Things have never been better for MLS.

The announcement out of Ottawa that Eugene Melnyk not only wants a soccer stadium to sit next door to his Senators' hockey palace, but also wants to join North America's soccer revolution is just one more sign that things are too good to be true for a league struggling to stay in business just a few years ago.

We already know that Montreal wants in, Portland wants in, St. Louis wants in, New York and Miami maybe want in, Vancouver definitely wants in, and now Ottawa wants in. Did we leave anybody out? (OK: Vegas. Ain’t gonna happen.)

All that MLS needs to do is to set an expansion fee bar as high as possible, welcome the new guys to the club and split the money among those who took the initial gamble back when the league was launched.

Sounds pretty good, eh?

Wait a minute.

Truth is: Things have never been worse for MLS.

I know what you’re all thinking. The business is solid. The money is there. The league’s attendance is up. Worse? What are you smoking, Trecker?

I’m talking on-the-field. Here’s the truth: MLS doesn’t have enough players as it stands today. Adding four to six more teams is a recipe for disaster. MLS’ salary structure cannot support ‘em, and North America can’t supply ‘em. Unless MLS is willing to seriously open their chequebooks — and they aren’t — fans are going to be disappointed with what they get.

As it stand right now, MLS isn’t good enough. Their best clubs continue to cave against CONCACAF opponents: The Champions League is turning out to be vivid proof that what might look pretty good and competitive on a Saturday night flops badly when the other team isn't from MLS.

How else do you explain the fact that MLS has played five games and lost five in the early phase of the Champions League? (Lost badly, we might remind you.) Only Chivas USA, in the second leg against Panama's Tauro, actually looked like they might win a game. Let’s put the boot in: Tauro couldn't beat the USL Puerto Rico Islanders last night! (Oh, and the USL's two teams came through qualifying in fine style.)

It’s also become sadly predictable that in these games, the MLS team won't finish with 11 men on the field. When the referee isn't from MLS the red cards seem to fly for MLS players. Is that because the players don't understand what a foul is in the global game or are these "neutral" refs picking on our poor guys? (It’s the former.)


What MLS would be wise to do is shore up the cities they’re already in. MLS cannot afford another Toronto: There, they have a great fan base, a great stadium, and an awful team. Patience is running thin up north, and can anyone blame them?

And before adding more teams, MLS also needs to address the glaring problem in the centre of the field. The refereeing quality in MLS league games is atrocious, and it is changing the American game for the worse. Importing some quality refs and helping the players MLS already has learn the international game would go a long way.

So here's the problem: MLS has a surfeit of wooers, could obviously expand to 20 or 22 teams with the drop of a hat. It sounds nice, and it is surely tempting. While we’ve supported further Canadian expansion in the past, if it comes, it has to come hand-in-hand with bigger rosters, bigger team budgets, and more prep and planning.  It also should come with paring down some weak markets, and adding training for officials and coaches. Just taking the cash on the table is not enough.

But too much, too soon, is a very, very bad idea. It also ignores history: It was too much expansion -- not the fact that the Cosmos spent big bucks -- that killed the NASL.

This could turn out to be a very difficult week for MLS.

While MLS has made undoubted progress in improving the overall quality of play the development of a multi-level schedule, with the demands of World Cup qualifying, Superliga, CONCACAF's Champions League and the U.S. Open Cup has exposed the fragility of league squads.

New England and Chivas US face return matches in the Champions League tonight, both starting from behind against opposition you think they should beat. But the Revolution could line up against Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) without most of its attack. Adam Cristman, Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally, Steve Ralston, and Taylor Twellman are all listed as doubtful or out of the match.  With all due respect, a front built around Khano Smith and Joe Germanese, supported by Wells Thompson (Ralston's logical replacement) isn't quite the same.

Chivas US looked well off its game in Panama last week and must recover two goals tonight against Tauro in order to go forward. That's a tall order against anybody and will be made more difficult since defender Shavar Thomas is on World Cup qualifying duty with Jamaica as the Reggae Boyz prepare for a crucial home test against Mexico. Chivas caught a break when they were able to keep Sasha Kljestan, a member of Bob Bradley's squad for the qualifiers this week against Cuba and ####mp;T.

Then consider the plight of Toronto FC. When rookie defender Julius James got his first international call from Trinidad & Tobago it meant that nine members of John Carver's squad would be missing during this phase of World Cup qualifying. Anybody who thinks it's fair to make TFC face Chivas US on Saturday afternoon simply isn't being realistic. And who could blame the wonderful Toronto fans if they stayed away from BMO Field to send a message to the MLS front office that playing league games without nine players is a joke.

Perhaps New England and Chivas will escape from jail this week and advance. That would be very good for MLS' image.

But maybe they won't. MLS could wake up Thursday morning to the knowledge that two USL teams (Montreal and the Puerto Rico Islanders) had made it to the CONCACAF group stages, while they stay home.

On one level, that of pure sports theater, the Olympic soccer tournament once again delivered as expected.
    
Outstanding individual performers like Lionel Messi and the terrific women's final game between the Americans and Brazil stand proudly alongside all the other achievements in Beijing.
   
But if you are in the back corridors of FIFA, where the deals are made and future tournaments are constructed, President Sepp Blatter is going to be facing some hard questions in the next months.

Let’s ignore the most obvious question for a second, and just talk about what happened on the field. On the pitch, this tournament once again showed that the game's global playing field is anything but level.

For the men:

-- Although held in China, not a single Asian entry -- there were four -- managed to get out of the first round.

-- New Zealand, which will almost always qualify for everything FIFA from an Oceania stripped to the bone, didn't show a thing in either tournament.

-- and CONCACAF must be wondering about its status after the USA missed the quarterfinals and Honduras didn't even score a goal. That just a year after Canada didn't score when host of the FIFA Youth World Cup.

