Mexico 5-1 Haiti
Even with a win, Mexico fails to make it out of their group. In a match where they played up a man for an hour, had a penalty kick (which was stopped) and had at least three open shots on goal, there is no reason for Mexico to have failed to get the needed six goals, but they did.

US 3-0 Canada
This was the game US fans had been waiting for. Finally the play on the field reflected the talent in the roster as Canada was no match for the U23 US men. And although Freddy Adu will deservingly get the headlines, that second goal was pure art, but he was far from alone out there.

You beat someone 5-1 and you pretty much expect to qualify for anything, right? Mexico did that - destroying Haiti 5-1, with the opportunity to hit for even more. But they didn't - and it cost them. Hugo Sanchez and his boys new full-well they needed to win by 5 in order to get through. Canada - [..

After missing out on the 2004 Olympics, the US U-23 men are looking to redeem themselves by earning one of the two Concacaf spots for the 2008 Beijing games. With this in mind, Peter Nowak has called in a group of 24 players for his final training camp ahead of the March 11-23 tournament.
Here is the list:
GK (3): Dominic Cervi (Chicago Fire), Tally Hall (Esbjerg fB), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
D (8): Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Hunter Freeman (New York Red Bulls), Kamani Hil (Vfl Wolfsburg), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Mike Randolph (LA Galaxy), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
M (8): Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96)
F (5): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Not a lot of shocks on this list, however the inclusion of Michael Orozco of Mexico's San Luis is interesting.

Peter Nowak has released his 18 man roster for Beijing and there are not a lot of surprises. As expected, Nowak went with Bad Guzan in goal and McBride up top. Both will give the team much needed depth in their positions with McBride providing a little bit more then Guzan.
The overage selection that could benefit the most from this experience is New England's Michael Parkhurst.

Well, I think it's safe to say the United States played themselves into a tie. Freddy Adu had the only goal within the first 15 minutes of the first half, but Cuba equalized right before the half. Not thinking coherently right now, I find it appropriate to just lay out what thoughts I can muster: The [.

The Olympics only comes around once every 4 years - so I figured I could take some time to think about the Olympics for a little bit. I had a hard time finding a full Olympic schedule - so here ya go: 2008 Beijing Olympics Soccer Schedule.

So a camping trip this weekend kept me away from everything happening, but I was able to watch the All-Star game on Thursday night before leaving for the camping trip.

US 1-0 Honduras
First the good news, the US U23 men were able to bounce back from a dreadful opening match to win their group. In the process players such as Holden, Edu, Kljestan, Orozco, McCarty stood up and showed what they have in them. Although they did not dominate their final two matches, they did control them.

CANADA No. - Name - Pos. - D.O.B. - Club 1 - Asmir Begovic - GK - 20.06.1987 - Portsmouth FC/ENG 2 - Graham Ramalho - DF - 12.01.1986 - FC Groningen/NED 3 - Jacob Lensky - MD - 16.12.1988 - Feyenoord Rotterdam/NED 4 - Dejan Jakovic - MD - 16.07.1985 - U. Alabama-Birmingham/USA 5 - Andrew Hainault - DF - [.

Save the World Cup, you couldn't ask for a more action-packed year in waiting. 1. African Nations Cup (January 20-February 10) - As many European clubs try and hold on to their African stars for as long as possible, 16 teams will focus on Ghana, the host, and their chance at a place in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Cuba Thursday, March 13, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Panama Saturday, March 15th, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Honduras Roster was released - as I am sure you have seen - over the weekend and some notable omissions include Gold Cup hero turned Derby County wantaway Benny Feilhaber, last summer's U-20 standout Robbie Rogers, and FC Dallas' creative midfielder [.

US vs. Honduras
7pm ET/4pm PT
TV: Fox Soccer Channel
With Panama dispatching Cuba 4-1, the US is assured of advancing to the knockout round, now the question is what spot will they take? If they can pull of a win against a decent Honduras side, they will take first. Anything less and they stay in the second spot.

Chicago acquire a 20 year old midfielder.
Read all about it here.
Follow the stories that led up to it here.
Chicago Fire press release:
BRIDGEVIEW, ILL. -- The Chicago Fire announced Wednesday the club has acquired the services of midfielder Marco Pappa (full name: Marco Pablo Pappa Ponce) on a one and a half year loan from Guatemalan side CSD Municipal.

