So many rumors and stories the other day I had to trim the fat:

• Phillip Lahm linked with Barcelona?
  
• New Roma deal for Mexes.
  
• Barca and Arsenal making a high-profile swap?
  
• Conor Casey wants out of Colorado.
  
• Inter giving Maicon a new deal?
  
• Dzeko targeted by Man.

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First the list, then the thought.

Goalkeeper: Zach Thornton, Chivas USA.
Defenders: Geoff Cameron, Houston; Wilman Conde, Chicago; Chad Marshall, Columbus.
Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC; Landon Donovan, Los Angeles; Stuart Holden, Houston; Shalrie Joseph, New England; Freddie Ljungberg, Seattle.

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How does this look for a best XI lineup. Â This is the group that was named to the MLS best XI for this 2009 season. Â Only a single player from the best XI will be represented in the MLS Cup this Sunday. Â That is of course Landon Donovan US player of the decade.

Conor Casey Jeff Cunningham

Dwayne De Rosario Landon Donovan Stuart Holden Shalrie Joseph Freddie Ljungberg

Geoff Cameron Wilman Conde Chad Marshall

Zach Thornton

So what do you think, is this a good lineup?

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OK, time to get back to a more regular posting schedule. This week I'll hopefully have a season review, a recap of where the European teams I'm following are, and maybe a new team to talk about. First lets start with next week's Expansion Draft for next year's Philadelphia Union.
The draft will be a week from Wednesday. Click to continue reading...

Today Major League Soccer has announced it's Best XI for the 2009 season.

Keeper: Zach Thornton

Defenders (3): Chad Marshall, Wilman Conde, and Geoff Cameron

Midfielders (5): Dwayne De Rosario, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Shalrie Joseph, and Freddie Ljungberg

Forwards (2): Conor Casey and Jeff Cunningham

Some shockers may jump out at your like Seattle's Ljungberg.

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The USA played the first of its pre-World Cup friendlies against Slovakia on Saturday. With nothing to play for, Bob Bradley utilized the opportunity to test his team's depth. The results? Despite the 0-1 defeat, there were more positives than negatives.

Most promising of the group were the performances of our center backs and central midfield.

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A sharpshooting contest which Jozy Altidore wins with some sweet stuff. Steve Cherundolo is hard done by poor service in the end. The clip shows Altidore really relaxed with his infectious personality coming through.

The US meets Slovakia for the first time. Bob Bradley has some serious questions up front with Charlie Davies out.

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BAM!G - Guzan, Howard, PerkinsD - Bocanegra, Marshall*/Califf/Gibbs, Castillo, Cherundolo, Conrad, Goodson, Pearce, SpectorM - Bradley, Beckerman*/Cronin, Cameron*/McCarty, Dempsey, Donovan*/Beasley/Bedoya, Feilhaber, Torres, WhiteF - Altidore, Casey, Cunningham, Findley*/CooperThe players marked with an asterisk may or may not be available, depending on MLS leg two results this week. Click to continue reading...

Seattle Sounders midfielder Freddy Llungberg is Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for October. He had four assists as the expansion Sounders qualified for the MLS playoffs. Llungberg was the Player of the Week for Week 31. 2009 MLS Player of the Month Awards March: Fredy Montero – Seattle Sounders FC April: Brian McBride – Chicago Fire May: Conor Casey – Colorado Rapids June: Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Columbus Crew July: Landon Donovan –. Click to continue reading...

Real salt Lake forward Robbie Findley won Major League Soccer's Player of the Week award for week 32, the final week of the 2009 regular season. Findley had two of Salt Lake's three goals in their 3-0 win over Colorado. That result put RSL into the playoffs. 2009 MLS Player of the Week Winners WEEK 1: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) WEEK 2: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC) WEEK 3: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) WEEK. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. Under-17 national team kicks off its Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria today against Spain.

I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

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Missouri State Bears, Samantha Aguilar

Missouri State Bears 1
Indiana State Sycamores 1
The Missouri State women's soccer team (7-5-3, 3-1-1) got a late first half goal by senior Samantha Aguilar and got a 1-1 draw with the Sycamores (5-8-3, 2-2-1) in Terre Haute, Ind. Click to continue reading...

Missouri State Bears, Samantha Aguilar

Missouri State Bears 1
Indiana State Sycamores 1
The Missouri State women's soccer team (7-5-3, 3-1-1) got a late first half goal by senior Samantha Aguilar and got a 1-1 draw with the Sycamores (5-8-3, 2-2-1) in Terre Haute, Ind. Click to continue reading...

A nice story for a Monday afternoon – Chelsea captain John Terry has reached into his sizeable pockets to help maintain the future of his club's women's football team.
According to a story in the Guardian, Chelsea Ladies – who have made good progress in the last few years – have suffered a cut in funding recently which threatened to overshadow their development.

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A nice story for a Monday afternoon – Chelsea captain John Terry has reached into his sizeable pockets to help maintain the future of his club's women's football team.
According to a story in the Guardian, Chelsea Ladies – who have made good progress in the last few years – have suffered a cut in funding recently which threatened to overshadow their development.

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Some random thoughts from RFK.....

DC soccer fans are among the best in the nation. My only previous experience seeing a soccer game at RFK was when I saw Norway play Mexico in the 1994 World Cup, so last night was my first chance to see the DC soccer fans in action.

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... Quite thrilling for a tie, huh?
Yes, the United States got a goal from Jonathan Bornstein just about at the end of time to steal a point from Costa Rica last night at RFK Stadium in Washington. The point gave the US top honors in the CONCACAF 6-team qualification group, since Mexico failed to win at Trinidad & Tobago last night. Click to continue reading...

