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So just who is playing in the July 4 South American all-stars verses a Rest of the World team at the exhibition game?

Even the game organizers are still trying to figure that one out it appears.

And it's not just Blanco who is either not coming or remains a question mark. For instance, Brazilian great Roberto Carlos is still listed as participating on the Coliseum Web site as I write this. But he's not named among those playing in a press release I received Monday. Hmmm.

For what it's worth, here's the (unedited) list of the players on that latest press release:
South American All-Stars
1. Lionel Messi, NT Argentina - FC Barcelona
2. Andres D'Alessandro, NT Argentina - Internacional
3. Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Barbè, NT Chile - Udinese
4. Fabián Orellana, NT Chile - Udinese
5. Gary Medel, NT Chile - Universidad Católica
6. Jose Cevallos, NT Ecuador - LDU Quito
7. Walter Ayovi, NT Ecuador - Monterrey
8. Joffre Guerron, NT Ecuador - Getafe
9. Juan Arango, NT Venezuela - Real Mallorca
10. Diego Lugano, NT Uruguay - Fenerbahce
11. David Quiroz, NT Ecuador -Emelec
12. Jefferson Montero, NT Ecuador - Villareal
13. Pedro Quiñones , NT Ecuador - Santos Laguna
14. Cristian Benítez, NT Ecuador - Santos Laguna
15. Paolo Montero , NT Uruguay - Peñarol

Rest of the World All-Stars
1. Jared Borgetti, NT Mexico- CD Guadalajara
2. Francisco "Paco" Palencia, NT Mexico, UNAM
3. Marco Materazzi, NT Italy - Inter
4. Mauro Camoranessi, NT Italy - Juventus
5. Patrick Vieira, NT France - Inter
6. Stefano Fiore, NT Italy - Mantova
7. Edgard Davis, NT Netherlands - Ajax
8. Mariano Andrés Pernía -NT Argentina - Atletico de Madrid
9. José Antonio "Perla" Reyes, NT Spain - Benfica de Portugal.
10. Giourkas Seitaridis, NT Greece - Atlético Madrid
11. Fernando Couto, NT Portugal - Parma
12. Pedro Migel Carreiro "Pauleta", NT Portugal - Paris-Saint Germain
13. Ivan Helguera, NT Spain- Valencia CF
14. Fernando Morientes, NT Spain- Valencia
15. Jozy Altidore, NT United States - Villareal (Xerex)

The game begins at 5 p.m. and is followed by a one-hour-long fireworks show, BTW.

Still, not an auspicious start to organizing what is supposed to be an annual event. And just how big the crowd will be given the Galaxy game that same night and other major friendlies involving the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan scheduled for Southern California this summer remains to be seen.

"We're not expecting a sellout by any means or anything close to it," said Coliseum General Manager Pat Lynch.

Updated:

I received a response to the column from Fire VP of Communications Becky Carroll. Here is her (edited) response:

"Regarding Mr. Blanco's commitment to the upcoming game at the LA Coliseum...there was never a commitment or promise from either him (or the Fire) to participate in the July 4 match. As you know, the Fire has a regularly scheduled game that day against the Colorado Rapids, which has been on our schedule for the last several months. The only games that Mr. Blanco may play outside of the MLS at this point would be as a member of the Mexican national team."

And yeah, I know D'Alessandro plays for Brazil's Internacional and not Italy's Inter. I just didn't write that in the column.

Hollywood Hitmen. Coldplay. Ballack. SuperLiga. Fireworks. Canada. Messi. NBA.

A FourFourTwo magazine spineline stumper? No, today's column.

BTW, more info on the July 4 game at the Coliseum is here.

And here's the official SuperLiga Web site.

As an English-born, naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in the U.S., nations don't mean that much to me.

Except when it comes to soccer.

Because in soccer different nationalities, cultures and races serve to remind me not how different people are, but how much many share an obsessive interest regardless of where they are from in a ball rolling around a pitch chased by 22 sweaty people.

And there are few places like Southern California where it's possible to find so many folks from different nations all watching soccer in a relatively small geographic area.

So I had to write about it.

Clarification: The Iranian election occurs two days - June 12 - after the second Iran World Cup qualifier this month.

Well, I'm still trying to figure this team out.

Frankly, whether we'll know much more after this weekend - the Galaxy play on the road against a terrible Dallas team - as the season reaches its one-third mark is unclear, too.