Now if you're Michel Platini, whose UEFA Champions League is the biggest club show on earth and whose quadrennial UEFA Championship comes close to matching the World Cup in both quality and interest, would you going to suggest that Europe deserves at least two more spots in the Games? Or, wouldn’t you suggest that the Games adopt the World Cup qualifying format wherin the Asians, CONCACAF and Oceania have to survive interzonal playoffs in order to secure the last few places on offer?

CONMEBOL has an even better argument; two of the four semifinalists in both the Games and the FIFA Youth World Cup were South American. Don't you think that a third CONMEBOL entry might have been stronger than Honduras or New Zealand?

This may be hard on the "developing" regions but FIFA's practice of automatically including them in numbers greater than one doesn't make much sense off the recent records. Only Africa -- largely because their talent pool is developed in European clubs -- has grabbed the opportunity and run with it.

All of this ignores that aforementioned obvious question: Can the Olympic men’s soccer tournament survive?

The European clubs hate it, and have found an ally in the CAS. The European nations tolerate it, but it’s the Africans, South Americans and North Americans who take it seriously. And despite the wishes of the IOC, FIFA isn’t going to make it a top-level tournament that would compete against the World Cup.

Knowing that so few power players really care about it — and if you think Brazil would go to the mat for this tournament, you’re nuts — what’s the rationale for keeping it? It exhausts players, sticks in the craws of the big clubs and only helps the IOC. Now, Olympic men’s soccer isn’t going to disappear for 2012 in London, but I’d be wondering if it will stay in the mix for 2016.

In the case of the women's event, the picture may actually be even drearier. While FIFA may be hoping to see the women's game grow the evidence of performance suggests otherwise.
   
Not a single nation has emerged to challenge the old powers in the last decade; Brazil has been in three straight finals and lost them all; the United States has been in every Olympic final and won three of them; Germany and Norway are ever-presents in the last eight, usually going further than that. Maybe Japan showed some signs of greater life, but their best player, Homare Sawa, has been a star for a decade.
   
In fact, the greatest problem that both FIFA and the women's game face is the absence of emerging young stars. You can only hope that WPS attracts the world's best -- as WUSA did -- but even then how many of those players emerged from Beijing with any brand names to sell?
   
OK, Hope Solo could be a new Mia Hamm. She's photogenic, feisty and talented, and gives great quote. But will a country that still criticizes the sport for its lack of goals embrace a goalkeeper as an icon?
   
One huge plus for WPS, is that it's better suited to grow the game than either the Olympics or Women's World Cup. The new league, at least, can troll the world for talent and produce eight quality teams. Unfortunately, there aren't yet eight high quality women's national teams and that's a huge challenge both for FIFA and the Games.
 

Bruce Arena was formally named as Los Angeles Galaxy coach this weekend, taking what the team described as “full control” of the club’s soccer operations.  

This may prove to be an inflammable mix. Arena has been idle since he and Red Bull New York parted ways, and his reputation is running on fumes. He desperately needs another winning run in MLS to exorcise his many ghosts. The team that hired him is in similar straits: AEG needs to fix a dysfunctional locker room, a damaged brand, and hang on to a star making noises that he’d like to get out of town.  

It also may be an impossible job: After the disastrous co-management of the Galaxy by Alexi Lalas and David Beckham’s handlers, the Galaxy was left top-heavy with bloated salaries and a lack of talent. It currently needs more than soothing words and man-management.

Time is a factor. While the Galaxy is in better shape than the Red Bulls were when Arena took the reins, both AEG and the league need to have David Beckham in the playoffs. But looking down the road, the Galaxy also needs to hold on to Landon Donovan and shore up the teams’ pitiful defense. Arena has ten games in which to work might legitimately be termed a miracle. The MLS playoff race is so tight that anything can happen, but the way Houston has been playing lately and the dogged determination being shown by Real Salt Lake seems to indicate that a top two finish and a guaranteed post-season berth will be difficult.

Arena made his pro name by smartly stocking and running a dynastic D.C. team thirteen years ago, and he is widely (and correctly) credited for steering the 2002 men’s team to glory in Korea. Since that time, Arena’s ego seemed to expand while his teams’ accomplishments shrank.  

Convinced his tactics could help the Americans win anywhere, he seemed genuinely nonplussed when that turned out not to be true. His stated ambition to coach an English team was greeted with scorn abroad. When he returned to the club level, his New York team didn’t win a playoff game under his tenure. (He also made the mistake of signing Claudio Reyna as a designated player — a move that arguably cost him his job at the Meadowlands.)

And have we mentioned the arrogance that he too often displays? I sense that it covers up some deep personal insecurities, but where that ego once served to deflect pointed questions, it now serves to invite them. It’s a shame that he doesn’t instead lean back on his humor, which is both incisive and funny.

Arena has shown he can work with some of the biggest egos in the game. Beckham’s clan is smarting after the removal of their hand-picked coach, Ruud Gullitt, and Arena is going to have to deal with a lot of the off-the-field politicking that shadows England’s most famous soccer export. But he showed in D.C. that guys like Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno would play for him, and at his peak, he got guys to believe they could excel in his system.  

Arena also has been smart in inviting Dave Sarachan to join him in LA. Sarachan was Arena’s secret weapon in the 2002 Cup: His gentle personality and eye to detail got that team out of a lot of jams.

Now: A lot of people want to see Arena fail. They blame him for the 2006 debacle (again, with justification) and are sick of his attitude. Smart fans also know what a wreck he left at the Fed: He completely neglected the American youth development system while serving as TD, and the squad is now really suffering as a result. Unfortunately, wishing failure on the man is just as unfair to the Galaxy as Arena has sometimes been to the fans, the players and the folks who covered him.

And, while few are saying it, Arena is the right man for the job right now. There isn’t another American with the combination of experience and grit who hasn’t already been behind the Galaxy’s wheel. Nor is there another quality foreign coach out there who would touch that job right now.

So, wish Arena luck. He’s going to need it.

Nigeria and Argentina’s wins today in the Men’s Olympic semifinals set up a rematch of the 1996 Olympic finale. Twelve years ago, that was where a young man named Emmanuel Amuneke scored an unlikely winner to lead his team to an unexpected gold medal in Olympic play. It was also a vintage period in Nigerian football, with Kanu, the Babayaro brothers, Jay-Jay Ockocha and Sunday Oliseh among the stars.  

