FanHouse CONCACAF Champions League

Even though we've had a first division league for nearly 14 years and a national team that's on the verge of qualifying for its sixth straight World Cup, soccer still occupies a pretty peripheral spot on the American sports landscape.

For that reason, every bit of good news matters. Even if they're not headline worthy and don't 't get the mainstream sports media and fanbase talking, small steps forward are a sign of bigger steps to come. And this week has included several, giving US soccer supporters reason to be optimistic as crucial qualifiers approach and as the MLS regular season reaches its climax.

The smiles on the faces of D.C. United's players late last night at the Estadio Cuscatlan sent a welcome signal, as did coach Tom Soehn's lineup decision.

The club's leadership and marketers, its supporters, the rest of Major League Soccer, and the large number of people throughout this country who claim to like the sport may be too distracted by the vacationing superstars from Europe to care, but at least United's players and coaches seemed to last night. They got a result in a match that actually mattered, overcoming conditions that had proven too much for many predecessors to advance to the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. In so doing, they proved that a select few people in American soccer still have their priorities in order.

I half-jokingly asked D.C. United's veteran midfielder and sage Ben Olsen on Monday afternoon whether he had "Champions League fever." He said "yes", and that he was excited about the buzz created during a summer that so far has featured the U.S. national team's amazing run to the Confederations Cup final and a slew of high-profile exhibitions drawing massive crowds, and which will continue with Wednesday's All-Star Game against Everton.

No, I clarified. The CONCACAF Champions League. The official continental club tournament that United will kick off Tuesday night against El Salvador's L.A. Firpo; the one that offers a shot at international glory and a berth in the Club World Cup.

"I haven't caught that yet," Olsen said.

He is the oldest player on the U.S. national team's latest World Cup qualifying roster and was its best in the Americans' first away match in the CONCACAF hexagonal, a come-from-behind 2-2 draw in Sal Salvador in which he set up the first goal and scored the second.

Unfortunately, Frankie Hejduk will not be continuing his renaissance tomorrow night in Costa Rica. The national team has confirmed that the 34-year-old defender will miss the match with a strained groin, forcing the Americans to do without valuable experience at a venue where they will need it so desperately.