On Wednesday of this week, interim CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit gave the clearest signal yet that the confederation will collaborate much more closely with CONMEBOL than they have in the past. Will it be a merger in everything but name? Not yet, but significant factions within both groups are considering the possibilities.

The stage is set for the 28th edition of the African Cup Of Nations that begins tomorrow in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon with two Group A fixtures between the hosts Equatorial Guinea and Libya in the early kick off and the eagerly awaited Senegal v Zambia clash in the late kick off.

The 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League will drop the preliminary round, expand the group stage, and seed it by country North and Central America's Confederation announced on Thursday. "This new format will streamline the first phase of the competition," CONCACAF acting general secretary Ted Howard said.

However, the orland park illinois acupuncture that the orland park illinois police that you contact an Illinois Fishing Holes besides just Lake Michigan, far too many to cover in this article. To find these out, simply do a quick internet search, and literally thousands of results will come up.

No, not me. CONCACAF announced that Tim Howard has been promoted from deputy general secretary to acting general secretary of the confederation. He was previously involved with the original North American Soccer League in the 1970s and early 1980s, and held executive marketing positions with Ohlmeyer Communications (formed by fomer sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer) and the NBA before joining CONCACAF in 1998.

Today marks the final day of Chuck Blazer's tenure as general secretary of CONCACAF, an office that he has held for 21 years. Jack Warner, who had served as CONCACAF president over the same period, was forced out as a result of his FIFA-imposed suspension six months ago. It brings to a close a consequential era in the history of the confederation.

Victory, at last Just 10 years ago American Samoa were a footballing joke after being mauled 31-0 by Australia in a World Cup qualifier, a result that still stands as the most one-sided full international in history. And frankly their entire international record hasn't been much of a party either with the Pacific side managing [.

Today CONCACAF World Cup qualifying starts for 19 more national associations in the confederation, with matches going on from Toronto to Georgetown. (Or is Paramaribo further south?) This post will be updated throughout the day with results and events as they come in, but I'll be working so it will be more of a semi-live blog.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 16, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Strange times once again at FIFA. World soccer's governing body is insisting on holding everyone accused of impropriety from outright ethical lapses to violating the organizations rules to swift and arguably harsh account. No Confederation has been hit harder than CONCACAF as FIFA attempts a cleanup, and the latest from FIFA House is that now CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer will face.

Armeio Neto, the Marketing Director for Santos FC, has pitched the idea of Pelé making an appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup this December in a potential final versus Barcelona. Pelé, who netted over 600 goals for his former club, will be a sprightly 71 years old when the tournament begins.

Heavy now lays the crown on Sunil Gulati's head, no?

Say goodnight to this uncomfortable partnership...

In a shocking more in timing than content move, Sunil Gulati bounced the Bob Bradley era at the door this past Thursday and one day later made finally ushered in the Jurgen Klinsmann era.

Today is the day of the World Cup qualifying draw. I am actually writing two articles at the same time, so here we go. 1422: The draw for the inter-confederation playoffs has been made. Here it is: AFC vs. CONCACAF CONMEBOL vs. OFC So the fourth placed team in the CONCACAF Hexagonal will play the survivor of the two-legged series between the third-placed teams in Asia's two final qualifying groups.

The first official event for the 2014 FIFA World Cup takes places Saturday in Brazil with the Preliminary Draw, which fills in the blanks on the qualifying formats for each of the confederations participating in World Cup qualifying. A total of 203 member nations will compete for the 31 available spots to join with host Brazil.

"HEY! SPAIN IS STILL RANKED #1"
The new FIFA World Rankings are out, with Copa America having a big impact on the way teams moved up and down the table in July. While not playing a match in the last month, the U.S. MNT are ranked 30th, down six places, as teams from South America participating in their confederation championship jumped up the table.

