Morelia - Santos Laguna 9pm - Fox Deportes Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna are top of the Clausura table after five games, with Morelia in 9th. Gomez has been coming off the bench for Santos, subbing on in the 76th last week in a win over UNAM Pumas, not playing in the 3-1 win over Tijuana the week before that, and subbing on in the 73rd in a 1-0 win over Jaguares on January 21st.

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.

U.A.G. - San Luis 9pm - Galavision As we start the second week of the Clausura season, Michael Orozco's San Luis are coming off a 1-0 home win over UNAM Pumas. U.A.G. lost 3-1 on the road to Toluca. Guadalajara's other team needs to make a break with a subpar Apertura season that had them finishing 16th and losing Herculez Gomez in the offseason.

CONCACAF has announced the pairings for the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League. Seattle will play Santos Laguna, Metapan plays UNAM Pumas, with the other two quarterfinals matching up teams from the same league. Morelia plays Monterrey and Toronto draws the LA Galaxy. The dates and times have yet to be released, with the home-and-away series set for March 2012.

The full field is set for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and while we don't know who awaits the Seattle Sounders, we know it won't be easy. The Sounders will face one of the three group winners, one of two Mexican teams or the Los Angeles Galaxy. Last year, the draw was released on Nov.

With the MLS playoffs a dream that disappeared long ago, Toronto FC had one thing left to play for in 2011. They had a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals to try and win.

Standing in their way was FC Dallas, one of the better teams in MLS, a team that needed just a draw on Tuesday night at their home ground to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Marseille - Arsenal at 2:30pm and Barcelona - Viktor Pizen at 5pm. Fox Soccer Plus has Chelsea - Genk at 2:30pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer and TeleFutura: Santos Laguna - Colorado at 8pm. TeleFutura also has UNAM Pumas - Tauro at 10pm. Herediano - Comunicaciones is on Galavision at 10pm.

Toronto 1 - UNAM Pumas 1 Yellow cards caught up with Toronto for their home date against Pumas, forcing lineup changes that should've given the visitors a clear advantage. Instead, it was Toronto going up a goal through Peri Marosevic in the 35th minute and holding on for the point after Marco Palacios equalized in the 51st.

STARTERS
My huge thanks go out to Joe the Curmudgeon for posting the du Nord news last Thursday and Friday while I was off on safari.
STORY OF THE DAY
Awesome video of my favorite team NSC Minnesota Stars singing in the lockerroom down in Cary NC after clinching their playoff spot.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS
In case you missed it last week, Jose Torres has suffered a broken bone in his left foot and after surgery he will be on the shelf until some time in January or the beginning of February.
STORY OF THE DAY
This story has popped up in every city where a club team from the US Soccer development academy has told their players to make a choice between the club that plays in a national league or their high school team.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Manchester United - Basel at 2:30pm and Real Madrid - Ajax at 5pm. Fox Soccer Plus has Bayern Munich - Manchester City at 2:30pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: Toronto - UNAM Pumas at 8pm and Comunicaciones - Seattle at 10pm. All Times Eastern

At 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, Sept. 24, the temperature in Frisco, Texas is predicted to be 91 degrees. The National Weather Service says it's going to be sunny with 0% chance of rain. Really, a pleasant day on the South Oklahoma plains for any visitors who happen to have the misfortune of actually showing up in Frisco tomorrow.

Toronto 1 - Tauro 0 After winning Major League Soccer's Player of the Week award with two goals against Colorado, Danny Koevermans scored again to give Toronto a CONCACAF Champions League win at BMO Field. Koevermans's goal came in the 40th minute in a game where Toronto only put two shots on frame. Toronto could use some MLS help to stay in 2nd-place in Group C.

STARTERS
Bob Bradley is scheduled to be in Cairo on Wednesday. Will this seal the deal?
-Andrew Das of the New York Times looks at the situation Bradley will face.
dN
Holy Gasperini Batman! Inter Milan has now started their new season with a 2nd loss in 3 games, this time 3-1 to newly promoted Novara.

La Liga on ESPN Deportes: Real Madrid - Racing Santander at 2pm. On GolTV: Atletico Madrid - Sporting Gijon at 2pm and Valencia - Barcelona at 4pm. Carling Cup on Fox Soccer Plus: Brighton - Liverpool at 2:30pm and Chelsea - Fulham at 5pm. Serie A on Fox Soccer: Milan - Udinese at 2:30pm. CCL on Fox Soccer and Galavision: Dallas - UNAM Pumas at 8pm and Alajuelense - LA at 10pm.

