First XI: Septembers to remember

Well, here we go again, down the MLS stretch toward the postseason. This week, First XI takes a look at the last XI MLS stretch runs and what teams took control of their seasons as the leaves began to turn.

11 years ago: We all remember the Colorado Rapids, shocking the league in the playoffs and making a run to the final against all odds. But who recalls that the Rapids went completely in the tank over the final month of the '97 season? On August 31, the Rapids got pounded by Dallas 4-1 and followed that up with a home loss to Kansas City, a shutout loss at LA, a 2-1 home loss to the San Jose Clash (Eric Wynalda with the game-winner), and a 5-2 loss at Kansas City. It was not until their final game of the season that the Rapids rebounded, winning 3-1 at San Jose on goals by Paul Bravo, Peter Vermes and Marcelo Balboa, which must've set Mooch Myernick and the boys right just in time.

10 years ago: It was a loss, not a victory, that motivated the Chicago Fire down the stretch of their inaugural season. Playing in Dallas, the Fire and Burn -- who were already developing an intense rivalry -- looked all set to go to a shootout to decide a 2-2 draw. However, with just 15 seconds to go on the official scoreboard clock, Burn 'keeper Mark Dodd was able to find link-man Leonel Alvarez who found Oscar Pareja who simply played one last ball behind the Fire defense. A Hail Mary that was answered by Jorge Rodriguez who beat Zach Thornton just before time expired. The Fire used the loss as motivation down the stretch as they finished strong and took the double.

9 years ago: On the final day of the regular season, the Burn's Jason Kreis became the league's first-ever 15-15 man, with two goals and an assist as Dallas defeated Los Angeles 4-3 at the Cotton Bowl. It was the Burn's fourth consecutive September victory and helped propel them into the playoffs, where they'd take out the defending champion Fire in a memorable three-game series.

8 years ago: Perhaps motivated by coming up short in 1999, the 2000 Chicago Fire closed the season in strong fashion, winning all three of their September games, including a season-closing 3-2 road win against Columbus (Mike Sorber providing the winner in the 90th minute) that secured the Fire home-field advantage for the playoffs. The Fire used Soldier Field to their advantage in both their first-round series victory over New England and their conference final triumph against the MetroStars.

7 years ago: While the league shut down for 11 days after the events of September 11, the upstart San Jose Earthquakes were able to find the form that would lead them to the first of many championships. The playoffs would start in late September that year and the Quakes hit the ground running, storming past Columbus in two games before pulling off a stunning upset of the Miami Fusion and an MLS Cup title-clinching victory over the Galaxy.

6 years ago: It was perhaps the greatest charge of them all. All but dead as August drew to a close, the Revs made a coaching change that changed the course of an organization forever. Steve Nicol took over for Fernando Clavijo and New England went 4-0-1 down the stretch, stole the Eastern Conference title, and rode the wave all the way to the MLS Cup Final. The rest is history, folks, and September has become the Revolution's month. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the amazing goal-scoring exploits of Brian Kamler during that 2002 run. The man scored one great goal after another for a month.

5 years ago: The Revs went 7-1-1 down the September/October stretch a year after Nicol took over, fully illustrating the coach's gift for good timing. In 2003, that final push was not enough to help the Revs catch the red-hot Fire in the Eastern standings, but the Revs did serve notice that their push in 2002 was not just a flash in the pan.

4 years ago: D.C. United. It was a long road back to the top for D.C. United, and the final push might well have begun on Sept. 11, 2004, when Alecko Eskandarian led D.C. to a 3-0 victory against Dallas and set them on a path to the MLS Cup. From that point on, first-year coach Peter Nowak's team seemed on a mission, and it did not end until they'd blazed through the MetroStars, New England and Kansas City on their way to a title.

3 years ago: The 2005 season included one of the most competitive stretch drives in league history as a number of teams had to battle down to the wire just to earn a spot in the postseason. The MetroStars, who were on their way to the second-best point total (47 points) in club history were unable to wrap up a playoff slot until the final day of the season, when they defeated Chivas USA 2-0 at the Home Depot Center behind a heroic performance by Tony Meola. To get to 47 points, the Metros needed to go 4-2-2 in September and October, and needed a miracle 5-4 victory against New England on Sept. 17 (a game won by Youri Djorkaeff, who scored from an impossible angle), in what goes down in my book as one of the greatest regular-season games in league history.

2 years ago: Once again, the Revolution owned September and October, going 5-1 down the stretch to enter the season on a high note. Needless to say, this is more than a trend for Nicol, it's a tradition.

1 year ago: After a 1-0 loss to the Red Bulls, the Fire were a disappointing 7-10-5 and on the outside looking in at the postseason. That was when new head coach Juan Carlos Osorio succeeded in making the Fire a tough out. The Fire did not lose another game the rest of the regular season, going 3-0-5 to find their way into the playoffs where they even managed to pull off a first-round upset over D.C. United.

Chivas tie Tauro FC, lose aggregate

CARSON, Calif. -- Luis Moreno's 63rd-minute goal was enough for Tauro FC to sink Chivas USA's CONCACAF Champions League dreams as the Panamanian side tied the hosts 1-1 at The Home Depot Center on Tuesday.

Moreno clinched the series with his goal as Chivas USA's Champions League effort ended at the preliminary stage, eliminated 3-1 on aggregate after Tauro's 2-0 win in Panama City last week.

Roberto Nurse scored late in the first half after Chivas earlier missed a penalty, then the Red-and-White were left with 10 men after Jonathan Bornstein was sent off after picking up his second yellow card six minutes into the second half. Justin Braun nearly put a goal away in the 12th minute but Tauro's defense stood firm. Sacha Kljestan knocked in a corner kick that Tauro goalkeeper Willington Dominguez tried to parry away. The ball instead fell to Braun who immediately fired a shot on goal. Although Dominguez was well off his line, defender Leonel Parris leapt and headed the ball over the crossbar.

Chivas USA squandered a great opportunity in the 22nd minute. Roberto Nurse darted into the penalty area but Tauro's Dominguez knocked Nurse down. Referee Mauricio Navarro immediately pointed to the spot and Kljestan walked to the spot. Kljestan though hit the ball right to Dominguez and the Panamanian goalkeeper easily knocked the ball away.

Harris nearly broke the scoring drought in the 36th minute but he slammed a header from inside the six-yard box off the crossbar.

Moments later, Jonathan Bornstein picked up Chivas USA's first yellow card of the match.

It was Nurse who finally got the first goal of the match. In the 42nd minute, Bornstein whipped a cross into the area. Braun knocked the ball down and Nurse, with his back to the goal, spun and fired a shot on goal, and tucked it into the inside of the net.

For Nurse, the goal was his first in a Chivas USA uniform. It also marked a bit of a special moment for him. The Mexico City native was born to a Mexican mother and Panamanian father. Nurse did not play in last week's match in Panama so Tuesday was his first opportunity to play against the team from his father's homeland.

The tide changed somewhat early in the second half. Jonathan Bornstein picked up his second yellow card of the match in the 51st minute and Chivas USA were left with 10 men. Four minutes later, Ante Razov and Alecko Eskandarian replaced Nurse and Braun.

With a man up, Tauro FC began to push forward and break out of their defensive shell. Their efforts paid off in the 63rd minute. Moreno danced around Chivas USA's defense and banged a shot off the left post. The ball rolled along the goal line but before Francisco Mendoza could get to it, the ball dribbled across.

Tauro FC celebrated like madmen. The entire team, including nearly all of the players on the bench, celebrated near the left corner as a pocket of Tauro FC supporters erupted in a frenzy in the stands.

Mendoza nearly had a late goal but his 85th-minute shot caromed off a Tauro defender and missed an open net by inches as it rolled just wide of the right post.

Nicol weighing Revs' strike options

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The face of the New England Revolution is a bit askew heading into the team's CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round second-leg encounter with Trinidadian side Joe Public FC.

Revs striker Taylor Twellman took a blow from Galaxy 'keeper Steve Cronin after heading home the opening goal in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Los Angeles.

"He's got five stitches in his face," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said.

Those five stitches and concerns about a possible concussion will keep Twellman out of the game, leaving Nicol without a recognized striker in his squad.

"It makes it extremely difficult," Nicol said. "With the size of the roster we have with the number of games we've got, that was always going to be a concern that we were going to pick up injuries. That's what's happened. There's nothing we can do about it. We just have to make the best of it."

Making of the best of it also took a hit when potential striking deputy Steve Ralston was ruled out with back spasms. That leaves Nicol even more starved of options with Khano Smith likely the best option amongst the midfielders who could possibly shift up front.

A dearth of attacking options means Nicol wants his team to focus on keeping things tight at the back and figuring out a way to get a goal off a set piece. The Revolution lost 2-1 in the first leg one week ago in Trinidad & Tobago.

"One-nil puts us through," Nicol said. "We have to make sure we don't lose a goal. The first thing we have to do is make sure we are tight at the back. We have to try to figure out how we'll get the ball in the back of the net."

Keeping Joe Public off the scoreboard is by no means assured. The T&T Pro League side has quick players that caused the Revolution defenders problems in the first leg.

"I don't think we underestimated them, but I think they were better than we anticipated," Revs defender Chris Albright said. "They have some guys up front who can do some damage. It could have been a worse result. We were lucky to get out of there at 2-1."

Revs defender Michael Parkhurst said the travel took its toll.

"They're going to have to do the traveling," Parkhurst said. "That's the biggest thing. They're looking at 13- or 14-hour travel days to Trinidad and back. It takes a lot out of you."

Fatigue is commonplace at this point during the season, a point that Albright noted won't go away if the team can advance.

"I think we're running on tired legs at this point," Albright said. "It's just about recovery one day, preparation for the next. We'll be on that schedule for a while if we advance. We need to give an honest effort and give everything we have. I'd like to think we can get the job done."

It might not prove a neutral's delight, but Parkhurst believes that his team will do enough to advance.