Argentina weren’t slouches, either, with a star-studded lineup of Mathias Alymeda,  Roberto Ayala, Hernan Crespo, Ariel Ortega, Javier Zanetti and, oh yes, DC United midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, among others.

This China finale will see quite the trio in Juan Román Riquelme Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi face up against a young group of Nigerian players, many of whom are relative unknowns. Emmanuel Ekpo plays with Columbus here in the USA, but the best-known players would be Everton’s Victor Anichebe and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Peter Odemwingie.  

Can Nigeria hang with the group that destroyed Brazil this evening? The African teams have a habit of peaking at the right time in this tournament, but on paper, this looks to be a very good Argentine side eager to make up for the Atlanta Games.

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The American women slogged to a 4-2 win over Japan Monday to set up their own rematch.  

The USA will face Brazil on Thursday, looking to win their second straight gold medal and get some revenge on a side that comprehensively beat them in the World Cup semis last year. In 2004, Abby Wambach — absent here — scored the winner to give the Americans the gold in Athens.

There’s quite a bit on the line: Last year, keeper Hope Solo’s post-game comments after the U.S. were eliminated saw her ostracized from the team, and contrary to the folk saying, time hasn’t healed jack. The Americans also will have to greatly improve their game if they hope to take down a Brazilian side that is faster, defter and looks just plain better.  

While the USA has managed to get away some of the negative things that came with Wambach as the target woman, they still rely too much on the long ball and their non-stop hustle to set up shots.  The defense has been scratchy, too, caught flat too often which could be a serious problem against the likes of Marta and her running mates.

Coach Pia Sundhage has managed to form a tighter midfield axis that tries to hold the ball and build out of the back, but the Americans have cruised on raw athleticism for so long that even basic tactics have largely eluded this bunch.  That’s been camouflaged since the Americans’ opener because of the lack of quality in women’s soccer in general, and the softness of their path in particular.  

One more note: The new Women’s pro league needs a gold medal win here for base publicity purposes. These women aren’t just playing for an Olympic gold — they’re playing for a professional future. That’s a lot of pressure, especially when you’re up against a good, cocky young team.

But here's one reason to think the US can get the job done: Brazil has not won a major women's final. They were beaten in Athens in 2007, and again last year in the World Cup final. That’s also a lot of pressure, even on a team as good as this Brazilian eleven.

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Some of you have wondered why the USA’s crests have been covered up during the Olympic games. Simple: Teams are not allowed to display Federation crests during the Olympics by IOC mandate because nations don’t compete at the Olympics, only athletes.

That’s a critical distinction: The team fielded is, technically, not the “U.S. men’s (or women’s) team,” it’s a “group of 18 Olympians.” Silly? Yeah, it is.

So, the USA covered up them logos. Some other teams haven’t, and supposedly they’ll be fined. But, they aren’t bidding to host the 2016 Games, nor are their Feds organized under the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

Now, as for those Nike and Puma logos…

Our preview is up now on the front page and the USA section.

Later on today, posts about: Bruce Arena, Nigeria and Argentina, and the women.

All across the world this morning, from homes and bars and even a sleek Chinese stadium you could hear a staccato, a dull thumping. That was the sound of American soccer fans' heads meeting the nearest hard object.
          
Today, the Americans hit a new low: Needing only a draw to progress to the quarterfinal round, they managed to lose the game, 2-1 to Nigeria, instead. Playing 86 minutes plus stoppage time with ten men after Michael Orozco was bounced in the fourth minute for a needless elbow, the Americans were outplayed, outscored and out of luck.
          
There is a seething frustration that comes with being a modern American soccer fan, a subset of the species who root for their boys at ungodly hours of the morning in places they'll never lay eyes on and often come away shattered for it.
          
All the things that American fans have told themselves over the years would help their team have come true, after all. The players are full professionals, many playing at decent European teams; ten of millions of dollars have been spent on the sport's infrastructure; and the media — which once looked at the sport the way one espies a drooling madman in an alley — shows more soccer in the States than virtually anywhere else in the world.
          
And still, the Americans lose. Cue the drooping heads, wringing hands, stomping feet, and breakable objects.
          

Sadly, this Olympic performance was true to type for an American team that cannot seem to get past type. For years, the USA has been slowly improving in terms of raw talent, but remains deficient in execution and tactics. And while the Americans no longer look a hairs-breadth away from collapse at any given moment, as they did just ten years ago, the fact remains that they still cannot get over the hump.
          
This departure from China is especially painful, because for the first time the American men actually seemed to improve as a team as they went along.
          
Normally, the USA plays three distinct games — one average, one superb, and one stinker, in a row, but not necessarily in that order. This time around, the USA played their stinker first, dodging many bullets against a Japanese side that could do everything but score, and came away with the win in spite of it. Next, they played impressively against the Dutch, but threw away their quarterfinal berth due to problems of their own devise.
          
Tonight, the Americans came out looking solid. Despite not having Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley available, the team played brightly, with good wide play and the kind of heart and effort everyone knows the guys bring to the table.

“This is the worst feeling I’ve had as a professional athlete after a loss in a tournament because I couldn’t be out there with the guys," said Adu afterwards. "Watching from the stands, it wasn’t a great feeling."
          
It's the head they lack. That showed early when Orozco elbowed Solomon Okoronkwo on the touchline, with ref Wolfgang Stark getting a bird's eye view.
          
From that point on, the Americans had to retreat into a shell. Robbie Rogers was forced into an uncomfortable role at left back, and the Nigerians danced through the flanks, finally breaking through in the 40th minute when Chinedu Obasi beat both Michael Parkhurst and Marvell Wynne to slot a cross to Promise Issac for the go-ahead goal. The hammer came down in the 80th when Victor Obinna again beat Parkhurst and Wynne to give Brad Guzan no chance.
          
