Holy sh*t!

Eric Wynalda was a member of a pretty nice generation of US Soccer. He helped get the country on the map from a footie sense. Along with Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, Earnie Stewart, Tab Ramos, and some others - Wynalda was pretty legit in the 90s. Clearly, he's not too happy with the US team after their 3-0 display against Brazil, but was this really necessary?

Before I wind up any Americans reading this, let me preface this by saying that I too am American. Just as much as any other American, I'd love to see the United States become a footballing powerhouse. We've certainly got the numbers - 300,000,000 citizens - and the melting pot effect means we've got people from all walks of life (Brazilian, English, Italian, etc.

The Chicago Fire are pursuing a former Liverpool star.

The cozy confines of Craven Cottage, a haven for US footballers could be home for Jozy Altidore after languishing at Villareal with a loan transfer to second division club Xerez that saw mostly bench time.

His Confederations Cup form brought back the focus on the big powerful striker especially the way he flung Villareal compatriot Joan Capdevila like a rag doll to score the first goal against Spain.

In the last few years a great deal of ink has been spent in the American football press about how young aspiring American soccer players must go to Academies and then skip college for MLS or a trip to Europe in order to properly develop. I've never subscribed entirely to this view as culturally our athletes tend to bloom at a later age, and playing college soccer in the US often hardens character of players and the good work of the PDL and NPSL with amateur players give footballers more than just the college season to develop their skills.

They were supposed to be the group that brought the US to unforeseen heights in world football. The first group of players to graduate the Bradenton Academy joined with the young players who had done so impressively for the US at the 1999 World Youth Championship to usher in a generational change for the US National Team.

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.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Could the Chicago Fire be ready to make a move for the top spot in MLS it held when the season began?

It was another typically bizarre weekend full of MLS action. Some aspects were usual dubious refereeing leading to late game winners, physical play, red cards, and draws. Other results came from no where namely Dallas defeating Chicago at Toyota Park.

Hard to say anything new about officiating in this league.

It was an interesting week in Major League Soccer as there was a light schedule because of many teams playing friendlies against the top European clubs. The LA Galaxy played AC Milan and Seattle Sounders FC hosted English Premier League club Chelsea FC. Here's the latest MLS Power Rankings through Monday July 20, 2009.

If you ever doubted that Macca was truly loved in Fulham, doubt no more. Forget the Balon D'or, having a bar named after you at your former ground is where it's at. For my money he has truly reached the mountaintop.

It is fair to say that US football is not seen in a very positive light on the British side of the pond. There are years of prejudice to overcome, but the national team's impressive display at the Confederations Cup are helping to change the attitudes of British football fans who cannot help but notice the increasing number of American imports into their leagues.

Week 23 in Major League Soccer proved to be a big one for some clubs. New York finally got off the losing end of things, New England won two straight to move into playoff contention, San Jose finally turned the tide late in the games, and LA got four quality road points in the week.

Yes, week 23 changed a decent bit of things in the rankings.

Dear DC United,
I thought you weren't supposed to handle balls in the penalty area HA HA HA HA OH GOD THE COMEDY it burns
Boy, I'm really glad you guys got a chance to do that picture. Remember when Brian McBride and Cobi Jones did the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue? Remember those fashion shoots the Nats did - boy, I sure hope they do another one next summer!

A week that we could have seen a lot of change really didn't take place. Week number 19 is in the books as we all know but not a whole lot of movement to speak of this week. Columbus was a big jumper with their nice come from behind win at home over rivals Toronto.

Colorado was also able to move up as they downed New York 4-0 at home.

Time to revisit my projections for the last time. Who will be available for the Philadelphia Union to select? The rules were announced recently, and they're exactly the same as the past few drafts.
The following players should graduate from Generation Adidas status: Alston, Beltran, Frei, Gonzalez, Hall, Nyarko, Wallace, Zakuani, and Zayner.

Real Salt Lake runs up the score against New England and it's late excitement in Columbus, Carson, and New York. Meanwhile, Toronto relies on their assistants. Chicago 2 - Columbus 2 Columbus took a 2-0 first half lead with goals from Chad Marshall in the 25th and Alejandro Moreno in the 34th, but they couldn't hold on a late surge from Chicago.

Steve Davis of MLSnet.com had an interesting column that addressed a number of issues from a tactical standpoint from this past weekend, as well as how head coaches are working carefully to manage minutes of their 30+ year old stars.
Key points included:
* The idea of MLS managers, in addition to everything else on their plates, carefully managing minutes of essential players - talented 30-something stars like Jaime Moreno, Brian McBride, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Fan voting is under way for this years MLS All Star Game. Just like with other all star games sometimes the fans of one team can dominate the voting. Luckily for everyone that is not on the Seattle Sounders FC roster the fans vote only count 25% of the final tally to determine the starting 11.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team will play its first rematch from the 2006 World Cup today as they take on defending World Cup champion Italy (2:25pm, ESPN).

The U.