"Pretty doesn't get you anything," Parkhurst said. "It's all about results. Even though guys are banged up and tired, we're going out there to get a victory. We don't have to play well as long as we score more goals than them, we'll be all right."

Rapids riding high after road win

FRISCO, Texas -- The Colorado Rapids' recent playoff success against FC Dallas has been well-documented. However, that success hadn't carried over to the regular season until Thursday, when the Rapids got a goal from Mike Petke in the 60th minute to hand the Hoops a 1-0 defeat at Pizza Hut Park.

It was Colorado's first win in Dallas since May 5, 2001 at the Cotton Bowl. It was also only the second win away from home for the Rapids this year, the first coming April 12, when they prevailed 1-0 against New England at Gillette Stadium. Since then, Colorado has gone 0-7-2 away from Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

"Well, after very bad away results over the last few weeks and months, I thought it was great certainly to get on track again and win a game away from home," said Rapids interim coach Gary Smith. "I did feel that the first hour of the game, we played as well as we have done away from home. We kept the ball a lot better than we have done for a period and showed few nerves. A lot of the boys looked as they had come here to prove a point."

Petke's goal came after the veteran defender was left unmarked completely unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box to head home a well-placed corner from Terry Cooke into the far side of the net for the eventual game-winner.

Smith couldn't say enough good things about Cooke, who returned to the field after missing last week's 2-0 loss at Real Salt Lake with a hamstring injury. The assist was his team-leading eighth of the year.

"Terry's delivery, as everybody in and around the league knows, is as good as anybody's," Smith said. "We know that from good areas that we're going to get great delivery when he's around. Over a period of time now, we've worked hard on the training field at being more aggressive and attacking the ball to get more out of set plays."

The Rapids coach was at a loss when asked to explain how Petke was so wide open on the goal.

"It was probably a training ground move," Smith said. "I'm taking full credit for it. I don't know. The reality is that in the penalty area there, there is a lot of jostling. The big fellas are trying to find some space. Terry can hit a sixpence and big Mike did enough to win the game for us."

Several Rapids players agreed that the win was huge in keeping them alive in the Western Conference playoff picture. With the win, Colorado moved from last place in the West into a tie for third with Chivas USA, though the remainder of the conference has still to play over the weekend.

"It was very important," Cooke said. "In both halves, we shaded and dominated. In the first half, we did that for 25 minutes. When we scored the goal and went up, we went more defensive. They were pushing more people forward and getting more free kicks and corners. Tonight we got through it very well."

Petke agreed. "This is a close to a must-win game as I've been part of in 11 years in this league. If we didn't win tonight, it's still going to be an uphill climb but if we didn't, it was dire. My goal, I was just fortunate enough to lose my mark. Anyone could have done it and the ball was put right on my head. That's one of the easiest scores I've had in my career. I didn't do anything special. I just got open and was able to put it away. It helped us get the result tonight and I'm definitely excited about that."

The veteran defender also liked how much heart he and his teammates showed when FCD put them under considerable pressure late in the game.

"That's typical soccer when you're down a goal late in the game," Petke said. "No matter who it is, you know they're going to pressure you and throw everything at you. We handled it well to get the result. (Preston) Burpo had a couple of great saves and fortunately, they had a couple of misses. They really put pressure on it and we handled it for the most part."

For Cooke, the result came down to something that hasn't been on Colorado's side for much of the season.

"The main thing tonight was luck," he said. "It was on our side tonight. We've had some bad results in our last couple games. Tonight is the first time we have been shown a little bit of luck all season. It's very important that we got three points because it gave us a shot of confidence again."

Smith also heaped considerable praise on several other players who had key roles in the win.

"Along with many of the players that you might see in that changing room, Cory (Gibbs) is moving along nicely in a positive direction," he said. "His injuries over the last few years have hindered what might have been otherwise been a good international career. We're delighted to have him on board."

The Rapids coach had similar comments about captain Pablo Mastroeni, who played 52 minutes before leaving in the second half for John DiRaimondo.

"The captain has got the heart of the lion," Smith said. "He came off 10 days ago with a hamstring injury and has worked incredibly hard to get fit. We only got 50 minutes out of him today. Fortunately, he's still in one piece and will live to fight another day. What we got in that 50 minutes gave us a tremendous foundation to go on and win the game."

Still, in the end, Smith gave his players all the credit.

"While I'm in here talking, here maybe able to offer my opinion and maybe taking a little credit for what's happening, those players in there are the ones who have won a very, very important game of football for us and one that puts us into the mix again," he said.

United win U.S. Open Cup over Charleston

WASHINGTON -- D.C. United outlasted a dogged challenge from the Charleston Battery in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday night, simultaneously ending the USL-1 club's Cinderella tourney run and a four-year trophy drought of their own with a 2-1 victory at atmospheric RFK Stadium.

It was a Brazilian brace that won the affair for the Black-and-Red at the outset of each half, as Luciano Emilio found the net in the fourth minute and Fred returned from injury to notch the game-winner in the 50th minute. But the result was in doubt until the very end thanks to a composed performance from the Battery, who matched United in terms of possession and invention only to fall short in the final reckoning.

With many fans still finding their seats, United lunged into an early lead thanks to the savvy finishing instincts of Emilio, the prolific striker whose participation in this match was left in doubt by a groin strain sustained in Saturday's league actions.

D.C. captain Jaime Moreno began the play with a nifty backheel to Santino Quaranta, whose run into the box was blocked by Battery defender and United alumnus John Wilson. But Emilio was first to the loose ball and he did not waste his look at goal, firing a shot into the upper corner past Charleston goalkeeper Dusty Hudock to send RFK into ecstasy, with smoke and song quickly bursting forth from the United supporters' groups along the east touchline.

Yet that turned out to be the Brazilian's first and only contribution of the night, as his groin troubles flared up again within minutes and rendered him unable to continue. D.C. boss Tom Soehn had to make the early substitution and brought Rod Dyachenko on in Emilio's place.

If the home fans were entertaining any thoughts of an early rout, their hopes were quickly dashed in the 10th minute as the underdogs struck back with a stunningly swift move down the right flank that caught United left back Marc Burch flat-footed to level matters at 1-1.

Nelson Akwari's perceptive long ball out of the back released Chris Williams, who turned Burch inside before backheeling a simple layoff for Ian Fuller. The Charleston striker strode up to blast a cool finish that gave Louis Crayton no chance as it arrowed into the net just inside the right post.

In the 14th minute, Quaranta drifted inside to set Guerrero loose in the Battery box with a deft through ball into space behind Kevin Nylen, but D.C.'s Honduran winger could not find the near post, hammering his shot into the outside of the twine.

But six minutes later it was the visitors who came even closer as Lazo Alavanja went agonizingly close to grabbing a shock lead. The former United man's perceptive diagonal run released him into space along the left channel, where he clipped a low shot across the face of Crayton's goal that left the Liberian a bystander only to clang off the base of the far post and bounce away.

Alert lateral movement allowed Moreno to break into acres of space down the D.C. left and dribble into the Charleston box in the 27th minute, but with Hudock perched at the near post the Bolivian elected to go for goal rather than square to Dyachenko. Hudock read his intentions and got low to palm his angled shot and snuff out the danger.

Having initially looked overwhelmed, Charleston were growing in confidence with each passing minute, showing every intention to go blow-for-blow with their MLS opponents. Matters got worse for D.C. some five minutes from halftime when Joe Vide had to limp off with an apparent muscle strain, prompting Soehn to bring Fred, recently recovered from a hamstring injury, on at right midfield as Quaranta continued to man the attacking midfield role.

The Brazilian's arrival quickly gave United a spark and he should have put his side ahead on the stroke of halftime when Moreno played him in with a delightful lob over Akwari. But Fred's chip over the advancing Hudock spun inches high and wide of the target and the Battery were let off the hook.

Moments later a pinpoint cross from Guerrero gave Quaranta a wide-open header deep in the Charleston box, but the Baltimore native badly mis-hit his effort and Hudock was not troubled.

Fred was showing no ill effects from what had initially been diagnosed as a serious hamstring strain barely two weeks ago, and he resumed his good work some five minutes into the second stanza with a well-taken goal to push United back into the lead.

Under heavy pressure in his own half, Clyde Simms played what first looked to be a conservative clearance down the right side, but when Dyachenko dummied the ball, it created a brief hesitation among the Charleston defense that allowed Fred to surge clear into the box. Advancing on an exposed Hudock, the Brazilian waited for the Battery netminder to commit, then slapped home a calm finish for a 2-1 advantage.

But the USL-1 representatives, spearheaded by Alavanja, soon fashioned a response. A composed sequence of possession worked the D.C. defense back into their own box before Alonso set up Williams to send in a deflected cross from the right, and only Devon McTavish's late block kept Alavanja from leveling matters.

Crayton made an adventure of the ensuing corner kick, disappearing into a crowd of bodies before bobbling the ball on the doorstep with Alavanja lurking eagerly. But after a few dicey ricochets, Simms arrived to lump the ball away from danger.

Despite his undeniable potential, Dyachenko's uneven displays for United this season have thus far kept him from contributing to the campaign to the degree many would have expected. But on this evening the UNLV product was working hard to lead the line and craft an understanding with Moreno, and shortly after the hour mark he came within a foot of creating a breathtaking third for D.C. as he took a pass from his strike partner some 19 yards out and curled a delicate lob towards the far post, only for the bid to drop just wide of the woodwork.

For his part, Moreno was producing yet another performance to turn the clock back, and his confidence was such that when he received a 77th-minute outlet pass with Charleston's defense pushed up to the midfield stripe, he tried to blow past Akwari with his 34-year-old legs -- but the big Texan matched his burst of speed to blunt the counterattack opportunity.

United were trying to keep hold of the ball to kill the clock and force the Battery to chase, but the red-clad lower division side remained energetic and were pouring forward with every possession, still keyed by Alonso and Alavanja but with second-half subs Aaron King and David Kenga adding speed and aggression to the mix.