I include this piece not to freak out your Tuesday, as it's quite possible that only Playtherapy and I will remember this piece of music, Dynamo Beat by Shock.

It's oddly, and weirdly fascinating in that, while you can dance to it, you have to ask the question, do you really want to?

STARTERS
Stuart Holden is said to be in the starting 11 for Bolton tomorrow in the English League Cup. Hooray hooray hooray! Oh Yeah!
-The team website has words from the man himself.
dN
Javier Morales is traveling with Real Salt Lake this week for the first time since suffering a severely broken ankle back in May.

FC Dallas scored an early goal to take control of their CONCACAF Champions League match against Tauro FC, but never could find a second goal, leaving the door open for the visitors to grab a valuable draw.

That's what Tauro did, when Luis Moreno converted a penalty kick drawn after a clumsy Ugo Ihemelu challenge just before halftime.

STARTERS
Tomorrow - Wed Sep 15 is the last day MLS teams can make any roster moves for this season. Thats it.
dN
The rumor is that the USA will schedule two more friendlies this calendar year - Approx Fri Nov 11 and Tue Nov 15, both in Europe.
2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS
Matchday 3
dN
Scott French of ESPN writes about LA headed to Morelia and the wave of negativity headed toward Landon Donovan.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Benfica - Manchester United at 2:30pm and Manchester City - Napoli at 5pm (2:30pm on Fox Soccer Plus). Fox Soccer Plus has Dinamo Zagreb - Real Madrid at midnight. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: Dallas - Tauro at 8pm and Herediano - Seattle at 10pm. On TeleFutura: UNAM Pumas - Toronto at 8pm and Comunicaciones - Monterrey at 10pm.

After managing to win three straight games in all competitions and whipping the Fire faithful into a state of mild delirium, the Men in Red went right back to their old ways in dropping a 2-0 away contest to an underwhelming San Jose Earthquakes side. The loss has basically shut the window on any hopes of an appearance in the 2011 MLS playoffs (How many times have we said that this year already?

Carling Cup on Fox Soccer Plus: Scunthorpe United - Newcastle United at 2:30pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: LA - Alajuelense at 10pm. TeleFutura has Tauro - UNAM Pumas at 8pm and Morelia - Motagua at 10pm. All Times Eastern

Has hell frozen over all of a sudden? What magic and mystery has happened down in Mexico. Last week we saw FC Dallas achieve history with the first ever MLS victory on Mexican soil against UNAM Pumas. The big question that came out of this was whether the Seattle Sounders would have that same magic against the defending champions in Monterrey.

When FC Dallas made history last week by beating UNAM Pumas in CONCACAF Champions League play, becoming the first MLS team to win an official match in Mexico in the process, the question immediately became how long would it take for another MLS to pull off the feat.

It took less than a week.

STARTERS
Blackburn is paying just under US$2 million for Dallas centerback George John.
dN
INSANITY: Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o is now the highest paid player in the world. Unreal.
-Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala has bought Eto'o from Inter Milan for US$36 Million.

UNAM Pumas 0 - Dallas 1 FC Dallas opened their Group C campaign on the road in Mexico City and came away with the win. Marvin Chavez was the difference for Dallas, scoring in the 66th minute. Kevin Hartman recorded the shutout. "I'll tell you the first man who broke the four-minute mile was a man named Roger Bannister," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Bayern Munich - Zurich at 2pm and Odense - Villarreal at 5pm. Fox Soccer Plus has Dinamo Zagreb - Malmo at 2pm and Wisla Krakow - Apoel at 9pm. Spanish Super Cup 2nd-leg on GolTV and ESPN Deportes: Barcelona - Real Madrid at 5pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: Colorado - Metapan at 10pm and UNAM Pumas - Dallas at 12:30am (11pm on Galavision).

North and Central American champions Monterrey CF will begin their defence of the CONCACAF Champions League this week and it is difficult to look beyond them or any of their compatriots from Mexico claiming the crown yet again. Since the tournament was re-branded from the old CONCACAF Champions Cup three years ago Mexican clubs have claimed the title every year and it is difficult to see who can stop that trend from continuing this time around

Monterrey CF have had a successful couple of years having been Mexican champions in the last two Apertura championships and they complimented domestic success with the big continental prize earlier this year by defeating American side Real Salt Lake 3-2 on aggregate in the 2010-11 final.

