There ought to be an acceptable explanation of this ... though I cannot, at the moment, think of one. Why on earth should there be a failure to see that, when soccer comes down to the really big games -- I mean the knockout games, the stage which MLS has reached -- the referee takes on a new and considerably magnified importance?

When this sort of thing happens -- and it keeps happening in soccer -- you're left to ponder whether there is ever anything really new for the sport to explore.

There is one pretty obvious risk involved in playing soccer: That of a serious, career-ending injury. Pro players know that, they accept it. Fortunately, those serious injuries don't happen too often.

Hugo Perez is known as someone with strong connections in the California Latino communities. He also has an exceptionally keen eye when it comes to recognizing young players of promise. Those two attributes ought, one might reasonably suppose, to be of considerable use to U.S. Soccer and its national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Try as I might, I cannot see the demise of Chivas USA and its replacement by a celebrity-conglomerate currently calling itself Los Angeles Football Club as a positive event for MLS.

What ever is it with Arsene Wenger and the Latin Americans? Because, here we go again -- but this time it really does look as though Wenger is having us on.