Conversely, Soehn brought on playmaker Marcelo Gallardo in place of Dyachenko, essentially leaving Moreno alone up top as the home side looked for skill and composure in the center of the park. It all made for an unusual sight: a conservative-minded United squad sweating out a narrow result on their home turf with a USL-1 side breathing down their necks.

The Battery continued to ask questions of D.C. right down to the wire, and even had an apparent stoppage-time goal waved off for offside, but on this occasion Cinderella simply ran out of time. Referee Mark Geiger's full-time whistle brought forth a torrent of noise from the United faithful as their heroes took control of the Dewar Cup for the first time in 12 years with a 2-1 win.

Chivas USA struggling to finish

CARSON, Calif. -- Needing to win by three or more goals in order to advance to the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, Chivas USA encountered quite a bit of interference against Tauro FC on Tuesday.

Referee Mauricio Navarro sent off Jonathan Bornstein early in the second half as the hosts were left with 10 men for 39 minutes. Tauro FC dropped numbers behind the ball throughout the match and pushed forward when the opportunities arose in the second half.

But ultimately, Chivas USA's players and coaches were left with one conclusion.

"We had many scoring opportunities but couldn't get it done," Roberto Nurse said. "We know there were refereeing errors but we were our own worst enemies."

Chivas USA and Tauro FC tied 1-1 at The Home Depot Center, a result that eliminates the Red-and-White from the CONCACAF Champions League and sends the Panamanian club through to the tournament proper.

Tauro FC beat Chivas USA 2-0 in Panama a week earlier and won the series, 3-1 on aggregate. Luis Moreno scored the visitors' goal in the 63rd minute while Nurse scored Chivas USA's tally in the 42nd minute.

Chivas USA, though, had 20 shots and 14 on goal and forced Tauro goalkeeper Willington Dominguez to make 11 saves -- including one on a penalty kick.

"It seems like now we have an incredibly tough time finding the net," Chivas USA coach Preki said. "We must have had 15 opportunities and we finally squeezed one goal tonight. We have to find ways to score goals."

The goal-scoring follies began early for Chivas USA. Dominguez tripped Nurse in the penalty area in the 20th minute and the hosts were awarded with a penalty kick. Preki, though, said more should have been done on the play.

"As far as I know, last guy, penalty, red card," Preki said.

Sacha Kljestan stepped to the spot and took the penalty kick but knocked it straight to Dominguez.

"I had decided to shoot right and at the last second the 'keeper moved that way and I should have gone left because he did move a little bit that way," Kljestan said. "But I still thought I could get underneath him."

Later in the half, Atiba Harris slammed a shot off the crossbar as Chivas USA appeared well on their way to a luckless effort. Nurse tried to change that though when he scored in the 42nd minute. Bornstein knocked in a cross that Justin Braun headed down towards Nurse, who turned and fired a shot past Dominguez.

Early in the half, though, fortunes changed for both clubs. Bornstein picked up his second yellow card of the match and was sent off just six minutes into the second half.

"In the beginning of the second half we get a soft call on Bornstein and red card against us. I'm very, very, very disappointed that we had difficulties dealing with the referee," Preki said. "You would think that when we played here we would at least get an even call but right now we can't catch a break."

Ante Razov and Alecko Eskandarian replaced Braun and Harris a few minutes later.

But it was the visitors who finally broke through. Moreno danced around Chivas USA defender Jim Curtin and knocked a shot off the left post that barely trickled over the line.

Kljestan was replaced in the 65th minute as Preki said the captain was not sharp in the match.

"I don't think he was playing good," Preki said. "Nobody is untouchable. You've got to come when you put that shirt on. When you step on the field, you've got to play for your team."

Kljestan, who leaves for Miami and the U.S. national team early Wednesday, said he was indeed focused on the match.

"I don't think so," Kljestan responded when told of Preki's comments. "My focus right now is with Chivas. I wish I could have done better to help my team."

Ultimately, though, Chivas USA were not good enough to beat a team that Preki said they should have beaten "by four or five goals." The Red-and-White thus now have only the regular season to worry about.

"We've got to make a run for the championship," Kljestan said. "That's all we've got left."

Carver furious over defensive lapse

CARSON, Calif. -- The way Toronto FC coach John Carver saw it, his side played defense with a noose around their necks. And it was goalkeeper Greg Sutton of all people who forced the club to ultimately hang itself.

Sutton had a ball slip through his fingers and across the goal line deep in second-half stoppage time as Toronto FC lost 2-1 to Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday.

"You can't defend like that. I thought it was going to come earlier," Carver said. "It was suicide defending and that's not good enough."

Toronto FC fell to 2-9-0 on the road and 7-10-5 overall. While the attack struggled on Saturday, one goal may have been enough to pull out a result.

But it was Atiba Harris who struck late. Sacha Kljestan took a corner kick and found Harris in front of the goal. Harris fired a shot on goal that had just enough behind it to get past Sutton's fingers and across the goal line.

Carver said the entire sequence leading up to the goal was inexcusable -- that Sutton played a key role in the breakdown made things worse.

"It was crazy, wasn't it? There was seconds left," Carver said. "We have the ball with the goalkeeper. He then rolls it out to one of our midfield players who was running with his back to the play. It ends up going out for a corner and it's in the back of the net. What is frustrating is that it comes from a guy who is an experienced player, an international... He's made some good saves in the game that's important. But with his experience I expected him just to keep it and then stick it in behind, we see the game out, we get the draw and it's better than losing all three points."

Perhaps Toronto FC players had just three additional minutes left in their bodies, so when the match went into the fourth minute of stoppage time they could not respond.

"It was a tough way to lose it in the last couple of seconds," Toronto defender Tyrone Marshall said. "I think we're trying to defend to the best of our abilities but that's just a little lapse in concentration. It's one of those things when you're fighting and scrapping and not an ounce of energy left. It's just one of those things that happened. We fought to the bitter end and we left everything on the pitch."

Jim Brennan had put Toronto FC ahead 1-0 in the 19th minute, but even that bit of fortune -- it was just Toronto's 12th road goal of the season -- was met with misfortune.

"They came down and the ball I guess went in between one of the player's legs," Marshall said about the pass that set up Alecko Eskandrian's equalizer. "I don't think it was a lucky pass got in between a player's legs and he got into a good position and he knocked it in."

Chivas USA, though, had multiple scoring opportunities from then on. Eskandarian had two chances that he failed to put away while Justin Braun had a late breakaway Sutton saved.

The defensive effort was poor as the match spiraled out of control, Carver said.

"I've been crying out for weeks and weeks and weeks that we need some strikers but you can't defend like that," he said. "That was disastrous. For me, that's the worst we've played since I've been here."

Toronto FC will host Chivas USA Saturday at BMO Field but the lineup won't look anything like Saturday's as 10 players will go away to their respective national teams.

"Fortunately from their point-of-view they all go off on international duty now," Carver said, "because if they'd have to be there, they'd go in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday working on defending. I'm absolutely furious."

Stars gear up for World Cup Qualifying

Amado Guevara, Jim Brennan and Greg Sutton sit a few feet from each other in the Toronto FC locker room at BMO Field. But on Saturday Guevara will be on the other side of the field from his TFC teammates in a critical World Cup qualifying match in Montreal.

Guevara will be playing for Honduras, which suffered a crushing 2-1 defeat to Mexico at Azteca Stadium in the opening match of the third stage of CONCACAF qualifying. Honduras, which gave up two late Pavel Pardo goals, sits on the bottom of Group 2, the region's so-called group of death.

Canada, which also features Houston Dynamo teammates Pat Onstad and Dwayne De Rosario as well as FC Dallas defender Adrian Serioux and Los Angeles Galaxy defender Ante Jazic, played Jamaica to a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on Aug. 20.

"This game against Honduras is our biggest game," De Rosario told the Houston Chronicle. "It's our second home game in the group and we need a result."

In a match moved to Mexico City because of Hurricane Gustav, the Reggae Boyz, featuring Toronto FC defender Tyrone Marshall, Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams and Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas, will meet CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico Saturday night before heading to San Pedro Sula to take on Honduras Sept. 10.

"The Mexicans were always considered the best team in CONCACAF, but other teams are getting up there with them now and giving us confidence to play and compete with them," Marshall said. "It helps that we have a lot of boys playing professionally and that should help us in our group. If we can keep picking up points on the road, and do well at home, we should be OK."

Under the direction of new coach Sven Goran Eriksson, the Mexicans survived a scare at home against Honduras. One reason why the Tricolores took three points was because of Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who provided a much needed spark off the bench.

After hosting Jamaica, the Mexicans head to Tuxtla Gutierrez to meet the Canadians Sept. 10.

Sitting atop Group 1 with the USA is Trinidad & Tobago, which plays host to Guatemala in Port of Spain Saturday. The Soca Warriors defeated Cuba 3-1 in Havana in the opening game of qualifying.

"To be going with the team for a World Cup qualifier is something that I have dreamed about, and hopefully it will be the first of many," said Toronto FC defender Julius James. "I've made a few strides forward in the league this season. I wish I had been able to play more games, but I got injured in preseason and the coach didn't think I was ready. Recently I've been playing pretty well, and this is a nice reward."

T&T and James will meet Guatemala, featuring new teammate, Carlos Ruiz, along with Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire), after the chapines, fell 1-0 at home to the United States Aug. 20. Then it is onto Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., to take on the USA Sept. 10.

"It's really great for me and a very special thing to get a call-up for my country," James said. "There are a lot of international players that belong to Trinidad and Tobago so it's a big honor. It's an amazing feeling right now. Before the World Cup they called me down to Florida to train. I was still in college then and I didn't feel I was ready."

Before facing Trinidad in Chicago, the USA head to Havana for a match of historic proportions, playing in Cuba for the first time since 1947.

