a better result than we probably could have expected in light of our sorry history south of the 2-0 crossing. And you could probably have doubled the surprise given the starting lineup that the oh-so-nattily-dressed Tommy Soehn ran out... Click to continue reading...