MONTREAL – When Santos Laguna step on the BMO Field playing surface on Wednesday night, the Montreal Impact will actually be cheering Toronto FC – but just this one time, and for pragmatic reasons only.

Impact president Joey Saputo explained on Wednesday how a good showing from TFC in the CONCACAF Champions League opens the door for more chances of continental success for his own club. The Impact have not won the Canadian Championship – the sole route to CCL action for MLS’ Canadian troika – since 2008.

SALT LAKE CITY – Throughout preseason, Real Salt Lake have experienced injuries just like any other squad. Unfortunately for RSL, those injuries appear to be lingering and are almost exclusively among key starters.

“I’m not sure that my concern could have increased,” head coach Jason Kreis told media after training on Friday about his anxiety regarding the situation. “It was at maximum level the entire time. It’s going to continue that way.”

As First Kick, presented by Dick's Sporting Goods approaches, MLSsoccer.com is marking each passing day with a different statistic, observation or talking point, setting the stage for the beginning of the 2012 MLS campaign.

21 – Starts by Aurélien Collin for Sporting Kansas City in 2011

From the moment Sporting Kansas City signed Aurélien Collin, a specific phrase began popping up when manager Peter Vermes spoke about his newest addition.

It’s been a long few years for Eddie Johnson and his family. The sometime US national team striker bounced around Europe for three seasons, mostly failing to find the net and, consequently, failing to find a home.

With the Seattle Sounders trading for him on Friday, a day after he agreed to terms with MLS, Johnson sounded sincere during a conference call with reporters when he said he was happy to be back in the league that gave him his start after nearly a year off from professional soccer.