It could be the site where Toronto FC defender Marvell Wynne, who represented the United States in the Olympics last month, earns his first World Cup qualifying cap.

Also playing for the U.S. are Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis, as well as Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan, Columbus Crew veteran Frankie Hejduk and Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark.

After securing three points in Guatemala for a World Cup qualifier for the first time ever, the U.S. is in the drivers' seat to advance out of Group 1.

Leading Group 3 is Costa Rica, which defeated El Salvador 1-0 in the opening game of the third stage of qualifying. Playing for Costa Rica, the lone team with three points in the group, will be Chicago Fire defender Gonzalo Segares and New England Revolution defender Gabriel Badilla.

Costa Rica is home to Suriname Saturday before heading to Port-au-Prince to take on Columbus Crew forward Ricardo Pierre-Louis and Haiti Sept. 10. Those two nations played to a 2-2 draw Aug. 20.

In South America, where the top four teams qualify automatically and the fifth-place team takes on the fourth-place CONCACAF team, Venezuela is one point out of fifth place. But securing points in its next two matches will not be easy.

On Saturday Venezuela, which features Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas and Columbus Crew veteran Alejandro Moreno, heads to Lima to take on Peru and then its on to Asuncion to meet Paraguay three days later.

With three points in its first matches, Bolivia has a tougher road to qualifying. With matches in Ecuador on Saturday and then at Brazil on Sept. 10, Bolivia is hoping Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer Jaime Moreno can add his magic.

Toronto FC's Carl Robinson will play for Wales, which opens its UEFA qualifying campaign Saturday against Azerbaijan in Cardiff before heading to Moscow to take on Russia in Group 4.

In Group 6, all eyes will be on Barcelona's Olympic Stadium where David Beckham and England face Andorra Saturday. The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder and his teammates will then be off to Zagreb where they face Croatia Sept. 10.

With three wins in three matches, New Zealand is in the pole position to advance out of the Oceania region and into the next stage of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

But there is no overlooking New Caledonia, the surprise of the Oceania qualifying group and the All Whites' next opponent Saturday in Noumea. The two teams meet in Auckland four days later.

"I'm very excited. Last year I played in a couple of those games and they're very exciting and very fun," Red Bulls defender Andrew Boyens said. "This year I'm hoping they'll be exactly the same."

The All Whites have only played in the World Cup once, in 1982. Hopes were high two years ago, but New Zealand finished a surprising third in the Oceania qualifying tournament and rival Australia went through.

Australia, though, is now in the Asian region and New Zealand, which also features Toronto FC forward Jarrod Smith and Duncan Oughton from the Columbus Crew, is the team to beat.

"We're in a very good position to finish at the top of our group and play the fifth place Asian team (to advance to the World Cup)," Boyens said. "Hopefully that comes around and we head to the Confederations Cup and we have a couple of big years of football for New Zealand."

Finally, Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul has been called by Senegal for its qualifiers at Algeria on Friday night. Senegal lead Group 6 in African zone qualifying with eight points from four matches, two ahead of Algeria. A win will send the Lions of Teranga into Round 3, where 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five.

Davis: Key to cracking 'D' in Houston

Watching the Houston Dynamo uncork a tenacious attack against Chicago on Sunday evening was a study in how to use the resources and elements available to rock the league's best defense.

Statistically speaking, Chicago might ultimately top the Houston Dynamo's record-setting 2007 defense. Denis Hamlett's Fire came into Sunday's match at Robertson having allowed just 16 goals, which was on pace to challenge Houston's 23 goals allowed last year as the fewest yet in MLS.

So it was nearly stunning to see the Fire defense reeling, unable to plot solutions for Houston's relentless attack over 60 or 70 minutes Sunday on the University of Houston campus.

The Dynamo applied heavy pressure and were unfortunate not to put three or four past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch before halftime. Houston led by a 2-1 score at the break. But Brad Davis had missed from point-blank range, while goal scorers Brian Mullan and Dwayne De Rosario each missed the frame on terrific opportunities to double their personal first-half goal totals.

Chicago manufactured an early goal, but that was mostly due to a mistake by Eddie Robinson, who failed to deal with a fairly routine clearance. So Chicago took an early, surprising lead. From there, it was all Houston until the Fire grabbed momentum over the game's last 20 minutes, pressing desperately but futilely, for the equalizer.

So, what did the Dynamo do to keep Hamlett's men under such pressure over the game's first 65-70 minutes?

The men from Houston did pretty much what they always do. It's just that the two-time league champs had all their first choices available, and the Dynamo were on top of their game. When manager Dominic Kinnear cranks up the team's commitment and focus, players move forward with relentless speed. They push balls into a big target forward (or, in Sunday's case, two of them) and just keep coming. Moving the ball passively back and forth across the back? Uh, there's not much of that.

Mostly, it's a quick pass or two to open a channel, and then Kinnear wants his guys playing the ball forward.

That's what works on a narrow field. Robertson Stadium may not be as tight as the old Spartan Stadium in San Jose or some other, former MLS venues. But it's still a pretty narrow pitch. The spacious Home Depot Center, it isn't.

So side-to-side probing only increases the number of opportunities to lose possession on a squeezed field. Instead, balls won by center backs Eddie Robinson and Bobby Boswell go quickly out to the outside backs. Sunday, that was Richard Mulrooney and Wade Barrett. (The choice of Mulrooney also helped apply pressure on Chicago; he's better in possession and passing than Craig Waibel, Houston's right back of choice when Kinnear needs more of a defensive presence at that spot.)

From there the Dynamo outside backs generally look for the outside midfielders or for one of the target strikers. Sunday, Kinnear went with two of them, Nate Jaqua and Brian Ching. From there, the target forwards are looking to knock balls out to Davis and Mullan on the wings, or possibly for De Rosario as he probes for space in which to operate and attack defenders on the dribble.

Of course, none of this is rocket science, which is what makes the Dynamo enterprise so interesting. There's nothing complicated about the way the two-time league champions do things. They're just really good at it.

Sunday, they were especially good at it, super-fueled by the motivation of allowing that silly, early goal.

In other matches, in different circumstances, the Dynamo might possess the ball a bit more, probe just a bit more, perhaps playing through Ricardo Clark and De Rosario in the middle more often. But against Chicago's hard-working midfield, Kinnear adjudged that playing more directly was the way to go. It looks like he was absolutely correct, as Houston won for the fifth time in its last five MLS matches.

TACTICAL CORNER

Several teams were unsettled over the weekend by the absences of their steady holding midfielders.

San Jose got caught bypassing midfield too often early against Kansas City without the injured Ramiro Corrales around to link the lines. Ultimately, it didn't hurt the Earthquakes in the win-loss column. Frank Yallop's team had things figured out by halftime, but it took some tactical tweaking.

"Go left" became the order of the day, as Darren Huckerby took charge.

The Earthquakes' midsummer addition, the league's best attacker out of midfield at the moment, buzzed up and down the left side, giving the Wizards fits. Most of the attacking push came down that side, while central midfielders Ned Grabavoy and Francisco Lima sat back a bit more than they might otherwise.

Huckerby supplied the late game-winner, and the Earthquakes remained undefeated over seven matches. One more victory or tie would give Yallop's side an eight-game streak, which would establish a league best this year.

Dallas missed the clarity of Pablo Ricchetti's distribution from the holding midfield spot as their veteran Argentinean sat for a red card suspension. Marcelo Saragosa filled in for Ricchetti. And while Saragosa supplied the tackling, his passing and ability to work in tight spaces doesn't even approach Ricchetti's. It showed as Dallas fell 2-1 to Columbus at Pizza Hut Park, never developing any rhythm in the attack.

New England was ineffective without Shalrie Joseph at his usual spot as the Revs clashed with Los Angeles outside Boston. New England manager Steve Nicol tried Joseph as an advanced midfielder, stationing him right behind striker Taylor Twellman, in front of two holding midifelders. Steve Ralston's injury absence necessitated the experiment -- although we have probably seen the last of it already.

Nicol adjusted the formation before halftime, as Joseph was clearly uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the vagaries of that position. By the second half, New England was back on track, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to salvage the point at home in a 2-all draw.

Interesting choice by New York Red Bulls manager Juan Carlos Osorio to leave playmaking midfielder Jorge Rojas on the bench for Saturday's draw at RFK.

Rojas had visa issues two weeks ago and couldn't get back into the country before the Red Bulls tore through Houston, 3-0. He returned late last week, but wasn't able to work out extensively with the team. So Osorio, as is his policy, declined to start someone who wasn't able to train most of the week.

It looks to have paid off. The New York club posted its first clean sheet ever (ever!) at RFK. They did so with a midfield of Juan Pietravallo holding, Seth Stammler on the right, Dave van den Bergh on the left and Mike Magee screening in front of Pietravallo.

Rojas replaced Magee in the 70th minute as the Red Bulls extended their shutout streak to 344 minutes. That's just 11 short of a league high for 2008.

We can already see the effects of Bruce Arena's influence on the Los Angeles Galaxy in terms of team structure and, quite possibly, in terms of results.

The Galaxy seems more comfortable with the team shape, which looks like a simple line of four defenders, screened by a line of four midfielders. The outside backs are getting forward less frequently, especially Chris Klein on the right. He seems to be more of a true right fullback and less of a right-sided attacker who happens to start his runs from the right fullback spot. More or less, that's what he was under attack-minded former Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit.

The result is a simplified structure. The team gets into defensive shape faster after losing possession. David Beckham is doing less defensive covering for Klein, which frees the league's top ball striker to concentrate more on attacking and on retaining the midfield shape.

Greg Vanney's introduction as a holding midfielder was another dual purpose maneuver, simultaneously creating a more defensive mindset -- he's been a defender through his entire career -- and adding another veteran organizer to the lineup.

As for the result: Yes, the Galaxy extended their winless streak to 10 matches. Los Angeles hasn't won since June 14.

