This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

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The playoff version of the SuperClasico got off to a bang with a 2-2 draw. (Getty Images)

Some could say the results we saw in the first week of the playoffs were fairly expected. The SuperClasico ended in a draw that I think most folks expected to get; Real Salt Lake found a way to get a win over the Crew at home; Seattle and Houston battled it out to a scoreless draw; and maybe the only real shocker of the weekend was the Revs beating Chicago 2-1.

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Always expect the unexpected when it comes to the Superclasico. Only two goals were scored in the three regular season meetings between Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy (both by the Galaxy), but in the first leg of the first round playoff matchup between the two Home Depot Center tenants, both teams found the back of the net twice on Sunday afternoon, albeit it on strange circumstances. Click to continue reading...

The man of the moment for the Galaxy

For a moment Donovan Ricketts looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel after the Chivas attack had carved up the LA defense again and again. After he saved a sure goal from Maicon Santos he launched into a tirade against his defenders. His fury was absolutely justified at those bunch of clowns.

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This is the game Southern California MLS fans have long awaited.

I'd like to say there's a buzz in the air, a sense of anticipation and tension and plenty of concrete expressions of the rivalry that have temporarily divided friends and families.

I'd like to say that, but it wouldn't be true.

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America are you ready for the buckwildness* that will be the playoff editions of the SuperClasico aka The Battle of Los Angeles#? For me this match up has got to be one of the highlights of the 2009 playoffs. I'm not a butcher but I do know this much: beef tastes better in October. JP & Johnny know it to and drop a little science on how it might all go down. Click to continue reading...

Last week's 3 To See saw wins for Liverpool, Fenerbahce and a draw in the Argentine superclasico between Boca and River. This weekend we've got some triffic games for you, as one of the managers... Click to continue reading...

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

With apologies to the LA SuperClasico series, there is perhaps no MLS playoff series this year more intriguing and more tough to call than the Houston Dynamo-Seattle Sounders series.

The two-time MLS Cup champion Dynamo take on the expansion Sounders in a young rivalry that showed plenty of promise during the season.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

With apologies to the LA SuperClasico series, there is perhaps no MLS playoff series this year more intriguing and more tough to call than the Houston Dynamo-Seattle Sounders series.

The two-time MLS Cup champion Dynamo take on the expansion Sounders in a young rivalry that showed plenty of promise during the season.

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The latest instalment of Buenos Aires' Superclasico did little to give fans of River Plate or Boca Juniors hope of an quick upturn in fortunes for either ofArgentina's traditional footballing superpowers.

The 1-1 draw was played out with the trademark tenacity and tempo the fixture demands but a point a piece does nobody any favours.

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Amigos de TM, en el gallinero se jugó otro clásico, La Banda de Homero no podía faltar, Boca venía en levantada y River de capa caída, le voy a ser sinceros, este dato no me gustaba mucho, ¿cuántos clásicos ganó Boca cuando la tabla y el juego de los equipo mostraba que los primos estaban mejor? Click to continue reading...

My first day in Buenos Aires turned out to be the day of the superclasico, even though I scheduled it months before the schedule came out. Fate? Perhaps. Unfortunately, fate also worked to have me arrive too late to attend the match. Fate can be fickle. Because of the fickle finger of fate, the only picture I have is a blurry one of a television screen showing the end of the match in a café in Buenos Aires.

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So in the end, Alfio Basile's army weren't able to obtain a crucial away victory against Los Millionares (how dare you mistake them for Chamillionaire!) but at least they came away with a 1-1 draw. As expected, El Monumental had all the ingredients for an emotional game and things got heated when Ariel Ortega hit his arm on Boca's defender, Julio Caceres' neck.

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Luego de haber jugador el mejor primer tiempo del año, River se fue al vestuario 1 a 0 cuando merecía por lo menos un gol más. En el complemento, Boca se despertó ajustó la presión en el medio y llegó a la igualdad. Sobre el final del encuentro, Abelairas estuvo cara a cara con Abondanzieri pero el palo le dijo que no al triunfo. Click to continue reading...

We have three big derbies happening this weekend: We have El Súper Clásico in Mexico, the Superclásico in Argentina and what I'd consider the equivalent in England when Liverpool host Man Utd (can we call it The Super Classic?) Here's a quick lowdown on the three big games, and a question: Which game or games will [. Click to continue reading...

So apparently, Riquelme says that his teammate, Martin Palermo's mask-wearing antics has helped him to score more goals at Boca's training sessions. He wants him to wear it for the game so that they can 'score more goals together'. Kkkkk...

Anyway, he also added that Boca must be careful in the Superclasico against River this weekend or risk "paying dearly".

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We are now in high gear with the regular season in club football and the schedule demonstrates it. I lost count at 40-something as the number of matches being broadcast this weekend. It should be enough to keep people with even the most severe cases of football-ADD happy.

By our calculus, the match of the weekend takes place in Germany on Sunday when Schalke 04 hosts Hamburger SV because that's the only match featuring a pair of WCR Top 25 Clubs.

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For ranking methodology and other information about the series, see the original post. To read the about the No. 10-rated stadium, the San Siro in Milan, go here. To see all "soccer mecca" entries click here or on the "topics covered here" link below right.
9. Estadio Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera), Buenos Aires
Open since: 1940 (renovated 1995-96)
Capacity: 57,395
Tenant(s): Boca Juniors
World Cup hosts: Never
Closest U. Click to continue reading...

