Jonny Magallón (right) and Chivas will try to take out Jaime Moreno and D.C. United in the second leg of their Champions Cup semifinal. Tony Quinn/MLS/WireImage.com

Aside from its home-field advantage, Chivas has a clear edge over the MLS Supporters' Shield holders with its roster alone. Chivas' core has been together for much longer than its American counterpart's.

While D.C. changed coaches and dealt away several of its high-profile players, Chivas has seen many of the same faces defend its colors for several years. D.C. also is toward the end of its preseason while Chivas has been playing essentially non-stop since July.

Chivas has a seemingly less difficult time than Pachuca. Los Tuzos limped out of Houston with a 2-0 deficit in their first leg and now must equal the result to have a chance of advancing to the final.

If form holds, though, and Chivas and Houston advance, the meeting would be rather intriguing. Like Chivas, the Dynamo are the current American titleholders. The final would be played in April, after the start of the MLS season. While Houston would not be in midseason form, the club would clearly not be in preseason form either.

But first things first. Despite the positive vibes the American clubs took from their first-leg encounters, both series are far from over.

Mailbag

I'm searching for the words. Yeah, I'm not sure if it's "eat crow" or "humble pie" or maybe both? You gave the Dynamo and D.C. no chance.
-- Jonathan Oteh, Seoul, South Korea

And I continue to give D.C. no chance. United might be a quality side come midseason, but right now it has as many question marks as any club in Major League Soccer. Peter Nowak, Freddy Adu and Alecko Eskandarian are three vital cogs from the '06 campaign who are no longer with the club. D.C. is still bringing in players, such as Fred, and thus hasn't settled on its roster. Chivas, on the other hand, is simply trying to build on what has been so far a successful campaign.

Then there's the whole 26-3 score line -- you know, the aggregate scores of the seven previous MLS vs. Mexico encounters played on Mexican soil.

But I do think Houston has the upper hand against Pachuca, despite MLS' pathetic history. Dominic Kinnear's clubs always give an honest effort and will undoubtedly be focused on the task at hand. However, Pachuca is no slouch, and if Houston goes into Estadio Hidalgo with anything less than its best effort, it will be another all-Mexico final.

Houston won its game on merit, and there were moments (especially during the first half) where D.C. United was the better team and controlled its match with Chivas. The late equalizer was not a fluke.

Is D.C. United a consistently better team than Chivas? Right now, maybe not -- but they're not "cattle being led to slaughter" either. As with your predictions before the recent U.S. 2-0 victory over El Tri (and your well-stated, but still deserved eating-of-crow after), you might want to rethink the consistent and premature boasting of "Mexican soccer good, U.S. soccer bad" in the future.
-- Roger Balettie, Austin, Texas

Please don't lump the U.S. national team's success with MLS clubs' advancement. Yes, the U.S. has grown in leaps and bounds because of MLS, but that doesn't automatically make the Kansas City Wizards and FC Dallas burgeoning powerhouses.

MLS clubs must do what the U.S. has done and gain consistent and positive results against those from south of the border. The quality of MLS is better now than it was even a few years ago, but MLS clubs must prove it on the field first before fans can start clamoring for respect that isn't necessarily warranted.

The only thing that separates teams from Mexico and teams from MLS are history and fan support. You may complain that Chivas and Pachuca are involved in too many campaigns, but that would just mean they should be way sharper than the MLS teams who are early in their preseason and only have these CCC games as anything meaningful.
-- Elias Ulvi, Anchorage, Alaska

All that's missing is history and fan support? You act like those are inconsequential things. Many people seem so eager to raise MLS to Mexico's level and, again, while it is certainly improving with each passing season, you can't simply minimize 100 years of history with one win and one draw.