DC United defeated the Charleston Battery 2-1 in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday night to claim their second Open Cup crown.

The match between two of the more tradional sides in the American game got off to a fast start with DC scoring quickly and Charleston wasting no time in finding an equalizer.

It was the introduction of Fred late in the first half that would change the game. Just after half time the substitute found his way through the Charleston defense to put DC ahead, a lead they would not relenquish despite spirited play from the South Carolina side.

The match was not without controversy however as Charleston had a stoppage time equalizer disallowed for offside, replays disagreed with the decision.

Elsewhere the Puerto Rico Islanders scored twice at the death to get by Costa Rica's Alajuelense. The Costa Ricans went ahead early but the Islanders kept their cool in order to find the two goals they needed to qualify for the group stage. The result gives the USL, two, as many teams in the Champions League as MLS. Marathon of Honduras and Cruz Azul of Mexico also advanced.

The final two preliminary matches take place tonight as Jalapa look to defend their slim lead over San Francisco in Panama, and Pumas take on Harbour View in a one-legged affair followed the cancelation of the first leg due to Hurricane Gustav.

"It's our pre-season" was the excuse uttered by Major League Soccer apologists to explain the league's ineptitude in the old CONCACAF Champions Cup that often ran between February and May. "It'd be a different story if it was in our mid-season" they said.

They were wrong.

Very wrong. MLS heaped shame upon American soccer on Tuesday by failing to beat teams from Panama and Trinidad & Tobago when Tauro eased by Chivas USA and Joe Public laid an impressive beating on the kings of choke, the New England Revolution. But what happened Tuesday night in Foxborough was not a choke-job, it was a full scale massacre. The Revs were humbled 4-0 by Joe Public, 6-1 on aggregate, Gregory Richardson hit a hat-trick for Mike McComie's charges.

Joe Public finished the 2007 TT Pro League season in third place, good enough to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, a regional competiton that determines the Caribbean's three representatives in the CONCACAF feature. This year hasn't gone quite as swimmingly for the Eastern Lions as the Macoya-based side currently find themselves sixth.

Many will point to New England's injuries and claim that as the reason for New England's loss, but what injuries can't account for is a lack of heart, a lack of desire from eleven men who are paid to play a game that billions of us play for free everyday. This type of flat, lifeless performance from professionals is simply inexcusable.

Chivas USA did manage to save a bit of face for the league, while they were beaten by Panama's Tauro, they did fight. Tauro do seem a respectable side, they finished second in Panama's ANAPROF to San Francisco who face an uphill battle to join them in the group stages as they currently trail Guatemala's Jalapa 1-0 on aggregate.

The happiest man in America tonight is United Soccer Leagues President Francisco Marcos. Marcos was sure to be watching as the USL's Montreal Impact managed a 0-0 draw away to Real Esteli in Nicaragua which after their 1-0 win at Stade Saputo assured the USL a presence in the group stage. 

Tomorrow should prove to be an interesting day at MLS HQ in New York City, and Thursday could prove even more interesting if the Puerto Rico Islanders can manage to get by Costa Rican giants Alajuelense tomorrow. But the big match will be at RFK Stadium in Washington as DC United face the Charleston Battery in the US Open Cup. DC are the darlings of MLS, and Charleston are one of the USL's most respected, and most senior clubs. Yes, tomorrow will be interesting.

On August 26th the long awaited CONCACAF Champions League kicked off for the first time. There have been rumors of a CONCACAF competition modeled on the famed UEFA Champions League for some time now, but now the rumors are finally a reality.

The competition features 24 clubs: 4 Mexican, 4 American, 2 Costa Rican, 2 Salvadorian, 2 Guatemalan, 2 Panamanian, 2 Honduran, 1 Belizean, 1 Canadian, 1 Nicaraguan, and 3 from the Caribbean Football Union (the CFU).

New Boys

While many of the household names are in the tournement, it's interesting to note a few lesser known teams who have found their way in. Among them are the Montreal Impact, a Canadian club playing in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, or the second tier of American soccer. The Impact qualified through the newly formed Canadian Championship, a three team cup featuring Canada's three professional clubs. The other two clubs taking part in the Canadian Championship were Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Championship may be expanded in future years to include more teams. It should be noted that Toronto FC cannot qualify for the CCL via MLS as the four American spots are allocated to the US Soccer Federation and not Major League Soccer.

