The less said about this match, the better. It was painful to watch at moments. I think that this is one of those matches that we're supposed to learn from. So, what did we learn?

-Landon Donovan is even more integral to this team than we could have imagined. We knew he was the driving force, but the team looks completely lost without him.

I'll start this off by saying that I'm not usually one to perpetuate rumors (and this could easily be a hoax), but we love discussing the USA's jerseys here at Project 2010, so this seemed relevant. Over at Big Soccer, we saw some mock ups of what might possibly be the jersey the USA will wear in South Africa, so we thought we'd pass it along.

The USA played the first of its pre-World Cup friendlies against Slovakia on Saturday. With nothing to play for, Bob Bradley utilized the opportunity to test his team's depth. The results? Despite the 0-1 defeat, there were more positives than negatives.

Most promising of the group were the performances of our center backs and central midfield.

Edgar Castillo, Stuart Holden, Jose Francisco Torres, and Ricardo Clark were called in. Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo and Chad Marshall have been sent home.

The full squad:

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Edgar Castillo (Tigres), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

US Soccer has announced the roster for the upcoming friendlies vs. Slovakia (11/14) and Denmark (11/18).

GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga).
DEF: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham).

Soccer Insider reports that US U-20 starlet Dilly Duka has signed with MLS. Duka was exploring options in Europe, but has opted to enter the MLS draft this winter. A product of the Red Bulls academy, he has made it known that he hopes to end up in New Jersey. Seems likely, as Red Bull New York Red Bulls have the second overall pick.

Soccer by Ives is reporting that US U-20 and Miami FC's Gale Agbossoumonde is in serious negotiations with Sporting Braga to join the club on loan on Nov. 17, when he turns 18. At 6′2 and 185 pounds, Agbossoumonde is expected to join the club's youth team.

Now that we have officially qualified for the World Cup, it is time for the first installment of Bradley's Babes: 23 for 2010 our attempt to answer the question, "Who should we take along?"Â Â But instead of taking the standard approach doing our best to guess who Bob will take to South Africa we decided to focus on who we would like him to take.

All of the American's matches in the U-17 world cup will be televised here in the States:

-Mon Oct 26
Spain v USA 2pm ET on ESPNU & Galavision
-Thu Oct 29
USA v Malawi 11am ET on ESPNU
-Sun Nov 1
USA v UAE 10am ET on ESPNU

These are all available on ESPN360 as well.

As reported just about everywhere, the USSF seems to have nailed down a friendly with Slovakia on November 14. This news comes on the heels of the announcement of the November 18 match against Denmark.

Soccer by Ives is reporting that Luis Gil's move to Arsenal has not been completed. Gil has received interest from other European clubs and is looking to turn his trip to the U-17 World Cup into a new contract.

FIFA has approved the change of association application for Jermaine Jones, making the midfielder available for selection for the U.S. Men's National Team. Well, qualifying is over and Jones is still fighting an injury, but this is still good news. He should help the team immensely once he has recovered.

The U.S. will open Group E play in Kano, Nigeria against Spain on Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET). The team will stay at Sani Abacha Stadium to play Malawi on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) before moving to Ijebu-Ode and Gateway International Stadium to finish the first round against United Arab Emirates on Nov.

The 2-0 first-half deficit made it seem unlikely, but the US were able to battle back to match points with Mexico, and therefore, win the group. Well done, boys! Here are some thoughts from the game:

-It was great to see the US create so many chances. You'd like to see us finish more of those (obviously), but on another day, it could have easily been 5-2.