But perspective is important here. New England came into Saturday's match with a 33-11-13 mark at Gillette over the last four years. Steve Nicol's team also led the East coming into the weekend. So, a draw for Arena's side inside Gillette was a worthwhile achievement -- and a move in the right direction.

Crew win at FCD, claim first place

FRISCO, Texas -- It was just two weeks ago that Columbus and FC Dallas met at Crew Stadium and the home side came away with a 2-1 comeback win. It was a nearly identical story for the Black-and-Gold in another 2-1 win over the Hoops at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday night.

FCD drew first blood in the 35th minute when Jeff Cunningham scored his fifth goal of the year and second for the Hoops. Assisting on the tally was rookie Bruno Guarda, who got his first career helper in his first league start.

However, any positive feelings that FCD had after taking the 1-0 lead were short-lived when Columbus' Alejandro Moreno drew the match level in the 37th. Guillermo Barros Schelotto started the sequence with a corner kick from the far flag that found Chad Marshall inside the box.

Marshall then headed the ball toward the far post where Moreno was waiting and the Crew striker headed it home for his eighth goal of the year.

Then, just four minutes later, the visitors struck again. This time it was Eddie Gaven who found the back of the net for the Crew. His first tally of 2008 came after Schelotto worked free from Drew Moor and sent a well-placed cross toward Gaven, who was near the right post.

All Gaven had to do was head the ball into the net, which he did with a shot that glanced off the fingertips of FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala. That assist gave Schelotto 16 for the season, a new Columbus single-season record.

Just over a minute before Gaven put the Black and Gold ahead, Columbus rookie defender Andy Iro nearly netted the first goal of his MLS career before his header nailed the crossbar instead of finding the back of the canvas.

Before taking the lead in the 35th, the home side had several choice opportunities at goal. In the 17th minute, Guarda hit a shot from about 30 yards out that Kenny Cooper got a foot on. Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer smothered the ball before it popped free but was able to cover the shot before any FCD players arrived.

And in the 28th, a free kick from FCD midfielder Dax McCarty found Andre Rocha inside the box. The Brazilian international's header caromed off the crossbar near the far post. Adrian Serioux was able to get a foot on the ball but his shot went to the right of goal.

Rocha hit the crossbar again in the 31st. This time, he lined up in the dead center of the field about 25 yards from goal to take a free kick. But his effort nailed the corner of the crossbar and quickly sailed out of danger.

For much of the first half, the Crew attack was largely dormant. In fact, the visitors did not get their first shot of the frame until the 24th minute when a shot by Robbie Rogers from long range sailed about 20 feet over Sala and the FCD goal.

FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman made several changes to the starting 11 that played Kansas City to a 1-1 draw on the road last weekend. With starting holding mid Pablo Ricchetti out on suspension after two yellow cards against the Wizards, Hyndman plugged Marcelo Saragosa into his spot.

Then, Hyndman gave Guarda, who played for him collegiately at Southern Methodist, his first start at the attacking mid spot in place of fellow rookie Eric Avila.

Neither side made a change to begin the second half. All was relatively quiet until Gaven was active in the 52nd and once again, it was because of a cross from Schelotto. The Argentine assist man served his teammate a great ball and all that kept his header from the back of the net was a right-handed save by Sala.

In the 54th, McCarty delivered another great ball off a free kick. This time, Hesmer came off his line and got a hand on the ball, which fell near the far post. However, no FCD players arrived in time and the ball went over the end line for a corner.

One minute later, FCD right back Adrian Serioux hit a nice ball from the right flank that found Drew Moor inside the box. Moor's shot sailed high over the Columbus goal.

McCarty stirred things up again in the 60th when he fed Serioux on the right side, who promptly spotted Cooper open inside the penalty area. Hesmer made a fingertip save on his shot in heavy traffic. When the rebound popped free, Cunningham dashed to the far post but Hesmer quickly smothered the ball to end the threat.

Hyndman finally went to his bench in the 66th by bringing on Dominic Oduro for McCarty and in the 75th, Serioux left for Avila. FCD's final change came in the 80th when Michael Dello-Russo came on for Rocha.

FCD got a great chance at salvaging some points when in the 85th, Cunningham was fouled just outside the box. Dello-Russo stepped up and took the free kick but it went right into the heart of the Columbus wall.

In the 90th minute, the Hoops had two more solid chances. The first came when Hesmer came way off his line and FCD center back Aaron Pitchkolan attempted to lob the ball into the empty net before Marshall slid over to the right post to head the ball away.

Then, just seconds later, Avila took a short corner from the near flag that found Saragosa. His header skipped just inches from the right side of the net and just out of the reach of Pitchkolan, who was sliding near the post.

With tonight's defeat, FCD's record when scoring first falls to 5-1-4 on the season. Columbus, on the other hand, remained unbeaten when leading at the half this season, a mark that increased to 9-0-1 with their latest victory over FCD.

Columbus returns to the pitch when they host New England while FCD's next action comes on Thursday night when Colorado comes to Frisco for an ESPN MLS Primetime Thursday contest.

For Clavijo, change was imminent

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- A week and a half ago, after their second straight shutout at home, Colorado Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo and his players knew something had to change.

"Desperation has come about," Clavijo said after another loss in which his team dominated play, controlling possession and overwhelming Toronto in shots and shots on goal, but couldn't score a goal to salvage a sinking homestand.

Wednesday the change finally came, as Clavijo and the Rapids parted ways, reaching what the Rapids termed "a mutually amicable agreement." Assistant coach Gary Smith, who guided the team to victory Saturday against Kansas City while Clavijo was home in Uruguay attending to a family emergency, has assumed the head coaching duties on an interim basis for the remaining 10 games of the season.

"We appreciate all that Fernando has done for this team over the last four years and wish him and his family the best," managing director Jeff Plush said Wednesday. "He has worked tirelessly on behalf of our organization and brought us some of our greatest successes. We are poised to achieve great things, and when we do we will look back fondly and appreciatively of Fernando's tenure with our club."

The move was no surprise to Clavijo, who has heard the rumblings and rumors from both within the organization and without since the Rapids failed to make the playoffs in 2007, the first time the team had missed the postseason since the league's inaugural year of 1996. The struggles continued in 2008, with the club showing great promise but little consistency.

"Realistically, I saw this start in December of 2007," Clavijo said Thursday. "I felt a lot of things were unsettled. I was not happy about a lot of things. I thought it was a matter of time, to be honest with you."

One of the unsettled matters last year was Clavijo's contract, which expires at the end of the current season. But the Hall-of-Famer had also identified key needs to elevate the team and was frustrated that the organization was never able to address those needs.

"I'm not going to put blame on anybody," Clavijo said Thursday. "I am the coach. I am making decisions. But I wish that things would have happened a different way, absolutely. I noticed at the beginning of the year that we needed a striker. We've played extremely well. The team has never given up. But we're missing chances. We keep missing chances. We outshot Columbus 23 to 5, and we lost 2-0. So it was an issue that I knew of. It was an issue I addressed at the beginning of the year that I needed help there. But it was never addressed properly. We have a great prospect in the younger players, but we don't have the final product."

The Rapids struggles in 2008 led to a 7-10-3 record at Clavijo's departure, an admittedly mediocre season to date, despite the Rapids sitting just four points out of second place in the Western Conference. He remains optimistic about the club's fortunes, having watched elements of their game flourish over the three-game homestand, despite the two shutouts.

"I have no doubt they can make the playoffs," Clavijo said of the Rapids' race to the postseason. "There's no question about it. They have the talent."

Though Clavijo has only once led a Rapids team to a .500 finish while compiling a 40-49-2 regular record season, he took the team to the Western Conference Championship in each of his first two seasons, and has shaped the team over his four-year tenure, bringing in every player on the roster with the exception of team captain Pablo Mastroeni, who is in his seventh year with the club.

"If you look at the first two years, we made it to the Western Conference finals both years," veteran defender Mike Petke said Thursday. "That's one step away - that's the third-best team in the league. He found a way to get there. Last year we didn't make the playoffs, but that was a combination of everybody, not just one person individually. This year it wasn't going too well. So change always happens, whether it's players, whether it's front office, or whether it's the coach. Someone's head is always on the chopping block. It's bound to happen, and this time it happened to be the coach."

There's no question that Clavijo has left his mark on the team, adapting to the challenges of building from within to create a solid core that is on the cusp of taking off. The Rapids have never been a team to pursue marquee players, but in Clavijo's tenure, the team developed a stable of players capable of pursuing the MLS Cup that Clavijo kept clearly in his sites.

"We gave opportunities to a lot of younger players," Clavijo said. "That's how we based ourselves. We based in younger players. I'm very proud of what we've done the last couple years. I knew when we were dealing with younger players that it was going to take time and we were going to make mistakes. But that's the only way to give them experience to play. I'm very proud of the way they did things."

The players responded in kind, developing a comfortable rapport with the coach and developing a unique brand of soccer as they settled into their new stadium over the past season and a half.

"Fernando's an easy guy to work with," Petke said. "He's a family man. If you have issues off the field, he's never had a problem with that. He gives you time to sort out your business. He came and did what he thought was right. The results this year didn't go the right way. It's unfortunate, but he had four years here. I'm sure he's going to resurface somewhere and do well."

That characterization of Clavijo as a "family man" has become increasingly important to the coach over the years, and the recent family crisis at home in Uruguay helped put things in perspective for the 52-year-old father who followed his 15-year career playing on the U.S. national team and in the American Soccer League, the North American Soccer League, and the Major Indoor Soccer League by beginning a seven-year coaching career with New England and Colorado.

Though he was disappointed that his family situation wasn't kept private as he'd hoped, he was deeply appreciative of the support he has received from fans in Colorado and around the league.

"Since I've been in this country, through the years I've lost my parents, both of them, a brother and a brother-in-law about a year ago," Clavijo said. "So it became more of an issue than ever before. I value my family more and more. I always did, but I always also put a lot of attention into my work. I was pretty much forced to make this decision based on the past and what I needed to do.