The USA did fight back, with Sacha Kljestan sinking a late penalty kick after keeper Ambruse Venzekin felled Maurice Edu at the edge of the penalty area. And late sub Charlie Davies headed a free-kick served in by Dax McCarty onto the cross-bar in the dying seconds that would have been enough to take the Americans through.
          
Last but not least, the USA saw the back-door closed when Holland was awarded a penalty against Japan, which the Dutch converted, to win that game.
         
Once more, the Americans go home, and the rest of the world cheers. For a country so good at sports, the USA just cannot seem to grasp this simple game. And it hurts.

          
It is true that the USA team is better. But "better" isn't good enough.
          
To succeed the Americans are going to have to take the next, painful step and go outside the country for help with coaching and teaching and especially for the new ideas a fresh look would bring. Americans have been trying to tell themselves for years that we are producing coaches and administrators of quality, but it's not true. Were it, many Americans would be coaching top clubs overseas, and more teams would be looking to our nation for help improving the game.
          
At one point, "Americanization" was a useful fiction, but no more. U.S. Soccer is going to have to clean house from top to bottom and realize that producing raw talent isn't enough. It wasn't tonight in Beijing, and it won't be in Johannesburg.  

One last. late point: Nowak was quoted after the game as saying: "For me, they won a gold medal in this game tonight." A coach has to protect his players, but I hope he doesn't believe that.

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How did the American players end up faring?

Before the games, we told you what each player needed to show in China: Here's our winners and losers.
 
THE OVERAGE PLAYERS: All-in-all, a failure. Michael Parkhust was not effective enough on defense to justify his inclusion, and Brian McBride only had one really influential game. Guzan's role was iffy: He made some solid saves, but was he that much better a keeper that he justified keeping a midfielder off the roster? In the end, it's a toss-up — the USA surely could have used an Ante Razov or a Taylor Twellman in this tournament.

DEFENDERS: Orozco was the poorest defender on the team, and his foolish ejection cost the USA dearly. His international career may have taken a fatal hit in China. Marvell Wynne was in-and-out; his speed and passing remain good, but he gets beat too often on the flanks — a weakness Chinedu Obasi ably exploited today for the Nigerians — that he has to be a big question mark as well. Maurice Edu, playing out of position, was serviceable, but not great. Patrick Ianni, for obvious reasons, gets no rating, same for keeper Chris Seitz.

MIDFIELDERS: Let's start with the good: Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden showed they are gamers. Kljestan was probably the best overall player the USA had during this three-game span and deserves the MVP honors. Holden had a solid, workmanlike tournament that wasn't flashy, but proved vital. The obvious black mark on him was the foul on Gerald Sibon that set up the tying goal for Holland.

Freddy Adu looked, once more, like the best player on the team… but when the so-called "big-time" player isn't in your biggest game, it's hard to give him the highest honors. Still, he's clearly the class of the squad. Michael Bradley's performance continues to tail off. Bradley faded in and out and never really seemed able to impose himself. Is he played out? Or, is he going through what so many Americans have before: One good season followed by mediocrity? Too early to tell, but there's no doubt about is his lack of maturity: taking a stupid caution for time-wasting in the dying seconds of the Holland game hurt his team badly.

Danny Szetela really didn't get much of a chance to shine, but looked promising in what flashes he had. Ditto for Dax McCarty. Benny Feilhaber still looks very out of sorts — he could well be another guy who had one good tournament only to be derailed by injury and club struggles. Last, Robbie Rogers was asked to play all over the field, and he did it. Give him marks for effort and versatility if nothing else.

FORWARDS: We've already mentioned McBride. How about Jozy Altidore? Well, again, in the biggest game, he failed to show. How much of that is due to the fact that he hasn't played very much because of his transfer to Villarreal, we'll never know. But, again, a "big-game" guy couldn't make it happen this time around. Charlie Davies didn't get much of a look, but what we saw of him was blistering.

THE COACH: Peter Nowak made some very questionable decisions. Pulling Adu in the Holland match was a fatal error that took away the Americans' ability to hold the ball and move forward in the decisive final 10 minutes. His over-age player choices are very debatable. The defense looked shaky all tournament long. And, most damningly, the team did not display the kind of tactical acumen the USA needs to succeed at the top level of play.

But every coach is defined by one thing: Wins. The USA went 1-1-1, and crashed out. We said that the minimum Nowak needed to keep his job was four points, and he got them. But we hope that the Federation realizes that this tournament was another lost opportunity, and that the team badly needs fresh ideas and fresh blood. U.S. Soccer should thank Nowak and move on.

RELATED: Former Olympian Kasey Keller will be announced as the newest member of the Seattle Sounders according to published reports today.

Heather O’Reilly scored the fastest goal in women’s Olympic soccer history today to lead the Americans to an easy 4-0 victory over New Zealand. With this convincing win, the USA locked up its berth in the quarterfinal round.

Because Norway lost 5-1 today to Japan, the USA took the top slot in the group and avoided playing Brazil in a quarterfinal game. The USA’s opponent will be Canada, a team the USA has beaten four times in this year alone and holds a lifetime edge of 37-3-3 against. (The USA drew 1-1 in Olympic qualifying on April 12th with Canada, but won 6-5 on kicks.)

That game will be played at Qinhuangdao at 6 am (EDT) Friday morning. Norway gets the misfortune of facing the Brazilians.

O’Reilly’s winner was scored from 35 yards out on a chip that caught keeper Jenny Bindon off her line and mysteriously unable to jump for the ball as it dipped under her bar. Coming just 41 seconds into the match, the goal set the tone for the game while also setting the record.

Said O'Reilly after the game, "In soccer, you say you want to score early and often and that’s what we did today, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

It was an assured performance from the USA, who played as expected against the weakest team in the group. Today, the things that were absent from their opener — the assured passing, the close control and the ability to impose their style on the game — were out in force against the Kiwis.

This was the American team that had been expected to show up in China, and while the level of their opponent was poor, the Americans took no chances and did what a good team is supposed to do. They buried the game from the opening kickoff and gave New Zealand no hope of mounting a comeback. New Zealand was never capable of sustained pressure, and the American midfielders quickly cut off any errant pass while also winning virtually every ball in the air.

