The U-23s are back in action to start 2012, holding a training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Head coach Caleb Porter has named a squad of 23 players to train at the HDC, with eye towards Olympic Qualifying in March (just more than two months away!).
In addition to two-a-days in Southern California, the team will also head to Costa Rica for a first trip abroad under Porter.

Some of this is recounting from Twitterisms some, you just couldn't make up:

Seattle Sounders: B+

Fucito, not cruising anywhere...

Good day to you Sounders fans. Two years ago Sebu Le Toux couldn't quite get on the field for Sigi Schmid's first team. Off he went to the Philly Union in their expansion draft and nearly captured an improbably MLS MVP award (of far from it, but you get the picture.

I can't be the only one who still finds himself humming "This is LA...." every few minutes.

Sunday night was the most thrilling night I have ever spent at the HDC. I don't think I have ever heard the crowd louder. My favorite fans, pictured above, cheered their brains out, as it seems did 20,000 other fans.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The Los Angeles Galaxy will get to enjoy one of the greatest luxuries in professional sports. They'll get to play the final, at their own stadium and in front of their own fans.

The Galaxy will face the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup Final at the Home Depot Center on November 20th.

Apparently beheading is still "a thing" among the English. Or at least that's the impression RBNY's Luke Rodgers gave when he almost Ned Stark-ed a lady with expensive pitchside seats at the HDC tonight.
Look how close that ball is to the side of her head. She could probably hear New York's MLS Cup hopes gently whispering "buh-bye" in her ear as it sailed past.

The HDC is rocking tonight - even if Chivas USA have been eliminated from the playoffs. I'm here on behalf of Futbol Mundial, at the event sponsored by Chrysler to honor Chivas USA outreach to the community. Mostly they've run a bunch of soccer camps, involving over 300 kids who might otherwise not be in in a soccer camp at all.

The HDC is rocking tonight - even if Chivas USA have been eliminated from the playoffs. I'm here on behalf of Futbol Mundial, at the event sponsored by Chrysler to honor Chivas USA outreach to the community. Mostly they've run a bunch of soccer camps, involving over 300 kids who might otherwise not be in in a soccer camp at all.

It's a good thing the Galaxy have wrapped up the Supporters' Shield, right, with two MLS games remaining before the playoffs start in the first week of October because the word out of Europe this morning is that striker Robbie Keane could be out four weeks, which would have him returning for the Galaxy right around the time they open their playoff campaign.

Last night's CONCACAF Champions League game featured one of the most frenzied endings to a game in Carson I can remember.

But at least one fan didn't even see the beginning.

I received the following email last night from frustrated reader Antonio Marquez
who saw an apparent ticket screw-up compounded by the largely unpublicized 7,500-spectator limit imposed at Home Depot Center for the game in an agreement with the neighborhoods around the stadium.

Big week and weekend of games in MLS, so we'll start right in with a look at attendance. Starting with the Monday game, more than 20k were in KC for the Galaxy and Sporting match. 16k came to PPL Park for the thrilling 4-4 draw with the Revs. The game was rescheduled from a couple of weeks ago when Hurricane Irene blitzed through the Northeast.

Over the years, the Colorado Rapids had enjoyed success against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

The Rapids had beaten the Galaxy in its last three visits to the stadium, with one of them being a US Open Cup match, which Colorado won in a penalty shootout. This time however, LA made sure the result was to their liking.

Orzco Fiscal returns to the area where he grew up.
Michael Orozco Fiscal grew up in Orange, Calif. so the time in Southern California before tonight's game against Costa Rica has been a welcome return home for the defender currently playing for San Luis in the Mexico Primera Division.

Another busy week/weekend in American soccer. Before we get to the attendance picture, here are a couple of other business notes from the last few days. We'll start in the world of television, where Fox Soccer Plus has announced a free preview from August 22 to August 28. The week long preview will include matches from Champions League, EPL, Ligue 1 and Serie A.

Time for our weekly roundup of the weekend that was in MLS. In Montreal, the Impact moved one more marketing step closer to their 2012 kick-off, with the unveiling of their new logo. Click here to check out an image. According to the officials involved, the logo has eight distinct elements heavily focused on the history and traditions of Quebec, Montreal and soccer.

