OK, after taking this week off to mostly just troll other blogs and not comment too much on MLS or soccer in general after letting last week's loss sink in, I do have some thoughts on a rash of topics:
(But before I begin, I have to tell you my favorite lines from anyone about events so far this week. Click to continue reading...

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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Now tell me truthfully. What is your abiding image of the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs? Is it Schelotto steaming on the bench in Salt Lake? Maybe Onstad "chesting" Flopping Fredy? Perhaps Ching's flying finish? Not me. I'll go with Mike... Click to continue reading...

It's November, which means it is time for SBI to crank out last month's Q&A installments.

While a few weeks have passed since questions were submitted, most questions are still just as relevent today as they were two to three weeks ago.

U.S. national team questions rule the day as usual, with more World Cup questions starting to filter in now that the Americans have qualified and the clock is ticking quickly toward South Africa.

Click to continue reading...

It's November, which means it is time for SBI to crank out last month's Q&A installments.

While a few weeks have passed since questions were submitted, most questions are still just as relevent today as they were two to three weeks ago.

U.S. national team questions rule the day as usual, with more World Cup questions starting to filter in now that the Americans have qualified and the clock is ticking quickly toward South Africa.

Click to continue reading...

Well, we didn't win. Houston took our best shot and is still standing. A couple thoughts on last night's game.
1) Houston is *way* more talented than we are, up and down the field. Brad Evans played out of his mind last night, Ljungberg had a good game, our defense was ok, Keller earned his paycheck, that was for sure. Click to continue reading...

Thursday night the Sounders launch the league's second season as the Playoffs in many sports are called, but in this case it might be particularly important. Though Houston and Seattle faced off twice in League play and once in the late rounds of the US Open Cup, the teams have changed quite a bit from where they were in previous meetings.

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A truly awesome interview with our boy Goalden Holden, who dishes on Rico and "Fat" Ching. Click to continue reading...

Jeff Cunningham scored two more goals for Dallas to tie Colorado's Conor Casey for the league lead with 15. Actually, he now leads in the race for the golden boot due to the first tiebreaker, assists. He has 7 to Casey's 1, so he'll win any tie between the two men. Not only that, he has an extra game remaining and FCD has been assaulting the nets recently. Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams was probably the hardest working player on our championship teams in the 90s, but flew mostly under the radar when compared to the better known players.
Last year's winner by a wide margin was Clyde Simms, earning over 50% of the vote. Click to continue reading...

My old dad had a simple saying for me: "When you start something, finish it."
The Houston Dynamo could use a little bit of that right about now. Check out this little stat:
Red cards issued to Houston Dynamo in all competitions since the MLS All-Star Game: Eight
Red cards issued to Dynamo in all competitions before MLS All-Star Game: One (to Mike Chabala against NYRB in the 93rd minute April 11)
That truly is an amazing statistic. Click to continue reading...

Finally the day is here, USA vs Trinidad. Big game for the USA, they need to win to help them finish in the top three so they won't have to play a play in match vs maybe Argentina. Here is the lineup;
----------------Davies--------Altidore-----------
Donovan--------------------------------Dempsey
-----------------Bradley-----Clark---------------
Bornstein----Bocanegra---Onyewu----Spector
-----------------------Howard--------------------
Big suprises here is Clark partnering Bradley Jr. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. makes two changes from Saturday, bringing in Ricardo Clark and Oguchi Onyewu.Howard; Spector, Onyewu, Bocanegra (c), Bornstein; Dempsey, Clark, Bradley, Donovan; Davies, AltidoreBench - Guzan, Marshall, Torres, Ching, Cherundolo, Feilhaber, Holden--- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

Yay, qualifying roster is out. It's like Christmas. On Mars. With Jehovah's Witnesses.
But first, I think I should at least pile on this. I get very few Christmas cards from either the Angel City Brigade or the Union Ultras, but this is as weak as the Woody Allen Workout. I'm still willing to rant about the Legion-Riot Squad fracas of 2007, but neither of these groups were involved - and apparently the decision was more about West Ham-Millwall than Legion-LARS, which is even weaker. Click to continue reading...

Here is the USA 24 player training roster for the 2 World Cup qualifying games against El Salvador at home on Sat Sep 5 and away to Trinidad & Tobago on Wed Sep 9.
G:
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Jay DeMerit - Watford
Clarence Goodson - Start
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Oguchi Onyewu - Milan
Jonathan Spector - West Ham
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Benny Feilhaber - Aarhus
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Jose Francisco Torres - Pachuca
F:
Jozy Altidore - Hull
Conor Casey - Colorado Rapids
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Charlie Davies - Sochaux
Robbie Findley - Real Salt Lake
Any surprises here? Click to continue reading...

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Jozy Altidore had not stepped on the field at the club level in over seven months, but that did not stop him from making an immediate impact in his Hull City debut.

Against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, Altidore entered the match in the 60th minute, and one minute later he delivered the game-winning assist in the 1-0 victory.

Click to continue reading...

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Jozy Altidore had not stepped on the field at the club level in over seven months, but that did not stop him from making an immediate impact in his Hull City debut.

Against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, Altidore entered the match in the 60th minute, and one minute later he delivered the game-winning assist in the 1-0 victory.

Click to continue reading...

Cruz Azul had no trouble with Saprissa in their Group C opener in Mexico City, winning 2-0 in rainy conditions. Christian Riveros opened the scoring in the 13th minute and Joel Huiqui made it 2-0 in the 35th. Jóse de Jesus Corona needed one save for the shutout. In Houston, the Dynamo got a 68th minute goal from Brian Chng to put away Isidro Metapan 1-0 in Group A. Click to continue reading...

