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The United States road woes in CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualifying continued on Friday night as they fell 2-1 in Jamaica.

Clint Dempsey put the U.S. in the lead just 36 seconds into the match, but Rodolph Austin knotted the score directly off a free kick in the 23rd minute and then Luton Shelton scored the winner for Jamaica on another set piece in the 62nd minute.

In September 2007 Clint Dempsey latched onto a loose ball and steered it left-footed into the Wigan net. The away crowd, jubilant, sang of the scorer: "He scores with his left, he scores with his riiiiight, that boy Clint Dempsey, makes Drogba look [censored]".

And so it proved. Dempsey has now scored 50 times for Fulham (six against Wigan): 10 with his left; 25 with his riiiight, 12 with his head and, entirely summing the man up, three with 'other'.

In September 2007 Clint Dempsey latched onto a loose ball and steered it left-footed into the Wigan net. The away crowd, jubilant, sang of the scorer: "He scores with his left, he scores with his riiiiight, that boy Clint Dempsey, makes Drogba look [censored]".

And so it proved. Dempsey has now scored 50 times for Fulham (six against Wigan): 10 with his left; 25 with his riiiight, 12 with his head and, entirely summing the man up, three with 'other'.

The United States men's national team rarely gets to play they way the women's national team plays. That is, like they are so superior to their opponent that the real struggle is internal. Not: "How should we play to win?" But: How should we play if we want to take lessons from this practice-type match?

What a difference a few days made for the Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers.

After Portland stifled the Rapids with a 1-0 result at Jeld-Wen Field last Friday to put the 2010 MLS Cup winners in last place in the Western Conference, the Rapids bounced back with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Timbers at Dick's Sporting Goods Park Wednesday night.

Elli Reed buried a 22nd minute goal to lift the Breakers to their first regular season title since 2003 with a 1-0 win over the Western New York Flash on Sunday.

With the win, the Breakers punched their ticket to a semi-final match against the fourth place Chicago Red Stars at 5pm on Jul. 25 at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, the site of this year's WPSL Playoffs.

By JOEY SAMUEL

CHESTER, Pa. -- For more than 80 minutes, the first-ever meeting between the Philadelphia Union and the Montreal Impact left something to be desired. But in the last 15 minutes, that all changed.

Philadelphia took the lead in the 82nd minute when Lionard Pajoy pounced on a loose ball in the box, only for Montreal to answer moments later when the Union fell asleep on a corner kick and conceded an own goal.

El Tri have been one of Brazil's bogey teams, always managing to give them a hard time. Giovani Dos Santos, of Brazilian origin through his father, Zizinho who played for Mexican club Club America opened the account with a beautiful goal. He latched onto a diagonal wide on the left and then runs towards the goal as the Brazilians back off, stops abruptly to change direction and then with his left foot chips the ball sweetly across the face of the goal and over Rafael nestling at the far post.

• 00:33 - Kick off starts the game.
• 00:46 - D.C. United losses the ball during a play started by Brandon McDonald that was supposed to play through Andy Najar. Josue Martinez starts the run of play for the Philadelphia Union, who move forward with the Costa Rican leading captain Carlos Valdes and Jack McInerney toward the United 18-yard box.

• 00:33 - Kick off starts the game.
• 00:46 - D.C. United losses the ball during a play started by Brandon McDonald that was supposed to play through Andy Najar. Josue Martinez starts the run of play for the Philadelphia Union, who move forward with the Costa Rican leading captain Carlos Valdes and Jack McInerney toward the United 18-yard box.

Games in the Group of Death tend to be cagey affairs as teams cancel each other out, especially in the first round of fixtures where no one wants to lose. Today was no different as Denmark upset the Dutch while Germany eked out a win over Portugal with a solitary goal each.

Robin van Persie started for the Oranje amidst some chatter that Huntelaar might get the nod.

Games in the Group of Death tend to be cagey affairs as teams cancel each other out, especially in the first round of fixtures where no one wants to lose. Today was no different as Denmark upset the Dutch while Germany eked out a win over Portugal with a solitary goal each.

Robin van Persie started for the Oranje amidst some chatter that Huntelaar might get the nod.

Poland kicked off Euro 2012 against Greece at the National Stadium in Warsaw in what proved to be an enthralling opening to the tournament.

Franciszek Smuda's Poland were given the perfect start against the 2004 champions.
The co-hosts talisman Robert Lewandowski headed in after 17 minutes to send the home fans into raptures.

• 00:26 - Carlos Valdes runs up and strikes a hard free kick that dips in front of D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who is able to parry the shot to his right. A Union follow up is cleared off the line by Daniel Woolward, before Gabriel Farfan blasts it wide of the net.

While few could've predicted how it would happen, it would be hard for anyone to be surprised by what the San Jose Earthquakes pulled off Saturday night.

In what has become the latest in a series of astonishing late heroics by San Jose, Steven Lenhart scored a 93rd-minute winner to stun the Seattle Sounders and earn the Earthquakes a 2-1 victory at Buck Shaw Stadium.

By JASON MITCHELL

TUKWILA, Wash. - Thanks to a swarming 11-man effort, the brilliance of Osvaldo Alonso, and yet another goal from the suddenly torrid Eddie Johnson, the Seattle Sounders have reached their fourth consecutive Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final.

The Colorado Rush made a brave try at derailing the Pali Blues machine but came up short on Sunday as the California side slipped past the visitors 2-0.

With the win, the Pali Blues improved to 12-0-1 on the season. Colorado Rush fell to 5-4-3 and third place in the division with two games remaining.

In November 2010, the Colorado Rapids took to a cold Toronto field and won an MLS Cup. On Wednesday night, the team took the same field with hopes of linking "playoff" and "aspirations" into a reality.

Playing in a stadium where the Rapids were 0-5-0 against the home team, Colorado saw those hopes vanish in yet another 2-1 loss.

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Just three days after what was arguably their worst game of the year, the Portland Timbers responded to that disappointing show against Colorado by putting together the kind of victory has just might spark a full-blown turnaround.

The Timbers scored goals in each half, including Danny Mwanga's first for Portland since joining the team from Philadelphia, to earn a 2-1 victory against the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday night.

The U.S. women's team played their final match before the London Olympics and goalkeeper Hope Solo once again came up big for her side. With the U.S. up 1-0 just before halftime, Canada mounted one last attack. Canadian legend Christine Sinclair took a low shot from outside the box that took a deflection off a U.

The toughest group in the European Championships just got even more interesting after the team considered the weakest in Group B pulled off a stunning upset that has shaken up the tournament.

Denmark shocked the Netherlands on Sunday, playing excellent defense and benefiting from sloppy attacking play from the Dutch to post a 1-0 victory.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Entering Saturday night's contest against Sporting Kansas City at PPL Park, the lingering questions around the Union camp focused on the team's poor finishing. Sixty-two seconds into the match, those concerns were answered.

Jack McInerney pounded home a loose ball for his first of two goals on the night, firing the Union to a 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas City 4-0.