FC Dallas got a 1-0 home win over Alianza to advance to the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League 2-0 on aggregate. Ugo Ihemelu scored the game's only goal in the 37th minute with Kevin Hartman picking up the shutout. Dallas joins UNAM Pumas, Tauro, and Toronto in Group C. "What you saw tonight was fatigue," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said.

The Mexican football season kicks off this weekend with eighteen teams hoping to claim the Apertura (Opening) Championship. UNAM Pumas are the most recent Mexican champions following their 2010-11 Clausura (Closing) Championship success but Monterrey will hope to repeat their 2010-11 Apertura title triumph.

The Mexican football season kicks off this weekend with eighteen teams hoping to claim the Apertura (Opening) Championship. UNAM Pumas are the most recent Mexican champions following their 2010-11 Clausura (Closing) Championship success but Monterrey will hope to repeat their 2010-11 Apertura title triumph.

STARTERS
One more week until the 2011 Mexican Primera Division Apertura season begins.
-UNAM Pumas won the Clausura in a big upset.
MATCH FIXING IN TURKEY
AFP reports that Besiktas is set to surrender the Turkish League Cup title they won last season.

UNAM Pumas have won Mexico's Torneo Clausura thanks to a 3-2 aggregate victory in the final against Monarcas Morelia.

Both teams had shared the goals in a 1-1 draw in Friday's first leg with Juan Francisco Palencia (UNAM) and Joao Rojas (Morelia) both hitting the target. So the scene was set for a thrilling finish in Sunday's return fixture, played at the Pumas' home ground of Estadio Olímpico Universitario, and it was the home side who opened the scoring on 14 minutes with Palencia converting an early spot kick.

Anything else would have been a shock. UNAM Pumas win the 2011 Torneo Clausura title at home with a 2-1 win over Morelia to win the final series 3-2 aggregate. However, it wasn't easy, and the final goal was an instant classic to give the home fans a great victory to enjoy. The first half was a brutal affair, and the most influential man on the field was referee Marco Antonio Rodriguez, who did
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Pumas of UNAM won their seventh Mexican league title after defeating Morelia 2-1 at Ciudad Universitaria today to win the final series 3-2 on aggregate. After both teams traded goals from the penalty spot, the winning goal was settled in dramatic and thrilling fashion. Javier Cortés, Pumas' 21-year-old striker, took the ball at the right flank just outside the penalty area, maneuvered around three Monarcas defenders and slotted the ball past Féderico Vilar.

Top-seeded Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente have just won the Mexican Liga de Ascenso and will compete in La Primera next season, for the 2011 Apertura starting late this summer. Los Xoloitzcuintles (the Mexican name for the dog breed that English speakers call the "Mexican Hairless Dog") won the promotion on an unusual rule.

The finals of the 2011 Torneo Clausura are set. #2 finisher UNAM Pumas will take on #3 finisher Morelia Monarcas in "El Gran Final" after a pair of ugly semifinal games ended in violence yesterday. UNAM Pumas hosted Guadalajara Chivas, who upset top finisher UNL Tigres in the first round. The first leg was a strange 1-1 draw at Guadalajara, so UNAM needed only to win at home or even tie 0-0 to
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The finals of the 2011 Torneo Clausura are set. #2 finisher UNAM Pumas will take on #3 finisher Morelia Monarcas in "El Gran Final" after a pair of ugly semifinal games ended in violence yesterday. UNAM Pumas hosted Guadalajara Chivas, who upset top finisher UNL Tigres in the first round. The first leg was a strange 1-1 draw at Guadalajara, so UNAM needed only to win at home or even tie 0-0 to
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The first legs of the Mexico Torneo Clausura semifinals were played earlier today, and the first one was a weird one. #8 Guadalajara Chivas, fresh off their convincing upset of #1 UNL Tigres by a 4-2 aggregate score, hosted #2 UNAM Pumas, who tied Torneo Apertura champions #7 Monterrey by a 3-3 aggregate score but advanced on the away goals rule, losing 3-1 in Monterrey and then winning 2-0 at
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Photo by ISIphotos.com

By ADAM SERRANO

Mexico head coach José Manuel de la Torre has released his roster for this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup, and there are a couple of notable exclusions.

While the squad is highlighted by Manchester United forward Javier Hernandez, key players Jonathan Dos Santos and Carlos Vela have been left off for the El Tri side that will look to repeat as champions of CONCACAF.