The USA announced their roster for the Cuba match, to be played at RFK Stadium on 10/11/08.  With advancement to the next round close to a sure thing, Bradley has taken a few more risks (well...I'd be happy to debate anyone on how "risky" they actually are) and called in some younger players.  I, for [. Click to continue reading...

Big, bad Brad Friedel posted another victory last weekend as he and Aston Villa kept on rolling.

Friedel was one of few bright spots for Americans Abroad last weekend. How bad were things? Consider this linep of Americans:

------------------------------Jozy Altidore-----------------------------

DaMarcus Beasley-----------Freddy Adu-------------Clint Dempsey

---------------------Michael Bradley---Maurice Edu------------------

Heath Pearce------Jay DeMerit----Jonathan Spector---Frank Simek

-------------------------------Brad Guzan------------------------------

Like that team?

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Just in time for today's story about the Puerto Rico Islanders' dual runs to the USL regular-season crown and the CONCACAF Champions League group stage, they go out and beat Mexican power Santos in pools of standing water Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Houston traveled to Panama's Rod Carew Stadium and eked out a 0-0 draw in what MLSNET's Dylan Butler notes is the first of four Dynamo games in four countries over the next 12 days.

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Jay DeMerit was the only American to stay in the League Cup as each of his countrymen crashed out of the tournament midweek. Click to continue reading...

Brad Friedel and Tim Howard continue to rack up the minutes in England, but their compatriots (see Dempsey, Edu and Johnson) can't seem to get a sniff...


Jay DeMerit, Watford

DeMerit had a terrible Tuesday as his hand ball in the box lead to the winning goal for Plymouth. Click to continue reading...

Attention all U.S. national team fans, if you have seen Clint Dempsey please contact SBI. He has gone missing since returning to Fulham. At least missing on the field.

Dempsey has found a seemingly permanent place on the bench at Fulham, making him one of several key American players to ride the pine last weekend without getting a single minute of action.

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Watford captain Jay DeMerit has told Soccerphile only video replays will stop a repeat of the phantom goal 'scored' by Reading on Saturday.

The Hornets were the victims of outrageous fortune in the 13th minute when John Eustace put the ball out of play wide of the post. Working on the advice of assistant Nigel Bannister, referee Stuart Atwell stunned the Vicarage Road crowd and the 22 players, who were running back in expectation of a goal kick, by signalling a goal. Click to continue reading...

Watford's American skipper Jay DeMerit has spoken of his shock at the phantom goal awarded to Reading at Vicarage Road yesterday, which has been the talk of England's Championship.Twelve minutes into their 2-2 clash, 25-year old referee Stuart Atwell stunned the entire stadium by awarding Reading a goal, on his linesman's advice, when the Hornets' John Eustace had clearly put the ball out of play Click to continue reading...

This weekend was a memorable one for Americans Abroad as two recent MLS transfers made their European club debuts, while a few other Americans found the net.

Maurice Edu (pictured) made his debut for Glasgow Rangers on Saturday in a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock while U.S. Olympic teammate Jozy Altidore impressed in his La Liga debut for Villarreal.

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This post is only tangentially related to the Galaxy, because of the presence of Landon Donovan in the US Men's National Team Player Pool. But I thought it would be fun to go through the candidates for player of the year and see what Galaxy fans thought about the choices. (I totally stole this idea from Luis Bueno over at Sideline Views who actually gets to cast a vote that counts in his capacity as a member of the media.

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Each Monday, we'll check in overseas to see how our two English teams and American players abroad have fared. It's especially interesting on Europe's frenetic answer to Labor Day, Transfer Deadline Day (you could also opt for The Guardian's aristocratic humor for your up-to-the-minute coverage):

EVERTON: Ouch.

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Here's a link to an article that contains the U.S. National Team's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago. The squad looks very similar to the recent one that was called up for the Guatemala game and I still would like to see some different players included. I don't really know what is accomplished by including Brian Ching, Eddie Lewis, and Frankie Hejduk. Click to continue reading...

U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has just announced a 20-man roster for the pair of upcoming World Cup Qualifying games against Cuba Sept. 6 in Havana and Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 10 in Chicago.

There are just two changes and two additions to the squad Bradley selected for the recent qualifier in Guatemala.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

With three points in the bag after last week's 1-0 road win against Guatemala, the U.S. men's national team heads into the next set of World Cup qualifiers knowing that two wins could all but lock up advancement into the Hexagonal round.

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A light load for the Americans in England this week, but a big win for Fulham puts Clint Dempsey's side in good stead, says Goal.com's Matthew Braine.




Jay DeMerit, Watford
DeMerit's Hornets fell to Nottingham Forest, 3-2, on Saturday in heartbreaking fashion. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

It is that time of year again. Time for European leagues to kick off and time for American players to ply their trade throughout Europe (and Mexico).

This week marked the first week for the English Premier League and German Bundesliga, meaning several names joined the list of Americans playing abroad.

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United States Men's National Team coach Bob Bradley has unveiled his 18-man roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifying group game against Guatemala, which will take place in Guatemala City this coming Wednesday, August 20th. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and Galavision starting at 10 p.m. ET.
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers)

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC) Click to continue reading...

