The New York Red Bulls this week find themselves at a crossroads with an important game against the Chicago Fire in primetime on Thursday evening. Just around the corner in June, tougher competition than those in their first few games this season awaits New York.

It would be cliche, and perhaps misplaced hyperbole, to compare this season's New York Red Bulls to A Tale of Two Cities. But while this past week hasn't provided the worst possible results, the early success this team has enjoyed has turned a draw and a loss into gut-wrenching disappointments.

Either it's very early in the regular season, or the regular season doesn't mean anything at all. Whatever the reason, the most hardened cynics of Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls take the team's early success with a grain of salt.

Among the New York faithful, however, there is reason to be optimistic, if not celebratory. A minor misstep in Columbus during opening weekend was quickly brushed aside by a series of wins throughout April that propelled the Red Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference, the top of the entire league, and an impressive ten-point lead over perennial rivals DC United, who occupy the cellar of the conference with expansion Toronto FC after three straight losses to open the season.

In a significant improvement over last year, the New York Red Bulls showed a lot of heart and determination in their season opener against the Columbus Crew. If only the score reflected their efforts. For the third straight year, New York opened the season with a draw, this time a goalless result at Crew Stadium on Saturday night.

The New England Revolution travel to Chicago on Saturday to kick off their 2007 campaign.

Midfielder Sasha Victorine, a Southern California native and UCLA graduate, has retired from professional soccer after ten seasons in MLS.

The Los Angeles Galaxy remained unbeaten after passing their first real test of the preseason in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica's Puntarenas FC in an international friendly on Wednesday at Cal State Fullerton.

The Los Angeles Galaxy continued their unbeaten preseason with a 1-0 victory over Puntarenas FC of Costa Rica in an international friendly on Wednesday at Cal State Fullerton.

With just more than two weeks to go before the kickoff of the season, Chivas USA head coach Martín Vásquez Wednesday said Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein will likely serve as the club's co-captains for the year.

Landon Donovan has settled a big issue while on loan: he can play with Europe's big boys.

Steven Lenhart's knowledge of a second language came in useful a few times during the hard-fought first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Tuesday at Crew Stadium against Mexico's Toluca.

Toluca scored twice before the half but Steven Lenhart countered in the second half to lead the Columbus Crew back to a 2-2 tie in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series.

As the Crew prepare to face Toluca on Tuesday, the weather, and absence of key players will not be in Columbus' favor.

The Crew will take on Mexcian club Toluca on Tuesday, March 9, at Crew Stadium in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Crew midfielders Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven both earned caps in the U.S. national team's come-from-behind 2-1 victory over El Salvador on Wednesday night.

One of the marquee matchups in MLS history will conclude the opening weekend in First Kick 2009 when the Los Angeles Galaxy play host to D.C. United, as both teams will be looking to put disappointing 2008 campaigns behind them early on.

United boldly lured a plethora of South American talent before the 2008 season, highlighted by designated player and World Cup veteran Marcelo Gallardo, and made plans to contend for a host of honors both home and abroad. But what followed was more akin to a nightmare as injuries, underachievement and simple bad luck conspired to produce one of the most trying years in the club's existence.

Find out what the print and blog worlds are saying about all things D.C. United in the newest edition of the D.C. United Newsstand.

United had big, bold plans for 2008, but very little went to plan over the course of a frustrating, exhausting season. The Black-and-Red are determined to make amends but have adopted a more low-key mentality this time around, blending proven commodities and youthful recruits with an emphasis on depth rather than star power.

After being outplayed during their first two games of the tournament, D.C. United claimed a 2-0 win over the USL First Division's Charleston Battery in the final game of the event at Blackbaud Stadium.

FCDallas.com caught up with Hartman on the practice pitch to find out more about the recently acquired platinum-haired saves specialist.

FC Dallas on Wednesday departed for Tampa, where the club will spend the next six days, taking on USSF D-II Pro League side Tampa Bay Rowdies on Friday, then squaring off with MLS expansion club Philadelphia Union on Sunday.

The FC Dallas goalkeeping ranks added a big name with Monday's announcement that club had signed 35-year-old goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, most recently of the Kansas City Wizards.

