Six months ago, the USA buckled when confronted with a position they probably never thought they would be in—two goals up at half-time against Brazil in the Confederations Cup final.

"Soccer" was given a rare piece of the limelight that day, but it has since returned to the back pages of the few newspapers and Internet blogs that bother covering it.

While the transfers and the start of domestic leagues dominated much of August in Europe, it was a less than enthralling month in US football.

Steven Cohen ended his involvement in the radio show World Soccer Daily due to protests and loss of advertisers over his Hillsborough comments. And David Beckham's two-footed lunge earned him a two-game rest, narrowing his games played to games watched ratio—still want to play in the MLS David?.

Then on the last weekend before the US Open Cup final—America’s oldest club competition—two games at Giants stadium illustrated the popularity divide between domestic and foreign sports in the USA.

On Saturday, the New York Jets and Giants battled it out for preseason bragging rights in front of a crowd nearing the 78,741 capacity. A classic, that went down to the final minutes.

Less than twenty four hours later, 10,323 fans trickled into the stadium to watch New York Red Bulls beat Columbus Crew 1-0 in Major League Soccer. The Red Bulls ensured they would not set a new record for fewest points in a season—currently at 14, set by Tampa Bay Mutiny in 2001, with the victory that took them to 16.

“Oh, it’s your first MLS game,” remarked a New York Post writer. “It’s going to be quite an experience,” he added with a slight chuckle. It wasn’t exactly a glamour tie—top against bottom—but an introduction to American "soccer" nonetheless.

Three Irish tourists and a Red Bulls "101" fan—the diehard NY fans situated in section 101—were lonely passengers on the first bus from a train station bound for Giants stadium two hours before kickoff.

NFL games and concerts are serviced by trains that go to Giants stadium while football begins to show its second class status in a sports crazed country.

A disheartening “which turn off do I take” from the bus driver didn’t exactly inspire confidence before dropping its cargo off at a ditch adjacent to the stadium car park.

The typical tailgating—where supporters drink beer and grill food around the "tailgate" or open boot of cars or trucks close to the stadium—associated with most American sports gives an insight into the strange world of football support in the US.

Young kids played football tennis, five-a-side games and skills competitions in mostly MLS jerseys, while adults sat in deck chairs, soaked up the sun, ate bbq food, and drank light beer.

When asked about their star player, Juan Pablo Angel, some of the supporters simply shrugged.

“I don’t pay much attention to the roster,” stated the 101 fan from the bus in an England shirt. “I only come to watch the games.”

A fellow 101 fan, Sergei from Russia, and a group sporting Metrostars' jerseys—New York’s original MLS team—restored some pride, indicating that some supporters at least are tuned into happenings on the pitch. Sergei mentions a high proportion of their songs are sung in Spanish representing the diverse support the Red Bulls enjoy.

The 101 fans aside supporters struggle to mention names of players at their own club. The names of Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, Clint Dempsey, and David Beckham are thrown around, none of whom play for New York and only two of whom still play in the MLS. Most have grown up playing the sport, have been exposed to it by ESPN, and just want to belong to a club.

When the game kicked off, whatever atmosphere in the ground seemed drowned out by the sheer size of the stadium, as supporters in section 101 stood, sang, and cheered from start to finish.

Not being the worst team in MLS history aside, there wasn’t much to cheer about amid the wayward finishing, poor control, and balls being lumped forward that would make Bolton look like Barcelona. At least there was a goal for those who paid the admission fee, which goes a small way towards renting the stadium.

The cost of having an extravagant stadium that is never sold out is roughly $200,000 a game for the Red Bulls. They have made a loss every year since their inception, and plan to move into the $200 million Red Bull Arena next year.

Last year, Forbes announced that three MLS clubs were profitable (LA Galaxy, Dallas, and Toronto) and that once teams moved to soccer-specific stadiums, they will become profitable because of sponsorship deals, non football events, and food and drink sales.

Although operating at a loss, the current MLS teams are not going to go the same way as the North American Soccer League teams. Erratic spending led to the collapse of the league in 1984. The New York Cosmos bought in Pelé, Johan Neeskens, and Franz Beckenbauer.

Then, when teams who couldn’t match the Cosmos' attendances or afford to buy power spent money on the likes of Johan Cruyff, Eusébio, Big Sam Allardyce, and Bruce Grobbelaar, the league collapsed.