"But everything is better. I wish they could have kept it away from the press, but that's the way, people want to know. Fortunately I have received a lot of good wishes from the fans here in Colorado and all over the league. It's good to see that, and I definitely appreciate it. That means a lot for me, and I just want to thank all of them. [My family] is doing better. Everything is back almost to normal."

For Clavijo, however, it won't be normal without some soccer in his life. He fully intends to take the time to reflect on his tenure in Colorado, to catch his breath, and to "heal" on several levels, but he does not envision a future without some level of involvement in the league that has been his home away from home.

"Many people look at [my departure] as a failure," Clavijo said. "I've said all along, if you don't try something, you will never fail. People never try because they are afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to fail. And I will keep trying.

"I think I've done a very good job in Colorado," he continued. "What I can tell you is I'm leaving the team better than when I took over, that's for sure. I'm going to take some time off to try to look at things. I'm going to keep myself open. The league is growing. The sport is growing. We're going in the right direction, and I want to make sure that I'm a part of that."

Ekpo, Nigeria win silver in Beijing

BEIJING -- When he stood on the medal platform at the Bird's Nest Saturday afternoon, Emmanuel Ekpo admitted he had mixed emotions. The Columbus Crew midfielder was about to receive a silver medal as Nigeria finished second in the Olympic men's soccer tournament.

"Actually, I would say it was a thing of joy," he said. "On the other hand, I would say I wasn't so happy. I was in it for the gold medal. We should have won the gold medal."

But Ekpo did bring home a precious medal, the lone MLS player to do so. The Nigerians eliminated the United States in the third and final game of the opening round, getting past Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals and Belgium in the semis, before losing 1-0 to Argentina in the gold medal match.

"That's still OK for me," he said of a silver medal.

In fact, the final whistle by referee Viktor Kassai of Hungary turned out to be Ekpo's most memorable moment of the Olympics.

"When I heard the final whistle and I knew it was all gone," he said. "I couldn't get the gold medal anymore. I was thinking we are not getting the gold medal today. I am not going to hang a gold medal."

Like many of his Nigerian teammates, Ekpo realized the gold medal game was a game they let get away. The Argentineans became only the fourth team to win back-to-back men's soccer titles as they ended the Nigerians' quest of becoming the first African country to win two gold medals. Nigeria won it at the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996.

"The game wasn't that bad," he said. "We played well. We had most of the chances. It's just that we couldn't convert our chances. It was unfortunate for us."

The 20-year-old Ekpo came on as a second-half substitute for the sixth consecutive time in the tournament, replacing Isaac Promise in the 70th minute. He played 88 minutes the entire Olympics.

The Nigerians tried to duplicate their miracle comeback against the Argentina in the 1996 gold medal match in Athens, Ga. In that match, Nigeria turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory in the final minutes.

But not this time.

"It was evenly contested," Ekpo said of the game. "We had a better chance of winning the game, but we didn't convert our chances. In the second half we outplayed them. We had to apply the pressure. There was nothing to lose. We just couldn't get the goal."

The gold medal match, played in front of 89,103 spectators at the National Stadium, certainly wasn't one of the most memorable soccer finals in recent times. Both teams lost energy, especially in the second half and there could have been more scoring chances.

The midday start in temperatures that soared to 108 degrees on the field obviously had something to do with it.

Because FIFA wanted to play the game at National Stadium, it had to settle on a noon local starting time before the final day of track and field events here (all other matches were played at night). That coincided with field temperatures of 105 degrees. Soccer's world governing body allowed water breaks in the 30th and 70th minutes as a precautionary measure, which is virtually unprecedented at the international level.

"It was quite hot," Ekpo said. "But back in Nigeria it is even hotter than here. ... The humidity was quite high [and] affected us in the second half."

Ekpo claimed the heat did not affect him that much. He said he had much more important matters on his mind.

"I knew I was coming in the second half," he said. "I knew I had a big task ahead because we were a goal down. I wasn't thinking about the weather. I didn't think the weather should affect me at that time. I just wanted to get the equalizer."

Which Nigeria failed to do. Ekpo did not take any shots, playing more of a link midfielder, helping to pass the ball in and around the penalty area.

While the African side could not find away to put the ball past Argentinean goalkeeper Sergio Romero, the South Americans did on the other end of the field as midfielder Angel Di Maria solved goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin in the 58th minute off a pass from the great Lionel Messi.

Messi did not have the best of games, especially for his standards and expectations. But he was wise enough to realize there were other ways to contribute.

"We knew coming in that we may never have this experience again, so we are lucky that everything went well and we got what we wanted," Messi said.

"This is a great day for the people of Argentina, and for the development of the game there," coach Sergio Batista said.

Messi almost didn't play in the tournament. His Spanish club team, Barcelona, won a court ruling that would have allowed it to pull back Messi. But when push came to shove, the La Liga side let the man known as "The Flea" to remain in China. It worked out well for Argentina and will allow Messi to return to Spain a contented man with motivation to perform brilliance for his club.

"People said a lot of things that annoyed me before I came to China, everyone knows that," Messi told FIFA.com. "That's what makes this medal so special."

Compared to some of his earlier performances in the tournament, Messi wasn't anywhere close to his brilliant and lethal self as Nigeria did its best to contain him. So, the FC Barcelona superstar went to Plan B -- he passed. His most important one was to Di Maria, who raced in on the left side on goalkeeper Vanzekin, chipping him from 18 yards.

Di Maria admitted that he first thought of firing away, but changed his strategy when he saw the 'keeper come out of the net. "Luckily, it went in," he said.

Lucky for Di Maria and Argentina, unlucky for Ekpo and his teammates.

Because Nigeria bounced around the country, playing its early matches in Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing, the team wasn't settled enough to see the capital city (even on game days there the team was focused on the game). Since Ekpo is returning to Nigeria with the team on Tuesday, he will spend the next few days playing tourist and not soccer.

He said a Chinese friend was going to take him to some of the usual tourist spots -- The Great Wall, for example -- and some other places.

Then it's back to Nigeria for a few days before Ekpo returns to Columbus on Sept. 1 or 2.

He doesn't know the player will receive a bonus for earning a silver medal.

"I believe there will be something for us," he said.

The key word is believe because many African countries -- Nigeria included -- have a history of promising players bonuses, only to fail to put their money where their mouth is.

Regardless, they can't take Expo's silver medal away.

Davis: Makeovers changing outlook

In most U.S. sports, a midseason trade can become the final puzzle piece, the balance-tipping element that pushes a club past a plateau and drives it toward grander goals.

But significant roster makeovers are rare. Teams can tweak, but they pretty much are what they are.

Soccer operates differently, around the world and MLS as well. Access to a teeming global market significantly broadens the makeover options. It greatly increases the pool from which clubs can reinforce weak points or change out the parts that just aren't functioning as needed.

Look at some of the MLS teams that are rising at the moment. Some of them look little like the April version that began Major League Soccer's 13th campaign. Others might resemble the season-opening brand, but significant upgrades at certain positions have created equilibrium that can drive them forcefully through the last eight rounds of competition.

Significant roster maneuvers at Red Bull New York, D.C. United, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and San Jose seem to have those clubs moving in the right direction. Five of those six had good results in round 22 of MLS competition: the Red Bulls and D.C. won at home, Chicago prevailed away from home, while Dallas and San Jose managed draws on the road.

(It's only fair to point out at this point: Clubs such as New England and Columbus are doing fine, too, but weren't as active in the recent international transfer window. Sometimes, the best move is no big move at all.)

No team exploited the midseason transfer window like the New York Red Bulls. Each week seems to bring a new starter to Giants Stadium; this week's debutante was left back Diego Jimenez, 22, recently of Mexico's UAG Tecos.

He follows recent additions Juan Pietravallo, Jorge Rojas and Gabriel Cichero. Manager Juan Carlos Osorio was able to gather up the foursome, in part, because of the bold decision to facilitate Claudio Reyna's retirement.

Hard to argue the results. The Red Bulls are unbeaten in five matches, with three consecutive wins now by a combined score of 9-1. Even if you throw out Sunday's stunning 3-0 conquest against league champion Houston, possibly owing to the formerly hot Dynamo's crowded schedule, the Red Bulls are clearly not the same side we watched earlier this year, one that groped for identity while waiting for graceful striker Juan Pablo Angel to get healthy.

Mike Magee is a big part of RBNY's recent success, and the U.S. attacker might not even be on the field if Reyna had remained on the roster.

Houston had struck for 10 goals in its previous three MLS matches, before the Red Bulls forcefully shut off the spigot Sunday. Midsummer additions Nate Jaqua and Kei Kamara accounted for four of those goals, and the pair seems to have finally added the punch that had been missing this year on Dominic Kinnear's offense.

They'll need it, as they are set to begin CONCACAF Champions League play in a few weeks here, along with D.C. United. (Chivas USA and New England, of course, face preliminary round matches this week and next, to get into the group stage).

Jeff Cunningham and Dutchman Victor Sikora, newcomers in Dallas, did their parts as the north Texans squeezed four points from a three-game road swing. New manager Schellas Hyndman now gets consecutive matches at Pizza Hut Park, where his club has a chance to make up some ground on first-place Houston.

Chicago didn't do a lot of adjusting, but one of the two significant midseason additions was probably the most high-profile. Brian McBride did his part in providing the assist on John Thorrington's goal in a 1-0 win against Los Angeles.

In the nation's capital, manager Tom Soehn and Co. have demonstrated how much impact one change can generate. Louis Crayton has assumed control in the RFK goal with three solid performances. He already has two shutouts; United had just one all year before the Liberian's arrival.

The weekend's clean sheet came without five D.C. starters. Recent acquisitions Joe Vide and Ivan Guerrero were in Saturday's lineup against Colorado, however, and they appear to be helpful additions as well.

If the men of Red Bull are reversal of fortune masters in the East, San Jose certainly can claim that moniker in the West. It's mostly about two players, central midfielder Francisco Lima and dynamic left-sided attacker Darren Huckerby.