MAN OF THE MATCH: This was clearly a two-horse race. While Charlie Davies did score the USA's lone goal, he failed to put away his golden opportunity to get the go-ahead in the second half. Overall, a good performance, but we had to give the nod to Oguchi Onyewu.

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¿Cuál fue la diferencia para que México pudiera obtener tres puntos contra Estados Unidos y nos haga suspirar en vivir otro Mundial Más? Aquí mis claves:

• El Jugador Doce. El Estadio Azteca lució lleno, estuvo metido en el partido, apoyó, se entregó. El pueblo mexicano se volcó en torno al Tri.

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Deja vu. The USA goes up early on a formidable opponent only to see the lead evaporate and Bradley's boys are completely unable to generate anything in the second half. I loved the ESPN pregame feature on the rivalry. A lot of hype, but it shows what this rivalry has become over the last twenty years and what its potential is, if we can ever win in Mexico. Click to continue reading...

Mexico 2, USA 1.
USA still can't beat Mexico at the Estadio Azteca, even after a one goal lead.
So, who's to blame?
BLAME THE REF
I thought the cards were inconsistently given, although it wouldn't have led to anything substantial. No one deserved a send off. Click to continue reading...

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"It's on our list of things to do."

With an uncharacteristic smirk on his face and confidence in his voice, Bob Bradley uttered those words back in February when asked about the U.S. national team winning in Mexico. The Americans had just defeated Mexico in Columbus and Bradley had every reason to feel confident about his team's chances of coming to Mexico and recording the team's first victory on American soil.

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  Â

"It's on our list of things to do."

With an uncharacteristic smirk on his face and confidence in his voice, Bob Bradley uttered those words back in February when asked about the U.S. national team winning in Mexico. The Americans had just defeated Mexico in Columbus and Bradley had every reason to feel confident about his team's chances of coming to Mexico and recording the team's first victory on American soil.

Click to continue reading...

USSF hosted a teleconference from Miami this afternoon with US Coach Bob Bradley and first choice keeper Tim Howard.
Listen HERE
The team trained this morning in Miami and will do so again tomorrow, after which they will depart for Mexico City.
There will be no team training in Mexico prior to the match. Click to continue reading...

US Soccer released the roster for the August 12 "Attack the Azteca" game today, and THERE ARE NO SHOCKS but a couple of mild surprises.
GK: Guzan, Howard
DEFENSE: Spector, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Marshall, Bornstein, Cherundolo and DeMerit
MIDFIELD: Bradley, Clark, Dempsey, Feilhaber, Holden and Torres
FORWARD: Altidore, Casey, Ching, Davies and Donovan
Looks like DaMarcus Beasley has finally played himself out of the program. Click to continue reading...

GK- Howard
LB- Bocanegra
CB- Onyewu, DeMerit
RB- Spector
LM- Donovan
CM- Bradley, Clark
RM- Dempsey
F- Altidore, Ching
For the whole roster, get it here.
My thoughts...

• I think the above lineup is your safest bet for this away match.

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D.C. United's history in Houston has been horrific. Although United almost pulled off another miracle comeback, giving up three goals in three minutes in the first half were their ultimate undoing in their 4-3 loss tonight in Houston. Click to continue reading...

What's left to say about the Gold Cup that hasn't already been said? We had four strong matches, and then one epic failure. It's clear that the 5-0 loss to Mexico weighs more heavily on our hearts than any of the previous victories, but fortunately we have only a few weeks to wait before we get the chance for revenge.

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It was a tough Sunday in many ways for the Miami Ultras. Once again we were invited to attend Univision's Republica Deportiva for the USA vs Mexico Gold Cup final. Everything was great, confidence was high. The Mexican fans chanted their typical Mexican tunes while the Ultras began to drown them out with our incessant USA! Click to continue reading...

The latest Major League Soccer Power Rankings for this week are out and the Columbus Crew have climbed to the top after a rough start while the New York Red Bulls continue to be the worst team. Overall the playoff races in both conferences are getting very close and almost every team still has a chance at earning a spot.

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So, yeah, it was great seeing Idiot FC get it's still-beating heart ripped out in stoppage time by Frankie Hejduk and Jason Garey. Even though I'm not coaching out there anymore, it warmed my heart.
A couple days ago B.A. Duane published the letter TFC supporters sent to Crew GM Mark McCullers back in April (hey, another page view! Click to continue reading...

Here are the line-ups for today's CONCACAF Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico at Giants Stadium. No changes for the home side...Perkins; Heaps, Marshall, Goodson, Pearce; Holden, Beckerman, Pause, Rogers; Arnaud, Ching (capt.)Bench: Busch, Evans, Cooper, Quaranta, Clark, Cronin, Parkhurst Ochoa; J. Click to continue reading...

The United States starts the final with the same lineup that earned a victory in the previous game against Honduras:
Perkins; Heaps, Marshall, Goodson, Pearce; Holden, Beckerman, Pause, Rogers; Arnaud, Ching (capt.)
- On the bench for the U.S.: Busch, Evans, Cooper, Quaranta, Clark, Cronin, Parkhurst Click to continue reading...

All you need to know about Sunday's final against Mexico. Some things you should know:

• Defender Clarence Goodson became the tenth U.S. player to score a goal during the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the sixth U.S. player to get his first national team goal during the tournament in the 2-0 win against Honduras.

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