On the pitch so far this year, New York Red Bulls' performances mirrored their finances off it. A run of 13 games without a win saw former Manchester City coach under Kevin Keegan, Juan Carlos Osorio, leave the club.

In came Richie Williams who, thanks to a scuffed Dane Richards goal, recorded his second win of his tenure, and in doing so, reached the all important 16-point mark.

At the postmatch press conference, Williams seemed slightly embarrassed when congratulated on not having the worst record in MLS history.

“Are we past that mark now? It's good, it's good, thank you. Of course, you don't want to be remembered as the worst team in MLS history,” said Williams.

The Cup final last week brought the prospect of a bigger spectacle. And with the buildup likened to that of an Arsenal vs. Manchester United game, maybe first impressions are misleading and maybe there is still hope for football in this country.

*article also appeared at www.Teamtalk.com

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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After a brief absence due to the start of the various European leagues, as well as college football, Total 90 is back with more news and commentary than you can stomach.

First, we travel to Washington, where the Seattle Sounders captured the US Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over DC United. Fredy Montero and Roger Levesque tallied goals for Seattle as the Sounders took home the first trophy in club history. The best fans in MLS have been rewarded for selling out Qwest Field all season with a big, shiny trophy and some medals.

Moving on, we've got to tackle the standard American transfer rumors. Pint-sized Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe looks to be on his way out of MLS in January. He'll be hanging out on the shores of the Limfjord, playing in Denmark's fourth-largest city for Aalborg BK.

Rolfe, who is just over 5'6", figures to resemble a hobbit in a land filled with tall Scandinavians.

Freddy Adu is on the move once again, this time to Portuguese club Belenenses on a season-long loan. A proposed move to Odense BK fell through earlier in the summer when the Danes were unwilling to pay Adu's salary, so now he'll have the chance to perform in Portugal and possibly exact a measure of revenge on Benfica for not being able to include him in their plans.

My money is on Benfica to unload Adu permanently sooner rather than later. He's only appeared in 11 games for the club since his original move in 2007 and the current coaching staff doesn't seem to be that interested in his services.

A pair of American teenagers are moving to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The Bundesliga club has secured the services of Joseph Gyau and Charles Renken. The pair of US U-17 standouts had offers from major European clubs, including Chelsea and Bayern Munich, but opted to move to Hoffenheim because the club offered an excellent plan for their development.

Gyau and Renken will begin their new careers first with a residency at the Vancouver Whitecaps academy, and then make the move to Germany starting in 2010. The teenagers are gifted attackers and could make a bigger impact abroad than any previous American.

American football fans may soon have a breakaway league to enjoy, a direct competitor to MLS. The United Soccer Leagues (USL), which were originally owned by Nike but sold to a new consortium last week, faces a dispute with some of their largest clubs. These clubs made a bid to purchase the league themselves but were turned down. The eight teams in this group released a statement that mentioned a "commitment to achieving a team-owner controlled league."

This is not necessarily a bad thing for the Beautiful Game in the U.S. If these breakaway clubs can mount a reasonable challenge to MLS, both leagues will be forced to step their game up and improve their product. In that situation, the fans will walk away as winners.

Be sure to tune into ESPN Classic this Wednesday night at 6 p.m. ET as the United States takes on Trinidad and Tobago in World Cup qualifying action.

Sources: Goal.com, ESPNSoccernet, Soccer365, Majorleaguesoccertalk.com.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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The MLS starters for the 2009 All-Star game have been announced, and the smart money is against Everton becoming the first foreign club to taste victory in the annual exhibition.

Chivas de Guadalajara, Fulham, Celtic, Chelsea, and West Ham have all fallen victim to the best MLS has to offer, and Everton should join that ever-growing list of scalps on July 29.

Don't despair, Everton fans. The match is set up to ensure success for MLS.

You see, the MLS squad is comprised of various full internationals in their prime, older stars who still have a good bit of life in their legs, and young players rising through the ranks, hungry to prove themselves.

That combination in itself isn't enough to take down a talented European squad, but when you consider that the MLS squad is in mid-season form and most players in Europe are just returning from summer vacation...well, the odds look a little daunting.

