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The SBI MLS Power Rankings are back.

Okay, so maybe you didn't miss the SBI MLS Power Rankings, but at least a few of you noticed their absence in recent weeks.

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With three points in the bag after last week's 1-0 road win against Guatemala, the U.S. men's national team heads into the next set of World Cup qualifiers knowing that two wins could all but lock up advancement into the Hexagonal round.

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Hello all. With the day winding down, here are some tidbits to pass along after another eventful Tuesday in the soccer world:

Edu poised for 'Old Firm' debut

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The New England Revolution and Chivas USA will kick off the first round of the first annual CONCACAF Champions League tonight with the Revs facing Trinidad & Tobago champions Joe Public while Chivas USA is in Panama to face Panamanian champions Tauro FC.

This year marks the first playing of the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament featuring 24 teams rather than the eight teams featured in the tournament's original version, the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

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With the deadline fast approaching for players to make transfer moves in Europe, several American standouts remain in limbo with just days to go before decision day.

Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley, Frank Simek and Heath Pearce have all been mentioned as potential transfer targets this summer.

It is that time of year again. Time to find out how players from the CONCACAF region are doing in professional leagues across Europe. With more and more CONCACAF players heading to top leagues, the competition in the region is only getting tougher, and it is getting even more important to keep track of how potential U.

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Good morning everybody. It is Monday morning and time to bring back my weekly series 'Monday Morning Centerback', where I will focus on some topic in the soccer world, be it in MLS or abroad.

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The forecast looked grim for the Red Bulls as they took the field against the Houston Dynamo. The Red Bulls were set to play without three key players, midfielder Jorge Rojas (visa issues), Jeff Parke (ankle injury) and Gabriel Cichero (red card suspension) and set to face a Dynamo team that hasn't lost an MLS match in more than two months.

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The details finally emerged on the Carlos Ruiz trade from LA to Toronto FC on Thursday and they were shocking to say the least. The LA Galaxy shipped Ruiz to Toronto FC for a pair of supplemental draft picks.

The first-place Columbus Crew. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sure, it only lasted until Wednesday, when New England beat D.C. to move back on top of the East, but for four days the Crew enjoyed the rarified air of first place in the brutal Eastern Conference.

The fact that Columbus beat red-hot FC Dallas to move into first made the accomplishment even more impressive.

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U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu received his UK work permit on Friday, clearing the way for his $5 million transfer to Glasgow Rangers.

Edu will join U.S. national team teammate DaMarcus Beasley at Rangers, where he is expected to challenge for a starting central midfield role.

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Good evening folks. I have finally completed the day-long journey from Guatemala to New Jersey (well, almost completed, I'm in New York right now) and it was good to see the healthy discussions taking place on SBI regarding the U.

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The U.S. men's national team defeated Guatemala on Wednesday night, 1-0, in the opening match of the World Cup Qualifying group stage. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly for the Americans for the first 60 minutes of the match.

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Fernando Clavijo has resigned as Colorado Rapids head coach in a move that seemed destined to happen even before the 2008 season began.

"A lot of things happened through the year that I was not happy with in many ways," Clavijo told the Denver Post.

Hello all. I'm coming to you from Guatemala City where tonight's USA vs. Guatemala World Cup qualifier is shaping up to be a good one. With fans here lining up since the morning to get into the stadium for tonight's match, you can expect some of the usual craziness that goes with World Cup qualifiers in Central American.