ESPN Sportscenter leads the hour this morning with extensive coverage of the Charlie Davies story, including footage from the accident scene, an interview with Bob Bradley and comments from Alexi Lalas on Davies' value to the team.
Here's a report from AP:
YouTube - U.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

American soccer fans weren't the only ones watching the U.S. national team's run to the Confederations Cup final, and the stellar performances from several American players to make it happen.

SPORT SOCCER WORLD
Originally uploaded by parrywv1 El previo de la Gran Final Copa Oro Estados Unidos contra la selección México
en la foto:
A US fan dances prior to the World Cup quarter-final match between USA and Germany in Ulsan, June 21, 2002. REUTERS/Shaun Best
Todos los aficionados mexicanos esperamos que la seleccion mexicana se enfrente en competiciones oficiales contra Estados Unidos antes por que se les podia ganar y de manera contuendente, ahora por masoquismo o por la nostalgia de tiempos mejores.

For years, the tabloid newspapers in England have been renowned for overhyping the expectations of England's chances in the World Cup. Those wheels have already been set in motion and now The Sun newspaper, which has a daily readership of 7.9 million, have declared that England's group which includes the United States will be easy.

Alexi Lalas y John Harkes comentaristas de ESPN Estados Unidos atacaron con todo a la selección mexicana de futbol, arengan a la afición de Estados Unidos vaya a Columbus para sacar todo su patriotismo en el clásico de la Concacaf y aplastar a los mexicanos en sus propias palabras.
Si no sabes quien es Alexi Lalas te recordamos:
Fue uno de los primeros jugadores que tuvieron fama y poco de fortuna en la Major League Soccer.

ESPN and ESPN2 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Television Commentators Lead U.S. and MLS Booth Team Joins UEFA Champions League Commentators Rece Davis Returns as Studio Host with Alexi Lalas as Analyst A trio of talented commentator teams will call all 16 matches of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup from South Africa June 14-28 on ESPN and ESPN2.

David Beckham has now finally declared publically what the football loving public in the United States has suspected for weeks. Beckham has announced rather openly that he would like to stay in Milan. From a pure business standpoint, any transfer fee Major League Soccer can secure for a soon to be 34 year [.

AND
Today we see of the first real fruits of ESPN's push for USA soccer on their networks leading up the World Cup next summer.
First of all, we get word that they are doing a lot of pre and post game coverage of the qualifier next Wed in Mexico City, even though they are not the ones broadcasting the game.

In terms of US National Team history very few days have matched yesterday in terms of pure drama. Just three days after Team USA equaled its worst ever loss to Brazil and six days after the national teams worst loss to Italy since 1934, the US found itself in a position to clinch passage to the semifinals of the Confederations Cup.

Ouch, it looks like the rivalry has already started, at least on the side of F.C. New York. Take a look at their website. "We slay the Bull" I guess F.C. New York is declaring a territorial war on the New Jersey Red Bulls, trying to claim the metropolitan area as their own. Its going to be difficult though as F.

It turns out that those rumors linking American international Oguchi Onyewu with a move to Real Madrid were false after all. Instead, the hulking centerback will be calling the San Siro home for the immediate future after signing a monumental three-year deal with the Italian club, according to an announcement on the team's official website.

He's the best manager this nation has ever produced. Not only is he the best, but the gap between Bruce Arena and the second best American manager ever (Bob Bradley, Dom Kinnear, Mooch Myernick, etc?) is so wide it's not even worth debating. Bruce Arena has done what no US manager has ever done and may never do again.

Como todos sabemos, el 11 de febrero tanto los mexicanos como estadounidenses se enfrentarán en su primer juego eliminatorio rumbo al mundial en Sudáfrica 2010. Ya estamos cerca de ese partido, Alexi Lalas lo sabe y empezó a soltar declaraciones fuertes. Señala primeramente que nos odia como rivales y luego que desea mucho aplastarnos en [.

- Replace Bruce Arena at the Galaxy and get them to win two games, back to back.

- A corollary to the above. Tim Leiwecke declares Klinsi the real saviour of MLS and the gag
order on Alexi Lalas is finally removed.

- Sunil Gulati has him on speed dial, in case Bob Bradley slips up against Costa Rica.

Alexi Lalas talked about the hostile environment in Costa Rica. JP Dellacamera talked about the injuries to Brain Ching and Frankie Hejduk. John Harkes talked about the quality - or lack thereof - of the Astroturf field.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

BY DYLAN BUTLER

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As news of Oguchi Onyewu's move to AC Milan on a free transfer reached the U.

Excellent sports' writing is not simply about analyzing players, teams or organizations. It's largely about painting a picture that fits into society's perceptions of the surrounding world. It's about writing a narrative and properly explaining the parts. It's about playing historian and social critic while discussing competitions and complex organizations.

Everyone in American soccer has been talking about Grant Wahl's book, "The Beckham Experiment" and everything involved with it. I was given the chance a few weeks ago to get a copy of the book and review it. With the game against David Beckham and the Galaxy coming up I figured it was the perfect time to get my review of the book out.

The match between LA Galaxy and Milan was always, in view of the recent goings-on between David Beckham and the Italian giants, going to be something of a powder keg, and the global media reaction to the events at the decidedly unromantically named Home Depot Center has said a lot about how Beckham has managed to control the public perception of him.

Five more days until MLS! Today we continue our preview series with a look at the LA Galaxy. Today#8217;s preview is brought to you by Jen, one of our great LA Galaxy bloggers. (The other being NathanHJ, who you might know from his fantastic Galaxy recaps over at Soccer by Ives last [...]div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds2.