“I think it’s fantastic that fact that we bounced back from the first 15 minutes against Norway," said coach Pia Sundhage. "You look at the first 15 minutes of that game to the last 15 minutes of this game and many things have happened. The whole team, and myself, has gained confidence every minute we’ve been together. The good part of this road is that we have experience both sides. Losing and winning, and that’s good going into the quarterfinals where it’s now or never.”

Amy Rodriguez got the insurance goal in the 43rd minute, latching on to a hopeful ball passed upfield by Rachel Buehler and blasting a low, left-footed shot into the net.

The match became a rout within three critical minutes in the second half:  Lindsay Tarpley got one in the 56th when Bindon was dragged out of position by Rodriguez and failed to get back to cover her net. O’Reilly had her initial shot blocked, but Tarpley latched onto it to bloop it into the unguarded net. Then, Lori Chalupny bounced one off the crossbar two minutes later, with Angela Hucles available to put it off Bindon’s despairing leap and into the net.

For coach Sundhage’s team this was the first indication that they have come to grips up front without injured Abby Wambach. While the attack looked static and somewhat confused in the first two games, there was a different pace and approach Tuesday and it paid dividends.

Sundhage was careful not to show too much gratitude at what now becomes a fairly routine path onwards for the Americans. "I wouldn’t put it as easier or harder (to face Canada instead of Brazil). It is different. I respect every team in this tournament. It would be arrogant for me to say one team is harder than another. The Canada match will be very hard, but still it is a challenging and a fun game.”

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Dovetailing somewhat with today’s game, WUSAII sent out a curious press release yesterday, announcing its “expansion” to Atlanta. (Let’s overlook the fact that it’s tough to expand something that doesn’t exist yet.) The team’s investor will be T. Fitz Johnson, the former CEO of Eagle International LLC, a consulting firm for hospitals and the military that was purchased by Lockheed in late April. Johnson will become one of the rare minority owners in American soccer.

In a statement, Johnson said: “WPS has proven itself to be a smart business venture, with a conservative business plan built on realistic numbers and executive leaders that not only know soccer as a sport, but as a business,” said Johnson.

But surely a man of Johnson’s acumen knows that his statement is wishful thinking at best. The new league is unproven, because it hasn’t started.  And, a look at WPS’ roll call shows a distinct lack of soccer business people. Only Peter Wilt, who is heading up the league’s marketing, has the combination of soccer experience and soccer business experience.

I have to wonder if these same “soccer business people” realize that announcements like these lessen the league’s credibility.

The USA threw away a win today in a critical group stage match against Holland, allowing a stoppage-time goal by Gerald Sibon to settle for a 2-2 draw. A bad foul by Stuart Holden on Sibon set up a free-kick 22 yards out that the forward kept on the floor as the wall jumped. The ball slipped past a rooted Brad Guzan.
     
The result tossed away best game the Americans had played in years, and it gets worse: both Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu picked up their second cautions of the tournament meaning that the USA will go into their final game against Nigeria without their key midfielders.

Nigeria won today's earlier match against Japan, eliminating the Asians and setting up the possibility that three teams in the group could finish on five points. But, as the USA remains atop the group on goals scored, a draw against Nigeria should be enough to take the Americans into the quarterfinals.
    
"It's tough," said coach Peter Nowak in the post-game poress conference. "As I told the guys in the locker room, that's the way the game goes sometimes. Not too many people gave us a chance tonight against the European champions, but we were very close to beating them."

It was a bitter coda to a game that the Americans had well in hand from the 15-minute mark on. Superb play from Adu, target man Brian McBride and midfielder Sacha Kljestan had helped lead the USA to a well-deserved 2-1 lead with 17 minutes left, but Holden's foolish challenge left the door wide open for the Dutch to come back.

"The one thing we’ve been doing is improving as we go along,"said McBride, "Tonight was a good game for us. We’re of course disappointed that they scored the equalizer, but we just need to make sure we get this out of our head and concentrate on the positives. When we’re together, we’re a good team.”
     
On a sloppy field soaked by a day of rain, the Dutch jumped out to an early lead against the run of play when Ryan Babel tucked in his own rebound after Johnathan De Guzman's cross found the Liverpool striker with space in the box. Looping the ball in over Maurice Edu, De Guzman's cross was parried into Brad Guzan, who made the first save, but Babel followed it with a short range blast that beat a helpless Michael Parkhurst on the line.
     
Early on, the Dutch were far more potent on the flanks, getting nice service from Roy Drenthe and forcing the U.S. midfield back to cover their wingbacks, Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne. In fact, Orozco showed many of the same nerves that bedeviled him against Japan in the opener, but unlike then, he settled down and began both getting forward and making the key stops. Wynne was beaten repeatedly in what was an overall weak performance from the Toronto FC man.
     
But, after a fine individual run by Freddy Adu in the 17th minute that saw the petite playmaker round four Dutchmen, the Americans began to sense the truth: their opponents were not the Holland of legend, but rather an U-23 team wearing the Netherland's colors.

A flurry of chances ensued as the Americans began to press, with Holden taking a great chance on the volley in the 40th minute set up by McBride's touch. Dutch keeper Kenneth Vermeer made the first of a series of spectacular saves. Wynne would get a chance two minutes later but his cross, beating Vermeer, found no support.
     
The Americans emerged far sharper in the second half, with McBride putting a header on goal in the 50rth that Vermeer again had to parry over the bar. It was another fabulous effort by the Fire striker who saw little of the ball on the night overall, but made every single touch count.
     
Adu began to impress himself on the game and his effort led to the tying goal. Adu beat Kew Jaliens and left a ball for Klejstan in the 65th minute that the Chivas man calmly slotted right down the gut after eluding defenders with a neat left-to-right run.
     
