While playing time has been scarce this season, Tony Taylor took advantage of a midweek scrimmage to try to force his way with a hat trick against Benfica "B".

Newly promoted Estoril sit in sixth place after nine league games largely thanks to an impressive offense that has produced 15 goals. In fact, only the league's top three teams, Porto, Benfica and Braga, have eclipsed Estoril's scoring mark.

Brendan ranks the US troops after the Americans eked out a draw on the match's final kick.

Jurgen Klinsmann took an experimental roster to face Fabio Capello's high flying Russians, and fittingly, the hosts were the real aggressors throughout the match.

After almost single-handedly keeping Hønefoss alive for much of the season, Steve Clark might have a hand in relegating his team.

The Norges Fotballforbund (NFF) ruled last Friday to deduct one point from Hønefoss in the 2012 standings and levied an $8,670 fine against the team for fielding Clark in 12 matches illegally.

The USMNT roster for the friendly against Russia is full of surprises that offer a glimpse of Jurgen Klinsmann's vision for the team in 2013.

The bottom line is that there are several new players who now have the opportunity to prove themselves on the big stage. There are also a few veterans of the team who could be on thin ice and a strong performance against Russia is needed to be in the picture moving forward.

So with the USMNT game against Russia fast approaching, let's look at a potential roster.

Now this roster is now what I think Jurgen Klinsmann will do, it is what I would do if I were him. Now it's hard to make predictions yet since we do not know the results of the MLS playoffs and that does affect player availability.

Has Jurgen Klinsmann found his ideal central midfield pairing in Danny Williams and Michael Bradley? It certainly looked like it last night.

With Jermaine Jones suspended Tuesday night due to yellow cards, Bradley and Williams teamed up for their second straight World Cup Qualifier and looked like the fluid midfield pairing Klinsmann has missed.

With a convincing win over Guatemala, the stress of this round of qualifying melted away as advancement to the hex was secured.

The U.S. got off to a jittery start but they pulled it back and played well for the rest of the game. Despite some confusion on the backline, it was overall a fine performance.

Former US U-20 forward Peri Marosevic has signed with NK Junak Sinj in the Druga HNL, the second level of Croatian soccer.

Marosevic, who was born in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, had been out of contract since turning down an offer from Toronto FC at the end of the 2011 MLS season.

Nearly four months after going on loan to Guatemala's Comunicaciones, Moises Hernandez has made his debut.

He recently made his first appearance when he came on as a 76th minute sub for the club in a 2-0 victory over Marquense on October 6. Comunicaciones are currently leading Guatemala's Liga Nacional and have a six point cushion over second place Municipal.

With injuries to multiple Americans before World Cup qualification dates, Jurgen Klinsmann will undoubtedly be looking for replacements to fill voids.

The issues began when Landon Donovan (knee) and Brek Shea (abdominal strain) were both announced to be unfit for the upcoming matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala. Shea was likely to see time at left midfield, at least according to the players selected and where he would best fit in. Donovan would have seen time at forward or central midfield, depending how Klinsmann decided to situate his attackers.