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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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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San Luis FC - a club in the Mexican Primera Division - is admitting their plans to launch a coup in hopes of landing Cuauhtemoc Blanco from the Chicago Fire by the start of next year's Clausura tournament.

"We'll try to sign Blanco with the help of several sponsors and persuade him to come to San Luis," said Payan Latuff, owner of the team's stadium, Estadio Alfonso Lastras Ramirez in San Luis Potosi. Click to continue reading...

Our young Mexican-Americans were in action over the weekend in Mexico. Okay, well, closer to the truth... their teams were in action. But we didn't get to see Jesus Padilla, Daniel Hernandez or Michael Orozco play. And as far as I can tell Sonny Guadarrama isn't with Morelia much, and if he is still around he isn't dressing for matches anymore. Click to continue reading...

I owe, I owe, it's back to my club I go ...

OUR TEAMS

Everton (1-2-0, 17th in Premier League): Away to Stoke (8:30 a.m. ET Sunday; 11 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel). Marouane Fellaini should be in the lineup, but new defender Lars Jacobsen is out for a while.

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Sporadic commentary will follow ...

USA lineup: GK Tim Howard, D Carlos Bocanegra, D Oguchi Onyewu, D Steve Cherundolo, D Heath Pearce, M Clint Dempsey, M DaMarcus Beasley, M Michael Bradley, M Sacha Kljestan, F Landon Donovan, F Brian Ching.

On the bench: GK Brad Guzan, D Frankie Hejduk, D Dan Califf, M Ricardo Clark, M Eddie Lewis, M Maurice Edu, F Eddie Johnson

Not playing: D Michael Orozco, D Marvell Wynne

Not called in: M/F Freddy Adu, F Jozy Altidore, D Jimmy Conrad, etc.

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Well Bruce is gone on some sort of bus trip so I'm here to give you a short USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago World Cup 2010 Qualifier Preview. The USA come off a 1-0 win over Cuba that could have been 2 or 3 to nothing, but at the same time could have been 1-1 if not for Howard's heroics. Home Crowd, Stats in our Favor The "workman like effort" the media saw in Cuba should surface again today at Toyota Park. Click to continue reading...

20 lucky folk were selected for World Cup qualifying beatdowns of Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago.

Enjoy:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne.

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US Manager Bob Bradley has recalled Rico Clark and omitted Kenny Cooper, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore in his 20 man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers versus Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago. Marvell Wynne and Michael Orozco have also been called into the team. Both Wynne and Orozco are in my mind deserving [. 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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Call it a new feature here on WVH, while I'm trying to maintain focus on the MLS playoff race; this is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, a focus on the Americans abroad in other leagues. I was going to debut this last week but honestly ran out of time early [...] Click to continue reading...

Michael Orozco is back with San Luis. He reported earlier this week back to his club and will now try and regain his starting spot in San Luis' defense. San Luis hasn't necessarily missed him. While Tigres and Pumas have yielded fewer goals than San Luis, los Guerreros have a whopping 16 points through five games. Click to continue reading...

It's nearly one quarter of the way into the Apertura 2008 campaign for our beloved Mexican-Americans down south. While some players have done well for themselves, others are still awaiting to debut for their clubs this season while still others are hoping for increased playing times.

Also, thanks to our trusty, eagle-eyed readers we have a new member of this elite group to keep tabs on. Click to continue reading...

I had thought about going through each US player who saw significant playing time in the Olympics and judging him on whether his stock rose or fell in terms of his prospects with the senior team.

But I can't think of many players who improved their standings with performances in this tournament. Click to continue reading...

Is Michael Orozco the new Jeff Agoos?

~and~

Kasey Keller has signed with Seattle Sounders FC for next spring. See MLS Expansion section for details.

~and~

New England showed that the US Open Cup is DEFINITELY NOT a priority for them this season as they rested nearly all of their regulars in DC last night (only Shalrie Joseph & Adam Cristman played) and got whooped for it. Click to continue reading...

Michael Orozco's elbow to Solomon Okoronkwo's chest as the two grappled was picked up by the German referee who gave Orozco marching orders. The US were reduced to ten men in the 4th minute.

It was an ill advised foul which happened right in front of the referee and he was forced into taking the more harsh option.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The task was already going to be tough, but when U.S. Olympic defender Michael Orozco drew a red card just four minutes into the U.S. team's crucial Olympic match against Nigeria, the job turned into trying to swim in a shark tank with your foot cut off.

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Isaac Promise and Obinna Nsofor gave Nigeria a 2 - 0 lead over a 10 man USA (Michael Orozco was sent off for elbowing Hertha Berlin's Solomon Okoronkwo in the second minute) Kljestan pulled one back for the US when he scored off a penalty.

Nigeria vs USA (1-0 Promise) Olympic Football - The most amazing videos are a click away

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I got up early again to rev up the DVR and watch the US take on Nigeria. The US needed a win or tie against a good Nigerian squad. I'm ready, I'm pumped. What happens next? The worst thing possible, the thing I didn't want to see, heartbreak...