What do you folks think? Is this team as bad as many suspect? Or are there signs of improvement? Chime in.

I'm on vacation.

I'm preparing for my first two-week vacation in three years, so there's no column today.

I'll return next Tuesday with a review of the forthcoming Spanish-language futbol movie "Rudo Y Cursi," which opens May 8 in L.A., and a look at soccer movies in general.

A couple of items of note to pass along:

*CONCACAF this morning announced it was postponing indefinitely the region's Beach Soccer Championship scheduled to begin Wednesday in Puerto Vallarta due to the spread of swine flu in Mexico. CONCACAF on Monday canceled the remainder of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and postponed the second-leg of the Champions League final until May 12 to "safeguard the health and safety of players, officials and fans."

*The Galaxy and Chivas USA youth teams split a pair of games on the weekend, the Galaxy U-16's beating Chivas USA 4-0 at Home Depot Center, while the Chivas USA U-18's prevailed 3-1 over the Galaxy.

Read it here.

It's not often I get excited about an MLS game this early in the season, but Saturday's game between Chivas USA and the Seattle Sounders in Carson has the makings of a compelling game even if both coaches will tell you their respective teams are not yet firing on all cylinders and can get better.

Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid and Chivas USA utility man Carey Talley took the time to provide an excellent analysis of the game and I'll share more of what they had to say on the weekend.

For now, here's today's column.

And here's more on the big question mark Seattle has at goalkeeper.

AP Photo

Joy for El Salvador and Eliseo Quintanilla, left, bemusement for the U.S. and defender Heath Pearce, who unwittingly seemed to sum up his Saturday night in this shot as the Americans go a goal down after just 15 minutes.

The U.S. plays Trinidad & Tobago at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday live on ESPN2 and Galavision, just four days after narrowly averting defeat in El Salvador.

I attempted to put the draw that Galaxy defender Tony Sanneh described as a "wake up call" in perspective in today's column.

Meanwhile, there are no prizes for guessing who the world's highest-paid footballer is.

The Sol and Washington Freedom open the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer season Sunday at Home Depot Center.

I took a look at the league and the grass roots marketing strategy being employed in this week's column.

Updated: BTW, today is Shannon Boxx Day in the city of Torrance; the Sol midfielder, who grew up in Torrance, will be honored at tonight's City Council meeting, which begins at 7 o'clock at City Hall, 3031 Torrance Blvd.

Coincidentally, the South High girls team, which Boxxy played for between 1991 and 1995, will also receive a certificate of recognition tonight for winning the CIF-SS Division 5 Championship. How's that for motivation?

A planned season preview turned more into an extended injury report. Read the column here.

Other Galaxy injuries not mentioned in the column include those to bit part players Leonard Griffin (who will also miss the season opener with a left abdominal strain) and Stefani Miglioranzi, who is listed as probable with a right knee bruise.

And just to illustrate the turnover on the Galaxy's roster, the team observed that 13 of the 25 players currently on the Galaxy roster were not with the club for the final game of the 2008 MLS regular season.

Left over from my conversation with Bruce Arena Monday were some of the most candid comments I'd heard him make over the Galaxy's struggles to sign players in light of their almost maxed out salary cap:

"We've been in a bit of limbo with our salary cap because of some of the unknowns with Landon and David. Our hands have been tied a little bit with trying to make considerable improvements in our roster, so that's been a little bit of an issue. ... That's impacted our ability to make some changes and that handcuffed us a little in the (aborted) Osman Chavez deal. We weren't able to make that signing because of that."

Both the Galaxy and Chivas USA gave players the day off Monday, but the likes of Edson Buddle and Alan Gordon were out on the training ground continuing their rehab from their respective injuries. I took the opportunity to ask Gordon what he thought of the entire David Beckham "will he stay or will he go?" soap opera and his delayed return to the Galaxy from AC Milan:

"It's good to have him (coming) back - he's a quality player - everybody is seeing it right now. He's still got it. It's a matter of putting the pieces together to make it work for the team and make him work for the team. When he comes back he's got to be on board so the team can be successful. We need him. It will be good as long as he has the right attitude, which I think he will... If we can be organized by the time he gets here, it can be a good thing."

I also asked Gordon about his personal goals for the season:

"I want to score more goals than I got last year. I want more playing time than I got last year. Last year I got five goals in about half a season worth of minutes - so if I get more minutes I'm going to get more goals. I had a lot of chances last year that could have gone either way. If I finish those chances I could have a good year.

