Claudio Reyna is considered by many as the most gifted soccer player that the United States has ever produced.
He was named to the 'Best XI' of the 2002 World Cup, as he led the United States to the quarterfinals; He earned 108 caps for the national team, and his career included stops in both the English and Scottish Premier Leagues, as well as in the German Bundesliga.

We'll have a couple of WNT videos going up on ussoccer.com over the next few days, but here is a preview of two of them.
U.S. forward Alex Morgan and U.S. midfielder Kristine Lilly have a combined 345 caps. 344 for Lilly, 1 for Morgan. We gave young Alex a chance to do what many young players dream about, sit down with one of her soccer idols and ask her a few questions.

MLSSoccer.com writer Randy Davis posted an interesting story this morning about Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis' ambitions to coach the US national team. Could the current MLS champion be a good fit for the Yanks?

It makes sense for fans, especially MLS-centric ones, to clamour for a championship winning coach.

An intriguing topic to so many who follow MLS is just how good is this league? I commonly refer to it as between the 15-25 range, but that is a wide range, and highly subjective. Without the Holy Grail of statistics finding a unified number across leagues though can there be an objective study on league strength rather than the classic arguments centered on the top third of a league or its middle third?

Megan Rapinoe is a little be sick this afternoon so she has been replaced on the U.S. roster by Kelley O'Hara. The 21-year-old O'Hara earned her first cap for the senior team last Sunday when she came on in the second half for Heather O'Reilly. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage has six subs she can use during today's match, which could mean a second cap for O'Hara, or possibly first-ever caps for defender Brittany Taylor and/or forward Alex Morgan, all of whom will start the game on the bench.

Former United States international Earnie Stewart has been appointed technical director at the former Dutch champion AZ Alkmaar.

The 41-year-old, who won 101 caps for the U.S., moved to Alkmaar from NAC Breda, where he held the same position.

Stewart was formerly a midfielder with Dutch clubs VVV Venlo, Willem II Tilburg and NAC as well as DC United in the U.

Fabio Cannavaro is one of the most iconic figures in the history of Italian National Football. He has the most caps of any other player past or present and he was nicknamed, ‘The Berlin Wall' after his exploits in the last World Cup. The only problem now is that he ...

There were reports in France yesterday in the paper l'Equipe, that have Newcastle linked with 33 year-old Paris St Germain's attacking midfielder Ludovic Giuly. Ludovic Giuly Newcastle interested? Ludovic can play as a winger or a second striker and he is a very experienced French International (17 caps) who turns 34 in July.

They can now wear caps and not their traditional hijabs.

The U15 team was initially banned by FIFA from competing in the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore in August this year because the team insisted on wearing head scarves.

This runs counter to a 2007 FIFA regulation that prevents the display of religious and political statements or symbols on the field.

Who is the greatest goalkeeper in MLS history?

Hint: He looks more like Eminem than any other player in MLS history.

An honest look at the numbers can only lead to one answer.....Kevin Hartman.

In a league that has had some elite keepers such as Jorge Campos, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Pat Onstad and Tony Meola; Kevin Hartman has nothing to be ashamed of.

Philadelphia Union acquired midfielder Justin Mapp today from the Chicago Fire in exchange for allocation money.

Mapp, 25, is a left-footed winger who has played all but three games of his professional career with the Fire since being drafted fourth overall in the MLS amateur draft. He has five caps for the U.

For 42 minutes it was all looking so good for the first Englishman to lead a team into the Champions League since Sir Bobby Robson eight years ago. Indeed it was all looking ‘triffic'.

Then Assou-Ekotto sliced a ball wildly and needlessly out for a throw on before deciding that, actually, he didn't fancy getting too close to the Bremen striker who had got between King and Cudacinni and duly put the ball into the back of the net.

LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham is still hopeful that there is still a spot available on Fabio Capello's national team squad.