Seven minutes later, sub Jozy Altidore put the Americans on top. Coming in for Robby Rogers, Altidore's size and speed made an immediate impact. Off a throw-in by Wynne, Orozco raced to the far post and cut the ball past Vermeer. Taking a deflection off Calvin Jong-a-Pin, the ball caromed off Altidore's knee and into the back of the net.
    
The Americans did not sit back, with Adu continuing to run down balls and playing into space. He received his critical booking in the 78th when he was over-enthusiastic one-on-one with Vermeer and left his studs up, felling the keeper.
    
That resulted in what may go down as a critical mistake made by coach Peter Nowak. Possibly worried about Adu getting another card, Nowak subbed the best player of the day for the still gimpy Benny Feilhaber. Adu was visibly perturbed by the move as he came off the field.
     
Without Adu pulling the strings, the Dutch suddenly found far more space in which to work, and began throwing bodies forward in an attempt to tie the game. Bradley took his card in the first minute of stoppage time for time-wasting, and the USA seemed rudderless and exhausted on the heavy pitch.
     
Holden's awful challenge gave the Dutch the opening they needed, and when McBride jumped in the wall, Sibon slipped the ball underneath him and into the net.

"Going into that situation, knowing it’s basically going to be the last chance of the game, as a goalkeeper you’ve got to trust the wall and unfortunately tonight the wall decided they were going to go up and over and they went under," sadi Guzan. "We jumped and he hit a screamer low and hard, and when that happens there’s not much chance as my main focus is the other side of the goal. Unfortunately, we just picked the wrong option tonight.”

The result leaves Nowak with some tough decisions: how does he line up the midfield without Adu and Bradley? Does he stick with his 4-4-2 formation or go for a more defensive look against Nigeria knowing a draw should mean a quarterfinal berth?

And the Americans, too, will face a character test. Having worked so hard on a heavy field only to see a quarterfinal spot disappear, how will they manage the needed recovery, both physically and mentally?

The USA resuscitated their Olympic hopes today with a 1-0 win over Japan, thanks to a first-half goal by Carli Lloyd. The result moved the Americans into second place in Group G, behind Norway, who later in the evening would beat New Zealand 1-0. Group play will conclude Tuesday with the USA facing New Zealand.

The Americans looked more determined than they had in their opener, but no more assured. The defense is still scattershot, and while Hope Solo turned in a far more solid performance today, Japan was able to get to the byeline and spray the net far too often.

Fortunately for Solo and her backs, the Japanese failed to capitalize on their strengths, which are passing and movement. As usual, the USA played Route 1 soccer, and it did pay off. Lloyd's goal was well-taken, but it's notable that the cross from Stephanie Cox eluded four players before landing at Lloyd's feet. So often, that shot would have sailed over the bar. Today, unlike the 17 other shots that didn't, this one flashed in as if laser-guided.

That ratio is worrying, and coach Pia Sundhage admitted as much in her post-game remarks. "We are aware that we don't have the goal scorer." Amy Rodriguez, who is supposed to be that player, called her three howling misses "unfortunate."

Japan has never won against the USA, so it's no shock that the Americans were far less tense today. Solo had pointedly noted how nervous the team was before the opener, but today she allowed that things were much looser after a loss that she said made her "sick to her stomach."

Ironically, today's match showed that both the American women and their Japanese counterparts are approaching parity with their nations' men's teams. The Japanese women may not be wholly equal in their society, but they are just as adept as their male counterparts at finding new ways of failing to score. Likewise, the U.S. women are showing the same signs of wear and tear in the back that will be familiar to a generation grown used to defensive collapses by their men's national team.

This certainly isn't the equality Title IX was intended to produce. But it is revealing: American coaches have been so fixated for so long on athleticism at the expense of finesse that we now find ourselves with a surfeit of burly, knock and run players and a dearth of creative soccer talent. Neither the men nor the women have a player of vision or even the grasp of elemental tactics that would allow them to shift gears within a game.

With the men, that weakness is frequently exploited. With the women, it's oft camouflaged. One of the reasons the USWNT's record is so good is down to the fact that since so few teams are of any quality, it often does come down to the fact that a bigger, stronger team can outrun and out-muscle the other.

 But, for the women's game as a whole, it is ultimately a losing equation: Despite the fact that Norway showed very little in that opening win, they were able to seize opportunities when given them. That trait remains elusive for the USA and the women's game at large.

 Tuesday, the Americans are likely to punch their ticket against a poor New Zealand side that allowed Japan to crawl back to draw with a late collapse. Norway is already through and can rest players.

The USA got off to a perfect start today in the Olympic Games despite a mixed performance, beating Japan 1-0 while group rivals Holland and Nigeria played to a 0-0 draw. The result saw the Americans go to the top of their group on a day filled with draws and sets up the USA for a run at the quarterfinals.

Stuart Holden was the unlikely goal-scorer, knocking in the winner in the 47th from a cross by Marvell Wynne that Hiroki Mizumoto deflected right to the Houston Dynamo midfielder. Keeper Shusaku Nishikawa got down but was screened on the shot by Takuya Honda and failed to hold it.

The result was both fortunate and instructive, for it showed that the Americans still have a long way to go to catch up with their rivals on the world stage. The USA got away with an average game thanks to the always-profligate Japan, who squandered a good hal####ozen chances in front of the American net and failed to capitalize on repeated defensive breakdowns.

Coach Peter Nowak admitted as much in the post-game press conference, saying "We still have a lot of improving to do, but we did some things very well tonight. This will be good for the players' confidence. We had a few lapses, and we need to learn from that in the next games."

Many of those lapses came in the back, which saw Maurice Edu sliding next to Michael Parkhurst in a somewhat unusual central defensive partnership. While this allowed Wynne to range forward, the back line never looked settled, and Japan was repeatedly able to pull Parkhurst forward out of position and pop the ball either past Edu or wingback Michael Orozco.

Atsuto Uchida exploited the space left between Orozco and midfielder Robbie Rogers early and often, setting up two gilt-edged chances for Japan in the 40th minute with Hiroyuki Taniguchi twice seeing an open net to shoot at, yet twice muffing the shot. Edu almost cost the Americans dearly when he got away with hauling down Taniguchi late in the game inside the box.