Tickets start at $30 for the 6 p.m. Nov. 20 game (live on ESPN and Galavision) at Home Depot Center. Call 1-877-3GALAXY.

The Galaxy lead MLS with a 12-2-9 record.

It's the fourth time MLS Cup has been held at the HDC:

*In 2008 the Columbus Crew beat the New York Red Bulls, 3-2, with Guillermo Barros Schelotto setting up all three goals.

Some Wednesday bullets. Go:

Cameron, played in the back--or where he belongs--by Backe tonight?

• As if Houston's current plight wasn't sickening enough to it's fanbase...you know at some point, media folks beyond TSG are going to have to give him stick for continuing to play Geoff Cameron in the midfield.

Sporting KC continues their busy schedule tomorrow at 6:30 (notice the time) against Chivas USA. Chivas USA comes into the game on the backs of a 2-0 win on Wednesday night at the Home Depot Center against San Jose. The Goats got goals from Ben Zemanski and Nick LaBrocca to help them to the win. They have a win and a draw in their last two games.

*Chivas USA have confirmed for the first time that the club is studying "three or four" options to move elsewhere in Los Angeles County and out of Home Depot Center.

The news doesn't come as much of a surprise. The only way for an MLS club to turn a profit is to have complete control of all revenue streams at the facility it plays in and right now as a tenant of Anschutz Entertainment Group in Carson that's not the case for Chivas USA.

This has been a hot-topic really since day one for Chivas USA, playing in the Home Depot Center. Most fans would love to see them get their own place which in a way would make the SuperClasico rivalry with the LA Galaxy even better in my eyes.

Chivas USA co-owner Antonio Cue confirmed Thursday to MLSSoccer.

Galaxy 0 Seattle Sounders 0

Poetry in Motion: Well, not exactly as Seattle and the Galaxy, familiar foes now, Coach Bruce Arena pointed out, canceled each other out in a mostly tepid 0-0 draw.. Above, the Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez out jumps Fredy Montero in the second half of Saturday's game (Getty Images).

DC United, and coach Ben Olsen (pictured) extended their unbeaten streak to five games after a 0-0 tie in the HDC against the league leading LA Galaxy. DC had arguably the better chances on the night, but both sides share the ...

I'm pretty sure this week is already the craziest, if not the busiest we've seen thus far this season. So many teams involved in midweek games last night and all are playing this weekend. Talk about short rest for everyone but at least in some matches there is a level playing field.

The busy Saturday slate has plenty of talking points so let's get to them.

Don't feel bad when you look at the MLS slate for this evening, it looks very much like a weekend's worth of matches when you add the USOC match, a friendly in Portland and the final leg of the Canadian Cup. Loads of games all over the place, as 11 of the 18 clubs will be in action tonight.

I'll only focus on the three league games though for my predictions.

... or, as Jet Age aerial ace Rocket J. Squirrel used to say: "Those two look familiar, Bullwinkle."

Or do they?

Through the first 11 games, I'm also a bit uneasy because it's clear that the team could have more points and be in a better position in the standings than they do and are, but let's take a quick look at history here to put things in some sort of context.

I finally had the opportunity to see Tim Ream play in person when the Nerb (New York Red Bulls) faced the Gals (LA Galaxy) at the HDC a couple of weeks ago. I was truly impressed. Unlike most MLS defenders, he took his time distributing the ball out of the back. And he didn't just boot it or pass it off.

On Wednesday, the Red Bulls visited Montreal for a friendly against the Impact. Because I was in town last week, I took the opportunity to review coverage of the match and MLS surrounding the game. French language television and newspapers provided a fair amount of air time and ink to the game.

The World Football Challenge continues to grow.

Just days after announcing a friendly with Real Madrid as part of the WFC, the Los Angeles Galaxy announced it will host Manchester City at the Home Depot Center as part of the tournament on July 24.

Manchester City just clinched a place in next year's UEFA Champions League and is in this month's FA Cup final.