A red card in the 4th minute. Michael Orozco makes a stupid mistake and elbows a Nigerian player while tussling for a ball. Click to continue reading...

If you are going to watch the match later and don't want me to spoil it for you, don't click ahead. Otherwise... Well the journey from prospective group winners to first-round flameout is complete. And practically everyone has some blame to share in the disgrace. Let's start first with Michael Orozco, whose sending off has to [. Click to continue reading...

Memo to the Galaxy: U.S. Men's Olympic Coach Peter Nowak is now available.

The U.S. played with 10 men for 87 minutes, saw Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan score an 88th minute penalty and Benny Feilhaber hit the post in second half stoppage time, but it wasn't enough as Nigeria beat the U.

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In a group that includes quality teams like Nigeria and Holland, the U.S. needed to beat Japan today in its Olympics Group B opener.

A Stuart Holden goal proved enough for a 1-0 win and while not particularly convincing, the U.S. took its chance while Japan did not take their more plentiful chances.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Olympics are set to kick off for the U.S. men's national team on Thursday morning against Japan, which means that in less than two days we will know who head coach Peter Nowak has chosen to start.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's Olympic team fell, 1-0, to Cameroon on Sunday in Hong Kong. A first-half penalty kick goal proved to be the difference for the Africans.

Here is the lineup the Americans trotted out against Cameroon:

--------------McBride-------------Altidore------------------

Rogers--------Holden------------Bradley------------ Kljestan

Orozco----------Edu---------Parkhurst---------------Wynne

------------------------Guzan------------------------------------

Freddy Adu came on for Altidore in the 64th minute.

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Across the internet I see the panic button being pushed after this match. Sure both the performance and result were not encouraging, but the back line thought to be the weakness of this side when the squad was named over two weeks ago now looks like a rock at the back entering the Olympic Games.

In the opening forty five minutes, Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden were both poor out wide as was Michael Bradley in the middle and Jozy Altidore up top.

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Let me first apologize for the delinquency of this post. I slept through this morning's match and then caught the match later on the internet. The match today showed some weakness for the US at the back early in the match playing a 4-4-2, but the team believe it or not caught lightning in a bottle of sorts when Benny Feilhaber entered the match at halftime and helped control the next 15 or 20 minutes of the match. Click to continue reading...

One week of Mexico's Apertura 2008 season is in the books and here is how the Sangre americana lot fared.

Sort of slow actually as only one of the first-division players saw action. In total, though, one American scored two goals over the weekend.

Primera Division

Edgar Castillo - Played 90 minutes in Santos' 3-2 loss to America. Click to continue reading...

Edgar Castillowas profiled in the New York Times on Wednesday.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, there may be little new information in there that you haven't already come across here. But his story is clearly of interest to more than just soccer fans as a whole new audience has now been exposed to his tale. 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...

At the start of the Clausura 2008 season, few American soccer fans had heard of Michael Orozco. Now, though, he's become a part of the U.S. national team system and will represent the U.S. in the upcoming Summer Olympics.

And while he'll be away for perhaps one-fourth of the upcoming Apertura 2008 season, he will at some point go back ad try and reclaim a spot on the club. Click to continue reading...

The United States Men's Olympic Football squad for Beijing 2008: Coach: Piotr Nowak (43) Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (23) (Chivas USA) Chris Seitz (21) (Real Salt Lake) Defenders: Patrick Ianni (23) (Houston Dynamo) Michael Orozco (22) (San Luis, Mexico) Michael Parkhurst (24) (New England Revolution) Nathan Sturgis (21) (Real Salt Lake) Marvell Wynne (22) (Toronto FC, Canada) Midfielders: Freddy Adu (19) (Monaco, France) Michael Bradley (20) (SC Heerenveen, Holland) Maurice [. Click to continue reading...

With smart overage call-ups Brian McBride, Brad Guzan and Michael Parkhurst the U.S. Olympic doesn't look horrible.

Goalkeepers: Guzan, Chris Seitz.
Defenders: Patrick Ianni, Michael Orozco, Parkhurst, Nathan Sturgis, Marvell Wynne.
Midfielders: Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela, Robbie Rogers. Click to continue reading...

Peter Nowak named his sqaud for the Beijing Olympics. The team includes several current and former MLS players. Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and Houston Dynamo are all losing 2 players to Nowak's Olympic roster while the Columbus Crew, Chivas USA and the New England Revolution will be missing a single player to Nowak during the Olympics.

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There are classic feel-good stories that are designed to give people an inspirational uplift that might even last more than a day. There are tales that warm the heart.
Sacha Kljestan's Karate Kid celebration, done in honor of his father, Slavko, definitely takes on greater meaning when viewed in the context of their close relationship and Slavko's soccer past. Click to continue reading...