To be sure, it took both teams a good twenty minutes to settle, with opening day nerves and the world stage taking their toll. But Japan signaled their intention early with set play off a short corner kick in the 21st minute that caught the Americans napping. Masato Morishige, however, pushed the ball wide of Brad Guzan.

Freddy Adu, who is expected to be the playmaker for the American team, had a slow start as he struggled to extricate himself from three-man marking that often took his close-control skills out of the game. His frustration resulted in a needless caution — one of three cards the Americans collected on the evening — but as the game wore on, some flashes began to show. Part of that was due to the introduction of Jozy Altidore, coming on for Brian McBride. With the teen forward, Americans looked far more composed on offense, with Adu finally getting some support up top.

McBride, the 36-year-old target man who has not played a top level game since May and is making a return from international retirement to the Olympic team, had a very quiet night. He did not look sharp and frequently was pushed too far back to effectively run at Japan's net. And Michael Bradley, who still seems uncomfortable as a midfielder expected to dominate, had another in and out game, partnering well with Rogers and Sacha Kljestan but failing to relieve pressure on what became an overstretched defense.

The USA now must go into their next game against Holland with an eye on shoring up that defense. Parkhurst, who otherwise had an outstanding game, is being asked to cover too much ground, causing both Edu and Orozco to try to compensate too often. And, the communication between Orozco and Rogers — which left huge gaps that the Dutch wingmen can exploit — has to be improved.

The Olympics don't officially start until tomorrow, but there's already been plenty of action in the soccer world.

This morning, in a decision that may have far-reaching implications for the international sport, the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) handed down a surprise victory for three clubs that had challenged the release of their players to the Olympic tournament.

Barcelona, Schalke and Werder Bremen had all held players back from participating in the Olympic Games, arguing that the Olympic Games were not part of the international calendar. Last week, a FIFA-appointed judge dismissed that notion, setting up the appeal to the CAS. And today, the CAS agreed, saying that FIFA's postion was untenable.

In an official statement released on the CAS' website, the CAS wrote, "there is no specific decision of the Fifa executive committee establishing the obligation for the clubs to release players under 23 for this tournament".

The decision effectively overturned what the CAS itself termed as "a long lasting and undisputed practice which had become a customary law for the clubs."

The decision means that all three clubs do not have to allow their players to participate in the Olympic Games.

Moreover, clubs may now choose to recall some of their players currently in Beijing and if the players fail to report, they would be in violation of their contract.

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona star at the center of much of the controversy, is currently in China with Argentina and wass expected to start the opener against Ivory Coast. His status is now uncertain.


On the home front, the U.S. Women's national team got off to a rocky start, giving away two goals in the first five minutes of play in dropping their opener to Norway 2-0 at Qinhuangdao.

Leni Kaurin scored the opener after just a minute when Hope Solo came out and failed to collect a cross, colliding with defender Lori Chalupny in the process. It was a howler by Solo, who is under intense scrutiny at the Games because of her comments following the USA's elimination in the 2007 WWC at the hands of Brazil.

Three minutes later, Kate Markgraf gifted Norway its second, with a perfect back pass to opponent Melissa Wiik that beat her own back line and left Solo stranded.

The Americans never recovered, and played out a stuttering, listless game devoid of any composure.

The U.S. defense essentially sunk its own team today, and this is troubling because the back line is arguably the most experienced segment of the American team. Despite that, there was no push at all during the game by the American women to reclaim that lost ground: Players looked tired and adrift, and more often than not afraid to take the matters into their own hands.

Abby Wambach's pre-tournament loss (broken leg) is surely a handicap, but as these women are essentially full-time professionals. This team has to come up with some explanation as to why the ten other play makers and scorers on the team did next to nothing to recover from the dreadful start.

Because of the weakness of women's Olympic soccer, despite the loss the Americans are still expected to advance: They face Japan next, who rallied early in the day to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.

ALSO: Our buddies at the SBJ have sent a reporter to cover the USA women. The verdict? Where's the press? Good stuff after the jump.

AND: In an article that is more notable for what it doesn't say than what it does, the Sacramento Bee writes about the WPL. Take a close read: You'll see despite some grand claims, no details are offered in this unintentionally illuminating piece.

Best comment: The claim that "[WUSA] failed because it had too much money.” (That gem from Jerry Zanelli, WPSL commissioner.)

Superliga will have its first All-MLS final Tuesday night as the New England Revolution take on reigning MLS champs the Houston Dynamo in Foxborough's Gillete Stadium. At stake, a million dollar prize and a major regional title. Perhaps more important, this final represents another milestone in MLS' growth as a major regional power.

Superliga, the eight-team tournament that pits four MLS teams against four FMF (Mexican first division) sides, has been a hit almost everywhere at the gate as well as on television for the league.

Unfortunately, the one place where Superliga has failed to draw crowds is Gillette, which has witnessed a steady decline as the tournament has moved on.

The key to the MLS sides' success? Houston coach Dominic Kinnear joked today in a pre-game press conference that is was because both coaches are Scottish.

"Does that matter?" said Kinnear, before noting that both teams in the final use the same type of approach, which is to place good players within a team system. For Kinnear, that's helped MLS teams close the gap with their Mexican rivals who were shut out of the Superliga finals after a pair of semifinal defeats.
           
"I would say people have seen that the level between the Mexican clubs and MLS teams is similar," said Kinnear "The depth in FMF is greater, but you see now with the teams playing in competitions that the gap is closing.
           
"I think you saw that post-game in the semifinals," said Kinnear, referring to the ugly scenes that accompanied both of last week's games. "They see the gap closing and they don't like that."
          
Because of those post-game scuffles, the Revolution will be without Jay Heaps, who was ejected after the end of their 1-0 win last week against Atlante. The Revs are already short in the back as Michael Parkhurst is with the Olympic team. Houston are missing Stuart Holden and Patrick Ianni to Beijing, neither of whom featured in the Dynamo's 2-0 semifinal win over Pachuca.
          
