Musket Rounds: Sene Hurt, CCL, Messi Is Unreal, And More

Only two days until the New England Revolution get to kick a ball in anger against a league opponent in a match that matters! While we're all looking forward and counting down the minutes until we can watch New England pound on San Jose, the world of soccer has been continuing around us, and yesterday was a pretty exciting day. Lionel Messi set a UEFA Champions League record, and three MLS teams put up some pretty good showings in the CONCACAF Champions League. Without further ado, here are today's Rounds.

Revolution Links

New Revs big man Sene doubtful for San Jose clash | MLSsoccer.com
Apparently Sene's injury is due to some knee swelling after a knock he picked up against LA. He hasn't been training, and you have to imagine that another cross-country flight is unlikely given the effect that travel tends to have on swelling.

Revs Vets Ready for New Season - New England Soccer Today
Veterans Shalrie Joseph and Matt Reis have adjusted to life under former teammate Jay Heaps. Both players are optimistic going into the 2012 season.

Jay Heaps born to coach Revolution - The Boston Globe
Frank Dell'Apa penned a long profile piece on Jay Heaps and the task ahead of him as the 2012 MLS season is about to begin.

CCL Links

CCL Recap: Donovan, LA rally for 2-2 draw at Toronto | MLSsoccer.com
Toronto FC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead at the Rogers Center with some of the most inspired play the club has ever shown in its entire existence. Still, the Galaxy's quality was too much as the league champions rallied for a vital away draw.

CCL Recap: Sounders top Santos 2-1 in QF first leg | MLSsoccer.com
Seattle represented MLS well against Santos Laguna by running out 2-1 winners at CenturyLink last night. Santos could very well be in a position of advantage going back to Mexico, though, with that away goal in their back pocket. David Estrada and Brad Evans had the Sounders goals, while USA World Cup vet Herc Gomez scored for Santos.

A Toronto fan threw a beer can at David Beckham, who still got the last laugh | Dirty Tackle - Yahoo! Sports
I was watching when this happened. Beckham complained to the ref and to security about the beer can, threw it away, and promptly delivered the corner that led to Landon Donovan's equalizer. In a match where Toronto was doing so much right, it took the reprehensible actions of just one fan to put a black mark on the whole affair. But it was kinda funny.

CCL: Arena pleased with comeback from near disaster | MLSsoccer.com
Bruce Arena had better be happy with the comeback. The Galaxy are the defending MLS champs with more [expensive] talent than any team in America, and they were taken to task in the first half by a team that's never even made the playoffs. And that's CANADIAN.

Other Soccer Links

Soccer By Ives: Messi's five-goal masterpiece
There are no words.

Clavijo joins Dallas as technical director - SoccerAmerica Daily
Paul Kennedy reports that former Revolution head coach Fernando Clavijo has left Traffic Sports to become FC Dallas' technical director.