Today could be a big day for the U.S.’s Maurice Edu. The 24-year-old Glasgow Rangers midfielder has a good chance of starting in a huge game at Manchester United (2:45 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Net) on the opening group-stage day of the UEFA Champions League, the most important club soccer tournament in the world.

If Edu plays it would mark his Champions League debut. And when you look at the history, not many U.S. players have had the chance to participate in the group stage of Champions League: 11 by my count (see below) since the tournament went to its current format in 1992. Only two U.S. national team players are involved in the Champions League group stage this season: Edu and Schalke’s Jermaine Jones, who is expected to make his U.S. debut next month. (AC Milan’s Oguchi Onyewu and Braga’s Gale Agbossoumonde were left off their teams’ Champions League rosters.)

In compiling the list of U.S. Champions League participants from the group stage and beyond, a few interesting things stood out:

• DaMarcus Beasley has easily been the most successful Yank in the Champions League. Beasley has had 22 appearances in the group stage and beyond (14 more than the next-highest American, Claudio Reyna), and he has played in the most important Champions League games of any American, participating in the 2004-05 semifinals with PSV Eindhoven.

• The U.S. presence in the Champions League has taken a step back in recent years. In the last four seasons, U.S. players have combined for just 18 appearances in the group stage and beyond, compared to 35 in the four seasons before that. If the U.S. national team wants to take the next step on the world stage, then U.S. players will have to get a bigger presence in the planet’s biggest club tournament.

• The first U.S. player to participate in the Champions League remains the only one to own a winner’s medal. Jovan Kirovski had only two group-stage appearances for Borussia Dortmund in 1996-97, and while he didn’t play in knockout rounds he did become the first American to score in the Champions League on December 10, 1996 against Sparta Prague. Now 34, Kirovski never played in a World Cup for the U.S., but he did score for the Los Angeles Galaxy last weekend against Columbus.

Here’s the list of U.S. players who have participated in the Champions League group stage and beyond:

2010-11

Maurice Edu, Glasgow Rangers

Jermaine Jones, Schalke

2009-10

DaMarcus Beasley, Glasgow Rangers (2 appearances, eliminated group stage)

2008-09

None

2007-08

Jermaine Jones, Schalke (8 appearances, eliminated quarterfinals)

DaMarcus Beasley, Glasgow Rangers (5 appearances, eliminated group stage)

2006-07

Benny Feilhaber, Hamburg (3 appearances, eliminated group stage)

2005-06

DaMarcus Beasley, PSV Eindhoven (5 appearances, eliminated Round of 16)

2004-05

DaMarcus Beasley, PSV Eindhoven (10 appearances, eliminated semifinals)

Robbie Russell, Rosenborg (4 appearances, eliminated group stage)

Jermaine Jones, Bayer Leverkusen (2 appearances, eliminated Round of 16)

Landon Donovan, Bayer Leverkusen (2 appearances, eliminated Round of 16)

2003-04

Tim Howard, Manchester United (7 appearances, eliminated Round of 16)

2002-03

John O’Brien, Ajax (5 appearances, eliminated quarterfinals)

2001-02

None

2000-01

Claudio Reyna, Glasgow Rangers (4 appearances, eliminated group stage)

1999-2000

Tony Sanneh, Hertha Berlin (7 appearances, eliminated second group stage)

Frankie Hejduk, Bayer Leverkusen (5 appearances, eliminated group stage)

Claudio Reyna, Glasgow Rangers (4 appearances, eliminated group stage)

1998-99

None

1997-98

None

1996-97

Jovan Kirovski, Borussia Dortmund (2 appearances, won Champions League)

WHAT TO WATCH

If you have DirecTV, then you’re in luck when it comes to watching Champions League games: All of them are available in HD. The Fox networks also are broadcasting some games, and if you want to see a Champions League highlight show it’s on Fox Soccer Channel at midnight ET tonight.