Everyone out there is upset that Kenny Cooper wasn't called up. Considering he's scored like 82 goals a game for FC Dallas this season, I'm upset too.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County, England), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado)

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England)

Young midfielders rule. Click to continue reading...

Interestingly no Freddy Adu called into this squad even though four other returning Olympians from the US side are called into the squad. The numbers are caps and goal in World Cup qualifying.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 3/2 SO)
DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 13/1), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 15/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 1/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 11/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 8/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 2/0)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 2/1), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC: 1/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 19/3), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 10/0)
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 7/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 21/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 8/2), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC: 8/8)

What are everyone's thoughts about this squad?

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GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton FC), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) DEFENDERS: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), DaMarcus Beasley [. Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan will lead the U.S. against Guatemala.
Photo by Scott Varley.

Galaxy hotshot Edson Buddle - 12 goals in 15 starts this season - was overlooked yet again by U.S. Men's National Team Coach Bob Bradley today when he announced the squad for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala in Central America.

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Here it is. Initially, don't see any big surprises. Of the Olympians, Bob Bradley chose to bring four along - Brad Guzan, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan and Michael Bradley.

Also, it's not a surprise but still disappointed to see Brian Ching selected over Kenny Cooper. Knowing Bradley, he'd probably like to get Cooper in a friendly or two before calling him for a qualifier so I suppose that's why I'm not surprised. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's Olympic soccer coach Sergio Batista had a bit of a mix-up in an interview recently. The translation came out that they were playing Siberia instead of Serbia.

But he's easily forgiven once you hear how the interviews go...

Argentine journalist asks question. Batista answers.

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France's Ligue 1 got underway tonight as 19 teams try to break Olympique Lyon's 7-year grip on the championship. American defender Carlos Bocanegra anchored the central defense for Stade Rennais in a battle with traditional power Olympique Marseille. It did not help matters that going into the match, star striker Sylvain Wiltord had been suspended after criticizing coach Guy LaCombe in an interview with L'Equipe. Click to continue reading...

Here's my effort to track players (all nationalities) on their way to MLS, MLS players heading elsewhere and U.S. players moving from foreign team to foreign team during this transfer window. The window to MLS closes Aug. 15. The window in Europe closes Aug. 31.

If I've forgotten someone, please speak up, with two caveats:

1.

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WC Qualifying appearances and goals in parenthesis GOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (No Club), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (FC Rennes: 12/1), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland: 1/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 0/0), Drew... Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley named his squad today for the irrelevant return World Cup qualifying leg in Barbados Sunday (caps and goals are in parentheses): goalkeepers Dominic Cervi (out of contract: 0/0), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA: 1/1 SO), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake: 0/0); defenders Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract: 12/1), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland: 1/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 0/0), Drew Moor (FC Dallas: 0/0) Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 8/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 1/0); mikdfielders DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 15/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 1/1), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 18/2), Danny Szetela (Brescia: 0/0), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire: 0/0; forwards Freddy Adu (SL Benfica: 1/0), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire: 0/0), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire: 0/0).

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GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Dominic Cervi (out of contract),  Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Drew Moor (FC Dallas) Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), [. Click to continue reading...

USA vs. Barbados
Sunday - 2:55p ET/11:55a PT
TV: ESPN Classic & Galavision (Spanish)

Bob Bradley has released his 18-man roster for the second leg of the US-Barbados World Cup Qualifier. With the US up 8-0, the starting lineup is likely to include a number of younger players. Click to continue reading...

US coach Bob Bradley has released 10 players from camp ahead of their second leg match against Barbados. Most of the players are MLS based, so this is not much of a surprise, however I kind of thought he would keep Guzan around in case Howard is still having back issues (plus if Guzan still wants to move to England, he needs more international caps). Click to continue reading...

World Cup 2010 qualifying gets underway for the States on Sunday when the lads host Barbados in Carson (Sunday at 5:00 Eastern on ESPN2).

Here's an article.

Here's Greg Lalas' 3-5-2 that breaks down the upcoming match and looks at the current national team scenario.

There's (to the left) a picture of Barbados. Click to continue reading...

GOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC) DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), [. Click to continue reading...

US vs. Barbados
Sunday 5pET/2pPT
Home Depot Center, Carson, Ca.
Tickets (Great for Father's Day)

Bob Bradley released his 21-man roster for this Sunday's World Cup Qualifier against Barbados. There are no huge surprises, as just about everyone on the list saw minutes during warm up games. Click to continue reading...

The 21-man squad for Sunday's game against Barbados is exactly the same as the 19-man squad named for the Argentina game with the addition of Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching (rewarded for his five goals and three assists in 12 MLS games so far this season) and defender Carlos Bocanegra.

That means goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan all retain their places, as does Fontana's Maurice Edu.

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Goalkeepers- Tim Howard (Everton FC/ENG), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Dominic Cervi (No club), Defenders- Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland/DEN), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96/GER), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC/ENG 2), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Carlos Bocanegra (No club), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege/BEL),. Click to continue reading...