STARTERS
As we approach the final round of the regular season in MLS 7 teams are fighting for the remaining 3 playoff spots. Columbus, Houston, Los Angeles, Chivas USA & Seattle are all in, while only New York, San Jose & Kansas City are out. The list of scenarios for the seven teams still battling is endless. Click to continue reading...

US National Team and Watford defender has recovered from the groin injury he suffered during preparations for the US World Cup Qualifier in Utah a few weeks ago, but he has an eye injury that could require surgery. "It was a freak thing," Demerit told Yanks-Abroad.com. "We were in our hotel and as I took out my contact, I cut my eye and I ended up getting an infection from that cut. Click to continue reading...

There has been some talk lately about how the USMNT has regressed from its best teams of the past decade – that a lack of veteran leadership has made this team shakier and that Bob Bradley is making do with a hand full of poor cards. I don't believe that to be the case. The current US team has as much potential as the 2002 World Cup quarterfinalists, and if they can catch some of the same breaks as that 2002 team, they can go just as far if not farther.

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World Cup qualifying is getting real and some serious games are at the ready for this weekend.

Grant Wahl has writtenabout how Argentina and Portugal are both on the precipice of World Cup qualifying failure, which could deny fans of two of the best players in the world, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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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...

Well, the big day has arrived and the time is nigh. I'll be back in a moment with my view of the impending CONCACAF World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and arch nemesis Mexico in a few. For now, the Red, White & Blue line-up that will try to break the Azteca jinx:Howard; Cherundolo, Demerit, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bradley, Clark, Dempsey, Donovan, Davies, ChingI'm little surprised to see 'Dolo over 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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"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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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...

Here is the 20 player training roster for the USA, to be cut down to 18 on game day:
G:
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Stade Rennes
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Steve Cherundolo – Hannover 96
Jay DeMerit - Watford
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Oguchi Onyewu – AC Milan
Jonathan Spector - West Ham United
M:
Michael Bradley – Borussia Monchengladbach
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo
Jose Francisco Torres - Pachuca
F:
Jozy Altidore - Hull City
Conor Casey - Colorado Rapids
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Charlie Davies - Sochaux
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
For me the surprises on this roster are Chad Marshall, Stuart Holden & Conor Casey. 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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Americans Abroad / USMNT
Johnson Scores In Fulham Preseason Victory - Soccer By Ives
USA 2- 2 Haiti: Smiles All Around In Turf Debacle - MLS Talk
Holden's Fire Keeps US Soccer Alive In Tie With Haiti - NY Daily News
Holden Rescues US With Late Golazo - Yanks Abroad
US Wins Gold Cup Group B On Late Strike - MLSnet
Holden's Strike Rescues US - MLS Daily
Gold Cup: USA 2 - 2 Haiti - USSoccerPlayers. Click to continue reading...

Yo what up?.. I'm back from my trip and I figured I'd talk about some goods from the past weeks worth of footy...
Well there's only one place to start that's with the US v Brazil match. I watched it w/ my snoring brother while being occasionally attacked by a cat. Anywho, we proved that we can play with the best. Click to continue reading...

(Brasile-Usa 3-2)
STATI UNITI (4-4-2): Howard; Spector, DeMerit, Onyewu, Bocanegra; Dempsey, Clark (dall'88' Casey), Feilhaber (75' Kljestan), Donovan; Davies, Altidore (75' Bornstein). Ct: Bob Bradley.
BRASILE (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Luisao, Lucio, Andre Santos (66' Daniel Alves); Felipe Melo, Gilberto Silva; Robinho, Kaka, Ramires (66' Elano); Luis Fabiano. Click to continue reading...

Brazil celebrate

Brazil picked up their third Confederations Cup after coming back from two goals down against the United States.

The USA took a shock lead when Dempsey's snap shot caught out Brazil's static defence on the 10th minute.

With 27 minutes on the clock, the US doubled the score after a superb counterattacking move from their own half, ended with Donovan outfoxing Ramires before hitting a perfect shot past Júlio César.

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Howard
Spector DeMerit Onyewu Bocanegra
Dempsey Clark Feilhaber Donovan
Altidore Davies
Goals:
Dempsey 10'
Donovan 27'
Luis Fabiano 46' 74'
Lucio 85'
So close and so far. My allegiances were far less conflicted in this match, and no surprise, the result was a bit different. Click to continue reading...

USA Lineup
1-Tim Howard
3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt)
5-Oguchi Onyewu
8-Clint Dempsey
9-Charlie Davies
10-Landon Donovan
12-Jonathan Spector
13-Ricardo Clark
15-Jay DeMerit
17-Jozy Altidore
22-Benny Feilhaber
USA Lineup
1-Julio Cesar
2-Maicon3-Lucio (capt)
5-Felipe Melo
8-Gilberto Silva
9-Luis Fabiano
10-Kaka
11-Robinho
14-Luisao
16-Andre Santos
18-Ramires
The US team heart and passion is there. Click to continue reading...

Brazil go through the motions

On Sunday, Holders Brazil take on the USA in the final of the Confederations Cup in the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.

Brazil have won the competition twice (97 and 2005) and a third win would make them the most successful side in the tournament's brief history.

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Did we actually beat Spain yesterday or was it merely a flu and fever induced hallucination I suffered while shivering despite 90 degree temperatures outside?
We did beat Spain? I actually watched it?
Wow.
Double wow.
Holy ********ing shit wow!
So where on earth does that leave the US now? Click to continue reading...

