Major League Soccer released its full schedule today http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/new-rivalries-highlight-2011-mls-regular-season-schedule, but fans don’t yet know how many teams will make the playoffs this season, or if there will be wild-card slots again in 2011. League spokesperson Will Kuhns stated Thursday that “MLS is reviewing the playoff format and playoff schedule for 2011 and will announce details soon.”

Trialist Gianluca Zavarise scored and was sent off as Toronto FC lost 3-1 to Dinamo Zagreb Thursday in their final training match in Turkey. Despite being without veteran Igor Biscan — the former Liverpool man was out with injury — and Brazilian-born midfielder Sammir, who has been linked to a move to Fiorentina, the Croats triumphed in a game that …

Both the Montreal Impact and FC Edmonton will have full sanctions to participate in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, said Impact owner Joey Saputo in an NASL conference call Wednesday. He said the indications he has from the CSA is that the format for the four-team NCC will be released in the next couple of weeks, and that the Impact and FCE would be seen as Div. 2 clubs. But, he is confident that all eight NASL teams will have Div. 2 status after Saturday’s United States Soccer Federation vote in Las Vegas. The NASL expects the USSF board to approve its re-application for Div. 2 status on Friday, and then have the membership ratify that vote on Saturday.

For the second time in three preseason Arizona games, the Vancouver Whitecaps faced CONCACAF Champions League opposition. And, just as the Whitecaps beat Real Salt Lake 2-1, they triumphed over the Columbus Crew by the same score on Tuesday.

As preseason games go, Toronto FC’s 1-0 win over Red Star Belgrade Sunday in Turkey was significant. Usually, when facing European opposition in friendlies or preseason games, MLS teams are used to seeing squads filled with “B” team players and prospects. But Red Star Belgrade fielded what was close to a full-strength squad — and only used three subs, as if the Toronto FC match was a regular Serbian league game. The club resumes its Serbian league schedule Feb. 27 after the end of the winter break.

With seven members of his national championship side off to the pro ranks, coach Caleb Porter has to replenish the cupboards at the University of Akron. What Porter has established in his five years has helped the cause. “We’re always going to have to work hard,” Porter says of recruiting. “Everybody wants those (top recruits) guys and we’re going to have to work to get them. I think our biggest sell right now is not so much that we’ve won but it’s the way we play. The way we play helps to develop players for the next level.

On a day designed for new Toronto FC head coach and technical director Aron Winter to look at fresh faces, a couple of veterans were the talking point of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade in Turkey. TFC defender Nana Attakora scored just six minutes in and Dwayne De Rosario, TFC’s all-time leading scorer, missed a penalty in the Reds’ first preseason friendly of 2011. Partizan fans, eager to see the team’s new striker pairing of Prince Tagoe and Dominic Aidiyah — both nabbed in the transfer window, and both played for the first 45 minutes —had to settle for a penalty goal from Nemanja Tomic.

Niagara Falls, Ont. teenager Russell Teibert scored and then delivered the corner that led to Terry Dunfield’s winner as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 in their first preseason game. The match, held in Arizona, was broken into three 45-minute segments to allow both clubs the chance to get as many prospects on the field as possible.

Major League Soccer continually talks about the importance of having its teams succeed in international competition but, once again, the league has placed its All-Star game in direct conflict with the CONCACAF Champions League. MLS announced that it will host its annual All-Star Game July 27 at Red Bull Arena. But, as has been the case with the last two All-Star events, it clashes with the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. CONCACAF has already slated July 26-28 as the window for the first legs of the opening round.

With the Red Bull Arena being awarded the MLS All-Star Game, not MLS Cup, there is plenty of food for thought about who is going to host the final game of the season. If MLS is to retain its system of awarding the game to a neutral site — something the league reviewed in 2009 but decided to continue on with after Seattle fans packed the house on a rainy Sunday November night to see Real Salt Lake take the title in penalty kicks over the Los Angeles Galaxy — New York is out for 2011. Commissioner Don Garber said the MLS Cup “could be at some point” awarded to the New York area, but he and the league are concerned about the cold November weather. That means the league may have learned something from holding a night game in Toronto last season, where there were thousands of empty seats. Temperatures near the freezing mark and bitter breezes off Lake Ontario made the game a chilly one. MLS Cup was held in cold-weather venues before, such as Foxboro, Mass. and Columbus, but those were day games. And that’s a massive difference.