Most people in the US who follow soccer closely know that the U.S. Under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida has produced many of the best players in American soccer. They have seen the likes of Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu and many other noteable names that are either in MLS or in Europe. U.S. Under-17 head coach [. Click to continue reading...

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...

Remember a few days back when we were talking about Mo Edu possibly making his Rangers debut this Saturday vs. Celtic? Dude, might not be the only European débutante this weekend as a couple of injury's to the attacking portion of Villarreal's side may leave the door open for The Boy King of New York & New Jersey™ to see the field vs. Click to continue reading...

The dawn of the La Liga season is upon us, and the Yellow Submarine of Villarreal is pulling up to Osasuna's dock, with a couple of dents in its mighty fascade.

Midfielder Robert Pires is out, a heavy blow for the Spanish side. But to make matters worse, their attacking duo of Rossi and Kahveci are also expected to be sidelined.

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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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I had a chance to watch Game Breakers: The Stars of Major League Soccer this evening. The A&E DVD about several of the stars of Major League Soccer was just released today.

The description of the DVD lists 12 players that they profile but you will see so much more than just 12 player profiles.

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Something to read while you reflect on the worst robbery attempt ever... Starting a new blog with some bad news (Boca Juniors Offside) Does Shevchenko Pave the Way for Kaka (Buzzin' Football Blog) Look out for online hooligans (EPL Talk) Birds and badges (Just Football) Football and your health (SoccerLens) Reflections on Olympic football (Unprofessional Foul) Altidore and Rossi BFF (USA WCB) Click to continue reading...

I'm told that the lady at the center of this scrum is a former Houston Rockets cheerleader. Or was it a dancer? I can't remember but I do know that she looks positively tits-over-tail about her place in life at the moment.

Meanwhile, Stuart Holden looks pleasingly pickled, Jozy Altidore looks troubled and recent Rangers acquisition Maurice Edu is licking his lips as if she were slathered in hot wing sauce. Click to continue reading...

Looking back at the difficulties with set pieces that the Nigerians had, one has to ask where was the US team's wing play.

With Brian McBride and Jozy Altidore, the aerial advantage should have clearly been exploited with crosses from the flanks. Indeed, the good chances came through the air.

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Jozy Altidore meets the Nigerians

A big day in US soccer as the men's national team take on the Nigerians, the 1996 Olympic winners. A win or a draw should see them through the quarterfinals. They had a golden opportunity to seal the deal against the Netherlands but were undone by a 93rd minute equalizer by Gerald Sibon.

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From yesterday morning's painful US Olympic 2-2 draw with Netherlands, to the Red Bulls' 4-1 demolition of DC United in the late afternoon, the day was a veritable football feast from China to the swamps of Jersey.

The US was seconds away from qualifying for the Olympic quarterfinals before the Oranje's Gerald Sibon (SC Heerenveen) blasted the tying goal under the US wall on a free kick from just outside the penalty area. Click to continue reading...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yuyang226/2751139615/
Originally uploaded by Toby(Yang) Yu Tambien en los juegos olimpicos hay que sacar el hacha aunque México no aparezca.

Estos todos los resultados del futbol varonil hasta el momento.

Nueva Zelanda 0 - Brazil 5 (Olympics, Agosto 10, 2008, 2008) Brazil al minuto 4 ya iba ganando , Wunderkid Pato doblo la ventaja antes del descanso, el primer gol fue de riñones , aunque lo anoto con la cabeza. Click to continue reading...

A last-minute goal by the Netherland's Gerald Sibon denied the U.S. men their second consecutive Olympic win Sunday, forcing them to settle for the 2-2 tie. Chivas USA's Sasha Klejstan and Jozy Altidore tallied second-half goals for Team USA, which... Click to continue reading...

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Let's hear it for parity. Despite a five-match league winless streak (seven straight overall), the Red Bulls are only a single point out of a playoff spot with twelve matches to play. Over the last few weeks, the club has brought in help, including Venezuelan international defender Gabriel Chicero, who played 45 minutes with New York in Wednesday's schooling by Barcelona. Click to continue reading...