Everton has the indomitable Tim Howard between the sticks, and the Toffees can also throw Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta at their opponents. Indeed, any club that's qualified for Europe each of the last few seasons and has been hovering around the top four is going to have a good deal of talent on the books.

But David Moyes is a smart man, and he won't want to risk serious injury to any of his first-team players in a meaningless exhibition.

In the 2006 All-Star Game, Chelsea made six substitutions at halftime in an effort to protect their stars from injury. Unfortunately, Joe Cole, who was brought on at halftime, was taken off six minutes later thanks to a knee injury sustained during the match.

Moyes will be mortified at the thought of one of his players sustaining a similar injury, so you can expect him to handle his usual starters with kid gloves. Everton's strategy will likely resemble that of a preseason NFL game—play the starters just long enough to satisfy the fans and then yank them so they can't get hurt.

While the match may be meaningless for Everton aside from the fact that some fringe players will get some quality playing time, it's a pretty big affair for MLS.

The fans really enjoy the All-Star festivities, and the return of Howard to an MLS pitch will be something that every American can enjoy. Plus, beating European clubs—even with the terribly lopsided odds in their favor—helps grant MLS an air of legitimacy among the fringe fans.

The typical American Eurosnob fan—you know the type: refuses to watch anything but EPL and La Liga despite having a domestic league of their own—will take a look at the result and think, "Huh, maybe MLS is doing something right."

It's just one big love-fest for MLS, a morale booster that benefits both parties. The European club picks up some good experience in a preseason friendly, and everybody in MLS goes home with a fuzzy feeling inside because they've just knocked off a team from a great league.

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The MLS starters for the 2009 All-Star game have been announced, and the smart money is against Everton becoming the first foreign club to taste victory in the annual exhibition.

Chivas de Guadalajara, Fulham, Celtic, Chelsea and West Ham have all fallen victim to the best MLS has to offer, and Everton should join that ever-growing list of scalps on July 29.

Don't despair, Everton fans. The match is set up to ensure success for MLS.

You see, the MLS squad is comprised of various full internationals in their prime, older stars who still have a good bit of life in their legs, and young players rising through the ranks, hungry to prove themselves.

That combination in itself isn't enough to take down a talented European squad, but when you consider that the MLS squad is in mid-season form and most players in Europe are just returning from summer vacation...well, the odds look a little daunting.

Everton has the indomitable Tim Howard between the sticks, and the Toffees can also throw Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta at their opponents. Indeed, any club that's qualified for Europe each of the last few seasons and has been hovering around the top four is going to have a good deal of talent on the books.

But, David Moyes is a smart man and he won't want to risk serious injury to any of his first-team players in a meaningless exhibition.

In the 2006 All-Star Game, Chelsea made six substitutions at halftime in an effort to protect their stars from injury. Unfortunately, Joe Cole, who was brought on at halftime, was taken off six minutes later thanks to a knee injury sustained during the match.

Moyes will be mortified at the thought of one of his players sustaining a similar injury, so you can expect him to handle his usual starters with kid gloves. Everton's strategy will likely resemble that of a preseason NFL game—play the starters just long enough to satisfy the fans, and then yank them so they can't get hurt.

While the match may be meaningless for Everton aside from the fact that some fringe players will get some quality playing time, it's a pretty big affair for MLS.

The fans really enjoy the All-Star festivities, and the return of Tim Howard to an MLS pitch will be something that every American can enjoy. Plus, beating European clubs—even with the terribly lopsided odds in their favor—helps grant MLS an air of legitimacy among the fringe fans.

The typical American Eurosnob fan—you know the type, refuses to watch anything but EPL and La Liga despite having a domestic league of their own—will take a look at the result and think, "Huh, maybe MLS is doing something right."

It's just one big love-fest for MLS, a morale booster that benefits both parties. The European club picks up some good experience in a preseason friendly, and everybody in MLS goes home with a fuzzy feeling inside because they've just knocked off a team from a great league.

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Well it's that time of the year. Players rest. Minds are eased. A meaningless game is televised by Fox as fans listen to McCarver rant.

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Politicians take note: the world would be a better place if we all could bend the truth like Beckham.

At a press conference in the Galaxy’s El Segundo training camp, David Beckham decided to responded to teammate Landon Donovan’s comments by calling the Galaxy captain “unprofessional.” Check out the full video here.

