3. How about that Kyle Beckerman blast to tie things up yesterday night in Philadelphia? The crowd was 31,000 strong and it felt bigger than that - there was a lot of noise coming from each part of the stadium. The Beckerman equalizer helped wake up an offense that was rather stagnant before then. I'm not sure if Davy Arnaud knew to play it back to Beckerman and it looked, regardless, like a sure block but the RSL mid got the shot off and there was no stopping it.


3. I'm fairly positive it had nothing to do with Charlie Davies transfer from Hammarby to Sochaux finally going through but Davies' Hammarby looked rather ugly in a 2-0 loss to mid-table Hacken. The loss, thanks to two injury time goals from Erik Friberg and Paulinho, pushes the Bajen even closer to the relegation zone.


2. Seattle's play vs. Chelsea didn't yield a goal but it kept me watching and reined in all match. Ljungberg proved that if he had wanted to sign once again in Europe he could have. The passing from the Sounders was crisp and somewhat effortless looking. The only thing they were missing was the finishing touch. Montero did not put on a show worthy of a high-profile move abroad. Even more impressive was the 65,000+ that showed to support the Sounders. Barely saw a Chelsea shirt in that whole place...


2. Canada's heartbreak was tough to take yesterday as they lost out 1-0 to Honduras on a 36th-minute PK that was questionable to say the least. I can care this time around because the "questionable call" had nothing to do with our Yanks (if you remember back to the goal that was called back in 2007). Cue the conspiracy theories about teams not being allowed to advance or given proper officiating so as to get the teams with the biggest followings in the semis and finals. Regardless, the Canadians had a good showing but you have to score to have a chance to win and it wasn't until late in the second half that even showed something of a potent offense. Either way, however, they'll leave with a bad taste in their mouths having been dispatched once again by the ref.


1. I don't normally praise Blanco for anything but his super sub performance vs. San Jose last night was downright ridiculous. Every time he touched the ball it was golden. The little overhead pass to Nyarko for the first goal was brilliant and something that very few MLS midfielders would have picked up on. To cap it off and seal the win, Blanco's cheeky chip over Joe Cannon was impressive. You could tell he was impressed with himself as he jumped in the stands, hugging some guy as awkwardly as possible. Regardless, awesome stuff from Mr. White and because of him, the Fire got a win after the injury to Brian McBride news ruined a good week. Oh yeah...and let's not forget it was Blanco's 61st minute goal that led to Chicago's Superliga semifinal win over New England.

1. Panama's conduct post-match last night was just plain pitiful. Right after the final whistle was blown, there was a flood of Panamanians - led by Felipe Baloy - that surrounded the ref. One picked up the ball and while his teammates were closing in on the refs, he threw the ball at him, hitting him square in the head. This was all in protest to the 103rd minute penalty kick which allowed Kenny Cooper to give USA the win. As the Mexican ref - Armando Archundia - hurried off the pitch, to make things worse, Panamanian fans (not more than 2 sections over from us) hurled beer and soda cups at the refs showering those fans in front of them. All in all, pretty classless. For pictures of it, check out Bill Archer's post.