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East Hartford, CT (SportsNetwork.com) - Landon Donovan played 40 minutes and then waved goodbye to international soccer on Friday at Rentschler Field as the United States and Ecuador played to a 1-1 draw in a friendly. Mix Diskerud put the Americans ahead in the fifth minute, but a late equalizer from Enner Valencia salvaged a draw for the visitors. However, all eyes were on Donovan, and he nearly penned a storybook finish by twice coming close to scoring in his 157th and final appearance. Donovan had a hand in the opening goal as he crossed the ball to the back post for Jozy Altidore, who brought it down for DeAndre Yedlin to leave for Diskerud, allowing him to score on a first-time shot. It was said prior to the game that Donovan would likely come off after 30 minutes, but he nearly made his time count in the 25th when Altidore dropped off a pass inside the box that saw Donovan beat goalkeeper Maximo Banguera, only for the ball to hit the right post. The 35th minute also provided a great chance as Donovan found himself in possession at the top of the penalty area, but his shot skipped just inches past the left post. It would be Donovans final opportunity as he was replaced by Joe Corona two minutes later, leaving the field to a standing ovation. When things got back underway in the second half, Ecuador put more pressure on the Americans and nearly equalized in the 63rd through Juan Cazares. But Valencia provided a brilliant finish to the match with his equalizing goal in the 88th minute that saw him drill a curling shot into the bottom right corner from 30 yards, leaving U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan helpless. The result was of little importance to most fans, however, as the night belonged to Donovan, who retires from the national team as the career leader in goals (57) and assists (58), while his 157 caps place him second all time. Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Gear . Dwyane Wade followed a few days later. Custom Eagles Jerseys . -- Golden State Warriors reserve centre Ognjen Kuzmic is expected to miss at least six weeks after undergoing surgery on his fractured right hand. http://www.cheapeagles.com/ . A steady downpour and low temperatures were predicted for much of the night. No makeup date was immediately announced, although it was determined that the game will not be part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Authentic Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . According to the sportsbook BoDog, the Stampeders are 8/5 favourites to take home the Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on November 24. Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys Online . Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard.Sky Sports News HQs Anton Toloui explains the proposed changes to the Champions League. What are the proposed changes?Basically, the tournament will start with a knockout competition instead of the group stage. So 32 teams entering the tournament will start with a two-legged tie, which will act as a play-off for a place in the new mini-league. And what is this mini-league?The last 16 teams remaining will be separated into two leagues of eight. Each team will play each other home and away, so each team will play 14 games.What does this mean for the bigger clubs?Traditional Champions League contenders from Europes big leagues will be delighted if this proposal is accepted. It will mean seven guaranteed home games potentially against fellow sides from Europes Big 5 leagues. That will result in increased ticket revenue and more people watching on TV around the world. Manchester Uniteds Wayne Rooney holds up the Champions League trophy Is TV the big reason for the change?Theres no doubting international TV markets have a huge impact on the clubs. Teams in Europe are concerned about trying to compete with Premier League teams when their new TV deal kicks in next season - this will help soften the blow. A mini-league format should mean more games involving the bigger clubs week-in, week-out, which means the next Champions League TV deal will be easier to sell to markets around the world.So bad news for the smaller clubs then?On the face of it, the chances of an extended European campaign for clubs outside the Big 5 leagues look diminished. However, romantics will point out that a win over two legs in the first round could guarantee 14 matches against some of Europes biggest teams. The problem there is we still dont know when teams from various countries will enter the competition. Also, a re-jigged, larger team-friendly tournament will be easier for UEFA to sell to foreign TV markets. That means more money for all of the clubs taking part, so the smaller teams could come out of this richer too. Pep Guardiola kisses the trophy after Barcelonas victory Im confused.dddddddddddd So its a good thing for them then?In purely footballing terms, probably not. One thing that isnt apparent is how many rounds teams will have to go through until they reach the new group stage. That may depend on UEFAs complicated coefficient system but some sides will inevitably have to play multiple two-legged ties before qualifying for the group stage. Another element that is up for debate is exactly when the top teams will enter the competition. Bigger clubs will always want as much protection as possible and will push to enter the tournament as late as possible.So is this to combat talk of a European Super League?Yes and no. Big clubs want to play each other more often in order to maximise revenue and gain maximum exposure. But there are many critics of the current Champions League format, with the current eight groups of four teams system often leading to obvious results as top seeds tend to play one or two smaller teams every year. The hope is that this would make the tournament more exciting by placing more evenly matched teams against each other on a regular basis and by increasing the number of knock-out games early on. CL changes discussed UEFA is in talks with clubs to change the format of the Champions League So when could we see change?No changes to the competition can take place before the 2018-19 season, when the current international TV deals expire. The bidding process for the next set of contracts start at the end of the year, so UEFA will want this matter agreed by then with September a date mooted. 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