"I've had a good preseason I felt I've worked my way into Bruce's favor. Obviously Edson had a good season last year, Landon is going to be up there so there's competition (for places), but I think that's good. There's no bad blood between me and Edson. We'll both get time and maybe we'll (get) time together."

As a bonus, here's a story on former celebrity Galaxy fan Drew Carey turned Seattle Sounders co-owner.

I'll be away from the computer most of the day, so expect minimal blogging.

But they're not going to get from Galaxy owner Anschutz Entertainment Group.

So I wrote if for them.

Agree? Disagree? Take the poll. Vent. Discuss. Leave a comment.

Updated.

Here are some more excerpts from the Sunday morning conference call reporters had with Coach Bruce Arena and President of Business Operations Tom Payne, who were left to face the media after the orchestrator of the Beckham deal - AEG President Tim Leiweke - had much better things to do than explain his rationale in person.

Payne:

"(Beckham) coming back for six homes games is probably not the easiest thing for (fans) to stomach. ... We're trying to run a business. Having that player helps us run the business."

Not a successful team, you understand, but a business.

And here's Payne on how fans have reacted in terms of buying tickets while the Beckham saga dragged on:

"Frankly, its been difficult. ... People have been sitting on their hands. ... We're hopeful they understand how incredibly hard our company has worked to make this happen."

The Los Angeles Sol opened training camp in Carson Monday giving a new generation of soccer players role models.

Thinking about buying Galaxy season tickets? Then know Beckham will play just 13 MLS games - or even fewer - this year if his loan deal to AC Milan is extended.

Lastly, those planning their summer vacation should know tickets go on sale beginning March 14 to the U.S. World Cup qualifier against Honduras June 6 in Chicago. Details here.

Updated 8:40 a.m.
MLS just released the complete list of players cut Monday (or earlier) by their respective clubs. A waiver draft is set for noon. (The Galaxy have the second pick behind the Earthquakes, Chivas USA picks seventh).

Just to refresh your memory who is available:
Chivas USA - Kraig Chiles, Anthony Hamilton, Roberto Nurse, Keith Savage.
Galaxy - Vardan Adzemian, Charles Alamo, Michael Gavin, Mike Munoz.
Other notable players include - former Chivas USA forward John Cunliffe and former Galaxy midfielder Ned Grabavoy (San Jose Earthquakes).

Chivas USA faces the Premier Development League's Ventura County Fusion at 5 p.m. Sunday at Cougar Stadium at the College of the Canyons in Valencia, in what is becoming an annual benefit for the non-profit Michael Hoefflin Foundation, which provides financial and emotional support to children with cancer and their families. (Tickets are $20 or $40 for a family pack of two adult tickets and two for kids - call 661-250-4100 for info).

But some key players will be absent this weekend as the column points out. Chivas USA is continuing to struggle with injuries that severely hampered its season last year. And the opening game of the MLS season is less than a month away. (Atiba Harris is also out injured, it should be noted).

Read the column here.

I always collect more material than can fit in a column; below are some leftovers.

Here's Preki on why Ante Razov is back with the team after saying in no uncertain terms at the end of last year he didn't expect to return:

"He was out of contract. When you're out of contract you always want to keep your options open."

Here's co-owner, President and Chief Executive Officer Shawn Hunter on the team's financial status in the contracting economy. The club is still losing money, but the gap between revenues and expenses is narrowing, a trend expected to continue this year:

"Last year we went up 10 percent in revenues and this year we're expecting to do the same," he said, adding the franchise is focused on retaining its season ticket base rather than expanding it.

"We should hold steady at around 2,000 (season ticket holders)," he said. "We made a jump from about 800 in 2007 to about 2,000 last year. The first three years (of the club's existence) Chivas never renewed more than 50 percent of its season ticket base. ... "We're doing a better job of not only getting fans, but keeping them. We're projecting about a 75 percent to 80 percent retention (rate) and that will get us back to the 2,000. We could be a little bit higher or a little bit lower, but we feel like were holding ground.

"Over the last few years we've been the stabilizing brand for soccer in this marketplace and where this brand got off to a very rough start on the pitch and off we repaired that."

We'll soon find out.

A correction to the column: there is television coverage. It's on Fox Soccer Channel. But the fact I wasn't immediately aware of it (even if I have just returned from a week off) is yet another indication of how little promotion the tournament is receiving from organizers.

Also, Scott Wolf has the latest on Milan's machinations.