Most Seattle Sounders fans should be reasonably familiar with CONCACAF Champions League, but because it's a bit different than anything else in American sports, it can't hurt to do a bit of a refresher course. But even if you are well aware of CCL and how it works, this story should still be interesting as we'll go over some of the teams the Sounders are likely to face and what kind of chance they have at improving on last year's disappointing Group Stage performance.

CONCACAF announced that Haiti's representative in the Champions League, Tempête FC, will play its preliminary round home leg versus Morelia in Mexico. In fact, both legs of the tie will be played at Morelia's Estadio Morelos stadium. Under normal circumstances, CONCACAF would exclude the national representative if there was no stadium in the country that met international requirements, but the confederation gave a special dispensation to Haiti because of continued recovery efforts from the massive and catastrophic earthquake last year.

Captain Carlos will need to old school today because he's on Chicharito Patrol.

It's the United States.

It's the Mexico.

Both clubs come in today looking for that golden ticket to the 2013 Confederation's Cup.

No more is to be said.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena is filling up.

By Cesar Diaz – NEW YORK, NY (Jun 23, 2011) US Soccer Players -- For the third consecutive Gold Cup final, bitter border rivals and the class of CONCACAF will meet in the Confederation final. This time it's the Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosting the United States and Mexico. At stake? Regional pride and a shot at the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.

After everyone concluded their first game of the U-17 World Cup, here is how the six different confederations are doing ... CONCACAF, with five teams, is the only confederation with a winning record so far.
Africa (Burkina Faso, Congo Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire): 1 win, 3 losses
Asia (Australia, Korea DPR, Japan, Uzbekistan): 2 wins, 2 losses
Europe (Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands): 3 wins, 3 losses
South America (Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay): 2 wins, 2 losses
North, Central America and Caribbean (USA, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama): 3 wins, 2 losses
Panama, in their first-ever FIFA World Cup, defeated African champion Burkina Faso in their opener yesterday

Coaching is more than just tactics and picking players, but also about building credibility and developing relationships.
US coach Bob Bradley's decisions to allow both Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey to have quality time away with his family during a critical phase of the CONCACAF Gold Cup had become a hot topic leading up to the USA's 2-0 victory against Jamaica in the quarterfinal stages, and Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger writes of how Bradley continues to build credibility and respect among his players.

FIFA has shocked the world's football community by dropping corruption procedures against Jack Warner, the suspended Executive Committee member and president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) following his sudden resignation from all positions in international football.

As the US prepares for its critical quarterfinal Gold Cup match tomorrow at RFK, Bob Bradley appeared calm and focused at the pre-game press conference when discussing his team's progress during the Gold Cup.

"The Gold Cup all along has been circled as the championship of our confederation, an opportunity to qualify for the Confederations Cup," said Bradley.

Lisle Austin, who was suspended by CONCACAF's Executive Committee for alleged violations of the confederation statutes, claims that he has won an injunction against the ExCo ruling in a Bahamian court, according to Simon Evans of Reuters on his Twitter feed. (His news report is located here.) The reason Austin sought an injunction in the Bahamas lies in CONCACAF's statutes, in which they define themselves as a non-profit with legal domicile in Nassau.

ARLINGTON, Texas - CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer addressed the media for the first time on Sunday evening following the series of off-field events that have shaken up the confederation in the lead-up to its flagship tournament.

Blazer arrived in Dallas in time for the opening matches of the 2011 Gold Cup and spoke at a press conference during halftime of the Cuba-Costa Rica game.

The infighting within CONCACAF headquarters continued this morning with the news that interim president Lisle Austin has been suspended indefinitely by the confederation's Executive Committee. The charge is that Austin violated CONCACAF Statutes by attempting to fire general secretary Chuck Blazer early this week.

On Sunday, St Lucia and Aruba will start the World Cup qualifying cycle which begins with matches between Caribbean micro-states and concludes with inter-confederation playoffs in late 2013. Whereas in previous cycles the first-round winners of the CONCACAF qualifiers would face another two-leg series followed by certain elimination, the winners of this round will be rewarded with more competitive matches and more home matches, and challenged with increased travel all over the region.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (May 31, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Show of hands from anyone really surprised that Mondays FIFA press conference ended up a lesson in etiquette directed at the members of the media present in the room. Ok, maybe the etiquette lesson was a surprise, but the response from FIFA the day after the Ethics Committee provisionally suspended two Confederation presidents?