Amazing. Becks skilfully hit and missed the point in the same sentence. The English international correctly pointed out how unprofessional it was to call out a teammate through the media without prior confrontation, and then, using those same words, calls out Donovan's professionalism to the media without prior confrontation.

In other news, the pot just called the kettle black.

But wait, it gets better. When asked if the Galaxy’s criticisms of his captaincy were valid, he said:

“Again, no, because I’ve played for England for 13 years and captained my country 50 times and not one of those players, top players in Europe, has ever criticized me as a captain… I’ve always been known as a different captain to other players and other captains that I’ve played with. You know, I’m not a Roy Keane; I’m not a Brian Robson.  I’m not a captain that goes and shouts at players.  I go and talk to players but I play, personally, by leading by example. It’s not always about organizing maintenance.”

This point has been repeated by Beckham supporters throughout the saga: top players in Europe (read: not Landon Donovan the jealous nobody) have all said David Beckham is a great captain, albeit a different one who keeps his head down and leads by example. 

And this point is equally irrelevant. 

David Beckham deftly curls his answer away from the primary point of the question: whether or not the Galaxy players had a point in calling out Beckham as captain. Instead, he presents a laundry list of previous popularity contests won as captain with England as if that somehow validates his mailed-in performance last summer, where he led a divided Galaxy to second-to-last in the MLS.

This answer’s effectiveness is much like Becks’ effectiveness as Galaxy captain: aloof, frustrating, and ultimately without commitment to the task at hand. 

And it’s not like Beckham was under any illusions that American soccer culture resembled its European counterparts. After all, he came to Los Angeles with a distinct mission to revolutionize the MLS and soccer’s image in America.

He should have known that charge comes the responsibility to use his marketability to promote soccer in America. That because America has a different culture and style of soccer athlete, perhaps another, “organizing maintenance” leadership style could win the confidence of his teammates.

But perhaps he was too busy promoting soccer and leading his team by being seen courtside at more Lakers games than Galaxy fixtures.

Maybe he was promoting the beautiful game while having breakfast with Hollywood stars and providing cameos on his wife’s reality show.

Perhaps he was hawking Galaxy shirts and MLS brochures in England while serving a one-match suspension instead of supporting his team and league by showing up to the Galaxy’s and Houston Dynamo’s biggest game of the year.

For emphasizing his “leadership by example” rhetoric during the interview, Becks sure does not have a lot to show for his words. Perhaps the next question in the interview could shed more light on this. When asked if he would do anything different this year, he coyly answered:

“No, not one thing. Apart from going to more games. That’d be nice.”

Perhaps that was supposed to portray confidence, but it sure sounded foolish: Becks won’t give up the armband on a side that clearly has no confidence in his leadership abilities. And if he’d like to go to more games, he could have shown up to Galaxy fixtures after the Serie A season ended on May 30th, after which time the Galaxy had played five matches.

Ultimately, Landon Donovan has clearly won this war of words. Beckham would be good to swallow some humble pie before having that private conversation with his captain.

But Becks can surely spin himself a good story to save face.

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Coming into Week 18 of MLS play, there was no doubt as to which team was the best in the MLS.  Houston Dynamo had been red hot lately, but fell 2-1 to the Seattle Sounders in a rather scrappy affair up in the Pacific Northwest.

In the Eastern Conference, another top of the table clash ended 0-0 as neither Chicago nor Columbus were able to score in the Windy City.

At the bottom of the table, New York had the weekend off.  But hey, at least that means they didn't lose.

Power Rankings:

1.     Houston Dynamo

Despite a 2-1 loss in Seattle on Saturday, they are still the team to beat in MLS.  The fact that Houston was without nine (nine!) regulars and was still able to push the Sounders to the limit at Qwest Field is a testament to both their depth and Dominic Kinnear's coaching ability.

2.      Seattle Sounders

Their win over Houston, coupled with Chivas USA's loss in the SuperClasico, moved the rave green into second place in the Western Conference, although Chivas has a game in hand. 

The Sounders are 5-0-2 in their last seven games in all competitions, including four wins in a row.

3.      Columbus Crew

The Crew have lost only once in their last 13 games.  Although they are currently in fourth place in the East, they only sit one point back of leaders Chicago. 

Expect this team to hang around well into the playoffs.

