Jon Levy The national team hasn't even suited up in 2012, but it's already been an encouraging year for American soccer. Dempsey and Donovan (for two months, at least) are both leading the line of attack for their respective English Premier League teams, the Women's National Teamers avoided a would-be tragedy in their Vancouver hotel [.

Goalkeeper Sean JohnsonU.S. Soccer Communications
The 21-year-old Bill Hamid and 22-year-old Sean Johnson are prime examples of young talent hoping to get noticed during the U.S. MNT's January camp. Both have taken on significant roles with their respective MLS teams and also trained abroad during the offseason in Premier League environments.

There was only one thing DC United fans knew for sure going into the 2011 season, and that was this season couldn't be any worse than the previous one. After setting the standard for futility, the team not only climbed ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

By Jon Levy I'm going to be really nice to Jurgen Klinsmann and describe his first six matches in charge as "underwhelming." Far more severe adjectives could be applied, especially after the disappointing performance against France. Alexei Lalas nailed it, as he often does, in calling the team out for not even attempting to rise [.

What happened to kicking the tires?

With the announcement of another conservative, heavily German-born roster for the upcoming friendlies against France (Friday, Nov. 11, 3pm on ESPN2) and Slovenia (Tuesday, Nov. 15, 12pm on ESPN2), apprehension has begun to creep to the front of many US fans' minds.

Matt Besler's 54th minute goal was enough for visiting Sporting Kansas City in their 1-0 victory over D.C. United last night at RFK Stadium. The loss wraps up the season for United as they were officially eliminated from playoff contention ...

Charlie Davies broke out of his own personal goal scoring drought in a big with way with all three goals tonight in D.C. United's 3-0 win over Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. With the win ...

Add yet another D.C. United player to the growing list of the members of the Black and Red that have been called into action for their national teams. U.S. Soccer announced today that D.C. United...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

D.C. United goalkeeper and academy product Bill Hamid has received his second national team call up. This follows the recent news of fellow D.C. United teammates Dwayne De Rosario and Dejan...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Photo by Daveblog

In the land of draws, the Chicago Fire are kings.

Last night, La Maquina Roja looked well on their way to their third win of the season after dominating DC United at home for about 70 minutes. Sebastian Grazzini had given the home side the lead early in the second half and United's attack looked spent.

D.C. United vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8/13/2011) On Saturday evening in front of a very small crowd at R.F.K. Stadium D.C. United took on Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the first match-up between the...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Location: Lincoln Financial Field

Game time: Wednesday, 9:00pm ET

TV: ESPN2

Following the recent appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann as the coach of the US Mens National Team, the focus of US Soccer has turned to Philadelphia, where the Nats will play host to Mexico on Wednesday night in an effort to kick off Klinsmann's US career by turning over a three match losing streak against their arch-rivals.

The USMNT will be meeting Mexico tonight at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. for the first time since their 2011 Gold Cup Final in Pasadena, CA. and VASoccerNews...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

On Wednesday August 10 in Philadelphia the USMNT will look to avenge their 4-2 Gold Cup loss to bitter rival Mexico. Joining the U.S. men for the first time will be Virginia native and D.C. United...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

Join the guys for episode 89 of the UnitedMania.com podcast. The guys talk about DC United's last couple of games, including the win at San Jose and the entertaining yet Bizarre 3-3 draw at RFK Stadium against the visiting Toronto FC.

Dwayne De Rosario scored three times for D.C. United, including an 88th minute penalty conversion just a minute after falling behind, in their controversial 3-3 draw last night against Toronto FC at RFK Stadium. United's quest to win back-to-back league ...

That was bizarre. Not just clown showing up at a bachelor party bizarre, but a clown shows up a bachelor party and is really the thought to be dead ex-wife of the groom bizarre.

Toronto and D.C. played to a 3-3 draw that may have been the strangest game at RFK ever. After 90 minutes, a butt-load of stoppage time, and 6 goals, I'm not even sure what happened.