The Awesome 3 on Jeff Cunningham and the Dallas debate. They also touch on the playoff chase in Toronto; of course hindsight is 20/20 but do you think Mo Johnston wishes he would have hung on to Cunningham and Casey now that they are leading the league in goals? I've heard of "buyers remorse" but does "traders remorse" exist? Click to continue reading...

The US is going to another World Cup. (Getty Images)

Editor's Note: Geoff Reid appears at WVHooligan each week. Today he is back to recap the recent World Cup clinching match for the US against Honduras. Feel free to leave Geoff your thoughts below.

It's been a few days since the US national team secured qualification for South Africa next summer so now would be a good time to recap the latest events that took place in San Pedro Sulsa on Saturday night.

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The United States clinched its spot in South Africa with a gritty 3-2 win at Honduras on Saturday while Costa Rica is now 3rd in the qualification table. The match has meaning for Costa Rica who can clinch their spot with a win while the USA can remain in first with a win. The match will be televised on ESPN2.

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Der Mannschaft has done it again. Miroslav Klose found the back of the net in the 35th minute to give Germany the 1-0 win over Russia on their plastic pitch. Credit has to go to Adler and his defense to hold off the Russian offense lead by Arsenal midfielder, Arshavin. This was definitely match to watch over the weekend.

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It was touch and go in the final moments, and a missed penalty kick played a role, but Americans triumphed in a tough away match versus Honduras.
Player Ratings
Winners & Losers
Joy and relief and U.S. clinches World Cup berth
Ives: Casey gets the party started
Rogers: USA To-Do list for 2010 Click to continue reading...

Conor Casey led the Nats to a 3-2 win in Honduras last night. With the win the U.S. clinches World Cup Qualification and can book trips to South Africa next summer.
After going down 1-0 Casey battled for a Davies header and beat the Honduran keeper to it. off his shoulder the ball looped up and over the onrushing keeper and rolled across the line. Click to continue reading...

Some random thoughts on the US win and the upcoming game against Costa Rica

The Greatest US Win I Have Never Seen.  A lot has already been said about how absurd it was that this game was not broadcast to the average US fan, so there is no reason to continue to beat this dead horse.

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Wow, what a game. For all the stick we've given him here, Conor Casey came up shockingly huge and deserves a lot of credit for his performance. Landy again left his mark. And holy crap did we get lucky after Stu Holden's handball.

More to come on this match later, but we're in the World Cup!

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.The United States beat Honduras 3-2 at Francisco Morazan Stadium to clinch its sixth straight place in World Cup Finals. Conor Casey, a surprise starter for the US team scored his first two international goals in the second half. Landon Donovan's 21-yard free kick in the 71st minute, his 42nd international goal, turned out to be USA's winning goal. Click to continue reading...

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The United States will be going to the World Cup for the sixth straight time.

The Americans held off a fierce Honduran attack for a half, then broke down the Honduras defense for three second-half goals to win and clinch its place in the World Cup. Forward Conor Casey played the role of unlikely hero with two goals, his first two for the national team.

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The United States will be going to the World Cup for the sixth straight time.

The Americans held off a fierce Honduran attack for a half, then broke down the Honduras defense for three second-half goals to win and clinch its place in the World Cup. Forward Conor Casey played the role of unlikely hero with two goals, his first two for the national team.

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Lo de Honduras no se puede creer. Ganaba 1-0 y el Olímpico de San Pedro Sula era una fiesta, pero al final perdió 3-2 y quedó complicado, ya que Costa Rica venció 4-0 a Trinidad y Tobago y ahora lo superó. Los catrachos ahora ya no dependen de sí mismos. Le deben ganar a El Salvador en el Cuscatlán y rezar para que los ticos no ganen en Estados Unidos. Click to continue reading...

Honduras 2 U.S. 3

Game story.

Former Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon proved once again why he failed so abysmally in MLS, missing a crucial penalty in the 87th minute for Honduras that sealed the U.S. win. And then he missed another sitter two minutes later.

Still, it looked to me a legitimate Honduras goal was called offside.

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Jeff Cunningham is on fire like few others have ever been in MLS. After a slow start to the 2009 season, the 33-year-old striker has taken off ever since the departure of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. Since Cooper left, Cunningham has scored 16 goals in 13 games, including last night's game winning goal against San Jose.

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Jeff Cunningham is on fire like few others have ever been in MLS. After a slow start to the 2009 season, the 33-year-old striker has taken off ever since the departure of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. Since Cooper left, Cunningham has scored 16 goals in 13 games, including last night's game winning goal against San Jose.

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Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was named Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 29. Donovan got the only goal in the Galaxy's 1-0 win over Chicago to clinch a spot in the MLS playoffs. 2009 MLS Player of the Week Winners WEEK 1: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) WEEK 2: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC) WEEK 3: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) WEEK 4: Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles Galaxy) WEEK 5: Josh. Click to continue reading...

OK, quartered is an overstatement, but we didn't do our chances much good with only 1 point in our final home game. The Rapids once again went down early only to get bailed out by a PK to get a 1-1 draw.
The first half was pretty quiet. The first of two notable events happened very early as Ballouchy was lining up for a free kick. Click to continue reading...

FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham is Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for September. Cunningham had seven goals for the month, and he now has the leads the League in that category. 2009 MLS Player of the Month Awards March: Fredy Montero – Seattle Sounders FC April: Brian McBride – Chicago Fire May: Conor Casey – Colorado Rapids June: Guillermo Barros Schelotto – Columbus Crew July: Landon Donovan – Los Angeles Galaxy August: Chad. Click to continue reading...