4.      Toronto FC

After losing three in a row, the reds have scored an astonishing 16 goals while only allowing three on their way to winning four of their last five.  Chad Barrett's brace led them to a 3-1 win over San Jose.

5.      DC United

DC United was off this weekend, but are 4-1-2 in their last seven matches.  They seem to be finding the form that eluded them for the first part of the season.

6.      Chicago Fire

A 0-0 draw with Columbus over the weekend was enough to propel the Fire into first place in the Eastern Conference, with a game in hand. 

However, the Fire are 1-2-4 on the season at home, a record that surely frustrates Denis Hamlett and will more than likely come back to haunt Chicago during the playoff race.

7.      Colorado Rapids

The Rapids were one of the hottest teams in MLS only a couple weeks ago.  Their 1-0 win over FCD this weekend, however, was their first win in four games.

8.      Los Angeles Galaxy

The Galacticos are on a nice little three-game winning streak, and will surely get a confidence boost from a 1-0 win over Chivas USA in the SuperClasico over the weekend. 

How this team will react when He Who Must Not Be Named is back in the squad is the big question.

9.      Real Salt Lake

RSL was off this weekend, but beat Club America in a friendly 1-0.  In MLS play, they are unbeaten in their last five (2-0-3). 

They face a tough road match next weekend in Columbus.

10.    Chivas USA

Chivas USA has lost seven games in a row in all competitions, while scoring only five goals.  This team is a far cry from the Chivas team we saw in the first couple of months during the season. 

With RSL, Colorado, and Los Angeles heating up, the goats need to sort this mess out soon or will find themselves out of the playoff picture.

11.    FC Dallas

FCD lost to Colorado over the weekend, but are 4-2-4 over their last 10 matches.  If they can keep up this steady form, the playoffs aren't completely out of the picture, and Schellas Hyndman might still have a job after all.

12.    New England Revolution

A 0-0 draw with Kansas City probably wasn't what Steve Nicol had in mind for a result this weekend, and the Revs will need to start picking up points if they want a legitimate shot at the playoffs. 

On a positive note, they have three games in hand over most of the Eastern Conference.  Only eight points separate them from current leaders Chicago.

13.    Kansas City Wizards

The Wizards played reasonably well on Saturday and were unlucky to come away with all three points.  Davy Arnaud scored a nice goal on the same pitch, but unfortunately for KC fans, it was for the Nats. 

The Wizards have only one win in their last seven MLS matches.

14.    San Jose Earthquakes

The Quakes are 2-2-2 in their last six games, which is no small feat for a team that had lost six in a row prior. 

However, they lead the league in goals allowed, and have scored the fewest in the Western Conference. 

They looked just plain awful on Saturday against Toronto.

15.    New York Red Bulls

NYRB is 0-2-9 in their last 11 games.  They're like the Knicks, but without Stephon Marbury; just one big mess. 

I'm surprised Juan Carlos Osorio hasn't been shown the exit.  Hopefully he's been working on his resume.

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As many of you know, I joined the Crew on on their trip to Chicago this weekend as they took on the Fire, part of 250+ other fans that made the trek from our fair city to their sprawling metropolis to form Nordecke West. The on-field action was mediocre at best, ending in the least popular score in sports: the 0-0 tie.

It should have been a 1-0 victory for the good guys but the ref decided for a three-second span that soccer wasn't a contact sport, and called back a goal because Stephen Lenhart used his size and speed and hair advantages against Jon Busch.

Needless to say, we were—and still aren't—pleased with this temporary rule change.

It was a pretty ugly game all around, but as they say in soccer: win at home, tie on the road.

The crowd, however, was in top form. Well, at least we were. I'm not even sure if Section 8 was there. It seriously took me a few minutes to find them in the stands. Turns out that the venerable Section 8, who many have said is the strongest Supporters Club in the league, is just a couple (read: two) sections of fans behind a goal.

Granted, they have a really cool website, but that's about it. They aren't that loud, they have two banners, and they were nowhere to be seen before or after the match. Methinks they're weak. They did, however light some flares as soon as the sun went down, and that makes them edgy and cool and not afraid to break the rules, right? Right?

Right. It also makes them arrested. Idiots.

We, however, were a force in the Southeast corner of the stadium. For a full two hours we were chanting, singing, drumming, and generally raising hell. If not for the mics focused on Section 8 the people watching on TV would have thought the game was in C-bus.