In a press conference on Monday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that FIFA's Executive Committee saw no evidence necessitating a reason to act in regard to allegations surrounding the 2022 World Cup hosting vote. Blatter went onto explain that the money he gave to fund Goal projects in CONCACAF was in honor of the Confederation's 50th anniversary and not out of the ordinary.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (May 25, 2011) US Soccer Players -- World soccer's governing body is once again providing a critical assessment of itself. This time it's not one but two Confederation presidents accused of ethics violations. And one of them happens to be running for FIFA president. On 24 May 2011, FIFA Executive Committee member and CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer reported to FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke possible violations of the.

LONDON, England The English Football Association (FA) is to abstain from voting in the upcoming FIFA presidential election between Sepp Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hammam, it was announced Thursday. FA chairman David Bernstein said in a statement there were a "range of issues" which made it "difficult" to vote for incumbent Blatter or Asian [.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Mexico goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona has been dropped from the national squad to defend next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup after television cameras caught him headbutting the trainer of a rival team during the league playoff semifinals. Corona, who plays for Mexico City's Cruz Azul, was involved in a fight between [.

Less than three weeks before FIFA's presidential election, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati revealed the U.S. will not be told how to vote by CONCACAF president Jack Warner, the most powerful figure in the U.S.' home confederation. Gulati's move is a public show of independence by U.S. Soccer after Warner had announced all 35 CONCACAF members (including the U.

About a day away from the Official Draw for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, we take a look at some of the past draws for the U.S. team, which of course holds the distinction of being the only team to have qualified for all 14 FIFA U-17 World Cups.

The 24 teams for this year's edition are locked in and waiting to learn their world cup fates.

New England Revolution alum Clint Dempsey
With a little more than three weeks to kickoff, tickets sales for USA-Spain on June 4 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., have now surpassed 50,000 sold and are heading towards setting a record in New England.
The largest attendance ever for a U.

CONCACAF president Jack Warner was re-elected to a 6th term as CONCACAF president, the Confederation announced on Tuesday. Warner ran unopposed and was elected unanimously. "I am honored to have been entrusted to lead this Confederation for another four years, particularly during our 50th Anniversary year" Warner said in a press statement.

The United States would enter CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the semifinal phase under the proposed format brought by the CONCACAF Executive Committee. The proposal awaits the approval of the FIFA Executive Committee, which meets at the end of May in Zurich, Switzerland.
In the previous two World Cup cycles, the U.

No hops should count twice.

• Top scorers by confederation. (<a href="">The Best Eleven)
• Horror words. (Studs Up)
• Cruyff totally causing problems. (ESPN)
• Life with the Barra Barra. (Total Soccer Show)
• Can't come back from this. (Dirty Tackle)
• Making history.

In news that has kind of gone a bit unnoticed today, Thad over at The Back Post has news on Teal Bunbury's one time FIFA switch from Canada to the United States. According to Thad, the switch was approved last week by FIFA and Bunbury is officially set to play for the United States. What this means is that Bunbury is now able to play for the US national team in competitive games like World Cup qualifiers and confederation competitions like this summer's Gold Cup.

NASHVILLE (March 29, 2011) – The U.S. Men's National Team fell to Paraguay 1-0 on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd of 29,059 at LP Field in Nashville.
The U.S. gave up the game-winning goal in the 18h minute, but outplayed Paraguay for a majority of the match, especially in the second half where the U.

NASHVILLE (March 29, 2011) – The U.S. Men's National Team fell to Paraguay 1-0 on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd of 29,059 at LP Field in Nashville.
The U.S. gave up the game-winning goal in the 18h minute, but outplayed Paraguay for a majority of the match, especially in the second half where the U.