Park Tae-hwan thrilled South Korea on Sunday with his swimming heroics in Beijing but later the same day, Park Sung-hwa was looking less happy than the teenage sensation.
For the coach of the Olympic soccer team there is not much consolation to be had after a 3-0 defeat against Italy but at least South Korea is faring no worse than hosts China and better than the already-eliminated Japan at the 2008 Beijing Olympics soccer tournament.

Concacaf has two tickets to Beijing for the Olympics this August and eight nations want them. To get there, teams will need to take one of the top two spots in their group and then make it past the semifinals. Both teams in the final on March 20th will represent the region in China.
The Concacaf tournament is taking place in America this time around with games in Tampa, LA and Nashville (Tickets Tampa, LA).

Hope Solo is returning to China while Briana Scurry is staying home.
Less then a year after coach Greg Ryan set off a goalkeeper firestorm by benching Solo ahead of their World Cup semifinal match against Brazil in favor of Scurry, Hope will finally get her chance to win a big tournament in China.

PREGAME: Lineup to come...what do you think the keys to the game will be?? Zizzo, Gaven, Kljestan, or Holden on the wings? Edu, Orozco, or Spector in the middle?? Altidore up top?

It looks like David Beckham will make it to the 2008 Olympic Games as he will be part of the big 'London in eight-minutes' performance during the closing ceremony (London hosts the next Olympic games).
It appears 'Beckham will enter the stage in a double-decker bus and jump off the bus.'
Wow!

CONCACAF minnows Honduras have emerged as favourites to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) ruled that league clubs were not obliged to release their players for the tournament. Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke all had a bit of a girly strop after their players expressed a wish [.

PANAMA No. - Name - Pos. - D.O.B. - Club 1 - Jose Calderón - GK - 14.08.1985 - Chepo FC 2 - Jean Carlos Cedeño - DF - 09.07.1985 - Municipal Chorrillo FC 3 - Reinaldo Anderson - DF - 12.04.1986 - Deportivo Árabe Unido 5 - Roman Torres - DF - 20.03.1986 - CD La Equidad/COL 6 - Erick [...]

US - Panama
8pm ET
TV - Fox Soccer Channel
The US U-23s return to the pitch tonight looking to improve on their poor form from Tuesday. Although the team does not have to win to make it into the next round, anything short of a full three points will make it very difficult to sneak by.

CANADA No. - Name - Pos. - D.O.B. - Club 1 - Asmir Begovic - GK - 20.06.1987 - Portsmouth FC/ENG 2 - Graham Ramalho - DF - 12.01.1986 - FC Groningen/NED 3 - Jacob Lensky - MD - 16.12.1988 - Feyenoord Rotterdam/NED 4 - Dejan Jakovic - MD - 16.07.1985 - U. Alabama-Birmingham/USA 5 - Andrew Hainault - DF - [.

The US Women's team suffered another injury blow this week as defender Catherine Whitehill was diagnosed with a torn ACL. This injury will prevent her from heading to China in an attempt to win back-to-back gold medals.

Whitehill played every minute of the 2007 World Cup and held her own under very strong attacks.

Barcelona do not need to release Lionel Messi for the 2008 Beijing Olympics football tournament, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Wednesday. Werder Bremen and Schalke have also won their appeal to prevent Diego and Rafinha from going to Beijing. Regardless of where you stand on the club v country debate, there are [.

Qualifying Teams : Group A : China Sweden Canada Group B : Brazil Germany Group C : USA Norway Japan USA 2-1 Canada ( Aug 15- Shanghai) ( Angela Hucles, Natasha Kai/ Christine Sinclair) Brazil 2-1 Norway ( Aug 15- Tianjin) ( Marta, Daniela/ Siri Nordby penalty) Sweden 0-2 Germany ( Aug 15- Shenyang) ( Kerstin Gerefrekes, Simone Laudehr) China 0-2 Japan ( Aug 15- Qinhuangdao) ( Homare Sawa, Yuki Nagasato)

The US women know now who they are training to beat as Concacaf has released their 2008 Women's Olympic Qualification. Six nations will take part in the competition for the 2 Concacaf spots in Bejing.
The teams have been divided into 2 groups of 3. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to the semifinals.

Yeah, about 75% of you covered this stuff a couple months back, when all this was announced, but I'm just getting to it now. For what it's worth, I blame February. In spite of being the shortest month, there's just something about it that takes forever. With any luck, though, I'll help [...]

