In the furious neverending November rain, Fulham made one mistake and lost the game. James McFadden, a quality player in an average Birmingham side, clipped a ball over the Fulham back four to Lee Bowyer, Bowyer flipped the ball over Mark Schwarzer, and the ball nestled in the net. 1-0.  Bowyer was clean through because only three of the Fulham back four pushed up at the same time, Brede Hangeland delaying for a split second that ruined everything.

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It was a triple killing -- three goals in eight minutes that easily saw off the U.S. challenge in Aarhus. Friendlies tend to spawn more overreactions than calm, logical analysis simply because most American soccer fans expect to be better than they really are.

From the distant perspective of a TV screen carrying the international feed, the defensive collapse was a frustrating exercise that you'd rather not see.

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We know Steve Nicol stands to lose one quality player, who will it be? (Getty Images)

While the rest of the world is waiting for a couple World Cup qualifiers to finish up here we move forward here with our expansion draft coverage. Earlier in the day we discussed the LA Galaxy, now we take a gander at the New England Revolution.

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The U.S. men's national team plays its final match of a busy and memorable 2009 today when it takes on Denmark in Aarhus (2:30pm, ESPN Classic/Galavision/ESPN2 after Ukraine-Greece).

Both teams will be missing several key players, with the Americans playing without Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey (as well as injured regulars Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Charlie Davies).

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It's a tough situation Bob Bradley finds himself in. With very few friendly dates left before South Africa to test our best against quality opposition, today's game against Denmark appears to be a dud. The US is without its two most recognizable field players, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, while the Danes basically have a "B" side at their disposal which excludes such recognizable names as Daniel Agger and Niklas Bendtner.

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The Sin: According to Gordon Gekko (the fictional junk bond king played by Michael Douglas in Oliver Stone's inimitable Wall Street), "Greed is good." Well, according to the Bible (and common sense), it ain't very good at all. In fact, Proverbs 15:27 states that "he that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house.

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The USMNT meet Denmark, today at NRGi Park, Aarhus, 8:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN Classic at 2:25 p.m.

There maybe a reason for Bob Bradley's faith in Jonathan Bornstein. They both began their national careers on 20 January, 2007 against Denmark and Bornstein repaid his coach's faith by scoring the game winner.

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QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTES: TIAS, Du Nord, The Original Winger, Soccer By Ives, and The Offside Rules will be hosting a party Friday night 9pm in downtown Seattle at Kell's Irish Pub (FYI - bar charges $5 cover, which is not going to us). It's a true soccer bar I'm told, should be a good time. Click to continue reading...

1. Another Revamp: A lot is being asked of the squad in camp, needing a quick reshuffle and integration of players from Slovakia to Denmark. Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo started against Slovakia but won't be available against Denmark. Cherundolo's absence in particular means reshuffling the defense. Click to continue reading...

Briefly:

*The initial 36,000 tickets for MLS Cup Sunday in Seattle sold out, so another 6,000 tickets have been put on sale. Details here.

*As unlikely as the Galaxy's run to MLS Cup was, Real Salt Lake's performance was even less expected. Reaction here.

*U.S. Coach Bob Bradley called in the Houston Dynamo midfield duo of Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden and Tigres defender Edgar Castillo for Wednesday's game against Demark.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

If the starting lineup the U.S. team fielded in Saturday's loss to Slovakia didn't look far enough away from Bob Bradley's first-choice squad, wait until you see the team we are likely to have take the field in Denmark on Wednesday.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

If the starting lineup the U.S. team fielded in Saturday's loss to Slovakia didn't look far enough away from Bob Bradley's first-choice squad, wait until you see the team we are likely to have take the field in Denmark on Wednesday.

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There were no surprises on Saturday while watching the U.S. men's team struggle in Bratislavia. No Landon Donovan and no Charlie Davies removes the two fastest, most dangerous attacking players. Watching Clint Dempsey lumber up and down the pitch, hoping for something a bit extra, wasn't enough.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. men's national team midfielder Jose Francisco Torres will not play in Wednesday's friendly against Demmark after has been excused from the U.S. team's camp.

Torres was one of four new players called in to the U.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. men's national team midfielder Jose Francisco Torres will not play in Wednesday's friendly against Demmark after he was excused from the U.S. team's camp for personal reasons.

Torres was one of four new players called in to the U.

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Bob Bradley had said there'd likely be some changes to the lineup between the Slovakia and Denmark games this week. Today we learned who was dropped and who was added to the roster ahead of the game on Wednesday in Aarhus, Denmark. Dropped from the roster was Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo so that they could return to their clubs. Click to continue reading...

United States National Team coach Bob Bradley has announced changes to the US roster that will face Denmark on Wednesday. Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey, and Chad Marshall have left camp. Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Edgar Castillo, and Jose Francisco Torres have been added to the roster. Click to continue reading...