FC Dallas has acquired Hartman in a trade with the Kansas City Wizards, sending them a second round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.

A trio of starters, Jair Benitez, Marvin Chavez and David Ferreira have begun hanging out and playing mini soccer games during training.

Toronto FC's players trained in Oakville Thursday morning and then headed to the airport to leave for Charleston where they will compete in the Carolina Challenge Cup against Charleston Battery, D.C. United and Real Salt Lake.

For the fourth consecutive year, Toronto FC will finalize their preparations for the MLS season by competing in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston.

Toronto FC trained at Lamport Stadium Wednesday morning and will leave for Charleston Thursday afternoon where they will compete in the Carolina Challenge Cup.

Toronto FC defender Nana Attakora returned to training in Oakville on Friday but Carl Robinson and Emmanuel Gomez remain sidelined through injury.

After spending the last three weeks getting to know his teammates, now Toronto FC's new central defender Ty Harden is able to settle into his new surroundings for the first time.

With just more than two weeks to go before the kickoff of the season, Chivas USA head coach Martín Vásquez Wednesday said Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein will likely serve as the club's co-captains for the year.

Midfielder Sasha Victorine, a Southern California native and UCLA graduate, has retired from professional soccer after ten seasons in MLS.

Chivas USA used a second-half hat trick from forward Maykel Galindo to take a 5-0 win over UCLA in a preseason scrimmage held today on Field 6 at The Home Depot Center.

With some tough roster decisions still ahead, Chivas USA will travel Saturday to battle the Fresno Fuego of the PDL. The Red-and-White will use the scrimmage as an opportunity to evaluate some of the team's newer players.

Chivas USA announced Friday that it will face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. PT at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.

The Houston Dynamo's Thursday scrimmage against the Chicago Fire has been moved to Sorrels Soccer Field on the campus of Houston Baptist University, it was announced Wednesday.

On Friday, February 26, Houston Dynamo sponsors arrived at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the inaugural Dynamo Sponsor Summit.

The Houston Dynamo have signed Dynamo Academy product Francisco Navas Cobo to a developmental contract.

On Tuesday, Dynamo Director of Youth Development James Clarkson watched proudly as the Dynamo first team welcomed its second ever player - and first field player - from the Dynamo Academy.

Francisco Navas put his grandfather's last name, Cobo, on his orange Dynamo jersey in honor of the man who shared his dream of soccer.

greenwich village resident outlines a major league vision for manhattan’s pier 40 In just ten days, the brand new and beautiful Red Bull Arena will finally open to soccer fans with a sold-out exhibition between Red Bull New York and Brazil’s famed Santos football club. New Yorkers will hop on the PATH train and in about [...]

In the last few years, I?ve spoken with Frank Dell?apa, Ray Hudson, Grant Wahl, Ives Galarcep, Jack Bell, Bruce McGuire, Jeff Carlisle, Buzz Carrick, Mitch Peacock, Robert Abramowitz, Beau Dure, and others, but it?s been a while since I sat down with one of the flashlight bearers in this little wilderness to get their story. Now [...]

AMERICAN SOCCER MEDIA LANDSCAPE NEEDS TO GET BEYOND THE BLOG Ives Galarcep moved to Fox Soccer. MLS hired my Waiting For Gaetjens co-host Greg Lalas and Sports Illustrated?s Jonah Freedman to run MLSnet 2.0. Jose Romero left the Sounders beat at the Seattle Times. Glenn Davis got laid off from the Houston Chronicle. Dirty Tackle was [...]

After hearing from a few people about the poor sound quality of the interviews on last week’s Waiting For Gaetjens podcast (sorry about that), I figured I’d transcribe the two interviews and post them here. I normally wouldn’t do this–I hate the whole, I write the same thing that I Twitter that I podcast that [...]

Did I just learn why the negotiations over the collective bargaining agreement are so contentious? Did I find out just how disrespected the Vietnam league is? Or did I discover that MLS doesn’t think he’s worth it? There is plenty to learn from the professional path taken by Lee Nguyen, but at present, all I [...]