PLAYER OVERVIEW: Alexi Lalas is considered one of the most recognizable faces in American soccer - or should I say he had one of the most recognizable goateed faces in American soccer. Lalas played defender for the United States in all four matches of the epic 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Ah yes, one of my favorites in the media world is Stephen Colbert. In case you missed it last night he talked some footie.

The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Is it Time to Care About Soccer? www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

We also can't leave out the interview he did with Alexi Lalas:

The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Is it Time to Care About Soccer?

After a summer of speculation about where he may wind up, Oguchi Onyewu has signed with one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

Onyewu has signed with AC Milan, joining the Italian giants on a free transfer. Milan announced the signing on its club website.

A standout for Standard Liege over the past five seasons, Onyewu left the Belgian club after helping lead Liege to a pair of Jupiler League championships.

Nothing can come as close to an admission of Beckham's failure to ignite US football as one of his team mates ripping him to shreds for his lack of commitment. A number of football pundits had voiced their skepticism about this move from the day he landed, including us. Yes, we have anointed ourselves as pundits.

Empty stands were a common sight at Pizza Hut Park this year. (Getty Images)

I hope everyone is getting use to the longer days again after the time change this weekend. Nothing like getting darker a bit earlier again here but that's just how it goes. I have a few goodies to discuss tonight leading off with a big time look at something former Chicago Fire GM Peter Wilt sent Alexi Lalas a few years back.

(AP Photo)

Could have some validity this time around, especially given the time of year and Donovan's interest in playing at a higher level than MLS. Will we see him wearing Club America's colors at Home Depot Center at InterLiga in January?

Here's the report at Univision.

And who owns Club America and Univision?

For a good while now we who support our clubs and this league in MLS have been screaming for which ever club that has a youth academy can only sign one and wait for a good while to have the chance to sign another to the senior side and play in first team matches in MLS. The supporters have been stressed out as well as frustrated about a potential youth player in a MLS Club side that could have the goods to become the next best youth superstar in their area and the league as well.

With Carlos Bocanegra in place as the regular National Team captain during the Bob Bradley era, we look back at the players who wore the armband from the 80's up to France '98. Prior to the Bruce Arena era records are a little more difficult to find regarding captains. Oftentimes, decisions on who would captain wouldn't be made until just prior to the game.

The former U.S. international and Serie A defender is full of praise for Oguchi Onyewu's transfer to AC Milan.
When the news of Oguchi Onyewu's signing with Italian giants AC Milan broke, former US star Alexi Lalas smiled. The only American international to play in Serie A in the modern era, Lalas was pleased to see another compatriot finally get a chance in Italy's top league and believes the Rossoneri's decision to sign Onyewu was very intelligent.

Ruud Gullit clearly didn't get it.
An advance copy of Grant Wahl's much talked about hardback landed in the MLSR mailbox today from publisher Crown Publishers. And we are currently pouring through it for over looked bits of juice and hilarity.
All week on MLSR we will post an interesting but perhaps overlooked excerpt of the book each day.

Since John Ellinger was replaced by Jason Kreis two and a half seasons ago, RSL has been anything but predictable. This season the Utah club was being tipped by many to win the Western Conference, but instead have been fighting to stay relevant in the grueling MLS playoff race throughout the summer.

There are a few things that have been detrimental to the image of MLS this week, including Alexi Lalas' face appearing every time I open the MLS homepage. High on my list would have been MLS moving the Fire's away playoff game at New England to Sunday from Saturday, just two days after they had scheduled it for the original date in the first place.

This past Friday, ESPN broadcast a World Cup draw special for three hours into American homes. As one of the selected reporters who attended the event, ESPN's level of ambition was on full display.

World Cup 2006 enjoyed higher than expected English language ratings on ESPN and ABC.

This is brilliant. Had to post it. No commentary here...I think Lalas' genius speaks for itself...
(Courtesy of Kick Off Video)

And those words are: That was disappointing.

I admit that I was suckered by the recent 10 game non-losing streak into believing that the technical deficiencies of the team could be compensated for by heart and determination. Even as I wrote about the mediocrity of the midfield, the ability to gain points on the road and refuse to lose got me into the dangerous head space of thinking that the Galaxy could consistently compete with any team in the league.

I enjoyed it, and I suspect any hardcore MLS fan would as well. All the biggest revelations have already been publicized, but there's plenty of interesting anecdotes and many details about the LA Galaxy power players. Those details are the reason to read this book (such as how Alexi Lalas vetoed a proposed Peter Vagenas for Kyle Beckerman trade), as everyone who follows American soccer already knows how the story goes.

Grant Wahl's book The Beckham Experiment which is a masterpiece of sports writing also brings up the troubling subject of Landon Donovan and his continued lack of maturity. Wahl doesn't characterize it as such, but I have no choice but to see it as such.

As our readers know, I love Landon Donovan as a player.

Last time around it was John Harkes (right), now it's Alexi Lalas (left). For some ready Getty doesn't allow this full file to be downloaded, but I think this preview image gets the point across. This shot was taken after the 1999 season, which was Lalas' only year here in Kansas City. He will be back tomorrow night, serving as the color commentator to play-by-play man Rob Stone on ESPN2's broadcast of the 8 p.

Courtesy of our friends at parter ESPN:
"ESPN networks will provide comprehensive studio news and information coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match featuring the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team vs. Mexico, Wednesday, Aug. 12, from Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The "game around the game" coverage will be highlighted by a 30-minute SportsCenter 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Special on ESPN, Aug.

Now that was the best tie I've ever watched. Down early 2-0 the US fought back hard to earn a tie in the final seconds of the game, keeping the US at the top of the table and pushing Honduras into the World Cup.
Bornstien scores as heard on Honduran radio.
Two nations exploded with sound as, Bornstien's head hit the ball and sent it bouncing into the bottom corner of the net.