In some non-Red Bulls-related news, the drawing for the preliminary round and group pairings of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League were held today in New York. I'll touch on a couple of points of interest to MLS fans here.
First off, there is the news that El Salvador has been suspended from all competition by FIFA because of governmental interference with the Salvadoran soccer federation's affairs. They have until June 8 to fall back into compliance. As a result, the two spots in the CCL allocated to El Salvador are in flux and will be reassigned to other Central American teams if necessary. Therefore, the unknown teams were drawn today as "C.A. 11" and "C.A. 12."
MLS teams were drawn this way:
Los Angeles Galaxy will face the Puerto Rico Islanders of the NASL in the home-and-away Preliminary Round. The Seattle Sounders have been drawn against "Central America 12."
Real Salt Lake, as MLS Cup Champion, gets an automatic bid to the Group Stage. They were drawn into group A with Arabe Unido (PAN), and will be joined by the winner of the preliminary match between Cruz Azul (MEX) and San Francisco FC (PAN), and the winner of the match between the Canadian champion (either Toronto or Vancouver) and Motagua (HON).
Columbus Crew, the 2009 Supporters' Shield winner, was drawn directly into Group B, with Municipal (GUA), and either San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) or the Mexican Clausura runner-up (either Santos or Toluca), and either Brujas FC (CRC) or Joe Public FC (TRI).
To see the remainder of the draw, including what groups L.A. and Seattle will end up in if they move past the preliminary round, check out the CCL Website.
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