But, even with the 12 per cent discount, does this mean that ticket prices have gone down for 2013, or is this a case of the marketing shell game, when the price goes up — and then fans are offered a discount on that new, inflated cost?

Make no mistake about it — the news of a National Soccer Development Centre in Vancouver could represent a major shift in the focus of our soccer programs.

With the Reds being just a single point from being officially eliminated from the MLS playoff race, the club announced Wednesday that Frings will need hip surgery and will miss the rest of the season. He joins Danny Koevermans, who is out with a torn knee.

The Argentine forward was named NASL Player of the Week for the second consecutive time on Monday. He got 17 of the 19 first-place votes from the members of the North American Soccer Reporters.

Bernier was named Player of the Month based on second-place votes cast by the members of the North American Soccer Reporters. Both he and Seattle Sounder Fredy Montero, who scored six times in August, got eight first-place votes.

Actually, the Whitecaps offered danger only to the fans who suffered through a match where two wonder strikes -- from the Galaxy's Juninho and David Beckham -- acted as lipstick on a pig of a game that was dreadful on the eyes.

So, on Sept. 1, with two months of regular-season soccer left to play, TFC is a single point from being mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase. That is the result of Saturday's 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City.

Renteria was left wide open in the penalty area to direct Higuain's cross over Impact keeper Troy Perkins in the 92nd minute. And Higuain was given acres of space down the left side in which to engineer a cross, as veteran Alessandro Nesta inexplicably decided to lay off rather than take away the Argentine's space on the wing. It

Stephen Hart offered no surprises in naming the Canadian men's naional-team roster for Sept. 7 and 11 World Cup qualifiers against Panama.

And, on Wednesday, the team announced that it would be dropping ticket prices for the 2013 season, something owner Joey Saputo hinted at on Twitter the day before. Tickets have dropped 15 per cent on average, while season-ticket holders will get what the Impact is calling a “10 per cent rebate” on 2012 packages.