Kick Off: MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City meet the President; RSL down Republic

News  |  Videos  |  Schedule & Stats  |  Clubs  |  Fantasy  |  Shop Forward To A Friend Kick Off: MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City meet the President; RSL down Republic Here are the top 15 stories everyone's talking about this morning: 1. GOOD WITH THE BAD While Sporting Kansas City prepare for their visit to the White House (WATCH IT LIVE at 1:30ET here), their injury woes got a little bit worse on Tuesday with the news that teenager Erik Palmer-Brown has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. 2. BUSINESS IS BUSINESS Mark Watson's future as head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes remains unclear as a result of last week's rumors about Dominic Kinnear's return. How does Watson feel about that? According to the 44-year-old, it's just "part of the business." 3. REAL SALT LAKE TAKE DOWN THE REPUBLIC The Sacramento Republic may have been experiencing a USL PRO championship hangover after falling 2-0 to Real Salt Lake (watch highlights here) in a friendly on Tuesday which offered a number of the MLS club's fringe players a chance to make an impression. 4. POGATETZ PLAYS IN SCRIMMAGE The Columbus Crew also played a scrimmage against the NASL's Indy Eleven on Tuesday in which new signing Emanuel Pogatetz got his first game action with the team. The match also featured 17-year-old prospect Ben Swanson, whom head coach Gregg Berhalter revealed will continue training with the Crew indefinitely. 5. OBA THE SALESMAN Seattle Sounders players got a first look at their newest teammate on Tuesday after Onyekachi Apam finally joined up with his new team. While the Nigerian defender took part in his first training session, Obafemi Martins is claiming the credit for convincing the defender to join his team. 6. MUST-WIN FOR THE UNION? While Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin stopped short of calling Thursday's game against the Chicago Fire (8 pm ET, ESPN2) a must-win, he surely knows its importance. Which makes it all the more concerning that Sebastien Le Toux remains a serious injury doubt after limping out of the game against D.C United. So what options does Curtin have up front? 7. WAITING FOR DEFOE Having scored 11 goals in 16 regular-season games, Jermain Defoe has had quite the debut season in MLS. But he has not started consecutive games since mid-July and has not played at all since Aug. 23 due to injury, a stretch which could be set to change this weekend after Defoe returned to training. 8. BODEN SET TO RE-SIGN WITH ORLANDO All-USL PRO left back Luke Boden is set to become the latest player to officially continue with Orlando City into their first season in MLS in a move seen as a no-brainer for both parties. 9. OLYMPIC PREPARATIONS As the US Soccer Federation begins preparations for Olympic qualifying in 2016, hopefully with a better outcome than in 2012, the US U-23 national team will take on Brazil's U-23s in a friendly next month. 10. HONDURAN SQUAD ANNOUNCED We may not know the US squad for the upcoming October friendlies yet, but we at least know who they might be playing against after Honduras announced a squad which includes five MLS players. 11. IBARRA ON POTENTIAL CALL-UP Miguel Ibarra has caught a lot of attention since the news that the Minnesota United star was on Jurgen Klinsmann's preliminary squad for the upcoming US national team friendlies. While that does not guarantee Ibarra a spot on the final squad, the 24-year-old has talked about what a call-up would mean to him. 12. TURNING A PROFIT Want further proof that soccer is on the rise in North America? The US Soccer Federation's latest external audits show an increase in both income and spending for both national teams but, perhaps more importantly, the figures show that US Soccer actually turned a small profit on the US Open Cup this year. 13. SEARCH TEAM While Fulham are currently managerless, their new coach will play a big role in the future of US prospect Emerson Hyndman. With that in mind, Brian McBride, former US, MLS and Fulham star, has been named to the five-man search committee tasked with finding a new manager. 14. VIABLE VEGAS? There has been a lot of talk lately about Las Vegas and its attempts to land an MLS franchise, yet what are the chances and what needs to happen in order to make it real? The Guardian takes a long look at both the pros and cons of the proposed franchise. 15. CONGRATULATIONS! Injury may have ruled Todd Dunivant out for most of the LA Galaxy's season, but at least things are going right for the defender off the pitch. Congratulations! MLSsoccer.com Musts March to the Match: Why D.C. United have the edge atop the Eastern Conference Robinson: Whitecaps not as deep, but can "without a doubt" compete MLS Power Rankings, Week 29: Sporting Kansas City continue to fall