Rafa Marquez tossed the game ball at Landon Donovan – which quickly caused a couple other players like Juninho and Adam Cristman to get involved – Stephen Keel also stepped in and probably paid for it in a way.

You have to wonder if Marquez will be given an extra game or two for his attempted head butt and punch that he tried to throw. In most sports here, just attempting to do what he did usually adds a game or two on to the suspension. There really is no place for that in soccer.

So what do you all think of the NY-LA series? Think the Red Bulls can bounce back in LA this week?

Brek Shea sits atop the MVP race, can he hold on to it? (Getty Images)

With only a few weeks left in the season the awards race in Major League Soccer is pretty dang hot. The MVP race alone is very interesting this season. In my book if I had to vote today for the top three in the MVP race would be fairly simple but there are a few dark horse candidates to keep a watch on.

The Top Contenders

Brek Shea, M, FC Dallas: This one is fairly simple. If Shea isn’t at the top of most folks list right now it means they either hate Dallas or don’t watch the league at all. The second one probably speaks more truth than anything if someone doesn’t have Shea in their top three once it is time to vote. Shea has done everything right for Dallas since the injury of last year’s MVP, David Ferreira. He’s scored plenty of big goals and has come up with a few quality assists. Simply put, Dallas is nothing without his service from the wings.

Mauro Rosales, M, Seattle Sounders FC: In a way Rosales has really just come on strong in the last two months but overall he is a huge reason why the Sounders are in the thick of things in the Supporter’s Shield race. His five goals and ten assists are something to marvel over but for me it comes down to his distribution and setting up the Sounders’ attack. I don’t see Lamar Neagle or Mike Fucito getting the goals that they have gotten this year without Rosales. Bold statement to make, sure, but it is one I feel pretty good about.

Landon Donovan, M, LA Galaxy: Of course, another season with Donovan in the MVP mix. His 11 goals and three assists will keep him in the discussion even though he hasn’t played as many minutes as Shea or some of the others here.

Still In The Mix:

Thierry Henry, F, New York Red Bulls: The New York Red Bulls’ season goes with Henry. As he goes, the club goes. He may lead the league in goals scored with 12 and have four assists on the year  but the way his club has played these last couple of months are hurting his MVP chances. He needs to continue to score goals and help get his club in the playoffs to get this award.

Brad Davis, M, Houston Dynamo: Another player who’s team goes as they do. Davis is always overlooked but there is no reason why he should be. His league-leading 13 assists are the main reason why the Dynamo are even in the playoff hunt to begin with. You want a valuable player to a club, look no further than to Davis.

David Beckham, M, LA Galaxy: Donovan and Beckham will likely cancel one another out in this race but consider Beckham’s stats at the moment, 12 assists and two goals isn’t bad at all. To be fair, this has been his best season to date as a member of the Galaxy.

Jack Jewsbury, M, Portland Timbers: You want some good stats? Seven goals and eight assists. That’s quality folks. Portland would be a really bad expansion team without Captain Jack.

Dwayne De Rosario, M, DC United: Another player with monster stats on the season, nine goals and eight assists. What will hurt him is he’s played on three teams this season. That really shouldn’t be the case as he’s really helped improve United’s offense.

Some Potential Dark horses:

Dominic Oduro, F, Chicago Fire: Hard to ignore Oduro right now. He’s scoring loads of goals (and missing loads too). He’s a long shot at best but he’s worth mentioning.

Sebastien Le Toux, M, Philadelphia Union: I think if he can continue his scoring (six goals on the year) to go with his assist numbers (eight assists), he’ll easily move up this order here. Last night’s great come back performance against New England was a sign that Le Toux will be in the mix.

Kyle Beckerman, M, Real Salt Lake: With Javier Morales going down earlier in the season, it was Beckerman who had to step up and be the midfield general. Looking at things today, RSL isn’t far away from an automatic bid into the playoffs.

Jurgen Klinsmann and the USMNT take on Costa Rica tonight. (Getty Images)

In a way, the future is really now.

The Mexico friendly for the US National Team a few weeks ago was merely a money grab for the parties involved. Sure it was Jurgen Klinsmann’s first match with the US but he barely got anytime to really build the team he wanted before hand.

This time things are different. With a week or so of training under their belts, not the day or so they had before Mexico, Klinsmann has had a little more time to devote to seeing his roster play out.

Tonight the US takes on Costa Rica and will then travel to Europe to face Belgium next week. Two big friendlies that should show us all where Klinsmann is taking us.

The roster call ups showed that Klinsmann is trying new things out. FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea is likely going to get more playing time on the wings, and as will Jose Francisco Torres. Injuries and club team issues for guys like Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones and Ricardo Clark helped pave the path for some fresher faces in the US camp.

I’d expect to see Tim Chandler back in the line up tonight as well, his height will be an advantage in the back for the US and will help counter Real Salt Lake striker Alvaro Saborio.

Clint Dempsey won’t be available for this match with Costa Rica but he will be with the team in Belgium. Not having him will create another opening in the midfield.

For Costa Rica, things aren’t easy to figure out. The team is in a state of flux as they are about to get a new manager next week. They’ll be without Bryan Ruiz for this one too which weakens their attack. Not seeing players like Ruiz in the lineup for the Ticos means the pressure on the US to get a convincing win.

This is a game the US can and should win. The big deal will be to see if Klinsmann can lead this squad in a more convincing and positive manner than what Bob Bradley would have done in this situation. Klinsmann wants to push the US to a new level and for me it really does begin tonight against Costa Rica.

LA also has a CONCACAF Champions League date against Mexican side Monarcas Morelia on Sept. 13. that he will be sticking preparing for as well.