New England comes into the game on a roll: Their last loss was in late June, a fluke 2-1 decision on the turf at Rice-Eccles against Real Salt Lake. The Revs have only lost four games this season and since June have gone 8-1-3.
         
And, the Revs have beaten Houston twice already this season and are understandably eager to spoil 'em again while adding a second prestige title to their larder. The Dynamo have edged the Revs two years straight in the MLS Cup finals and until the Revs hoisted the Open Cup trophy last season, despite being one of the league's best teams over the past four seasons, they had failed to win anything.
         
"We always think what's happened in the past doesn't count," said Revs coach Steve Nicol today in a pre-game press conference. "We've beaten [Houston] already, but that means nothing. It's who gets the job done on the night.  The past is exactly that, the past."

The Dynamo endured a shaky start to the season but have run up four straight wins coming into Tuesday night's final, with their lone blemish in the last two months being a 1-0 loss to Chivas Guadalajara in the group stages of the Superliga. They convincingly beat the Crew Saturday, and are currently one of the league's hottest teams.

"Both [MLS Cup finals] could have gone either way," said Brian Ching. "And we feel a little fortunate some times. We know they are a good team, and we respect them as much as they respect us. Over the past four or five years, these have been the two best franchises in the league, so to meet again in a final is pretty special. We'd still like to hold the edge on those finals, but they're a good team."
         
It is worth noting that the game is being played in the shadow of labor unrest: The MLS Player's Union has strongly criticized the league for what it terms as violations of the CBA with respect to tournament bonuses. Prior to the game, both teams decided to split the bonus money from the game equally between the teams: just $50,000, not the "$1 million" that MLS has been touting as the prize for taking the Superliga crown.
          
After the debacle against Atlante, Revs defender Chris Albright was quoted as saying, "This whole tournament has not been handled properly.

"The reality is that we're not being compensated to be dealing with this, To have last night go like it did, it's just a microcosm of the whole situation."

But Nicol said that bonuses or not, both teams would play the way they always do.

"Just look at the characters of the team and the way they go about business. If there's was nothing on the line, they'd still go out and give 100%. It's nice to get a bonus, but the teams are both pros and at the end of the day it's the joy of winning."
 

Despite being included on the roster, Argentine Lionel Messi will not be appearing with Barcelona on their Stateside tour. Yesterday, a judge ordered all clubs to release players for Olympic duty, meaning Messi will report to Beijing as part of Argentina's squad. Messi had been at the centre of a tug-of-war between FIFA and his club. Barcelona is set to file an appeal on the ruling to the CAS as early as today.

While the state of American soccer is far from perfect, the USA head into World Cup qualifying with optimism, and a plan of action that would have been inconceivable 20 years ago. Yep, fans can and will moan about the team selection, and many of us are wondering if we've got the best man in the coaching job. But, after spending last week in Canada, I came away with a renewed appreciation for how much U.S. Soccer has gotten right.

The United States is an enviable position compared to our northern pals. We are a shoo-in. Canada's team is a serious contender for the first time in a decade… and yet, because of a toxic combination of politics and shortsightedness, this team could really struggle.

Canada face Mexico, Jamaica and Honduras on the field, and deep internal divisions (and questions about the future of Canadian soccer) off it. The frustration is palpable, and many observers wonder if this team is throwing away a chance to get their association back on track.

I spent a lot of time chatting with former Canadian internationals as well as my colleagues in the Canadian media during the All-Star festivities, and their frustrations were obvious.

Proud Canadians, like CBS television analyst Jason DeVos (late of Ipswich Town,) claim that this is the best Canadian midfield ever, and while the team's defense and goalkeeping are shaky, many think they can make a run at South Africa.

But, those same people feel hamstrung by how the CSA is running the show.

The total budget for Canada's national team is said to be $1 million, a paltry amount for a national team, on this continent, in this day and age. (The men have it better than the women, by the way —Vancouver Whitecaps' owner Greg Kerfoot is apparently floating their Olympic team as a public service.)

More than one source told us that the Canadian players, to man, wanted all of their CONCACAF semifinal games to be played at Saputo Stadium, home of the Montreal Impact. They loved the intimacy of the facility as well as the grass surface. Instead, Canada's decision-makers opted for Toronto's BMO Field for the August 20 opener against Jamaica, gave Saputo the match against Honduras and are taking the game against Mexico to Edmonton.

"Half of the crowd at BMO will be Jamaican," said one veteran observer of the national team. "It won't even feel like a home game."'

That complaint should sound familiar to American fans, but when you add in the fact that BMO's turf surface is poor, the decision to play what could be their most significant game in the quadrangular in Toronto seems foolish. Instead of giving themselves the best for opening night, Soccer Canada has chosen a venue that may prove just as advantageous for their opponents.

The Edmonton site for the final game can be explained by the much larger capacity and the desire to give Western Canada a match. You could also argue an October game in northern Alberta will give the Mexicans a bit of a weather challenge. Unfortunately, that grass field will also have seen a complete Canadian Football League season by that point. Does that help Canada's smooth passers?

So, why did the CSA make these choices? According to multiple sources, they pleaded poverty to the players, saying they desperately needed the gate revenue. That's probably true. It's also foolish.

The CSA simply cannot afford to miss the World Cup, which would reap far more money. In 2006, the USA got $5.6m for tanking in the first round plus a bonus for reaching the finals, giving USSF some $10m to play with. Canada needs that money badly.

Moreover, if this team misses the Cup, Canada will be deprived of a major engine for growth in the sport. Canada has not been to a World Cup since 1986, which has had huge repercussions for the game. Last year's absolutely dismal showing as host of the FIFA Youth World Cup -- three games, three losses, no goals – suggests that there isn't much coming up behind this current group of players. So, the grim truth is it may be now or never for Canada.

Here in the USA, we've been treated to decades of penny wise, pound foolish behavior on the part of our Fed and our leagues. I'd hope our neighbors to the North could learn from our mistakes.