It's always encouraging when you field a bad team and win on the road. It took some luck — Cornell Glenn hitting the crossbar, Ricardo Clark turning into Steven Gerrard for a split second — but the United States beating Trinidad and Tobago 1-0, is a result the Americans probably had to get.

But let me reiterate, this team Bob Bradley selected was bad.

Going to make this quick this week.

Week 3 picks (remember all bets are $10):

Liverpool to beat host Bolton (-200)
Wolves to draw visiting Hull (+220)
Aston Villa to beat visiting Fulham (-142)

Last week review:

Manchester United to beat host Wigan (-200) — ManU 5, WIG 0 (WIN, $5.

I've had multiple column ideas bouncing in my head the last couple days but haven't been able to focus on one thing. So, to solve this, I'm just going to write about everything.

Here we go...

Jozy Altidore — If he did have swine flu, he got over it.

Untied States soccer commentators (who are almost all U.

I am quickly realizing this betting challenge might not last very long .

If you missed it last week, the game works like this. I start with $50 and bet $10 on three matches every weekend. Ideally, the goal is to see how much money I can win, but, realistically, the goal it to see how long I can last before I lose the $50.

"Purgatory is kind of like the in-between one. You weren't really shit, but you weren't great either. Like Tottenham."

That's what Colin Ferrell's character, a like-able child killer, tells Brendan Gleeson's character, another like-able killer, as the two hitmen contemplate death in one of the funniest movies of 2008, "In Bruges.

Something very weird is going on with Jozy Altidore.

On August 10, it was widely reported Altidore recieved his work permit and was ready to start his Premiership career.

Then, all of a sudden last Friday, we learned (thanks to Altidore twittering) that, no, the work permit actually wasn't completed and Altidore was still in the United States.

Less than an hour now until the start of the English Premier League season and I thought of another game for me to play.

"The Intelligent Soccer EPL Betting Challenge."

This is how it works...

I put $50 in my (make believe ) internet betting account.

Every week I bet $10 on three Premiership matches.

My favorite soccer league is less than four hours away from kicking off. Before it's too late, I thought I would give my predictions on how I think the final table will look. In nine months, this will either be evidence of my soccer brilliance or it will give readers evidence that this site should be changed to "StupidSoccer.

So many of the United States' players played so poorly, it's somewhat amazing the U.S. was less than 10 minutes away from leaving Azteca with a draw.

But, predictably, the U.S. ran out of gas (altitude matters) to lose the Concacaf World Cup qualifier, 2-1, against Mexico. A draw would have been a fantastic result and would have kept Mexico's World Cup chances in serious jeopardy.

It's easy to talk yourself into the United States having a real chance at leaving Mexico City with at least a draw Wednesday. The U.S. will field nearly the same team that beat No. 1 Spain and nearly knocked off Brazil; Mexico is struggling is qualifying, standing in fourth place in the six-team group; The U.

I know there are some purists out there who detest fantasy sports. That's great, but I don't want to hear it. To me, the invention and explosion of fantasy sports is the third best thing to happen in sports in the last 30 years (dozens of sports channels on television is No. 1 and the Internet is No.

I really tried to care about the Gold Cup. After the group stages, I got pumped up; I told myself I was going to have the best Gold Cup commentary on the Internet. Then the United States played Panama in the quarterfinals and I fell asleep in about the 20th minute. Then the  U.S. played Honduras is the semifinals and I fell asleep in about the 30th minute.

On June 26, Cristiano Ronaldo completed a $132 million transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. In strict business terms, Real Madrid bought an asset from another business in hopes of improving its own product. No government, federation or league was going to stand in the way of what Real Madrid thought was a smart business decision.

I've actually felt a little bad I wasn't covering the United States in the Gold Cup like I did in the Confederations Cup, but then I thought, "Wait, it's the Gold Cup! The U.S. is going up against Grenada and Jay Heaps is getting playing time. Who cares!?!?" But I do have a soccer Web site and I should write something, so here are some random thoughts.

In January, I was in Dublin, Ireland staying in a hostel. I had just completed an exhausting week, with lots of sight-seeing and a lot more drinking. But, in my final day in the city (I would return two months later but that's another story) I was ready to take a night off and go to bed early. Luckily, thanks to the world economy being on the brink of collapse, the hostel I was staying at was nearly empty and I was the only one in my six-bed room.