DaMarcus Beasley looks to get back on the field after having his pelvic injury diagnosed as merely a bruise, while Jose Torres and Pachuca look to keep clawing their way up the standings.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Sacha Kljestan has quietly put together a solid season for RSC Anderlecht, but he made some noise in the club's latest win on Sunday.

Kljestan scored his third goal of the season (fourth across all competitions) in Anderlecht's 4-2 win over Racing Genk when he fired home a free kick from 30 yards out.

A big snowstorm hit England on Saturday, threatening to jeopardize the slate of matches set for today, but the big headliner between Chelsea and Manchester United will go on as planned, and it will serve as the marquee match of a busy day in the soccer world.

While the Super Bowl dominates the American sports landscape today, soccer fans here will have plenty to choose from for their viewing pleasures, topped off with the big Chelsea-United clash.

¿Como jugara Tijuana?
Al Turco Mohamed le gusta jugar teniendo todo el tiempo la pelota, pero en este partido fungirá como visitante aunque normalmente juega con linea de cinco,dos carrileros y dos contenciones. Solo uno en punta que puede ser ayudado por dos volantes interiores, probablemente juegue con solo un delantero como Riascos o Pepe Sand , en algún momento se podrá usar de cambio a Raul Enriquez el máximo goleador de la historia Xoloitzcuintle.

Not too long ago, Chelsea and Manchester United were fighting each other for league titles and UEFA Champions League superiority. Now, the Blues are just hoping to chip away at a 12-point table deficit that keeps mounting by the week.

The two English giants battle Sunday at Stamford Bridge in a nationally televised game on the Fox network, with United looking to maintain its place atop the league while dealing perhaps the final blow to Chelsea's faint title hopes and forcing the club into a fight for a place in Europe next season.

DaMarcus Beasley got the game winner in Puebla's win over Jaguars, while Herculez Gomez's Santos Laguna knocked off Edgar Castillo and company take over at the top of the standings.

While it's possible something else wiggled through the window, it appears Edson Buddle rejoining L.A. and Charles Renken heading to the Portland Timbers will stand as our late fireworks.As I was informed to be likely, the DaMarcus Beasley move to Nancy did not come off, most likely because Puebla execs are too busy trying not to go to jail.

photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

In a week that saw several young and inexperienced players make their cases for more playing time on the U.S. men's national team, it was the veterans of the United States who shined brightly.

Landon Donovan was one of those players, as he inspired Everton to victory by setting up both of its goals in a 2-1 win over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.

DaMarcus Beasley has picked up where he left off with Mexican side Puebla, continue his stellar form since moving South of the Border with his latest goal.

Beasley delivered the game-winning goal in Puebla's 1-0 victory against Jaguares on Saturday, scoring a right-footed finish after making a fast back-post run and latching onto a perfect pass before pulling off a perfect cut-back and finish.

Puebla winger DaMarcus Beasley's first goal of the young season has put the visitors up just three minutes into their tilt at Jaguares (and, subsequently, compelled me to bastardize a Run DMC lyric).- Greg Seltzer

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In today's Questions, Tony wonders if it's possible for a professional soccer player to have a more bizarre few days than DaMarcus Beasley and his Puebla teammates. From there, we look at changes in New England, and wonders about the Fire's signings and DC's attack.

With Martin Luther King's legacy being commemorated across the country, it's an eye-opening shame that blatant forms of racism still exist around the world, specifically in the soccer forum.

Over the weekend, U.S. midfielder Maurice Edu and Rangers teammate Kyle Bartley were the subject of racial abuse via Twitter, an incident that resulted in the arrest of a 41-year-old man who was due to appear in a Scottish court on Monday.

Less than two months ago Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane were combining on a game-winning goal that helped lead the Los Angeles Galaxy to an MLS Cup title. Today, the two will square off on the other side of the planet as Donovan's Everton and Keane's Aston Villa do battle.

Manchester United will look to keep the heat on Manchester City by knocking off Bolton, which is awaiting a work permit for newly-acquired defender Tim Ream.