Donovan is the second MLS player announced who will miss at least one of the two upcoming friendlies for club obligations. The Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman will play in RSL’s home matchup against Philadelphia on Saturday instead of suiting up against Costa Rica, but he will join the US team against Belgium.

We shouldn’t be too shocked by this news considering the playoff race going on and the CCL matches for Donovan and the Galaxy. I wouldn’t be shocked to hear someone like Brek Shea do the same. Some of these MLS players have a lot of games on their plate and going off to Europe does complicate matters a bit for their clubs.

Clint Dempsey and Stever Cherundolo are expected to join the Americans in Europe for the Belgium game, both will be staying abroad during the Costa Rica match.

Jurgen Klinsmann's debut tonight overshadows the Mexican rivalry. (Photo from MLSSoccer.com)

It is a dawn of a new day for the US Men’s National Team. Jurgen Klinsmann’s first game as the US coach is a big one, against arch-rival Mexico. There is no way of getting around it, this one will be anything but friendly.

Throw away the result a few weeks ago in the Gold Cup to this Mexican side because both will be fairly different in this contest. With Klinsmann involved now with the US, things will change and we saw that already with the roster announcement last week. There is a new spark or intrigue to this match that wasn’t there when it was announced after the Gold Cup.

We know what Mexico brings to the table, minus Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who is out still with a head injury. Pablo Barrera will be called to carry the offensive load as he found the back of the net twice against this US squad at the Gold Cup final. I also look for Giovani dos Santos to carry a load of the offensive weight in this one as well for El Tri.

The US will likely see a different lineup, formation, the works tonight. I’d look for some of the usual faces to start for Klinsmann tonight like Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, and Steve Cherundolo. With no Clint Dempsey or Jozy Alitdore up top, expect some guys like Freddy Adu, Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo to get a shot.

We know defensively things will go a little differently with Klinsmann than it did with Bob Bradley. We should see Bocanegra and Cherundolo in the back but I think someone like Health Pearce will get a start. Or possibly Michael Orozco.

Klinsmann is noted as saying he wants to bring a nice attacking style of play to the US team. You should expect just that tonight too though I’d imagine it will take a few games for his style of play to really kick in with this bunch.

Expectations are going to be high for Klinsmann but let’s just remember one thing about tonight’s game, the result really does not matter. Yes it is Mexico, I get that, but really we shouldn’t worry so much of the result of this game. Good or bad we just need to know where this team is headed under Klinsmann. Tonight, we should definitely see that.

Donovan was expected to start for the league All-Stars but instead will sit it out. With the Galaxy in the midst of a stretch that sees them play 11 times in 42 days, having Donovan miss the All-Star game is probably in the club’s best interest as well as the player’s.

MLS will still have a fair share of stars for the game this week but losing Donovan does hurt a decent bit. Still, its a worthless game that isn’t worth Donovan taking a risk on with so many games ahead.

Talk about a lump in your throat after watching this.

Whether it's from Freddy Adu or Clint Dempsey, all I want is a trophy. (Getty Images)

Let’s be real honest, the last month or so for the US Men’s National Team hasn’t been real pretty now has it? Wins over Canada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica and Panama are what the US can hang their hats on at the moment. Sure, that’s four wins that put the US in the final of the Gold Cup but are we really impressed with any of it so far? I don’t see too many of you jumping for joy at the moment at the way things have played out.

Yet here we are. Another CONCACAF Gold Cup and another finals clash with our rivals to the south, Mexico.

I may take heat over this but it really doesn’t matter how the USMNT does it this Saturday, as long as they win it, I’ll be happy. I’ll take another ugly performance or even a half-assed effort in the sake of downing Mexico.

It hasn’t been all that fun during the Gold Cup now has it? Ugly results while Mexico is putting a pounding on little teams left and right. Sure we had a little laugh at their poisoned chicken situation that saw a few guys get removed from the team. But that didn’t make a difference really for them.

We’ve questioned Bob Bradley and his tactics. Asked why he wouldn’t sub some players sooner. Pondered the why’s and the what if’s to no end really. No matter the many ways we’ve looked at things it always comes to the same result with this bunch, it just isn’t going to be sexy. Style points have never been Bradley’s thing either so at this point, expecting them is out of the question.

And for that I say, just win.

Winning usually forgives all transgressions in sports. For Bradley a Gold Cup win isn’t needed on his resume but it certainly won’t hurt it.

And for that I say, just win.

For Bradley it is go all in or just go home. Pull out no stops in this one and just get the result. I don’t care if Landon Donovan comes off the bench again in this one (hey it seems to work nicely). I don’t mind if even Freddy Adu makes another appearance. Just as long as the win comes with it and we see the US beat Mexico for another important trophy.

(Sure they beat the US in 2009 but as we all know that tournament was meaningless. Why CONCACAF continues to do this tournament every-other-year continues to baffle me and that will be another topic for another day. )

We know beating Mexico is never an easy thing no matter where the game is played (except for Columbus). In LA I’d be willing to be the stadium will be 60-40 or even 70-30, Mexican-American fans. Just a hunch. So rule out the home field advantage nonsense. So why not make it even sweeter for those Americans there to see the win.

At the end of the day, just win. That’s it. That’s all I care about.

I won’t go into tactics for the match or break down who I think should start or not. I’m not going to throw out some crazy stats on certain players (I’ll do that over at SBNation.com though later on, so watch out!). Just like the comments have said throughout, all I care about is the win. I can put aside how ugly this Cup run has been with a win Saturday at the Rose Bowl. I can throw away a few #fireBradley tweets saves on my laptop with a win.

Yup, for me, just win.