FanHouse Toronto FC

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.

The nine games played on the penultimate weekend of the Bundesliga season featured average crowds of more than 50,000. I was fortunate enough to attend the one with the largest (about 74,000), a draw between Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04 at the historic Olympiastadion that ended the capital club's quest for its first championship in nearly 80 years.

The atmosphere was electric both inside and outside the stadium, the supporters colorful and loud. The scene at HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg last Wednesday, where I was among the 48,000 who saw Hamburger SV defeat VfL Bochum, 3-1, was similar. It was enjoyable, but it was hard not to feel a bit wistful at the same time, knowing that the game in the U.S. may never achieve that kind of prominence.

Thanks to the hard work of a few enterprising, internet-savvy fans -- or perhaps owing to a well-timed leak from the front office -- we can now relax and enjoy Monday's unveiling of the name and logo of Philadelphia's MLS expansion team rather than go into it with a sense of dread.

According to captured (or leaked) shots of logos and merchandise (see right), the club entering the league next season will be nicknamed the Union and will wear a circular, blue-and-gold badge featuring a coiled snake and 13 stars. The symbols are rich in Philly tradition and strike a perfect balance between the outdated, cartoonish logos introduced at MLS' foundation and embarrassing, Euro-poseur names like Real Salt Lake.

Assuming this logo is authentic, it represents a positive step in MLS's effort to define its image.