Peter Nowak has selected the roster that he thinks will return the US men to the Olympic games. After an impressive showing in 2000, the U-23s won their qualifying group in 2004 but lost to Mexico in the semifinals and missed a trip to Athens.
The US should have a good chance of taking their group again this time around, however the question is can Mexico do the same or will they finish in second and force another semifinal showdown?

US 1-1 Cuba
The US U-23 men did not get their tournament off to a good start last night as they fluttered their way to a 1-1 tie with Cuba. Although they opened up the match with a very impressive first 15-minutes, the next hour saw the team combine poor passing with lack of aggression and sub-par play in the midfield.

Canada 1, Mexico 1 Luis Angel Landin converted a penalty to give Mexico a somewhat undeserved point against Canada. Their defense was sloppy and it showed glaringly in the first 5 minutes. Andrazes Ornoch intercepted a shoddy Julio Dominguez clearance. He then found Will Johnson almost at the penalty spot.

It may not seem like a big deal for the rest of the world for us here in Canada to have an Olympic team doing well in soccer is an amazing feat. Canada has yet to receive any medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Despite losing to Sweden 1:2 in it's final [...]

Group A, B, C and D consist of the sixteen male teams. Here are the results from the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Group E which consists of the hosts, Canada, Sweden and Argentina. Team Played Won Lost Drawn GF GA GD Points Canada 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 4 China 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 4 Sweden 2 1 1 0 2 2 0 3 Argentina 2 0 2 0 1 3 -2 0 China 2-1 Sweden ( Tianjin- Aug 6) ( Xu Yuan, Han Duan/ Lotta Schelin) Argentina 1-2 Canada ( Tianjin- Aug 6) (Ludmila Manicler/ Candace Chapman, Kara Lang) Sweden [.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Cuba
Thursday, March 13, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Panama
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Honduras
Roster was released - as I am sure you have seen - over the weekend and some notable omissions include Gold Cup hero turned Derby County wantaway Benny Feilhaber, last summer's U-20 standout Robbie Rogers, and FC Dallas' creative midfielder Arturo Alvarez.

In the last 24-hours, seven Cuban U-23 players have defected. The seven include goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defenders Erlys Garcia Baro, Yendry Diaz, Eder Roldan and Yenier Bermudez and midfielders Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto.
Cuba only brought 18 players with them to the tournament so all they have left is 11.

18′ - Wynne with another clumsy challenge, getting a booking on this one 17′ - Holden is EVERYWHERE. Left, right, middle. 14′ - Wynne looks a little odd out there, but Holden is making for Wynne's fumblings - chasing the loose balls, not giving up 12′ - I like what I've seen from Kljestan so far, a couple [.

1st Place in Group A has taken on a new meaning now that Mexico lost to Guatemala yesterday and sits dangerously close to elimination and almost guaranteeing that the highest they can finish is Group B Runners Up. Which means, if the Americans win the group - they get Mexico in the all-important semifinals (as [.

Canada just washed the pitch with Guatemala's B-team 5-0, meaning the Maple Leafs sit in second with four points and a +4 goal difference. Mexico and Haiti will kick off in 30-minutes with Mexico needing a victory by at least 5 goals to advance out of their group. For Haiti, all they need is a tie to move forward.

After a bit of a surprise 3-week sabbatical from this blog, it is funny where life will take you, I'm happy to be back. So what did I miss?
From the limited number of MLS matches I've seen, it looks like I've been absent for the start of a really solid season. Refs are calling fewer fouls allowing the game to achieve a much better pace then in the past.

Here are the results from Group F at the 2008 Beijing Olympics Women's Football Tournament. The four countries in this group are North Korea, Germany, Brazil and Nigeria. Team Played Won Lost Drawn GF GA GD Points Brazil 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 4 Germany 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 4 North Korea 2 1 1 0 2 2 0 3 Nigeria 2 0 2 0 0 2 -2 0 North Korea 1-0 Nigeria ( Shenyang- Aug 6) ( Kim Kyong Hwa) Germany 0-0 Brazil ( Shenyang- Aug 6) Nigeria 0-1 Germany (Shenyang- Aug 9) ( Kerstine Stegemann) Brazil 2-1 North Korea [.

Lori Chalupny, St. Louis, Missouri, was named to the US Olympic roster Monday by Coach Pia Sundhage. Chalupny played her prep soccer for JB Marine before moving on to North Carolina.

From the US Soccer website:

Nine players on the roster were members of the U.S. team that won the gold medal four years ago in Athens, Greece, including team co-captains Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf, who will both be participating in their third Olympic Games.