By Ridge Mahoney TORONTO (0-3-0) vs. KANSAS CITY (2-1-0) (Saturday, 12:30 pm ET, Direct Kick) The Wizards' fifth game in 15 days (counting a 2-1 midweek Open Cup loss to Salt Lake) will be in front of a sellout crowd as Toronto celebrates the grand unveiling of a new stadium. Toronto's players will be sky-high emotionally but they are still at sea-level physically, and desperately need to score first, as in their first goal of the season. They've scored none and conceded nine! Strikers Edson Buddle and Alecko Eskandarian haven't look sharp. If Kansas City midfielder Carlos Marinelli …

Five-time Libertadores Cup champion Boca Juniors needed to beat Bolivar of Bolivia by two goals on Thursday to be certain of qualifying for the knockout stage of the South American club championship, and it breezed into the next stage with a 7-0 win in Buenos Aires. Playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, on loan from Spain's Villarreal, had a hand in Boca's first two goals. Rodrigo Palacio and Bruno Marioni both scored twice for Boca, which had managed only four goals in its first five games. Boca and Velez Sarsfield were the only Argentine teams to reach the round of 16. …

Nine months after coaching Germany at the World Cup, California resident Juergen Klinsmann is going back to work - as commentator and analyst for German pay-TV station Arena. Klinsmann, whose two-year agreement will allow him to take a coaching job, told Spiegel, ''I definitely want to return to coaching, but if that's in the short-term or long-term remains to be seen.'' The 42-year-old who had negotiated with U.S. Soccer last year, said he has received other offers from national teams and clubs, but will wait until the summer to evaluate them. As he did while Germany coach for …

Pachuca won the CONCACAF Champions up for the second time when it beat Guadalajara, 7-6, on penalty kicks after they played to a 0-0 tie in overtime Wednesday night in the second leg of the final. The first leg of the all-Mexican final ended in a 2-2. After 120 minutes without a goal in the second leg, the shootout was decided when Chivas' Alberto Medina hit a post on his penalty kick and Luis Angel Landin scored for Pachuca. The title was the second regional championship for the Tuzos in five months. They won the Copa Sudamericana in December. …

THURSDAY NIGHT PREVIEW FC DALLAS- NEW YORK (ESPN2, 8 pm ET/7 pm CT) After winning back-to-back games at home, the unbeaten Red Bulls return to the road, where they face FC Dallas in a matchup of conference leaders. It's a battle of MLS's best offense against its best defense. FC Dallas has scored seven goals and given up seven -- the most in both categories. NYRB has yet to concede a goal in three games. New York won, 3-0, when the teams met 11 days ago. Clint Mathis, who had a goal and an assist …

Chelsea accomplished what Barcelona and PSV in the two previous rounds, and that's win at home in the first leg of its UEFA Champions League semifinal series with Liverpool. A first-half goal from Joe Cole gave Chelsea a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. The goal was only the second of the season for Cole, who has endured an injury-plagued season that began with his being injured in the Blues' game last summer against the MLS all-stars. Liverpool, who left top scorer Peter Crouch on the bench until early in the second half, only threatened …

For the second time this month Ireland beat the USA in U-16 boys competition. Three weeks ago, the Irish, won 2-1, at the Montaigu tournament on France. On Wednesday night in North Ireland, Ireland again prevailed, 2-1, to capture Group B at the Ballymena International Tournament. The Americans, who reached the Ballymena final the last four years, move into Friday's third-place game against Israel.

By Ridge Mahoney Executive Editor Any team that can leave its leading goalscorer of the previous season on the bench and win, 3-0, while launching nearly twice as many shots as its opponent should probably be taken seriously. Kansas City (2-1-0) did beat up on expansion Toronto FC (0-3-0) in its home opener Wednesday night, with the goals coming from Eddie Johnson, Kerry Zavagnin and substitute Yura Movsisyan. The Canadian team has yet to prove it can hang in MLS, having lost all three of its league games by combined scores of 9-0. It gets its best chance …

Interview by Mike Woitalla Executive Editor Sonny Guadarrama is a 20-year-old midfielder who was born and raised in Texas and played at Campbell University in 2005 before turning pro with Santos Laguna of the Mexican First Division. He has dual U.S./Mexican citizenship and shortly after signing with Santos was called up by Mexico's U-20 national team, which is preparing for the Under-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. SOCCER AMERICA: You've been playing with Mexico's U-20 national team but are still eligible to play for the USA. What's your current situation?SONNY GUADARRAMA: I've been called into a couple …

Efforts to launch a women's pro league in the spring of 2008 received a boost when ownership groups from Boston and New York/New Jersey announced their intentions to join investor groups from six other cities. ''The signing of these two new markets is an important milestone,'' said Tonya Antonucci, the CEO of the Women's Soccer Initiative (WSII), which is leading efforts to re-launch a women's pro league in the wake of the WUSA's demise in 2003 after three seasons. ''It's a critical step in making our dream of re-launching the WUSA a reality. There's a lot of hard work …

The U.S. U-16 national team rallied from two goals down to beat the Czech Republic, 3-2, Tuesday at the Ballymena Showgrounds in the second game of the 2007 Ballymena International Tournament in Northern Ireland. Dersu Abolfathi, Ryan Finley and captain Kofi Sarkodie scored for the USA to move into first place in Hroup B and gain revenge for Czech victories over the Americans in the last two championship games. On Monday, the USA tied Scotland, 1-1, in Larne. Parker Walsh scored the equalizer with five minutes left to play to earn the U-16s a point. The …

U.S. U-17 boys national team coach John Hackworth named his 20-player roster for the CONCACAF Under-17 Group B Qualifying Tournament April 28-May 6 in Kingston, Jamaica. All but one of the players selected are currently in in U.S. Soccer's Under-17 Residency Program based in Bradenton, Fla. Defender Tommy Meyer, who was formerly in Residency for two semesters, is the only player selected not currently with the U-17s on a full-time basis in Bradenton. The squad consists of 15 '90s and five '91s, including FC Dallas draft pick Abdus Ibrahim. Forwards Alex Nimo and Billy Schuler had just entered residency …

Manchester United will take a 3-2 lead over Italy's AC Milan to the San Siro Stadium for next Wednesday's second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal series after coming back from 2-1 down at halftime to win Tuesday thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney, the second on stoppage time. Manchester United led at Old Trafford with an early goal from Cristiano Ronaldo but fell behind on two goals by Brazilian Kaka on what Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson called ''terrible defending.'' Kaka, who went into the game as the Champions League's top scorer and now has …

Alan Ball, the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup championship, has died of a heart attack at the age of 61. Ball, whose father of the same name was a soccer player and manager, starred for Everton, Arsenal and Southampton and won 72 caps for England. He was an all-NASL pick for the Philadelphia Fury in 1978 and the champion Vancouver Whitecaps in 1979. He later became a manager, working at Manchester City, Portsmouth, Southampton, Blackpool, Stoke and Exeter. Ball also played on England's 1970 World Cup team, and he was at the center of controversy concerning …

WEDNESDAY: UEFA Champions League Semifinal, 1st Leg CHELSEA-LIVERPOOL (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, 2:30 pm ET, live) Liverpool and Chelsea meet Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinals series, a repeat of their 2005 series Liverpool won en route to its fifth title. Unlike Tuesday's wild-open game between Manchester United and AC Milan, the Liverpool-Chelsea games shapes up to be a defensive struggle. Two years ago, a hotly disputed goal by Luis Garcia after only four minutes of play in the second leg was the only goal of the Liverpool-Chelsea series. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez …