United States national team and Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan will miss some time after suffering a sprained ankle.

According to Scott French of MLSSoccer.com, the midfielder has been ruled out of his club's upcoming CONCACAF Champions League match against Isidro Metapan.

Donovan injured his ankle in Saturday's match against D.C. United and was removed at halftime. He had this to say about the incident:

It was my fault. I gave away a bad ball in midfield and then won it back, but Silva and I got tangled up, he fell on my ankle and it rolled. I couldn't run anymore. I was trying to run and I couldn't run. At that point, you're doing yourself more damage and the team damage.

The veteran has only made 17 starts for the Galaxy this season out of a possible 28, but he is second on the team with eight goals and six assists. He trails only Robbie Keane in each category.

Still, the club has certainly suffered without him. They stand in fourth place in the Western Conference with only six matches remaining in the regular season. Clint Dempsey's Seattle Sounders currently stand in first place.

It will take a strong finishing effort in order to win a third MLS Cup in a row. 

Additionally, the club hopes to contend for a CONCACAF Champions League title, something that will also be difficult without its star player. 

As far as the United States national team goes, they can afford to rest their star player after clinching a bid to the 2014 World Cup with a win over Mexico.

Still, the squad cannot afford many more injuries after losing Michael Bradley to an ankle injury earlier in the month. 

Both teams certainly hope that Donovan's injury is not serious and he can return to the pitch as soon as possible. 

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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This weekend in Major League Soccer, the balance of power shifted on to the shoulders of the Seattle Sounders. 

After the Sounders defeated Real Salt Lake at home on Friday, they moved to the top of the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings. 

Was that win enough to put them at No. 1 in the B/R MLS Power Rankings for the first time this season? 

Read on to find out where the Sounders and the other 18 clubs in the league landed in this week's rankings.

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The best action in MLS Week 29 was highlighted by the Seattle Sounders, Chicago Fire and Jay DeMerit, but what about the worst?

The Portland Timbers and Chivas USA failed to meet the criteria after a 1-1 draw at the StubHub Center. The Los Angeles Galaxy and DC United followed suit with a 2-2 draw of their own. They won't be featured, either.

Some tough competition also kept the Colorado Rapids from making the list of best and worst from MLS Week 29.

Read on to find out why.

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The Major League Soccer season is entering the home stretch with only six weeks left of regular-season play before the playoffs and the hunt for the MLS Cup begin.

With most of the season already done and dusted, here's a look at some of the most selfish people in the league, whether that's due to their play on the field, their greed for money or pure stupidity.

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The return of Nathan Sturgis is the story to watch in MLS Week 29, but an additional four storylines will complete your weekend preview.

Only five of the nine matches scheduled for the coming days will be covered in great detail. Each of the five selected will be dissected from a unique angle to intensify your viewing pleasure.

So, what exactly warrants your attention in Week 29?

Read on to find out.

Note: Unless otherwise mentioned, credit all statistics to the official MLS Press Box Stats and Standings.

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The American Home Guard, Major League Soccer players on the U.S. Men's National Team, stepped up big time in Tuesday night's Mexican cage match. The dos a cero score line would not have been possible without the Home Guard doing some very heavy lifting.

With the Americans missing Serie A midfielder Michael Bradley to a freak ankle sprain, and English Premier League players Jozy Altidore and Geoff Cameron plus 2012 MLS Defender of the Year Matt Besler to yellow cards, the depth of the American team pool was tested with a fathom-long measuring stick.

Six of head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's starting XI were members of the Home Guard and the measuring stick never hit bottom as they stood tall in the deep end of international soccer.

European-based players Alejandro Bedoya and Mix Diskerud also stepped in and made significant contributions to the final result. They too are evidence of the quality choices at Klinsmann's disposal.

In this edition of the Home Guard we'll look at the contributions made by MLS players in taking down El Tri.

All metrics courtesy of MLS soccer.

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With the international break out in full force, Major League Soccer did not halt its league play because of the matches all across the globe. 

The one club affected the most by international absences was the Los Angeles Galaxy, who lost at home to Colorado.

How did that loss affect the Galaxy in this week's B/R MLS Power Rankings?

Read on to see where they and the other 18 clubs in the league landed this week. 

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The best action in MLS Week 28 was highlighted by the Portland Timbers, Edson Buddle and Jair Benitez, but what about the worst?

D.C. United is a contender after suffering another road loss on Sunday. But there's nothing new nor noteworthy there. The club is 0-10-3 on the road this season. The Philadelphia Union followed suit with a 1-0 loss of their own.

They won't be featured, either.

Some tough competition also kept Sporting Kansas City from making the list of best and worst from MLS Week 28.

Read on to find out why.

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The beginning of the Brian Bliss era is the story to watch in MLS Week 28, but an additional four storylines will complete your weekend preview.

Only five of the nine matches scheduled for this weekend will be covered in great detail. Each of the five selected will be dissected from a unique angle to intensify your viewing pleasure.

So, what exactly warrants your attention in Week 28?

Read on to find out.

Note: Unless otherwise mentioned, credit all statistics to the official MLS Press Box Stats and Standings.

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Nine Major League Soccer players were called to play for the USMNT in the upcoming qualifiers. That number fell to eight after Brad Evans injured his calf over the weekend.

Jurgen Klinsmann's roster reflects his team's yellow card problem. With Costa Rica looking for revenge at home on Friday and the cage match against Mexico on Tuesday, Klinsmann had to make sure he had backup players to cover for his starters should they pick up a second yellow card against Costa Rica.  

As reported by USSoccer.com, between yellow cards and injuries Klinsmann has several of the home guard on speed dial:

We know that the problem is we’ll be having nine players going into that game with yellow cards, so anything can happen after that game. We put everybody on notice to be in touch with us, and if there are changes to be made after that game we’ll make those changes.

A Jozy Altidore injury scare over the weekend had a few tongues wagging about who would replace the star American target man, but Jozy reported to USMNT camp and was declared fit to play. 

Klinsmann chose FC Augsburg fullback Michael Parkhurst over less experienced MLS fullbacks to replace Brad Evans for the qualifiers. Parkhurst, who already knows the Nats' system, was a logical choice for these key qualifiers.

All of the MLS players on the roster will miss key league games because MLS does not suspend play during international dates. MLS teams will also miss players competing for other national teams and the league will need to reconsider it's scheduling going forward if they don't want key playoff races affected by the league's intransigence over the international schedule.

If the U.S. qualifies this week, expect the roster for the October qualifiers to look very different from this one. A few MLS players may get a last change to impress Klinsmann.

This week we're dropping several players from the Home Guard because they appear to no longer be on Klinsmann's radar.  Corey Ashe, Brad Davis, Sean Johnson and Alan Gordon could be called back but for the moment are not a part of Klinsmann's plans for Brazil.

All metrics courtesy of MLSsoccer.com.

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