*Update - James (Max) Edwards was also at the U-14 camp bringing the total number of Virginia players to 9 from the previously reported 8. Edwards plays for PWSI. Recently players from Virginia...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

Last Saturday, D.C. United gutted out a 2-0 at San Jose. Dwayne De Rosario's two second half goals gave D.C. a lead in a frustrating game for both teams. It was only after Andy Najar was sent off for a professional foul that San Jose seized the initiative, but a committed rear-guard performance saw D.

The U.S. v. Mexico rematch friendly is less than a week away, and today Jurgen Klinsmann unveiled his first list of call-ups as the head coach for the national team. The Mexico friendly comes at a tricky time for the U.S., as the bigger European leagues are kicking off this month and Klinsmann might have hesitated to call-up players overseas in these leagues.

Two second-half goals from captain Dwayne De Rosario helped visiting D.C. United to a 2-0 win over the punch less San Jose Earthquakes last night at Buck Shaw Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University. The win was the ...

EPL fans showed up for the DC United v. Everton friendly

Everton finished its U.S. preseason tour tonight with a definitive 3-1 win over DC United on a very hot night in front of almost 13,000 fans. Those in attendance (about half of whom were Everton faithfuls) got to see some of the EPL team's biggest names on the pitch, including Phil Neville, Leighton Baines, and Tim Cahill.

I know Juan Agudelo is the poster child for MLS Home Grown Players but you could argue, probably with ease, that Bill Hamid is making a bigger impact for his club than Juan Juan. He may not have the adidas endorsement, the USMNT call ups or the TV commercials but he starts on the reg...something that Agudelo doesn't do.

In a match that very much resembled the oppressive humidity in Frisco, Texas, D.C. United and FC Dallas slugged their way to a 0-0 draw tonight at Pizza Hut Park. Both teams wilted in the hot and humid conditions and ...

Dwayne De Rosario's 61st minute goal against the run of play was all D.C. United needed tonight in their 1-0 win against their bitter rivals New Red Bull at Red Bull Arena. United, which had blown leads late in their ...

Charlie Davies' 85th minute penalty kick conversion afforded D.C. United a 1-1 draw against undermanned Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah this evening. Plenty of discussion will come post game on the merits of United earning the draw as Charlie ...

San Jose Earthquakes forward Steven Lenhart was voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 13. Lenhart recorded the first hat trick of his MLS career and tallied an assist in San Jose's 4-2 win over D.C. United.

Moments after D.C. United's first goal, Lenhart evened the game by beating an offside trap.

Not towing the line This humorous footage comes from the MLS clash between Portland Timbers and DC United. DC have a 1-0 lead, but the Timbers are awarded a penalty. Now, after you've been watching this video for a while you won't be able to remember a time when that penalty hadn't been awarded. But [.

Photo by C.A.M. Stephans

By now you have probably heard the Bob Bradley deadline of May 23 to announce his call-ups for the U.S. National Team. This is a critical call-up, as not only will these players play in the 2011 Gold Cup but also in the friendly versus Spain. As such, Bob Bradley will likely go the opposite of Camp Cupcake and take a veteran lineup to Foxborough.

Vote for Bill Hamid to win: MLS Save of the Week

Josh Wolf (left) and Charlie Davies both scored on either side of halftime to help D.C. United to a hard fought 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders last night at chilly RFK Stadium. Photo: Martin Fernandez.

Chris Pontius scored on either side of halftime and Charlie Davies scored his MLS leading 5th goal of the season in D.C. United's surprisingly comfortable 3-0 win tonight against Toronto FC at BMO Field. United jumped out to a 2-0 ...

D.C. United travels north of the border on Saturday night to take on division rivals Toronto FC at BMO Field at 7:00 pm EST (match can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel) trying to pick up their first road win ...

That's an aspirational headline, not an outright prediction. But, having hedged my professional prognostication reputation with that disclaimer, let's just put it right out there: despite the rigors of cross-country travel and lurking parity, the Los Angeles Galaxy is the better team in each of the three match-ups that start tonight with the contest at RFK Stadium against DC United (then Toronto FC and Chicago Fire).

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

Peter Nowak is among the 25 on the Player Ballot for the 2011 class of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

The Brotherly Game quotes a report from Monday in Guatemala-based Prensa Libre that says Carlos Ruiz was in discussion with the Union but terms could not be reached.