• Manchester United-Glasgow Rangers (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Net (USMNT Maurice Edu)

• Twente-Inter Milan (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, FSC

• Werder Bremen-Tottenham Hotspur (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Plus

• Lyon-Schalke (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, DirecTV Ch 482 (USMNT Jermaine Jones)

• Barcelona-Panathinaikos (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, DirecTV Ch 481

• Benfica-Hapoel Tel Aviv (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, DirecTV Ch 483

• Bursaspor-Valencia (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, DirecTV Ch 484

• Copenhagen-Rubin Kazan (UEFA Champions League), 2:45 p.m. ET, DirecTV Ch 485

• Columbus-Joe Public (CONCACAF Champions League), 8 p.m. ET, FSC

• Monterrey-Marathón (CONCACAF Champions League), 8 p.m. ET, TeleFutura

• Saprissa-Seattle (CONCACAF Champions League), 10 p.m. ET, FSC

• Municipal-Santos (CONCACAF Champions League), 10 p.m. ET, TeleFutura

MAILBAG TIME!

I’ll be taking your questions again in Wednesday’s Planet Fútbol column, so feel free to send them (along with your name and location) to mailbagwahl@gmail.com.

Defender Oguchi Onyewu will try to shake off the rust that was evident in his performance against the Czechs. (Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA — Five things to watch for in the U.S.’s final domestic tune-up before the World Cup, a friendly at Lincoln Financial Field against Turkey on Saturday (ESPN2, Galavisión, 2 p.m. ET):

• Will Oguchi Onyewu be as rusty as he looked against the Czechs? Granted, it was Onyewu’s first competitive game in seven months, but it was a scary sight for U.S. fans when Tomas Sivok (who’s four inches shorter than Onyewu) leaped above the rooted 6’4” American to head home the first Czech goal. One of Onyewu’s strengths during last year’s Confederations Cup was his ability to clear aerial threats from the U.S. box, and he has to show U.S. coach Bob Bradley that he can still get in the right positions and trust his repaired left knee enough to leap into the air for headers. Onyewu did look fine on the ball on Tuesday, but time is running out to prove he’s 100% with England and Wayne Rooney looming on June 12 in South Africa.

• Who will start up top for the U.S. next to Jozy Altidore? I expect to see all the U.S. first-teamers in this game, and the options for the second forward position are wide open in the absence of Charlie Davies. If it was my choice, I’d move Clint Dempsey from right midfield up top and insert Stuart Holden on the right flank. But considering that Bradley picked three forwards besides Altidore for his World Cup roster, he might try auditioning Edson Buddle and/or Herculez Gómez in that spot to see how the newbies interact with Altidore in a game situation. I could even see Buddle getting one half and Gómez getting the other. Another possibility is using Altidore as a lone striker, although Bradley has said repeatedly that his team plays better with a two-man front line.

• Will Turkey be firing on all cylinders for new coach Guus Hiddink? Unlike the Czechs, who were missing eight first-teamers, Turkey has brought most of its best players. They will no doubt be looking to impress superstar coach Hiddink, who takes over permanently on August 1 but will be in Philadelphia to watch the game. Several of these Turkish players starred on the highly entertaining team that reached the Euro 2008 semifinals, including Nihat Kahveci, Arda Turan, Emre Belozoglu, Semih Senturk and Kazim Kazim. They may not have qualified for the World Cup, but they’ll still be a major challenge for the Americans.

• Can Michael Bradley and his central midfield partner be effective two-way players? I’m expecting that Maurice Edu will get the start alongside Bradley, but it’s possible that we could see Ricardo Clark in that spot. Whoever the pairing ends up being, keep an eye on its ability not just to disrupt Turkey’s attacks but to switch into offensive mode quickly after winning the ball and string together some passes. The U.S.’s creative spark comes from Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey on the midfield flanks, but to be effective they’ll have to rely on Bradley and Edu/Clark to give them the ball in good positions on the half-turn (Dempsey) and on the run (Donovan).

• Can the U.S. avoid costly injuries so close to the World Cup? When I spoke to England coach Fabio Capello in March, he told me that it was important for England’s pre-World Cup friendlies to take place against teams (Mexico and Japan) that were also competing in the World Cup, since everyone would be looking to avoid injuries right before the big event. “If we play against a team that doesn’t play in the World Cup, that is dangerous,” Capello told me. Perhaps. I still think Turkey is a much better pre-World Cup opponent than the tomato cans the U.S. faced before World Cup ’06 (Latvia, Morocco and Venezuela), and I don’t think Turkey is a dirty team. But the fact remains that the U.S. could ill afford injuries to any of its first-teamers so close to leaving for South Africa.

Who do you think will start up top for the U.S.? How do you see this game playing out? And do you wonder if Bradley might ever consider a 3-5-2 given the back-line concerns and surplus of midfielders? Post your comments below, and check back for more later from Philly …