Crew fans are deafening, it's that simple.

The local fans around us were obviously thrown off by the size and volume that we brought, and stadium security watched us like hawks (apparently we have a reputation). But it was to no avail, because in the 87th minute the smoke bombs went off and everything was covered in a yellow haze.

We brought the complete package to Toyota Park last night, and hopefully the league lets us put on a clinic in the offseason to teach the fans from Colorado and Dallas and KC how to support their clubs, both at home and on the road.

A note to sports fans in general: If, after a few too many shots of liquid courage, you decide someone needs to go pick on the opposing team's fans, and you decide that someone should be you, it's never wise to run through a group of a couple hundred of them to get to the biggest guy with the intent of stealing his cooler. You will get dropped. And then you will get drop kicked. It's true, I saw it happen.

Oh, and you will get arrested—while everyone laughs at you. Idiot.

All in all, it was an outing that can be counted as a success. There were downsides (not winning the game, three pukers on the bus before we got to Illinois) and there were upsides (completely shutting down the Chicago attack sans Defender of the Year, none of our guys got arrested).

And as with anything that is a "first-ever" in life there are minor details that I'll never forget (meeting these guys who threw me some shirts and a hat that made everyone jealous, ultra-late night dinner here).

I have to say this though: I've never been a huge fan of Chicago as a city, but somewhere around 2AM as I was with 10 of my closest friends sipping on some Dunkies coffee and waiting for the train I felt right at home. I'm a city boy at heart and in my opinion it doesn't get much better than that. Even after a tie.

Only 69 days until we return to The Windy City for round 2, and 96 until we invade DC. There is no way I won't be on those buses.

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Maybe the aging veterans on Columbus' roster were just waiting for the weather to warm up.

The Columbus Crew spent the early part of the 2009 MLS season enduring the worst start ever by a defending MLS champion. They didn't take home all three points until their eighth match of the season.

Their record was an ugly 0-5-2, and they looked more like an overmatched team of eight-year old kids than the defending champs.

Since that eighth match, a 3-2 victory over Kansas City, Columbus has only tasted defeat once. They've beaten one of the best teams in the league (a 2-1 win over Chivas USA) while climbing to within one point of first place in the Eastern Conference, with a game in hand.

The recent revival has surprised quite a few people, but that shouldn't be the case. Despite a horrifically slow start, the road to the 2009 MLS Cup still has to go through the defending champions.

Is it any coincidence that Columbus' first victory coincided with Frankie Hejduk's return to the lineup? Injuries kept Hejduk out of the lineup until May 9, and the Crew sorely missed his calming, veteran presence in their lineup.

A back-line with Hejduk would not concede four goals to Real Salt Lake, and they would certainly do a better job of holding leads.

Hejduk has stabilized a defense that was fairly shaky in the early part of the season. Gone are the foolish mistakes, and they've been replaced by a very talented right back who can also get forward and aid in the attack.

The rest of MLS would do well to prepare for an onslaught from Columbus in the coming months. Yes, they've been on a hot streak in the last month or so, but they aren't playing anywhere near their best.

Yes, a team that is rapidly closing on the top of the standings is in poor form.

Just take a look at the offense. Last season's MVP, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, finished the year with 20 assists despite being injured for a lengthy spell just before the playoffs. This season? He's registered just a single assist in 17 appearances.

Most fans will point to the fact that Schelotto has scored 10 goals to make up for his lack of assists, but to me that signifies a problem. Last season he only scored seven times in 31 appearances.

Such a lopsided goals-to-assists ratio in 2009 suggests that nobody else on the Columbus roster has stepped up to provide offense. Schelotto is shouldering nearly the entire load.

Schelotto's teammates are still dragging their feet on the offensive end. Alejandro Moreno is second on the club in goals scored, and he's only hit the back of the net three times.

Eddie Gaven, Chad Marshall and Emmanuel Ekpo have two apiece. After that? A few guys with a single goal.

Robbie Rogers scored eight times last season, and is still searching for his first of 2009. Crew fans will be hoping that a taste of international duty in the Gold Cup will provide a spark in the second half.

When the rest of the Crew returns to form—and trust me, that will happen—Columbus should find themselves perched atop the East for the second season running.

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