View the nominees and then you decide. I'm happy that Beckham finally got a goal of his own. Great win on Saturday!

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Galaxy 1 Chivas USA 0

Don't tread on me! Jovan Kirovski and the Galaxy steal a base a goal and steal the game. (Photos by Scott Varley).

Game story.

David Beckham spoke in the locker room for the first time I can recall and he gave a scathing assessment of the Galaxy's opening 45 minutes:

"To be honest they kind of controlled the game in the first half; our passing was terrible, we just kept giving the ball away.

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The (Torrance) Daily Breeze, LA Daily News and other sisters newspapers in Southern California have a nice-looking graphic preview of today's game in the print editions; sadly that does not translate to the Web.

So here's what you need to know:

*I set the stage earlier in the week with this column.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA head into Saturday's LA Derby as the second and third place teams respectively in the West. (Left, scenes from one of the derby's first renditions this season). Even more important, Chivas is only two points behind the Galaxy, making Saturday's third and final installment of the 2009 SuperClasico perhaps the biggest it has ever been in the four-year history of the in-stadium rivalry. Click to continue reading...

Landon Donovan and Paulo Nagamura battle in the third and last SuperClasico of the year. (Getty Images)

We have another loaded week of soccer ahead of us. Week 24 got off to a bang earlier in the week in Salt Lake as Real Salt Lake got their playoff chances back on track with a resounding 4-0 blowout of expansion mates Chivas USA.

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Last night was apparently a good night to skip watching Chivas USA get thrashed 4-0 by an unReal Salt Lake and head to a screening of The Damned United at Sony Studios in Culver City although I did think checking in four times (parking lot security, visitor's center, screening room guard and finally screening room PR flak) and getting the car trunk searched on the way out to boot (sorry, English humor) was more than a little excessive.

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                                                                              Photo by ISIphotos.com

by TRAVIS CLARK

September is right around the corner, and this translates into the most important part of the season for MLS clubs fighting for their playoff lives.

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                                                                              Photo by ISIphotos.com

by TRAVIS CLARK

September is right around the corner, and this translates into the most important part of the season for MLS clubs fighting for their playoff lives.

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Game story.

MLS standings. Note that Chivas USA have three games in hand over the Galaxy and could vault over them Wednesday with a win in Salt Lake City before Saturday's SuperClasico.

Bonus quotes;

Here's Preki on getting a second straight win after not winning for two months before that:

"Obviously, we had a couple of new guys and it's not always easy to gel right away with your teammates, but I thought both of those guys the longer the game went (on) they settled in and they both played better, especially in the second half.

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Chivas USA 2 Toronto 0

A scrappy little shutout win that at times wasn't necessarily pretty, but did the trick going into next weekend's SuperClasico against the Galaxy (Chivas USA also travels to Real Salt Lake Wednesday).

Sacha Kljestan had his first two goals of the season and it should have been more for Chivas USA - substitute Paulo Nagamura should have scored with only the goalkeeper to beat about four minutes from time.

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Chalk up round two of the 2009 Superclasico to the Los Angeles Galaxy. For the third straight week, the Galaxy needed only one strike, this time from the foot of Edson Buddle, and Los Angeles emerged with a 1-0 win over Chivas USA. "We made one mistake, and we got punished for it." said Chivas head coach Preki. Click to continue reading...

Well, I watched my favorite teams douche it up all day today. They got the results they needed, but still, they were pretty douchey.
May I elaborate? Thank you.
I can only imagine how US Men's News & Analysis reacted to the Haiti douche job. I guess I should be happy for Stuart Holden, but mostly I'm sad for Jimmy Conrad. Click to continue reading...

Just us here for live commentary in the (you guessed it) comments section. I would commit to live-blogging it, but I can't count on staying functionally awake until 1am my time.

It should be a great match entertaining with lots of side action. This is Eskandarian's first game against his former team, and Chivas is his former team by fewer than two weeks.

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Americans Abroad / USMNT
Who Should The USMNT Start vs. Haiti? - Soccer By Ives
Cherundolo Eyeing MLS? - WVHooligan
Emotional Homecoming For Quaranta - Associated Press
Altidore Loaned To Olympiakos - MLS Daily
Has Robbie Rogers Done Enough To Earn World Cup Consideration? - Goal. Click to continue reading...

First off I apologize for the lack of & brevity of posts lately; trying to grind on the jobhunt and take advantage of some time with the family so I haven't been chained to the computer as per usual. Please forgive me (and the multiple spelling errors due to the rushed nature of my recent output). Click to continue reading...

A few items to pass along:

*The club announced today it will open the Home Depot Center's upper deck, which it customarily doesn't need to accommodate the smallish crowds that average 15,312 this season, for Saturday's SuperClasico against the Galaxy. Those seats have an excellent view, BTW, if you've never sat up there (think the luxury suite views on the opposite side of the stadium without the expensive prices).

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Whatever you do Eski, don't try and sell us on the Superclasico; that answer is drier than microwaved turkey. But good on you for scoring on the first chance you got for your new club...hopefully these guys will let you stay for while. Click to continue reading...