Kansas City Wizards captain Davy Arnaud knows that anything but a victory in their final three matches will mean that his team will miss out on the postseason. The mission starts tonight against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park (8:30 p.m. ET).
Arnaud’s side has at least one thing going for it: The Chicago Fire will be missing a handful of starters for the match and all they have to play for is pride.
Marco Pappa will be one of the absences, joining Guatemala for their international match against Honduras in Los Angeles tonight.
While the Wizards are fighting for their playoff lives, the Seattle Sounders will be fine-tuning their operation for another run at MLS Cup with an exhibition tonight against Mexico’s Chivas de Guadalajara (10 p.m. ET). Despite the fact that the Sounders will field a reserve lineup, there are still more than 40,000 tickets sold for the match.
Attendance may also prove a story line at tonight’s USA vs. Colombia match at PPL Park, with plenty of seats still available.
In the absence of Landon Donovan and with Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo flying back to Europe, it will be interesting to see who gets the captain’s armband should goalkeeper Tim Howard not start the match for the USMNT.
Someone who may not be wearing the Red, White and Blue again is American EPL goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.
Heath Pearce and Brek Shea, FC Dallas stars in USMNT camp, are missing out on a visit from a World Cup-bound team back in Frisco.
While Columbus Crew players enjoy some rest this week in an attempt to regain their sharpness ahead of the postseason, Crew brass is also working on fine tuning. From Peru a report that forward Piero Alva may join the Fighting Canaries.
The Associated Press takes a closer look at the MLS Homegrown Player initiative and why one person calls it a game-changer for soccer in the United States.
Developers in LA believe their plans for a new NFL stadium can be a game-changer. The renderings of the proposed stadium has soccer and the World Cup in mind.
In Atlanta they’re also focused on the World Cup and a special task force is in place to help in the bid.
The Colorado Rapids will be in LA this weekend, hoping to wrap up their playoff spot. Meanwhile, the talk surrounding the potential international transfer of forward Omar Cummings continues.
The Galaxy and David Beckham are reportedly going international with a trip to India set for the offseason.
Every player that is rumored to be coming to Major League Soccer is inevitably linked to the Galaxy. Here are two more names from the Italian Serie A: Ousmane Dabo, formerly of Lazio, and oft-injured Italian defender Alessando Nesta.
The Portland Timbers, ousted from the USSF D2 playoffs, will also have a great deal of offseason work ahead of them. They now place their focus on the upcoming MLS season and the club has plans to announce its first signings later this month.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Whitecaps are looking ahead to facing CONCACAF Champions League participants Puerto Rico Islanders.
According to a report out of Holland, the Whitecaps are going Dutch as far as the leader of their youth academy. His name is Richard Grootscholten and he was with Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie.
Lastly, we’ll see if Montenegro’s Mirko Vucinic, who is a teammate of D.C. United’s Branko Boskovic, will unveil a new goal-scoring celebration just for England and its fans on Tuesday in a Euro qualifier (3 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Plus). His last one was pretty unique.
MLSsoccer.com Must-Reads
Monday’s edition of ExtraTime Radio with Jason Kreis and Jon Busch
Oguchi Onyewu’s participation vs. Colombia a question
Nery Castillo to start on the substitutes bench once again vs. KC