Montreal are not the only USL team in the competition, they're joined by the Puerto Rico Islanders who took a long and winding road to reach the qualifying round. The Islanders qualified as one of three CFU representives, but didn't find out until very late. In the old CONCACAF Champions Cup the CFU could only qualify it's Champion to be represented in the tournement, therefore Puerto Rico thought they had come up short by only reaching the semi-final. However a third place playoff was played to determine the final spot, which Puerto Rico claimed. Puerto Rico qualifies for the CFU Champions Cup through it's reserve team, Seville FC Bayamon (formerly Islanders B), who play in Puerto Rico's newly formed Puerto Rican Soccer League.

Guatemalan club Deportivo Jalapa are also on their maiden voyage to international waters. The club from Southern Guatemala won the Liga Nacional for the first time in 2007.

This is also a first international trip for Chivas USA. The 2007 MLS regular season runners-up will try to win the cup in the absence of their Mexican counterpart. A point of interest is a potential matchup with Santos Laguna and former Chivas Guadalajara icon goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.

Old Kings seek the new throne

The first CONCACAF Champions League promises to be an intersting affair. Cruz Azul are the most successful club in North American competition, but have not claimed an international honor since 1997, can la Maquina Celeste reclaim their crown, will Saprissa shake off their recent lowlites, or will a new king come from elsewhere?

When you think of soccer, football, futbol, calcio, whichever you prefer, it's highly unlikely that you think of places like the Carolinas, Georgia, and Mississippi. But slowly, and quietly big things are happening with soccer in the South.

A large swath of land long ignored by the county's premier league, Major League Soccer, one could be forgiven for not associating soccer with the South. But it's worth looking into. Take Charleston, South Carolina for instance. A gem of a city situated in South Carolina's picturesque "Low Country", Charleston is ripe with history and beauty, both man made and natural. On Daniel Island in Charleston sits another gem, little known Blackbaud Stadium was America's first professional "soccer-specific stadium". Built in 1999 and seating 5,112 in two cozy stands along either sideline the stadium, affectionately called Battery Park by supporters after a nearby Revolutionary War artillery site, is home to the USL First Division's Charleston Battery. Founded in 1993 Charleston is the most senior clubs in the anything but stable American soccer landscape. The Battery have twice won the USL Championship and their stadium has become something of a "must see" to American soccer hardcores due to the quietly significant roll it played in the current wave of soccer-specific stadiums.

Charleston's principal rivals are the Atlanta Silverbacks. As much as it pains me, a proud Charlottean, to say it, Atlanta is very much the heartbeat of the South and the capital of all things Southern. It is also home to RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium, a wonderful little soccer-only facility located near I-85 (I-85 links together several major Southern cities). Atlanta's stadium, originally named Silverbacks' Park until sponsorship from real estate giants RE/MAX, currently seats around 5,000 but chairman Boris Jerkunica has grand plans to shape the stadium into a 13,000-seat complex with a 3,000-seat mini stadium in hopes of hosting major youth tournaments. Despite speculation of a possible MLS expansion effort spearheaded by Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who made his fortune as the owner of Home Depot, the Silverbacks look set to continue their plans.

North of Charleston and Atlanta, North Carolina is home to four USL teams, two of which play in soccer stadiums with a third in the planning stages. The Carolina Railhawks play in the USL First Division out of the 7,000-seat WakeMed Soccer Park (formerly SAS Stadium) in Cary, North Carolina - a bedroom community of the capital Raleigh. Originally built to host the now defunct women's professional team the Carolina Courage WakeMed Park has been a perfect fit for the Railhawks, now in their second season. The debut season for the triangle side saw them see off MLS opposition en route to the US Open Cup Semi-Final. The Railhawks also field a women's side in the W-League, and two reserve teams, one in the PDL and one in the Super-20 League.

Not far away from the Triangle is Greensboro, home to the Carolina Dynamo who play out of Macpherson Stadium. Recently, the club announced plans to expand their quaint 1,500-seat Browns Summit home into a professional quality 7,000-seat stadium. Like the Battery, the Dynamo were founded in 1993 and have tasted success, winning two championships before abandoning professionalism. The return of professional soccer to the Triad could be a real possibility if the expansion goes through. Down I-85 from Greensboro is Charlotte, the "Queen City" is North Carolina's largest with a population of around 700,000. In 2006 the town of Matthews (southeast of Charlotte) and the Charlotte Eagles announced plans to build a 13 field sports complex featuring a 6,000-seat soccer stadium. Assuming the plan goes through, North Carolina would have three possible professional soccer stadiums, more than any state in the Union. Again, quiet progess.

