Believe it or not, there was a time when Kevin Alston was in the national team pool. Let that sink in for a moment. It wasn't even that long ago when he was called into Camp Cupcake in 2009 under Bob Bradley. Granted, he pulled out of the camp with a hamstring injury, but his game was reputable enough that he earned a shot.

Anticipation is building after January served up a nice set of appetizers for the season to come, both for MLS and the US National Team. We begin with Klinsmann's first go-round at Camp Cupcake, the annual January gathering of the "best of the rest" in the USMNT pool...

One-Nil to the USMNT

Results were slow to arrive early in Klinsmann's tenure as USA boss, but a pair of 1-0 wins (home to Venuzuela and on the road in Panama) sees him start 2012 with an unblemished record.

We review the USA's 1-0 win over Panama in the Camp Cupcake climax. It was Klinsmann's third straight victory as USMNT coach...so why did it feel so disappointing?

Last night the US Soccer's "Camp Cupcake" Team followed up Saturday night's 1-0 win over Venezuela with a 1-0 win over Panama. I admit that the "Camp Cupcake" moniker is not my favorite for the annual US Soccer winter camp that primarily gives numerous MLS players and some European journeymen an extended audition for the US National Team, but I think it's important to use this moniker in light of the apparent "every match is a live or die match" attitude that seems to dominate the most vocal of the US Soccer fan base.

Last night the US Soccer's "Camp Cupcake" Team followed up Saturday night's 1-0 win over Venezuela with a 1-0 win over Panama. I admit that the "Camp Cupcake" moniker is not my favorite for the annual US Soccer winter camp that primarily gives numerous MLS players and some European journeymen an extended audition for the US National Team, but I think it's important to use this moniker in light of the apparent "every match is a live or die match" attitude that seems to dominate the most vocal of the US Soccer fan base.

The US "Camp Cupcake" roster closed out their camp down in Panama today with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal by Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi. Like the game on Saturday against Venezuela, both Zusi and Teal Bunbury started for the United States, while CJ Sapong found himself starting on the bench. The US got a good start, as Zusi finished off a chance in the 8th minute to give the US a 1-0 lead.

Last night in Arizona, the US national team topped Venezuela in the first of two friendlies for the camp cupcake roster, 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Ricardo Clark. Sporting KC forward Teal Bunbury and midfielder Graham Zusi both started for the US, while forward, CJ Sapong came on as a second half sub, replacing Zusi.

We pick our Camp Cupcake USMNT starting XI to face Venezuela. It will be similar to Klinsmann's selection, just better. We also play a USMNT abroad-themed game of Over/Under with Taylor and give our reactions to Eric Wynalda's already infamous speech and Robbie Findley's seemingly impossible miss.

Neil W. Blackmon Caleb Porter's U-23 side, the January camp edition, fell 4-0 to the Klinsmann Camp Cupcake edition of the USMNT this weekend, and while conceding four goals to the senior side may cause some alarm among those anxiously monitoring this group's progress, it's the lack of goals that was somewhat surprising to those [.

Something has always flummoxed me in sports. It's the propensity of lesser informed fans and a few media blowhards to stand on high, reeking of tough-minded and righteous superiority, and label some professional athletes as "soft."

This is especially bothersome in American football.

The Philadelphia Independence drafted six players in Friday's WPS draft, with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen being the top pick. The big question is whether they'll get her to move over from Bayern Munich, where she's under contract.

The Independence then took UC-Irvine defender CoCo Goodson and Florida State defender Toni Pressley in the second round, Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger and Portland forward Danielle Foxhoven in the third, and Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer in the fourth round.

It's time again for the USMNT's annual edition of Camp Cupcake, or as our friends over at The Best Soccer Show have coined it in honor of a certain German influence on US Soccer, Camp Strudel. Reserved for Scandinavian and MLS players who are just outside the core USMNT lineup, this edition of Camp Strudal [.

As Camp Junior Mint (U-23) gets underway in Florida this week, Jurgen Klinsmann should be shortly submitting his roster for who gets an Evite to the annual Camp Cupcake in Carson, CA.

This will of course be Klinsmann's first time selecting for the camp that normally sees predominant enrollment of fringe US and Nordic domestic league players.

While the USMNT has their January "Camp Cupcake" coming up, the US U-23s will head to Florida under the direction of new coach Caleb Porter on December 15th, to participate in their own camp ("Camp Junior Mint?") in advance of next year's Olympic tournament.

The Dynamo's Danny Cruz, an unheralded name in the mix.

This may not to be news to those of you who follow German football but today I was informed of yet another Afro-Germerican™ player I had no idea about. His name is Andrew Wooten and he's with Kaiserslautern's reserve team.
If he's any good I haven't the faintest. Ask Philneezy, he could tell you maybe.

Lots of international team news was announced today, and 4 Sporting KC players were affected. First, Kei Kamara's call up for the Sierra Leone national team was confirmed by the team today, although I think Kamara tweeting last night that he'd been called up was proof enough that he'd been called up for their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt at home.

It's been a topsy-turvy run for Clarence Goodson on the USMNT. Goodson, who played at the University of Maryland in the midfield nonetheless, has been largely enigmatic for Bob Bradley in a US kit.

Clarence Goodson against Colombia, October 2010.

It was 2009 that Goodson got some run after a Jimmy Conrad injury at the Gold Cup.

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.

Camp Cupcake is over. What ever are we doing to do? Talk about the match against Chile, for one. That's the main dish in this meal, being served-up by myself and co-host Christopher Riordan on this edition of the Major League Soccer Talk podcast. The U.S. drew Chile 1-1 at Home Depot, a series of new or fresh faces go playing time, but what's it all mean?

In a busy week for the US national teams, Rachna, Shana, and Amanda review Camp Cupcake v. Chile and the first two games of the Four Nations Cup. They are all pleased to see younger players on both rosters, in particular Teal Bunbury, Mix Diskerud, and Alex Morgan. Shana is unnerved by Brek Shea, Rachna gives us the view from the stands of the Home Depot Center, and Amanda has some harsh words for clueless soccer commentators (and for once, they're not John Harkes).

Today's different Studio90 presentation gets out of the way to give you a good look at Camp Cupcake training. Damn, now I want a cupcake. Devil's food with white icing...- Greg Seltzer

Rachna, Shana, and Megan give an outlook to how they think the MLS and WPS drafts will shape up as they review the MLS combine. A resolution is made that one of the girls will register for the WPS draft next year, but you can find more about that in the movie that comes out in 20 years ("From the Cheap Seats to the Center Circle" is the tag line, we're sure).

After many requests from MLS Talk readers, we're glad to announce that the MLS Talk Podcast is now available as an app on the Android smartphone.

The app is just $1.99 and is automatically updated on your phone as soon as each new podcast episode is released. Download the MLS Talk Podcast app for Android today.