Peter Nowak's decision to adjust his tactics (ironically enough in line with what most American Soccer Spot readers suggested the other day) shows a tactical savvy and willingness to take chances that many American coaches have quite frankly lacked in big competitions. Since the debacle of Steve Sampson 3-6-1 in the 1998 World Cup, American managers have implemented a very basic tactical structure one which is based on counter attacking and generally does not consider the strengths or weaknesses of the upcoming opposition.

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I am going talk about the USA-Japan result here. If you are DVRing it, do not continue on. What I liked: I thought that the attacking component of the US midfield did a decent job throughout the second half in controlling possession and allowing the stars to get opportunities. Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore are the stars [. Click to continue reading...

With the memory of the Euro 08 tournament behind us, soccer fans have another tournament to look forward to this summer, the 2008 Olympic games in China! First off let me say this: Soccer is in a different position then other sports in the Olympics. For many sports such as swimming or track and field, the Olympics is the ultimate tournament and test for the athletes to see who is the best. Click to continue reading...

Press play on the image of US Olympic midfielder Maurice Edu in China (from his personal website) and you will see 1st hand why this maybe the most low-energy athletic event in history. Ever. Period. FACT! When you have superb physical specimens like Edu, Jozy Altidore, and Brian McBride saying that it's too hot, they can't see and they can't breathe WHEN THEY ARE JUST WALKING you know there is a very real problem. Click to continue reading...

Olympic squads were finalized today. Here are the MLS, USL and NCAA based players as well a list of former MLS players particpating. Michael Boxall/New Zealand Craig Henderson/New Zealand Chris Seitz/USA Mo Edu/USA Marvell Wynne/USA Patrick Ianni/USA Michael Parkhurst/USA Stuart Holden/USA Robbie Rogers/USA Sacha Kljestan/USA Dax McCarty/USA Brian McBride/USA Emanuel Ekpo/Nigeria  FORMER MLS PLAYERS Ramon Nunez/Honduras Carlos Pavon/Honduras Ryan Nelson/New Zealand Simon Elliot/New Zealand Samuel Caballero/Honduras Freddy Adu/USA Michael Bradley/USA Danny Szetela/USA Jozy Altidore/USA Bookmark to: Click to continue reading...

I encourage everyone to check out our writer Steve over at Jozy Altidores player blog here on theOffside.

He will be tracking our Jersey Boys progress through the Olympics and Villarreal. And I am sure this will be a bookmark on my laptop.

Click the pic to check out the link.

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Young Jozy (aka the player formerly known as The Boy King of New York & Jersey™) is out in Hong Kong at the moment training with the Olympic team and whatnot. But before he left for Dim Sum country he dished to FIFA.com about life at his new Spanish home, Villarreal.

And just in case you missed it he also wrote a lengthy post about Spanish life for the New York Times' Goal last week which is probably the most insightful guest-blogger post I've read in a long time. Click to continue reading...

U.S. Soccer put out a press release a couple of minutes ago naming Dax McCarty (FC Dallas) as an injury replacement for Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake) on the U.S. Olympic team roster. With McCarty moving to the full roster, our starting left back Michael Harrington has been added to the three-person alternate list. Click to continue reading...

According to Le Parisien, now that a deal to bring Freddy Adu to the Rock is sealed, Monaco boss Jerome De Bontin is now focused on signing Heerenveen starlet Michael Bradley. Recent reports indicated that Monaco had offered €8.5 million euros for the high scoring American midfielder but that Heerenveen was demanding a price closer to €10 million. Click to continue reading...

Villarreal got a good look at its four new signings, including American Jozy Altidore in a Sunday friendly against third division side Navata. The match turned out to be a 12-0 romp for the primera side and the club's faithful got its first look at Altidore before he departs to participate in the Olympics for the USA. Click to continue reading...