Today MLSR has received confirmation that the US vs Mexico World Cup Qualifier will be held at Rio Tinto Stadium.

One need only look at all the hints dropped here yesterday which one may or may not have missed…. (editors note: but we didn’t)

“Garber noted that soccer fields built in Dallas were used for a huge tournament, bringing thousands to town who wouldn’t otherwise have been there. He said they’re about to announce a major event in Salt Lake City that will draw people from 40 states. Big, big event.“

And here ESPN Deportes pretty much spills the beans….

…. y hay dos opciones: jugar en Qwest Field, la casa de los Seahawks en pasto artificial en Seattle, Washington, o jugar en Salt Lake City, en donde esta el estadio Rio Tinto del equipo de la MLS con capacidad para 20 mil aficionados. In English: … there are two options: play at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks on artificial grass in Seattle, Washington, or play in Salt Lake City, where Rio Tinto stadium is the home to the team in the MLS with a capacity of 20 thousand fans.

If we know what we think we know about US Soccer and having seen the amount of Mexican support that turned out for a Mexico vs China friendly at Qwest Field, and their aversion to playing on artificial turf it would be a no-brainer for the US to maximize it’s “home field advantage” by placing the game on the all grass pitch in Rio Tinto far away from large organzied fanatical Mexican support. And why not in a new stadium? After all Crew stadium hasn’t quite been the same since they built that stage and Sandy Utah, home to Rio Tinto Stadium was promised a major event if they got the stadium built. A World Cup Qualifier and an MLS All Star Game certainly fit the bill.

And what about the company who bought the naming rights? It’s good there is some good news for Rio Tinto. They could certainly use the positive P.R. that comes with hosting such and event since it was recently announced that they are slashing some 14,000 jobs.

See everybody wins. Go USA!

What do you think about Rio Tinto stadium as the place for the “CONCACAF Clasico”?

This rumor is really out there, even for us. But like the top of this page says, we publish any and all rumors.

This one in particular just landed in our mailbox and seems remotely possible but it is anyone’s guess as to which club the author is talking about.

Here it is:

MLS Commish Don Garber was in Vancouver Tuesday as he and the league continue to evaluate expansion cities. While he didn’t quite give Vancouver the glowing endorsement ge gave Portland he does seem pretty pleased with what he saw.

This excerot comes courtesy of Sportsnet Canada.

VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced that Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and MLS President Mark Abbott visited BC Place Stadium on Tuesday, to tour the facility as part of the league’s due diligence in evaluating six potential MLS expansion markets.

“We’re pleased to have had the opportunity to host Commissioner Garber and Mr. Abbott,” said Whitecaps President Bob Lenarduzzi. “The tour of BC Place was positive and I believe it will go a long way to supporting our bid to bring MLS to Vancouver.”

“We were impressed with BC Place Stadium during yesterday’s tour and believe that the downtown location in the heart of Vancouver’s sports and entertainment district could provide a world-class environment for an MLS expansion team,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “Seeing the stadium helped to bring the renderings of the proposed renovations to life and confirmed that the renovations are on track to create an intimate soccer atmosphere.”

Theres more at this link….

What do you think of the Vancouver bid?

Imagine, a 37 year old goalkeeper who hasn’t really had a game in 3 years is leaving Bolton Wanderers and has been linked with a move to MLS.

That’s if you believe this BBC Sport article.

Color us skeptical of this move.

Why you ask?

Because of all the positions that MLS might need outside help in, goal keeping isn’t one of them as there are a plethora of young promising American and Canadian goalkeepers to be had if you know where to look for them.

So assuming this rumor is true, any guesses which club would have made a move for the veteran goalkeeper?

Our guesses are San Jose and…. you guessed it, Toronto FC.

Time for some Canadian Content as one of our loyal readers north of the US/Canada border tipped us off to this tidbit from the ever reliable Kristian Jack of The Footy Blog:

This week Mo Johnston’s pursuit of new signings for Toronto FC took him to the Caribbean to pursue 21-year-old Trinidadian Keon Daniel. MLS rumors had a blog last week that a number of MLS teams are looking at the midfielder and I can confirm that Toronto FC are one of those teams and Mo Johnston this week travelled to speak to the man himself.

Daniel is a regular for the Trinidad and Tobago national team and scored a goal for them as recently as last month in their 3-0 World Cup qualifying game against Cuba.

Kristian Jack

Things are getting mighty interesting in this MLS transfer season. Much has been made of the departures so far but we think when all is said and done come First Kick, the big story of this offseason will be arrivals like Daniel. If Toronto FC gets into a bidding war with anyone you can expect Toronto FC to win as they are sitting on piles of allocation cash right about now and as far as players on THIS side of the Atlantic, what Mo Johnston wants, Mo Johnston gets.

The latest of their efforts in redefining what a supporters group’s scope is comes in the form of their own TV Channel.

On it you can view things such as the Philadelphia expansion announcement, a Fox29 interview with S.o.B Boss Bryan James, as well as various “I Am On Setanta Sports” episodes.

Our only question is what next for the MLS supporter’s group which has garnered more nationwide, and even worldwide attention in their short 2 years of existence than most groups have received in their entire history?

We salute the S.o.B’s in kicking things up a notch.

Shameless self promotion: If you have been following MLSR in the last two months you no doubt have seen the first forays into what MLS Rumors TV will be. Next season we will have even more live coverage, interviews and surprises.

PS: Shout outs to Andrea Canales and Luis Bueno for being first out the gate in testing these dangerous waters.

Video killed the blogging star.