Lima's steady play next to Ramiro Corrales has brought stability and balance to the midfield at Buck Shaw Stadium. But the real hubbub is about Huckerby, whose brash dashes down the left side are giving opposition defenses all they can handle.

Parlay that, Ronnie O'Brien's continued energy and presence on the right and the solid defense that's been there all along, and it's no wonder the Earthquakes haven't lost in seven matches. The last setback was a close 1-0 loss to Chivas USA back on July 5.

By the way, Frank Yallop's side has allowed four goals in eight matches since late June. Take that steady stinginess and Huckerby's two goals and three assists in five matches and you can make a case that San Jose is a better team at the moment than at least half the MLS field.

Corrales' left Saturday's draw at Chivas USA with a knee injury, which could dent the Earthquakes' momentum. But what could truly crack the expansion side's playoff bid goes back to April and May and a rough start -- which shouldn't surprise anyone, considering the club was taking its first little baby steps.

The Earthquakes have six of their remaining nine at Buck Shaw, with a trio of especially critical matches beginning Sept. 27. On consecutive weekends, San Jose takes on Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas and Chivas USA, which happen to be three of the five clubs Yallop's men must overcome to reach the postseason dream.

TACTICAL CORNER

For the second consecutive match, new Colorado Rapids manager Gary Smith chose to leave former league MVP Christian Gomez and former starter in goal Bouna Coundoul on the bench.

Whereas last week brought a better result (a win against Kansas City), this week's setup couldn't gain any real traction at RFK in a 3-0 loss. Smith aligned his team in the same 4-5-1 that worked in the previous week, with Conor Casey stationed as a lone striker.

Jason Kreis has also gone with a lone striker lately -- sort of, anyway. Kyle Beckerman and Kenny Cutler were holding midfielders in Real Salt Lake's 4-2-3-1. Kenny Deuchar was positioned as a target man, with Yura Movsisyan and Robbie Findley stationed out wide, behind the big Scottish striker.

If the wide players get forward often enough in such a set-up, you could argue that the alignment is some kind of modified 4-3-3. As it was, neither Findley nor Movsisyan truly combined with Deuchar, and the result was a dominant performance from in-form Columbus.

RSL shifted back to its more familiar 4-4-2 for the second half, but the result was more of the same. The gang from Utah forced just two saves all night from Columbus goalkeeper William Hesmer, who posted his sixth shutout this season.

Two teams will be without their reliable holding midfielders over Labor Day weekend. San Jose's Corrales was on the bench with crutches by game's end at The Home Depot Center on Saturday. The extent of his injury remains unknown, but he seems doubtful for this Saturday's contest at Buck Shaw against Kansas City. Kelly Gray or Ronnie O'Brien appear to be Yallop's most likely options for replacing the Earthquakes' steady midfield presence.

Dallas will be without Pablo Ricchetti for a meeting with Columbus at Pizza Hut Park, where the turf was just replaced following recent concerts. Andre Rocha, Marcelo Saragosa or Dax McCarty could fill in for Ricchetti, who picked up two yellow cards over the weekend and will sit for the mandatory one-game suspension.

Draw tough to swallow for United

WASHINGTON -- There was no denying the fact that Saturday night's 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls at RFK Stadium felt more like a loss for D.C. United. But when that disappointment is grounded in the fact that Jaime Moreno -- team captain, club icon and all-time MLS goal king -- missed an 81st-minute penalty kick with the game on the line, it's hard to be anything but philosophical about the outcome.

"Listen, he's done so much, man," Santino Quaranta said afterward. "People expect him, all the time, to make it. It's not as easy as everybody thinks, and sometimes you miss. But he's our captain and I back him 100 percent. He's done so much for this club that he can miss a few more."

The 34-year-old Moreno has produced one gutsy display after another to marshal his squad through a trying season, and Saturday was no exception as the Bolivian held possession, linked play and cajoled his teammates into the ascendancy after a mediocre first half. So when he latched onto Quaranta's pass and got the better of Red Bulls center back Andrew Boyens to earn that crucial spot kick in the game's final stages, it looked like an altogether appropriate conclusion to a hard-fought game that featured the gritty tone shared by derby matches the world over.

But the tired, cramping Bolivian hit his spot kick with a bit too much power and a bit too much curve on RFK's damp grass, and the shot pinged inches wide of the post and thumped off the advertising boards behind Jon Conway's goal to leave United just short of the result they so desperately wanted.

"It's part of the game and unfortunately I missed an important penalty," Moreno said. "But that's life. It just wasn't a good penalty kick...These things definitely disappoint me a lot, but if I didn't take that many penalties, I wouldn't score that many goals either.

With the two sides deadlocked on points and hanging on to the Eastern Conference's final playoff spots, the 15,616 spectators in attendance were treated to a postseason-type atmosphere where full-blooded challenges were doled out freely and clear scoring chances were rarely granted.

"It's a competitive match. It should be," United coach Tom Soehn said. "I don't think we were very good with the ball in the first half. We had to make a few adjustments, but I thought the game was there to take had we been better with the soccer part of it in the first half...The buildup to the penalty was pretty good soccer. Unfortunately the result of the penalty didn't go our way.

Though they threatened Louis Crayton's goal on several occasions and nearly took advantage when the Liberian netminder embarked on several adventurous forays outside his own penalty box, the Red Bulls were largely content to stymie their I-95 rivals with bruising physical play and will feel gratified to secure a road point that simultaneously denies D.C. a huge boost.

"They're playing on the road, they knew we wanted three points and I think they came in, they wanted to get a counterattack goal and be solid with their shape defensively," Quaranta said of his former team. "I think in the second half we found more of a rhythm, switching it side to side. They were smart, they did well and they had chances, too. We cant say we dominated, because they had chances to score, too. But its tough to take because we miss a penalty."

With high stakes and plenty of mutual antipathy, the game almost spun out of referee Kevin Stott's control towards the end of the first half when tempers flared amid a succession of dangerous tackles on both sides.

"Yeah, we expected it," Crayton, who attended New York's 4-1 win over D.C. on August 10 just days after his initial arrival from Switzerland, said. "They're a pretty rough team, especially in the back. So we were prepared equally to be rough tonight."

United may yet rue the results of one such clash. Leading scorer Luciano Emilio came out on the losing end of a first-half collision with Kevin Goldthwaite and left the game with a groin injury, though Soehn holds out hope that the Brazilian will recover in time for Wednesdays U.S. Open Cup final against the Charleston Battery at RFK.

"He was feeling tight," the D.C. boss said. "He's a veteran and he knew when to pull himself out to make sure he's available. Well evaluate him more tomorrow."

Huckerby comfortable with Earthquakes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Throughout its brief history, MLS has been littered with foreign imports who either struggled to settle in, or never adapted at all. Six games into his MLS career, it's safe to say that San Jose Earthquakes' midfielder Darren Huckerby doesn't fall into either one of those categories.

The Englishman continued his brilliant start to his stateside adventure, scoring a priceless game-winning goal in San Jose's 2-1 win over Kansas City before 10,089 fans at Buck Shaw Stadium. It was Huckerby's third goal of the season, one that showed just how much belief there is within the team as the season heads into its stretch drive.

With the clock winding down and the score tied, midfielder Francisco Lima crossed the ball towards Ryan Johnson, who was stationed near the right hand corner of the six-yard box. Realistically speaking, there was no way of knowing that Johnson would win a clean header, and Huckerby could have been forgiven for taking a wait and see approach.

But that strategy didn't figure into Huckerby's thinking at all.

"I knew the ball was coming in from Lima, and I just knew that [Johnson] was going to win the ball, I just knew it," said Huckerby. "So I gambled. It was just a question of if he was going to put it in the right area, and he did. I ended up just having a little tap in, so I really have Ryan to thank for that."

Huckerby has shown that aggressive attitude from the moment he arrived in San Jose and the first half of Saturday's game was no exception as he tormented Wizards' defender Jack Jewsbury so much that Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo was compelled to move Jewsbury into midfield to start the second half and move Michael Harrington back into defense.

The move did blunt Huckerby's influence to a degree, as the Wizards climbed back into the game courtesy of Davy Arnaud's 64th minute equalizer. But Huckerby was soon back on the offensive, as he resumed his attacking forays on the left wing and ultimately grabbed the hero's mantle.

So how has Huckerby succeeded where so many others have failed? For manager Frank Yallop the explanation is simple.

"I think [Huckerby] is really enjoying his football to be honest," said Yallop. "You look at him off the field and around the building, and especially on it now, he's just flying."

But when the question was posed to Huckerby, it's clear that his success goes a bit deeper than that.

"I came over here with an open mind, and I came here to work hard and win games," said Huckerby. "And the team has taken to me. They've made me one of them straight away, and it feels great."

That kind of togetherness has been a trait of San Jose since the beginning, but what has fueled the Quakes' revival in recent weeks is the massive overhaul the team's attack has undergone. Huckerby, Lima, Scott Sealy and Arturo Alvarez have given the Quakes an attack to be respected, if not feared. And it was that ability to kick the attacking tempo up a notch that keyed their latest victory.

Simply put, San Jose would not have won this game two months ago and as the game headed into the latter stages the script certainly harkened back to earlier in the season. The Quakes had by far the better of play in the first half, and deservedly went ahead when Alvarez nodded home Ronnie O'Brien's cross in the 43rd minute.

But the half-time introduction of Wizards' midfielder Carlos Marinelli changed the complexion of the game, and after owning the first 20 minutes of the second half, the visitors deservedly equalized through Arnaud.

Yet rather than crumble the Quakes regained the attacking initiative, and Huckerby's goal was just reward for 20 minutes of sustained pressure.

"I think we've grown, I really do," O'Brien said. "I think the result tonight has shown how much we've grown. But the players who have come in have really helped us out. It's fun to play here right now."