Beckham has tallied a whopping 115 caps at the national team level, but missed out on the 2010 World Cup tournament due to an Achilles tendon injury and hasn't played at the international level since.

DC United officially announced on Friday that the club has waived midfielder Danny Szetela after part of one season with the club. A highly touted youth prospect, Szetela played with the Columbus Crew before joining Racing Satander and later Brescia. He had four league games with DC, alongside five appearances in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Back in February I raised the question of Rio Ferdinand's fitness and his continuing injury problems, asking "how long can this go on?". Well now we have our answer.
At the time it seemed to me that someone who hardly played and was the subject of much speculation about his ability to play more than three games before breaking down deserved some serious scrutiny before the job of England captain became his.

There is news in the Sunday papers today that Newcastle are after Celtic left-back Lee Naylor. Lee Naylor free agent from Celtic The former England Under-21 left-back Naylor (3 caps) will leave Celtic, after new Celtic boss Neil Lennon has refused to offer him a new contract, after his contract ran out last Wednesday.

We've said for weeks the offense was lacking in Toronto despite decent results on the pitch for the Reds. Now it may appear their offensive worries are over, or at least that is the hope. Toronto FC has signed Spanish forward Miguel Angel Ferrer Martinez "Mista" today.

He will be available to the club come July 15 when the summer transfer window opens up.

USA's First-Choice 'Keeper to be Out Five-Six Months

CHICAGO (Sept. 17, 2010) U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo will undergo surgery on Wednesday, Sept. 22, on her right shoulder. Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure in Birmingham, Ala.

The world's sexiest goal keeper is set to miss 5 to 6 months of football action due to a nagging shoulder injury, but Hope Solo is expected to return in plenty of time for the 2011 World Cup in June. Of course due to Solo going under the knife sometime in the next week that means the team will have to qualify without their star keeper this upcoming year, but if Solo were to have the surgery sometime this week or next, she would be expected to return to action by the end of March at the latest.

Karim Benzema is the best option France has in the striker position right now. And I believe that he has the potential to become one of the best attaquants the world has ever seen. Keep in mind he is still a kid, he is only 22 years old. He seems much older though because we have been hearing his na,efor years now.

Recently Virginia Online Soccer News was given the opportunity to speak with former U.S. national team forward JoeMax Moore.
JoeMax Moore was a member of three world cup teams and two Olympic squads. While a member of the USMNT he compiled 100 caps (10th) and 24 goals (4th behind only Donovan, Wynalda, and McBride).

One of the top priorities in Dallas this winter was signing some defensive help. Today the club has announced the signing of 29-year old Ghanian defender Aziz Ansah. He was most recently with Heartland FC in Nigeria. He has nine caps with the Ghana National Team and was named the Sportswriters Association of Ghana Best Footballer of 2003.

To fans of American soccer, I really don't think that Jeff Agoos really needs any introduction. Jeff currently works with the Red Bulls New York as their Director of Scouting, but we all know Jeff for his many years as a player in MLS and with the U.S. National Team. He was one of the key guys in helping both to get to where they are today and is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Well it looks like Carlos Alberto Parreira is making headway with Bafana Bafana. They managed to score three goals at Moses Mabhida Stadium against Zimbabwe last night.

Bafana Bafana Magic

Although the game was no walkover for the South African National team, there were certainly moments of sheer Bafana magic.

Last week, U.S. defender Heather Mitts invited anyone on the WNT who was interested, to attend a free Yoga session at the Green Yogi in Manhattan Beach. Seems that Mitts made friends with an instructor there (who like Mitts, happens to be from Cincinnati) and she offered to lead the U.S. WNT through a session of vinyasa yoga.

Apparently that's a Spanish proverb about how unlucky Tuesday is ("On Tuesday, neither marry nor begin a journey"). Loves me some Wikipedia.

Anyway, here's a few things for this unlucky day:

• The future of American soccer is, apparently, 35-year-old midfielders. AC St. Louis1signed hometown favorite Steve Ralston as player-coach yesterday.