Positives:

A) The USA with their below full strength team played patient ball control. They took their time to build up their attack. Having no Donovan and Davies meant that the US had to give up their fast counterattacking edge. But the tactical switch was achieved quite effectively showing that the US is capable of this approach.

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Well, turns out Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey & Co. have about as much drawing power in Eastern Europe as Anvil. For whatever the reason Friday night I decided to stay up through multiple power outages for the MLS Western Conference Final between the Galaxy and Dynamo. During the match the thought drifted into my head about Saturday's USMNT/Slovakia friendly -- why wouldn't Bob Bradley simply roll Click to continue reading...

When it comes to friendlies, it's nearly an impossible task to convince an audience that the stakes are high. And while that is certainly true the day before the U.S.-Slovakia match in Bratislavia, there is plenty to learn about the state of the U.S. team both Saturday, and next Wednesday in Denmark.

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For whatever the reason, the term "friendly" can be lumped together with diving (i.e. David Ngog) and the quantum physics intricacies of the offside rule as primary reasons why mainstream media types prefer to mock soccer, as opposed to caring about it. What exactly is a "friendly" anyway? Why not call it an exhibition? Click to continue reading...

News that Charlies Davies was released from the hospital this week was welcome news to U.S. Soccer fans. Now the long journey begins for the Sochaux striker as he battles back to save his career after suffering life-threatening injuries. With Davies likely sidelined for the 2010 World Cup, it's never too soon to speculate on who needs to step up and score in South Africa.

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ESPN has launched a new world soccer rating system, the Soccer Power Index (SPI for short). See this as an RPI of sorts for the world of international football. They take some interesting things into account, such as performance of an international player on the club level. If Clint Dempsey scores a game-winner against Man United for Fulham, that helps the USA's SPI. Click to continue reading...

The Sin: Pride is often called the "ultimate sin" because it leads to so many of the other sins. According to Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction". It's true, too. I define "pride" as the unwillingness to view one's own abilities objectively, or to put it bluntly insincere self-respect.

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Several Americans were in action in the European leagues on Sunday, November 10, 2009. Clint Dempsey, Jonathan Spector, and Tim Howard were playing in the English Premier League while Carlos Bocanegra was with Stade Rennais in France. Kenny Cooper continues to play for Bundesliga 2 side 1860 Munich and Steve Cherundolo is a regular starter for Hannover 96.

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I've mentioned how the Blues are my horse to win the EPL race many times. Taking all three points in a big match-up against Manchester United will help.
Of course Sir Alex said he has no faith in officiating after the match. Surprise, surprise. Do reporters need to ask him about anything else anymore? Click to continue reading...

First Star: Another week, and another goal for Fulham's Clint Dempsey. This time it was from the penalty spot, with Dempsey coverting in the 39th-minute to split the points with Wigan. Emmerson Boyce had Wigan's opener in the 13th. "The team's come a long way over the past two years and we've got a long way to go," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said. Click to continue reading...

Brad Friedel's five-star Aston Villa trampled Bolton while Clint Dempsey scored the equalizing goal in an entertaining away trip to Wigan. Click to continue reading...

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by FRANCO PANIZOÂ

The Americans Abroad must have known this was the final weekend before the U.S. national team's two European friendlies, because there was a plethora of positive performances and five different goal scorers in one of the most successful weekends in recent memory.

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(this looks like it's going to be my annual 'mulligan' game will fill in more details when I've seen more highlights)

When the league fixtures came out a few hearts sank. The early going looked difficult, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa, Everton, Liverpool and Man City to be negotiated in the first ten games.

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Hull defeated Stoke city 2-1 in their Premier League encounter to ease the pressure in the Hull camp to a great deal. It was the visitors who scored the first goal and took the lead and Hull seemed set to another defeat. But a goal in the second half and the second in the stoppage [...] Click to continue reading...

Clint Dempsey has scored from the spot for Fulham in the first half against Wigan, earning him a league turkey for strikes in three consecutive frames. That game is ongoing, knotted at ones.Yesterday, we had Leeds United's Mike Grella and Wycombe's Jon-Paul Pittman bag their first career FA Cup goals. Click to continue reading...

Well we don't get too many chances to highlight the league's best defenders here at the STO, but this week it was announced that Chad Marshall of the Columbus Crew was named MLS 2009 Defender of the Year. It was a great regular season for Marshall and the Crew and like all winners of the award being on a strong team is part of the criteria.

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She's back! Miss Cleo enjoyed her week off last weekend and your favorite false prophet also enjoyed tricking people into foolishly giving out their credit card numbers. But enough about stealing.... What about this weeks picks? Lets take a look at the cards.Â

What can be said about Aston Villa.

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The UEFA Europa League had another full set of matches on Thursday, November 5, 2009. There were a few Americans involved including Clint Dempsey for EPL club Fulham and Tim Howard with EPL club Everton. Both loss as the teams struggled. Here's a recap of Americans Abroad in the Europa League in the Europa League.

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