Inter Milan seems to finally have found its form, and after winning five straight matches and outscoring its last two opponents 9-1 and getting Wesley Sneijder back from injury, the club faces bitter rival and first-place AC Milan with a chance to make a statement in Serie A.

The Milan derby is the highlight of the weekend slate across Europe, one that also includes an Aston Villa-Everton game that will be of interest to U.

Desgraciadamente en el fútbol mexicano se habla de todo menos de fútbol, resulta ser que fueron a embargar al equipo de la franja. Personal del Servicio de Administración Tributaria ingresó al Estadio Cuauhtémoc para colocar los sellos de embargo al autobús y a las oficinas, asi como para llevarse todo lo que pudieran de valor.

By FRANCO PANIZO

If Brad Guzan retains his spot in Aston Villa's starting lineup this weekend, we are in for a treat.

Guzan and the Villans host Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Everton on Saturday in arguably the biggest match-up involving Americans this weekend.

The FA Cup continues in full swing today, with the biggest match-up of the weekend featuring the Manchester Derby.

Manchester City will look to take a step closer to defending their FA Cup title against a Manchester United side that is coming off a painful loss to Newcastle in league play.

When doing research on U.S. midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, we kept coming across the nickname 'Ginger Ninja" written in stories here in the United States. It even followed him abroad when he went to train with Bolton.
So where did the comic-book, action-hero type nickname come from?
"Back in 2007, I scored a goal against the Chicago Fire," Larentowicz recounted.

MLSSoccer.com has a chat with former Reading United star Andrew Wenger, who has signed with Generation Adidas and will go into the MLS amateur draft.

Arsene Wenger really is trying to get Thierry Henry for a two-month loan. Anything Landon can do ... ?

U.S. forward Eddie Johnson has signed with Puebla in Mexico, where DaMarcus Beasley is having such a good season.

A day late on the former SKC Wizards update, but being a day late has given me a little extra news to post. Word on the Twitter account for Mexican club, Puebla FC is that they are signing former Wizards player, Eddie Johnson. Johnson would join the brother of another Wizard, as DaMarcus Beasley also plays for Puebla FC.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

Eddie Johnson's long wait to find a new club has come to an end.

The American forward has signed with Mexican club Puebla, where he will team with DaMarcus Beasley and play under former Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio.

With his side down one, Jozy Altidore has bagged an insistent 20th minute equalizer from some dreamy combo play with Brett Holman.FYI: He now has five on the Eredivisie season (in the 14th of the 34 matches) and 11 across all competitions - well on pace to both fulfill my promise of 10 league goals and put him one short of a third place tie with DaMarcus Beasley in the category of goals in a

As people across the United States get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, we give you some extra food for thought as we look at the year by the numbers. Here's 11 from '11:

• A total of 46 players earned at least one cap for the full team; under Klinsmann, 28 players got at least one game.

Nice to see BP's name in lights.
FBM was lucky enough to get a VIP invite to the Nike Soccer/ Bumpy Pitch "Celebration of Los Angeles" party during MLS Cup 2011 weekend. Us, along with the leadership of The American Outlaws took off to the historic Ricardo Montalbon Theater in Hollywood for drinks, diversions, and, of course, some sweet American soccer swag.

Robbie Rogers. A little too much garment-age for our liking, but we're working on it. Image via kckrs.com.

We love writing for you guys. It doesn't matter whether we're waffling on about racism in football, Fabio Capello's surprisingly attractive ab situ or certain people's unmentionable hair, you always have something to contribute.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Carlos Bocanegra has enjoyed a distinguished career as a U.S. national team defender, and he joined exclusive company on Tuesday, becoming the 12th player in U.S. Soccer history to reach 100 caps.

The steady U.S. captain marked the 3-2 victory over Slovenia by joining Cobi Jones, Jeff Agoos, Landon Donovan, Marcelo Balboa, Claudio Reyna, Paul Caligiuri, Eric Wynalda, Kasey Keller, Earnie Stewart, Tony Meola and Joe-Max Moore in the century club at the start of his 90-minute shift.

