These USA vs Italy matches have gotten to be quite something. The U- 17 World Cup match today was no exception. A missed penalty made the difference.

The USA had their chances including a penalty awarded for a handball on Federico Mannini in the 17th minute. But Jack McInerney saw his penalty kick saved by replacement goalie Francesco Bardi.

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Major League Soccer announced today that Zach Thornton of Chivas USA has won the 2009 Goalkeeper of the Year Award. Thornton beat out Seattle's Kasey Keller and LA Galaxy's Donovan...

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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...

With his contribution key to the Galaxy making the playoffs, Beck's Milan departure raises fewer eyebrows. He will play his first Serie game on January 6th and if all goes as planned, he will join the Galaxy after the World Cup.

I am of the camp that the criticism which he received on his return was fully deserved.

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The only rival or derby match in the first round of the Major League Soccer Playoffs kicked off on Sunday as the LA Galaxy played Chivas USA. Both teams play at the Home Depot Center and are in based in Los Angeles. Who won the match? Here's a recap along with video highlights of the match.

Los Angeles Galaxy draws with Chivas USA 2-2 Video Highlights (will be added shortly)

1st Half

The match started out with chances for both teams but Chivas USA would strike first.

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Chivas USA 2 Galaxy 2

An entertaining if error-ridden game with all four goals coming from unmitigated howlers has ended all square.

Alan Gordon missed a trio of chances for the Galaxy after coming on a as a second half sub that could have made the difference, but Chivas USA had their own burden to bear with striker Justin Braun seemingly intent on giving away virtually every ball he touched.

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The season is over and, after a wild weekend, we have our playoff teams. The first round of playoffs looks like this:

West

LA Galaxy vs Chivas USA

Houston Dynamo vs Seattle Sounders

East

Columbus Crew vs Real Salt Lake

New England Revolution vs Chicago Fire

Before we start previewing this first round of the playoffs, let's spend a moment looking back at how we got here:

For the last month, the MLS essentially had a single table, and it was great!

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By now you've probably heard the terrible news regarding the U.S. national squad. One week after losing one player indefinitely to a terrible single car accident, this week things didn't exactly get better for the U.S. injury report. Oguchi Onyewu will  be out for around six months making his presence in the World Cup this summer questionable thanks to a horrific knee injury in the final qualifier match against Costa Rica.

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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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What a strange week for the US National Team. It started with jubilation after defeating Honduras in thrilling fashion to qualify for the Cup. It turned tragic when rising star and projected 2010 starting forward Charlie Davies was injured in a horrific car accident. And it has ended with a controversial draw that will no doubt leave the soccer world talking.

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No LIVE tonight, but we have a preview look from ESPN and I'll be back in about 30 with the line-ups (as well as the usual wrap bits after).UPDATE:Howard; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein, Feilhaber, Bradley, Holden, Donovan, Altidore, CaseyBench: Guzan, Conrad, Torres, Rogers, Cooper, Spector, Clark- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

Lots and lots of stuff today. Had to be selective:

• Barca insists it will get Cesc one day.
  
• Zenden confident of Sunderland deal.
  
• AC Milan might axe Gooch?
  
• Chamakh desperate to leave France.
  
• Galaxy could loan Beckham AND Donovan.
  
• Benayoun not leaving Reds for City.

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Tim Howard's joke about the Honduras fans being there early at 6:30 and him thinking he thought the Honduras fans must have thought the game was for 7 was great!

Donovan was right about possession at the end of the game. I was very impressed to see the team keep the ball and kill off the game.

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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...

Since the Confederations Cup, every time Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey has been in the U.S. men's national team squad, his critics have been loud and harsh on the Inter-ma-Web.

He scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Honduras on Saturday that clinched the United States' berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

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I'm still sweating whether my feed will hold up all the way through, but it's about 98% that I'll have one.I'll be back around 8.30 PM ET with my thoughts, with the line-ups and a prediction to follow at around 9 PM. This is what I expect will be the line-up:Howard; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Hejduk, Bradley, Clark, Holden, Donovan, Davies, AltidoreSee ya in a while. Click to continue reading...

Paul Oberjuerge has known Donovan since he was a teen. Landon regularly gives him interviews and is usually quite candid.

Just a sampling of his extensive two-part interview:

Q: When you are no longer the fastest player on the field, for 25 yards, 40 yards, 80 yards, do you think about "How will I play at that point?

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Major League Soccer had one midweek match with the Los Angeles Galaxy hosting the Chicago Fire on Friday, October 2, 2009. Both teams are in the top 2 in their conference and could move one step closer to a playoff spot with a win. David Beckham returned to the Galaxy after missing last week due to injury while Brian McBride was leading the Chicago Fire (Blanco not in the lineup).