My introduction to Daniele De Rossi was the vicious elbow that he threw at Brian McBride, leaving his face bloody in the USA vs Italy match in the 2006 World Cup. It left a negative impression of him but here is De Rossi doing something rare in football nowadays, acknowledging that he used his hand to score a goal against Serie side Messina.

La selección mexicana de futbol está teniendo al parecer pequeños destellos de esperanza ante su rival Estados Unidos. Y es que desde la vez pasada que a México le está sonriendo la suerte, primero con la confirmación de Rafael Márquez para ese partido, luego con la integración temprana de Giovanni Dos Santos y al parecer también [.

Well I get what I deserve after pointing out the number of draws in MLS this season, five of the seven games from this past weekend end with honors even. It's hardly a surprise to see it, but still makes you wonder what exactly is going on this season. No home team even won a game, with Chicago and Kansas City both getting wins on the road.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The media ballot for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game has finally made its way to my inbox, which means its time to seriously consider which eleven players will be getting votes.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Fulham has had its share of Americans pass through the ranks in recent years, with many enjoying very successful stints.

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.

Wondering how the recent moves of Chris Rolfe and Bakary Soumare to Europe will impact Brian McBride's offseason decision? Well, I asked the 37-year-old McBride - who is in the last year of his contract with the Fire - just that question after the Fire's practice last Thursday. Here is what the Arlington Heights native had to say.

Who to protect and who to expose is the guessing game for the Fire. (Getty Images)

This year unlike the last couple the expansion draft caught up with me here. I almost feel like I am a little late getting these lists out for the draft which is a couple days after MLS Cup. Starting today I will release a team-by-team list of who I think will be protected and who I think will be left exposed.

The January transfer window has closed without some of the moves American fans were hoping for as DaMarcus Beasley, Heath Pearce, Oguchi Onyewu, and Brian McBride (to name a few) will be staying put.
Since I'm in the middle of my own transfer, I'll let my friends Bob Wagman at Soccer Times and Greg Seltzer at No Short Corners fill you in.

And we thought pre-season was supposed to be hard work For those of you who thought the MLS was just a hangout for players who wanted to see out their careers putting in minimal effort and surrounded by celebrities, here is ex-Fulham striker Brian McBride being fitted with a beer hat before taking a penalty at [.

Photo yet again thanks to the Crew Photo Gods at Studio 79. I bow to your greatness!

In my football life, I have seen my fair share of turncoats, Judases (what is the multiple form of Judas?), and traitors. As a Celtic supporter, perhaps the most famous turncoat of all time, Judas Johnstone *spits*, who ironically has some vague management job that apparently does not have much to do with football after his one stellar year of coaching (haw haw haw, Karma is certainly, as they say, a bitch.

For most match preview, I usually wax philosophically about an issue related to the opponent or the goings on of the league. However, I would say that my thoughts on the whole Brian McBride situation would qualify with that. Besides, what is there to say? It's a Columbus-Chicago match up. If you need to be excited for this one, then you also might want to check and make sure you, in fact, have a pulse still.

After the Fire's brilliant comeback in Columbus Saturday, news of some strange goings on with Blanco and referee Jair Marrufo.

Both Blanco and the ref were under investigation due to the fact that Marrufo accepted a signed jersey from Blanco in the locker room after the game. We all know that it is against the rule for ref's to accept gifts and this morning US Soccer decided to take action, dropping Marrufo from this weeks round of MLS matches.

Only one current US National Team pool forward has proven he can contribute at the highest level in the World Cup. That forward is Josh Wolff often maligned but never forgotten. An attacker of rare speed and technical skill in the American setup Wolff's reunification with Curt Onalfo a longtime national team assistant in Kansas City has sparked a revival a compelling revival.

Game story.

Highlights:

Notable: The Fire's 11 game undefeated record to start the season is the longest in club history and the second longest in league history. The title holder: the Galaxy, which posted 12 wins in 1996 (my, my, is that a long time ago now).

Bonus quotes
*Here's Fire Coach Dennis Hamlett on the pivotal last call and his reaction to Preki calling it a dive:

"That's his opinion.

So often the score doesn't tell the story. It'd be easy to see a 3-1 final and think the U.S. men were beaten badly at Italy's hands Monday in the Confederations Cup.
The reality: This was a far better effort, particularly in the first half, than the U.S. men have given in most World Cup qualifiers.

It was a light schedule this weekend with the SuperLiga beginning this weekend. Houston still remains in the top spot while the New York Red Bulls remain in last place and seem unlikely to return to the MLS Cup Finals. The Eastern Conference remains very crowded while Chivas USA and Houston have a little breathing room in the Western Conference.

As we grind our way from the post-Confederations Cup glow to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, things in the American soccer world have slowed down quite a bit. There was the rash of U.S. Open Cup upsets last night, tonight's much-anticipated Seattle SOunders-Portland Timbers Open Cup match, but not much else going on really.

I love a good holiday weekend. That's why these previews are coming today instead of it's usual Friday timeslot. Even with the holiday comes loads of extras for me to be doing and sitting in front of my laptop isn't going to be one of them.

After a couple weekends of SuperLiga play breaking up the flow of the season schedule the majority of the MLS clubs are back in play this weekend.