(Spagna-Usa 0-1. Altidore)
(0-2. Dempsey)
SPAGNA (4-4-2) - Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Piqué, Capdevila; Xavi, Fabregas (68' Cazorla), Xabi Alonso, Riera (78' Mata); Torres, Villa. All.: Vicente Del Bosque.
USA (4-4-2) - Howard; Spector, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Demerit; Dempsey (88' Bornstein), Clark, Bradley, Donovan; Davies (69' Feilhaber), Altidore (83' Casey). Click to continue reading...

The USA defeated European champions Spain 2-0 to proceed to the 2009 Confederations Cup final. Goals from Altidore and Dempsey gave the Americans the 'shock' win, while at the back a solid performance by DeMerit and Onyewu ensured that Spain didn't get much of a chance to get something out of this game.

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Demerit'in cengaverleşmesine mi methiyeler düzelim yoksa Onyewu'nun insanlıktan çıkmasına mı? Anladığım kadarıyla ABD'li oyuncular "Hacı! Son maça 0 puan -5 averaj ile çıkıp maç sonunda yarı finale çıktıysak, bize karada ölüm yok İspanyolları da yeneriz!" demişler maçtan önce. Click to continue reading...

The final first round games are about to kick off, so we thought we'd throw our ideal lineup out there. If for no other reason, it will give us the right to say "I told you so" in the event of a loss today. If we win, on the other hand, we will obviously never speak of this again.

Altidore Davies
Donovan
Torres Adu
-Bradley
Bocanegra DeMerit Onyewu Spector
-Howard

I'm so late with this post that they've probably already announced the actual lineups, but I'm going to post this anyway.

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The U.S. national team takes on African champions Egypt in its final group game (and likely final match) of the 2009 Confederations Cup (2:30 pm, ESPN2).

The Americans are playing for pride after two losses, while Egypt is still trying to qualify for the semifinals, which it can do with a victory and Italy tie or loss.

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There are 30 names on the USA's Gold Cup roster, with that number falling to 23 for the start of the tournament. In alphabetical order, this is the current list courtesy of CONCACAF. Adu, Freddy Altidore, Jozy Arnaud, Davy Bornstein, Jonathan, Califf, Danny Casey, Conor Cherundolo, Steve Clark, Ricardo Cooper, Kenny Davies, Charlie DeMerit, Jay Feilhaber, Benny Gaven, Eddie Goodosn, Clarence Guzan, Brad Hahnemann, Marcus Holden, Stuart Lichaj, Eric Marshall, Chad Mastroeni, Pablo Orozco, Michael. Click to continue reading...

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                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team has one match remaining in the Confederations Cup, one last match for players to prove themselves, one last chance for Bob Bradley to test his squad against stiff international competition outside of World Cup qualifying.

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                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team has one match remaining in the Confederations Cup, one last match for players to prove themselves, one last chance for Bob Bradley to test his squad against stiff international competition outside of World Cup qualifying.

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(Brasile-Usa 1-0. Felipe Melo)
(2-0. Robinho)
(3-0. Maicon)
BRASILE: Júlio César; Maicon, Miranda,, Lúcio (25'st Luisao), Kléber, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Elano, Kaká (20'st Julio Baptista), Robinho, Luís Fabiano (20'st Nilmar). In panchina: Gomes, Juan, Victor, Daniel Alves, Kleberson, Josuè. Click to continue reading...

• The coaching staff is sitting in the hotel lounge watching South Africa-New Zealand
• Jay DeMerit and Conor Casey in the players lounge dueling in backgammon - not allowed to report who is winning
• Brad Guzan reading news and sending e-mails back home
• Landon Donovan swapping stories with the DS agent assigned to the team from the State Department
  
• Several players rotating through in the training room getting massages
  

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Don't get me wrong, I am still pissed as hell at the US, but let me clarify some things here.
I am well aware that many if not most of our players are simply not good enough to allow for us to compete with truly good teams. Trust me, I get it. This brings me to my next point.
What infuriates me most is that Bradley's US team appears to be an accountability-free zone. Click to continue reading...

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Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

"Yikes" is what I said when I saw Ricardo Clark throw his legs at Gennaro Guttuso.

"Awwwww," is what I said when I saw the red card above Clark's head.

I talked myself into the United States getting a draw against Italy (maybe even winning) but all my hope burst out of me when Clark was ejected in the 32nd minute.

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                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team will play its first rematch from the 2006 World Cup today as they take on defending World Cup champion Italy (2:25pm, ESPN).

The U.

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                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team will play its first rematch from the 2006 World Cup today as they take on defending World Cup champion Italy (2:25pm, ESPN).

The U.

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Assuming that many of the USA players who are on the World Cup qualifying and Confederations Cup rosters will not be on the Gold Cup team, here is my pool of players that I see the 23 Gold Cup players coming from.
There are 78 here in total.
Who should or should not be in my list, and who would be your first 11? Click to continue reading...

Here are My Thoughts from the game:
-First of all, I had a great weekend staying in Chinatown and seeing two soccer matches - Chicago 0-1 Houston and USA 2-1 Honduras.
-I got to see loads of people I know, but didn't meet nearly enough new people due to the insane chaos that surrounded the "Honduras home game". Click to continue reading...