I have a confession. I like the U.S. Open Cup. There, I said it.

Yes, I know: The tournament is ridiculed by fans, dismissed by many MLS clubs and ignored by TV outlets. It’s not very well organized or executed. The financial responsibility can be burdensome. The matches are often wedged into tight windows between league matches. Heck, if some MLS teams could send an under-16 academy squad to represent them, they probably would.

Will it ever become the tournament after which it was modeled, the English FA Cup? Well, no.

But for all of the shortcomings, the U.S. Open Cup offers an innocent charm in these early stages. I am more interested in the early rounds through the quarterfinals than the final phases, when MLS teams too familiar with one another inevitably fill the slots.

The latest sales figures for upcoming U.S. men’s and women’s national team home matches:

MEN

Scotland friendly Saturday night in Jacksonville: 31,600

(The Florida state record for a U.S. friendly was 31,547 for Ecuador in Tampa in 2007)

Brazil friendly May 30 in Landover, Md.: 53,000

(One organizer says Latin American fans are waiting to see if Neymar travels. Santos is currently in Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.)

Antigua World Cup qualifier June 8 in Tampa: 8,000

WOMEN

China friendly Sunday in Chester, Pa.: 14,500

Canada friendly June 30 in Sandy, Utah: 10,000

Full schedule, ticket information and TV details are available here.

Doug Jacobs has received a few nasty e-mails, even an angry phone call, from U.S. soccer supporters upset that his New Jersey-based company, Integrated Sports Media, holds the broadcast rights to the June 12 World Cup qualifier at Guatemala and will show the match on pay-per-view.

Jacobs understands the national team stirs passions. And he appreciates the emotional response when fans aren’t able to watch a qualifier on standard TV.

“Look, I know times have changed” in terms of sporting events being available on untold cable and satellite channels, he said in a phone interview Monday morning. “I’m not making some cold-hearted decision or giving the middle finger to fans. Networks made a business decision [not to buy the rights.]

“If we didn’t do it, this game was going to end up on closed-circuit TV in bars and restaurants only. We made it available to people at home.”

(Mitchell Layton - GETTY IMAGES) EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions below are those of Soccer Outsider Jeff Maurer and not Soccer Insider Steven Goff.

Mentally, I’ve already given D.C. United three points for tonight’s match against Toronto. I know that I shouldn’t — there’s no such thing as a sure thing. I’m sure Bayern Munich didn’t think it was going to lose a home match to the sixth-best team in England. And even an “easy” win will require United’s players to expend more energy than I do in an average week. But I can liken the probability of United winning tonight to other things. The probability of United beating Toronto is equal to the probability of seeing an ad for rascal scooters during a rerun of “Monk.” The probability of United beating Toronto is equal to the probability of the Black Eyed Peas’ “I’ve Got a Feeling” being played at a Bar Mitzvah (“mazel tov” is in the lyrics . . . the Peas are marketing geniuses). The probability of United beating Toronto is equal to the probability of somebody at work making that “can you hear me now?” joke whenever anything goes wrong with a conference call.

United’s depth pays off again, as Coach Ben Olsen is constricted to about 13 fully fit players but puts together a lineup that is still pretty good: Hamid | Korb, Woolard, McDonald, Najar | Boskovic, Kitchen, Cruz, De Rosario | Wolff, Salihi. Russell is injured, so Najar plays right back once again. But it’s against Toronto, so now is a good time to continue that experiment.

Here’s kickoff . . .

Juergen Klinsmann invited 11 additional players to the U.S. national team training camp in Orlando on Sunday, increasing the roster to 27 ahead of three friendlies and two World Cup qualifiers.

He’ll unveil the final 23-man roster Friday afternoon, the eve of the Scotland friendly Saturday in Jacksonville (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Galavision). Barring injury, the group will remain together for friendlies against Brazil on May 30 at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., and Canada on June 3 in Toronto, plus qualifiers with Antigua on June 8 in Tampa and at Guatemala four days later.

The additions were:

DEFENDERS: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland).

MIDFIELDERS: Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City).

FORWARDS: Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).

Notable omissions: FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea, Puebla midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, Bolton center back Tim Ream, Aston Villa outside back Eric Lichaj and Anderlecht midfielder Sacha Kljestan.

For the complete camp roster and new comments from Klinsmann.....