Especially with San Jose's newest import exceeding everyone's expectations.

Hoops upbeat after losing lead

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- For the second successive match, FC Dallas held a lead at halftime that they failed to hold onto. But unlike last weekend's 2-1 loss to Columbus, Saturday's 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards was a more acceptable result.

With the 1-0 lead, early in the second half midfielder Pablo Ricchetti was ejected after receiving his second yellow card after committing a reckless tackle on Davy Arnaud. Despite being shorthanded for nearly a half hour, the Hoops were able to hold the Wizards scoreless until defender Jimmy Conrad rammed the ball into the net after receiving a crossing pass from forward Josh Wolff during stoppage time to tie the game.

"Obviously when you give up a goal in extended time you feel like something got away. But it's also nice that we got a point on the road, and we played 30-plus minutes with a man down," said FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman. "I'm glad to get a point."

The game had certainly started out on an upbeat note for the Hoops. In the seventh minute, midfielder Dax McCarty sent a long cross pass to midfielder Andre Rocha, who blasted a 35-yard shot high inside the upper left corner to give FC Dallas an early lead. It was Rocha's first goal of the season.

It was a bittersweet return for McCarty, who had missed three matches while playing with the U.S. team in the Beijing Olympics. In just his second start for the Hoops since the end of April, also because of injury, McCarty had played a pivotal role in the team's only score, but his team was unable to secure the victory.

"It is simple," Dario Sala said. "We dominated on defense, but we didn't attack on offense."

Sala also gave credit to the Wizards for the effort they made to get the late result.

"They fought the whole game," Sala said.

FC Dallas still have a slim hold on third place in the Western Conference and the final automatic playoff spot in the division. FCD remains on the road next weekend, playing at the Columbus Crew on Saturday, Aug. 30.

"I always have a good game in Kansas City. Someone reminded me before the game about last year which was my first game in Kansas City and I had a good game as well," Sala said. "But unfortunately in the last minute we gave up two points. But if we would have known before the game that we would have been one man down on the road, and pulled out a tie we would have taken it right away."

Chivas look to regroup quickly

Preki was hoping a change of scenery would help turn his team's fortunes around. Instead, it was more of the same for Chivas USA, which suffered a 2-0 loss to Tauro FC in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round series at Estadio Rod Carew just outside of Panama City.

Edwin Aguilar was the hero for the seven-time Panamanian champions, scoring a pair of goals, including the opener just seven minutes into the match.

"It was a tough one. The conditions were not the best but today we had to deal with it. We are professionals," defender Shavar Thomas said. "We went down early that kind of costs us a little bit. We created a couple of chances but we didn't get anything but we have next week to redeem ourselves."

Chivas USA returns to the familiar confines of The Home Depot Center for the second leg, but need to score twice just to equalize while hoping not to concede the all-important road goal. Chivas has twice scored three goals in a game this year, the last coming in a 3-1 victory against D.C. United on May 16.

"We put ourselves in a hole early and we spent the rest of the game trying to come back into it," Alecko Eskandarian said. "In an international tournament that is not going to cut it. You have to have 90 minutes of focus. It doesn't matter who you are playing against and where you are playing. You have to focus."

The Red-and-White have now gone three games without scoring a goal and are winless in seven consecutive contests, dating back to a 1-0 victory against Santos Laguna in the SuperLiga on July 17.

Ante Razov scored the winning goal in that game, but the veteran striker wasn't available Tuesday, nursing a sprained left knee. He joined Alex Zotinca, Maykel Galindo, Raphael Wicky, Carey Talley and Jesse Marsch as the Chivas walking wounded.

"It was a tough place to come and play, we started slow, myself included, we just never found the rhythm of the play," Kraig Chiles said. "Tough field, but they're all excuses. In the second half I think we found a way to wear them down, but we just couldn't break through and find a goal. I think we are going to have to handle business back in our place."

One player who Preki did get back from injury is Eskandarian, who made his return from sports hernia surgery to play the final 31 minutes of a scoreless draw against San Jose Saturday night in Carson.

Eskandarian was brought on at halftime against Tauro FC as one of Preki's two changes at the break. Eskandarian had some quality chances, but he missed the target with an attempt from the edge of the 18-yard box just four minutes after stepping onto the field and then his low free kick deflected off the Tauro wall and out for a corner kick in the 75th minute.

"I'm really disappointed with the way we played," Eskandarian said. "Even though we created chances, we gave away a lot of opportunities as well and you know, we have a lot of work to do. A bunch of us need to look in the mirror and think what more we can do to help the team and what we can work on because it just wasn't good enough."

As disappointed as it was to fall behind immediately, had Atiba Harris finished a pair of chances in the first half -- a diving header wide of the target in the 11th minute and a one-on-one with Tauro FC goalkeeper Willington Dominguez in the 34th minute -- Chivas would have gone into the locker room at halftime level with a critical away goal.

"We created one or two opportunities with Atiba Harris. If he scores, it was going to be another game, but we don't score and we go to halftime 1-0 down," Preki said. "In the second half, I tried to push the tempo a little bit, we made one mistake and we got punished. We are still not out of it, hopefully we can get together and maybe get two or three (players) back."

Tale of two seasons for Crew's Marshall

COLUMBUS -- Chad Marshall spent his 24th birthday Friday in a much better place than where he was exactly one year ago.

This year's birthday present for the Columbus Crew defender was being on the training field preparing for Saturday's home match against Real Salt Lake. In contrast, 12 months ago, he was about to be placed on the season-ending injured reserve list after suffering the latest of four concussions over a period of a year.

It was a sobering time for him as he contemplated the possibility of life without soccer.

"It was scary not being able to play. I was just sitting there hoping the headache goes away. I definitely was thinking about what I could do other than soccer," he said of playing only 12 matches in 2007.

The severity of having so many concussions was not lost on him. As a rookie in 2004 he saw teammate Ross Paule suffer a series of concussions and resort to wearing headgear for the final dozen matches in hopes of protecting his skull. Post-concussion syndrome eventually forced Paule to retire the following season without playing another match.

"He still has those headaches to this day," Marshall said.

That's why Marshall went against the athlete's instinct to compete through pain and heeded the advice of trainer Jason Mathews and fitness coach Steve Tashjian to shut it down for a long while.

"It gave me enough time in between that if I were to get another one, what happened to Ross hopefully wouldn't happen to me. All credit to them," said Marshall.

After an offseason of rest it has been so far, so good for Marshall. He has started all 20 matches and played 1,675 out of 1,800 minutes.

Still, the possibility of another concussion is all the more prevalent for the 6-4 Marshall because the heading game is his strong suit. Not only does he command the box defensively with his height and jumping ability but he has also scored both of his goals on headers.

"He's having a very good season," coach Sigi Schmid said. "His one-on-one defending has been good. Obviously, he's still very dominant in the air."

Marshall now has six goals and six assists in 116 career appearances (113 starts) after being the second overall pick in the 2004 SuperDraft following two seasons at Stanford. The No. 1 selection that year? A 14-year-old named Freddy Adu. Others chosen behind Marshall in the first round included Clint Dempsey and new Crew teammate Pat Noonan.

The two knocks on Marshall that have prevented him from gaining more than four caps with the U.S. national team (he scored his lone goal in his debut on March 9, 2005, vs. Colombia) is that he hasn't shown enough confidence on the ball and isn't vocal enough as a central defender.

Schmid thinks Marshall has addressed those issues and should get another look from U.S. coach Bob Bradley.

"What I'm happy about is he's a lot more willing to have the ball, to take the ball and have more responsibility for the ball in the back. He's got good feet for a big man," Schmid said. "People don't know that because Chad shied away from sometimes wanting the ball. He can get himself out of trouble and do things with the ball."

Defensive midfielder Brian Carroll has no problem with Marshall's verbal skills.

"Our communication is improving. He cleans up a lot of balls in the air and wins possession pretty good so he tries to keep me in front of him; tells me when to stay, tells me when to go," he said.

As for Marshall, well, he's not really one to say much off the field -- to reporters at least. He'd rather go one-on-one with Landon Donovan than have to answer questions. He's not being rude; it's just not his nature to talk to the media.

"I think I'm pretty vocal guy. I just don't like doing interviews," he said.

Marshall doesn't seek publicity and it rarely comes to him unless he makes a mistake.

"That's what stinks about being a defender," Marshall said. "If you do a good job then no one notices. I guess I do not want to be noticed because that means my guy is scoring or I'm messing up."

Sometimes, though, Marshall does draw attention for doing his job. Such was the case after the Crew defeated FC Dallas last week.

"The second half our team started moving the ball a little too direct, going too much to the strikers and (Chad) Marshall did a good job intercepting balls to feet and that caused (Kenny) Cooper some problems," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said.

A game like that is a reason many on his team felt he should have been selected to the MLS All-Star team last month.

"He has been a little bit overlooked. He's a great defender and a big reason we've had success this year," said Carroll.

If the team continues to do well then accolades might follow for Marshall, now third in longevity with the Crew behind defender Frankie Hejduk and midfielder Duncan Oughton.

"It's been a fast five years. It's crazy," Marshall said. "I came into this league as a teenager. Now I'm 24. I think I was the third-longest here after my second year. They really cleaned house. It's been that way for a while."

He suffered through losing seasons as the team missed the playoffs from 2005-07, but he is excited -- if it's possible for the laid-back Californian -- about this year's squad.

"We've finally found that right blend of players who know what their responsibilities are and don't try to play outside of that," he said. "People know what they're good at and stick to that and let the creative people create and guys like me head the ball and kick it really far."

The team reminds him in some ways of his first year when the 2004 club ran off a league-record 18-game unbeaten streak and captured the Supporters' Shield.

"It's similar. We have really good players and guys who are putting in goals. The most important thing is that we're scoring goals," said Marshall. "I feel like the middle three years we really didn't score goals. That's what the good teams in this league do and that's what we're doing. That's why we're getting wins."