I just wrote up a little piece on how MLS Cup is going back to LA for SBnation.com. Yeah, I can't say I'm overly thrilled with this news.

While I like the HDC as a venue and a host for MLS Cup, I don't like the start time for the game. A 9pm ET start isn't ideal in any way for the league's showcase game.

Major League Soccer's not-so-secret announcement of this year's MLS Cup venue has officially been made public.

The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., will be the site of the 2011 MLS Cup final, marking the fourth time the event will have been played there. The match is slated for Sunday, Nov.

New Jersey and Luke Rodgers: Perfect TogetherThe verbal sparring between RBNY's Luke Rodgers and "American hero" Landon Donovan, which began on Saturday at the HDC, spilled over to Monday after Rodgers gave a... umm... candid interview to Red Bulls beat reporters assembled at Montclair State University.

BY ADAM SERRANO

Sporting KC and Chivas USA are both in the midst of total franchise re-development projects.

Sporting comes to the Home Depot Center with former Chivas Guadalajara icon Omar Bravo, who looks to spearhead a three headed Kansas City attack. Chivas USA is in the midst of a major rebuilding process with new head coach Robin Fraser, who has brought a new defensive mindset to the Rojiblancos.

On Monday MLS teased a "major soccer announcement" to fans and media and scheduled the event for 10:00 a.m. The description of a major event had soccer fans and journalists buzzing. Ultimately the big news was that Red Bull Arena would be the host venue for the 2011 AT&T MLS All Star Game. After the extravangaza last year against Manchester United in front of more than 70k.

Once again, TSG photog extraordinaire Matt Mathai (@mathaim) does extraordinary work capturing in stills USMNT action.

HDC is a little tough on the lighting and Matt's great work speaks to his ability.

Interspersed amongst the photos are some quotes from players in the mixed zone and some observations that just didn't fit in any piece anywhere.

After a summer World Cup that saw the United States kick, claw, scratch, sidefoot and ultimately submit, focus for US Soccer migrated ever so briefly from it's players to the front office so to speak.

The populace...

With a new four-year preparatory cycle virtually beginning instantaneously, the denouement of an on-field campaign wrecked by Asamoah Gyan saw Sunil Gulati and US Soccer navigate, or meander if you prefer, through three events that didn't necessarily have the desired outcomes: the rehiring, or hiring, of a men's national team coach, drastic CONCACAF qualifying changes and a massive and aspirational attempt to bring the World Cup back to US soil.

Is it preseason or pre-season? One word doesn't look at all correct. Whatever.

According to the MLS website, preseason training begins for the Quakes on the 27th in San Jose. The schedule is as follows:

Jan. 27 – Feb. 5: Preseason Camp Opens in San Jose, Calif.
Feb. 6 – Feb.

Here's a look back at the USA's 1-1 draw against Chile that drew 18,580 fans, the most ever for an MNT friendly at The Home Depot Center.
Teal Bunbury's game-tying PK (and accompanying goal call!)
Post-Match Reaction from Bob Bradley and players
NEWS AND NOTES

• Seven players earned their national team debut, four as starters: Sean Franklin, Jeff Larentowicz, Zach Loyd, Chris Wondolowski; and three substitutes: Sean Johnson, Anthony Wallace and Eric Alexander.

The U.S. Men's National Team's first match of 2011 occurs this week when they face Chile on Saturday, Jan. 22, at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (tickets). The kickoff time has been moved to 7 p.m. PT.

The team began training Jan. 5 at The HDC, with U.S. head coach Bob Bradley calling a total of 25 players into camp.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

Sean Johnson is making a habit of using the Home Depot Center as a launching pad to his success.

This young U.S. team took a break from the daily exercises against each other in January Camp to get a look at a different opponent, playing a closed door scrimmage against the Canada U-23 National Team. Two goals on either side of halftime capped off a solid effort from players getting in their first 11 v.

If a US game is played at HDC in January, and no major US broadcaster carries it, does it exist?

Does Bunbury get a nod up top in this one?

Poor joke.

The USMNT takes on Chile this Saturday in Carson at 7pm PST and if you have the internet, a good connection and the right cable provider, you can watch it.