North Carolina's forth entry into the USL is the Second Division side the Wilmington Hammerheads. While they have no plans for a soccer only stadium, the Hammerheads are the sole tenants of the 6,000-seat Legion Stadium. The Hammerheads have won the USL Second Division once, in 2003.

Two nice stories from the PDL come from the "Deep South". First the Mississippi Brilla. Located in Clinton, near Jackson, the Brilla have quickly developed a large following in the Magnolia State. Many doubted that the beautiful game could take hold in a State like Mississippi, but the Brilla, named in honor of the Biblical Matthew 5:16 ("Therefore, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.") seem determined to prove them wrong. The other story comes from World famous New Orleans. As everyone is well aware, the Crescent City was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After the storm passed over, the New Orleans Shell Shockers arrived to find their home ground, the City owned Pan-American Stadium in City Park, in ruin. The organization quickly pledged $1,000,000 to the city in order to rebuild not just the stadium, but the entire park. Currently the Shell Shockers play out of the 26,500-seat Tad Gormley Stadium at Reggie Bush Field.

Saprissa 3-0 Houston Dynamo (aggregate 3-0)

Saprissa took their home field advantage and used it to advance to their fifth CONCACAF Champions Cup final. The Purple Monster, champions of North America in 2005, took the lead in the 33rd minute when Houston defender Patrick Ianni put through his own goal after deflecting Saprissa midfielder Armando Alonso's shot under reserve goalkeeper Tony Caig. It was just one moment in a long, shaky night for the 33-year-old English goalkeeper.

Houston would have their chances to test Saprissa keeper Keilor Navas, but the man dubbed Costa Rica's goalkeeper of the future was solid and overall Houston were outshot 15-5.

In truth Houston were always going to be up against it after losing Craig Waibel to injury in the 6th minute, many will question Dominic Kinnear's logic in replacing Waibel with the right-sided midfielder Brian Mullan, who himself was carrying an injury, rather than a defender given Saprissa's attacking options.

After the second half kickoff it only took the Costa Ricans 3 minutes to put the Texans to the sword. Great interplay together with shoddy Houston defending eventually lead to Celso Borges firing in beautifully from the edge of the area. Celso Borges is only 19-years-old and is surely a player to keep an eye on in the future.

Late in the second half Houston would start to find it's legs and manage to put pressure on Saprissa, the best chance came when Brian Ching managed to shake his defender and get a shot on goal with Navas seemed to be out of position, miraculously the 21-year-old managed to make a wonderful save at full stretch to preserve the home advantage.

With 15 minutes to play Tony Caig's brain seemingly shut off as he inexplicably rushed out to meet Saprissa striker Jairo Arrieta who subsequently rounded him and tucked away his team's 3rd and final goal.

It was not all roses for Saprissa however as they lost Walter Centeno late in the second half through a freak leg injury. The extent as not yet known but the Costa Rican international was in agony as he was carried off.

While Costa Rica has recently endured a bad spell it's obvious that the future is bright for the Ticos. For all the focus on the Mexican Premera and MLS, it's worth noting that Costa Rican teams have won 2 of the last 4 Champions' Cups and could well win a fifth as Saprissa will prove a tough test for Pachuca in the final.

The first of the two ties takes place at 7:30PM EDT in Washington, DC's Robert F. Kennedy Stadium between DC United (USA) and Pachuca (Mexico). Luis Montes struck twice in the 2nd half of the 1st leg to give Pachuca a 2-0 lead.

The other tie is tightly balanced at 0-0 and will be played at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa at 10:10pm EDT, located in San Jose, Costa Rica's San Juan de Tibás neighborhood between Deportivo Sapissa (CRC) and the Houston Dynamo (USA). As I previously wrote, Houston had chance to win the 1st leg but failed to score and made it hard on themselves. Houston is a very talented team, talented enough to win in Costa Rica, but it's a very tall task. Saprissa, three times winners of the Champions Cup, are well seasoned in continental play and their fans make the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa a hard place to play. This should be a fabulous match.

Seattle's MLS team will be called the Sounders, keeping alive almost 35 years of history. 35 years may not seem like much history to people outside of North America, but in the fragile world of soccer on this continent it's an eternity.

Among the honors won by the Sounders are two divisional titles in the old North American Soccer League, four USL First Division championships (including the most recent), and two trips to the US Open Cup semi-finals (including last season's run which included a 5-1 drubbing of the Colorado Rapids).