1. We will see a starting lineup very similar to the one used against France. The only differences will be Michael Orozco Fiscal for Clarence Goodson (please see prediction #3 vs. France) and DaMarcus Beasley for Danny Williams.

While Jurgen Klinsmann struggles to find wins or goals with the U.S. men's national team, the man he replaced is ready to begin his latest coaching adventure.

Bob Bradley will coach his first game as head coach of the Egyptian National Team, which takes on Brazil today (Noon, ESPN3.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By DAVID GUBALA

Former Columbus Crew player David Testo broke a major barrier on Thursday, becoming the first MLS player, past or present, to publicly announce that he is gay.

In an interview with CBC, Testo said that he regrets not having come out earlier and that the life of a gay professional soccer player is extremely difficult.

The U.S. men's national team returns to action on Friday with a match-up against France, a match that should tell us plenty about the current state of Jurgen Klinsmann's team.

Klinsmann will have a strong group to choose from for Friday's match. Both Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey will be available, and German-born Fabian Johnson is set to make his national team debut.

The U.S. Men's National Team has begun gathering for the final time in 2011, with 19 of the 22 players on the roster already having made the trip to Paris. Tuesday will see the arrival of Kyle Beckerman and Landon Donovan, who travel together following LA Galaxy's 3-1 win against Real Salt Lake in the MLS Western Conference Championship, as well as DaMarcus Beasley.

DaMarcus Beasley and other American exports miss out on the Mexican league playoffs.

With the number of Americans south of the border, it's surprising only three will see time in the playoffs. (Americans in the Mexican league will receive deeper analysis and description at a later date, once the off-season transfer dust settles.

In the last fixture for the Apertura, DaMarcus Beasley and Herculez Gomez will look to put up a final strong performance to cap off their sterling seasons.

As Klinsmann's roster to face France & Slovenia

"Morales, where'd you learn to play son?"

G: Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

The skinny: Just calling this "Double H" from now on. By the way truth Bill Hamid's email address begins with "YoungTimHoward"

DEF: D: Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Alfredo Morales, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Oguchi Onyewu

The skinny: Was a 1st team call-up part of Morales's deal to play for the US?

Pretty standard roster again this time around, with a couple of changes. USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann continues to get some heat for his selection of Michael Orozco Fiscal. Follow me after the jump for the full roster.

Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

Defenders (7): Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Alfredo Morales

Midfielders (9): Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Rogers

Forwards (4): Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle

The German infusion of talent continues, as newcomer Alfredo Morales of Hertha BSC will make his debut on the USMNT roster.

The obvious draw this weekend for American soccer fans is Sunday's MLS conference final slate, with the winners of the Los Angeles-Salt Lake and Kansas City-Houston matches advancing to the 2011 MLS Cup final.

There are plenty of matches around the world that should capture your attention as well, though, beginning in Mexico, where a game remains in the Apertura regular season.

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Alfredo Morales

Midfielders: Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Rogers

Forwards: Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle

Share:

photo by Hunter Dorton/ISIphotos.com

Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard headline the U.S. men's national team roster for the upcoming friendlies in Europe against France and Slovenia.

There's one new face in camp, with Hertha Berlin defender Alfred Morales among the 22 players selected by Klinsmann.

As Klinsmann's roster to face France & Slovenia

"Morales, where'd you learn to play son?"

G: Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

The skinny: Just calling this "Double H" from now on. By the way truth Bill Hamid's email address begins with "YoungTimHoward"

DEF: D: Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Alfredo Morales, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Oguchi Onyewu

The skinny: Was a 1st team call-up part of Morales's deal to play for the US?

Juergen Klinsmann picked 22 players for the U.S. men's national team friendlies at France on Nov. 11 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Univision, ESPN3.com) and Slovenia on Nov. 15 (noon ET, ESPN2, Galavision, ESPN3.com).

A few surprises but mostly what you would expect from Klinsmann at this point. It seems as though Orozco Fiscal has replaced Jonathan Bornstein as the weird defensive call-up that makes no sense.