With just three months to go until the World Cup the race to make the plane to South Africa is most definitely on.
For England a mini injury crisis has really opened things up for players who may have thought their international careers were over or that a chance to play at the tournament was beyond their reach.

Don Ruiz is reporting that Pat Noonan, who has been in camp with the Sounders the last couple days, has signed.

Update: * Noonan said he signed. The Sounders say they have no signings to announce. So. Meanwhile, coach Sigi Schmid did agree that it's pretty much time for a decision one way or another on Parke, who was scheduled to meet with Sounders officials this afternoon.

Despite some of the rumors floating around yesterday that Rooney would feature in the second leg of the Bayern game today, Fergie has said there's "no chance". I must say this is quite a relief. It's not good to rush anyone back from injury, it won't benefit United in the long run, it won't benefit England, and it certainly won't benefit Rooney.

At the moment the answer would most likely be a resounding "No" considering Lionel Messi's torrid scoring run and his great form. However, one would only need to look at Argentina's matches to see how the talented Messi who is widely regarded as the best player in the world becomes just another good player.

This is the one he'll tell his grandchildren about. Danny Rose, who fellow blogger 1-1-8 called "a watered down version of Aaron Lennon," when the team sheets were announced today, responded with this thunderous volley for his first ever EPL goal.
Watch it above before it will surely get pulled down from YouTube in a few hours.

Janne Oivio continues his skewed coverage of Veikkausliiga following the preview package published last week.

It's ridiculously early to do a power ranking, but I don't care. Having just completed NFN's Massive Veikkausliiga Preview I was so delighted with myself that I decided to begin a running feature which will run hopefully every other week.

The German captain, a recipient of a nasty tackle on his right ankle by Kevin Prince Boateng during the FA Cup final over the weekendwill not be participating in the World Cup. MRI scans showed partially torn ankle ligaments which require strict immobilization for the next four weeks. He will be given a CAM boot to wear for the next four weeks to progress to the next level in his rehabilitation.

We reported last week that sources in Holland were claiming that Newcastle are keen on FC Groningen's Swedish international and former Wigan defender Andreas Granqvist. Andreas Granqvist 5 Swedish caps We hope this report is not true, because we're not sure this player is good enough for Newcastle, but of course that doesn't stop the news [.

Former U.S. MNT midfielder Earnie Stewart, owner of 101 caps and 17 international goals, has been named technical director of AZ Alkmaar of the Dutch Eredivisie. Stewart formerly served in the same roll with NEC Breda.
Stewart is a veteran of three FIFA World Cup teams and scored the game-winning goal for the U.

Toulouse youngster Moussa Sissoko continues to court interest from around Europe, though talk of a move to the Premier League has escalated, with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur continuing to lead the chase from England, while Olympique Lyonnais maintain a French interest in the dynamic midfielder.

1. Claudio Bravo ***+

Date of Birth: 13 April, 1983 Height: 184 cm Weight: 84 kg Foot: Right Caps: 43 Goals: 0 Club: Real Sociedad (Spain)

Claudio Bravo is the first choice goalkeeper of Chile, and has been for a while now.

By Chris Wright

West Ham have announced the free transfer signing of Thomas Hitzlsperger on a three-year deal.

The German international will officially move to Upton Park when his current contract at Lazio expires on July 1st.

7. Alexis Sánchez ****+

Date of Birth: 19 December, 1988 Height: 170 cm Weight: 62 kg Foot: Right Caps: 28 Goals: 11 Club: Udinese (Italy)

"El Niño Maravilla" (The Wonderkid) is one of the world's greatest talents.

Matthaus Criticizes German National Team With Days Remaining Before Tournament.

Lothar Matthaus spoke out on Germany's squad just days before the opening day of the World Cup, and had very little praise for his national side.

Matthaus, who is Germany's most capped player of all time with 150 caps, is a living legend of the game.