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The Beauty: For a few years now, Bianca Kajlich has sort of been labeled the only "real" American WAG. It's not because she is the only beautiful lady on a US Nat's arm. It's because she's the only one with a profession (actress) in the public eye.

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Clint Dempsey gets his passport immediately after the El Salvador match. Photo from the ESPN story.
More Nats news after Jimmy was named to the latest roster. The U.S. Men's National Team is once again highlighted by a major ESPN property, ESPN the Magazine. Luke Cyphers followed the team around during the last pair of World Cup qualifiers, joining the team in Salt Lake City prior to the 2-1 win over El Salvador and remaining with them through a 1-0 win away to Trinidad and Tobago. Click to continue reading...

Yup.In case you're wondering, I voted, in order: Onyewu, Donovan, Altidore. That makes it three years of the last five my pick for the winner isn't even a finalist.I'm just so punk.- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

I didn't have time away from the family to write a preview.

But check it out Bryan Jordan is starting up top. How many times have we wanted to see what he can do up there? And of course my maternal side is sooo happy for him!

Eddie Lewis is out with Sean Franklin in his place. Donovan, Migs, and Birchall round out the midfield (Becks out with a small injury).

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The LA Galaxy have reason to be upbeat and concerned. Â They are playing pretty well, but they are not remaining consistent as some thought they would (with vets like Donovan and Beckham and reigning Rookie of the Year Franklin.)

In a blowout loss to Dallas on the 12th the Galaxy allowed a pretty mediocre team to get under their skin and attack them at will.

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This weeks Wag will be no stranger to you all. She is the wife of possibly the most well known footballer David Beckham and what a lucky boy he is...

Click read more to see more of Davey's cracker of a wife...

I know what some of you are thinking, Victoria Beckham but she's not that good looking.

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Galaxy 1 Toronto 0

Better from the Galaxy this week (could it get any worse?) helped considerably by a brittle-looking Toronto defense.

David Beckham could have had a second goal just before the break, a Julian de Guzman headed clearance of an Eddie Lewis cross falling perfectly for Becks about 22 yards out.

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I was just settling down to watch the action and "bam" -Beckham waltzed in to open the scoring while the game was very young. Up until that flurry of LA's, Toronto had looked promising. Julian de Guzman had plenty of time on the ball and he did not look like he was surrounded by strangers.
Toronto highlight of the first half was Gerba's close range shot that LA keeper Ricketts stopped. Click to continue reading...

Francis Laurent's injury time strike gave Southend all three points after an exciting encounter at the Withdean Stadium.
The Blues took the lead on 8 minutes, when Lee Barnard angled a header into the net from a Simon Francis cross. It was his eighth goal of the season.
The home side equalised through another in-form striker, Nicky Forster, on 21. Click to continue reading...

If you saw Cornell Glen's miss and Rico's wonder strike, you saw the game. In fact, I'm jealous of you if that's all you saw.
Nevertheless, yesterday was as good a day to be an American as it was a lousy day to be Argentine or Northern Irish.* Bottom-lining it, the very worst case scenario is needing a draw at home to Costa Rica to go directly to South Africa. Click to continue reading...

The United States continued their CONCACAF 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign at Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. T&T's chances of qualifiation are basically over while the United States can significantly improve theirs with a victory. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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The United States continued their CONCACAF 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign at Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. T&T's chances of qualifiation are basically over while the United States can significantly improve theirs with a victory. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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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...

The MLS individual awards race is heating up! Even though we shouldn't give this things out until after the playoffs. Remember all those Houston Dynamo players we had on the Best XI last year? And all those DC United players we had the year before that?
Kristian Dyer nominates Schelotto, Thornton, Keller, Joseph, Montero and Donovan as the MVP frontrunners - Landon's his pick at the moment, with which I agree. Click to continue reading...

I have now reviewed video of the foul called on Clint Dempsey that nullified a nice goal by Jozy Altidore the other day over a dozen times. While the official could have certainly just waved on the play (which I may have done, but I am not an official and do have a rooting interest when the US plays), which often happens when the US plays at home in CONCACAF (just ask Canada or Panama) I have to defend his decision to stop play and disallow the goal.

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It was a light schedule in Major League Soccer with World Cup Qualifying so the Power Rankings for this week have not changed much. A few teams who did play, the Colorado Rapids and Kansas City Wizards, did move up as they both had wins. The Rapids improved their playoff chances with a 1-0 win at home against Toronto FC while the Wizards won at New England with a 4-2 victory.

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