The Sounders name won 82% of the total vote as a write-in choice, it was not among the three original choices on offer and a write-in option was only added following the outrage of longtime Sounders fans and many across the country. The original three choices were "Seattle FC", "Seattle Alliance", and "Seattle Republic". Of the three only "Seattle FC" is tolerable, I heard someone describe "Seattle Alliance" as "something that sounds like an HMO", and "Seattle Republic" sounds like a newspaper. In the end the people had their say and justice won out.

Houston Dynamo 0 - 0 Deportivo Saprissa

Houston could have won, should have won, and blew it. Despite having one of North America's biggest teams on the ropes for large periods of the second half Houston simply couldn't find a way to put the ball in the net. Houston dominated the possession after El Monstruo Morado began to develop heavy legs. On at least two occasions US international Brian Ching was the guilty party, missing a sitter in the first half and sending his free header high in the dying minutes.

Saprissa owe their lifeline to Costa Rican international goalkeeper Navas who produced some good saves when called upon, particularly in the first half from Dwayne de Rosario's header.

Houston will have their work cut out for them next week as they travel to the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San Jose. This is not the Meadowlands. The 25,000-seat stadium is famous for it's hostile atmosphere and will be unlike anything Houston has seen in the United States or even during last year's trip to Estadio Hidalgo to take on Pachuca.

In ten days the United Soccer Leagues, the American equivalent of England's Football League, will kick-off it's 22nd season as the Charleston Battery make the journey down the east coast to play Miami FC while the Montreal Impact make the transcontinental flight to British Columbia to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Despite the fact that a ball has yet to be kicked in anger 2008 has already proved highly dramatic for the USL starting with the loss of it's San Francisco based team the California Victory. California served as a farm team of sorts for the Spanish Segunda Division side Deportivo Alavés and was run by Ukrainian-American businessman Dmitry Pietrman, then a major shareholder in the Spanish club. After running battles with Pietrman the rest of the Alavés ownership decided to pull their support for the USL team leaving it without a leg to stand on. There is, however, a grassroots effort underway to save the club which can be found at http://www.savethevictory.org/

But the drama surrounding the Victory proved to only be the tip of the iceberg as it was announced Major League Soccer would expand to Seattle in 2009 meaning that the USL would lose one of it's most storied and well supported clubs, the Seattle Sounders. In late 2007 it was confirmed that 2008 would indeed be the Sounders' final season in the USL as the club announced it would play all of it's matches (with the exception of an opening week derby against Portland) at the 2,000-seat Starfire Stadium in Tukwila.

Despite all this, the news managed to get worse as news surfaced that the ownership of the Rochester Rhinos, a team which had become synonymous with the USL, had defaulted on $10.6 million in loans. The Rhinos story did manage to end well as Rob Clark, owner of Utica, New York-based Adirondack Bank, swooped in to save the club. Fans were able to breathe a second sigh of relief when it was announced that the club would be able to remain at the PAETEC Park home the fans had begged the city for.

There was, however, one highlight during the offseason on January 22nd when English club Stoke City announced it would purchase a USL-1 franchise to be located in Austin, Texas. The hidiously named "Aztex" will begin play in 2009, while a reserve side baring the same name will play in the PDL this season.

The USL has announced that it has it's sights set on medium-sized markets not currently being targeted by MLS. Among the cities listed were Omaha, Nebraska (whose 6,000-seat Morrison Stadium would be perfect for a USL-1 team), San Antonio, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Tampa, Florida. I've heared murmurings of ownership groups in the latter two cities but not a peep from any of the others. Some believe that the Tampa group (actually in nearby Clearwater) may have connections to Scientology, I don't really care to step on that anthill.

On the field the Sounders should do well in their farewell season. They have better players than anyone else in the league and the entire squad will be keen to show well with a possible MLS contract as a reward. Last season's league MVP Sebastian Le Toux should have the same impact he did last season. Seattle's main challenge should come from Montreal. The Impact will be keen to christen their new stadium with a championship and have the players to do so if they play to their potential. At the bottom will probably be the Rhinos, but their fans are unlikely to fuss too much given that the club was literally days from going out of existence less than a month ago.

The USL-2 will have many changes on display as well. Pittsburgh returns from their self-imposed exile and will be joined by new boys Real Maryland FC based out of Germantown near Washington, DC. Both New Hampshire and Cincinnati have elected to relegate themselves to the PDL. As usual it will be hard for the field to match the class of Richmond and Charlotte who should battle until the end with the Kickers coming out on top, though last year's champion Harrisburg has the quality to spring another surprise.

Predictions:

USL1 - Champions: Seattle, Runners-up: Montreal

USL2 - Champions: Richmond, Runners-up: Charlotte