The Beauty: Joanna Taylor is one of the most beautiful WAGs on this list because she is also one of the most talented. Unlike many girls who are just beauty queens or reality stars (or even actresses in suspect films), Joanna has appeared in some decent TV and film endeavors.

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When it comes to friendlies, it's nearly an impossible task to convince an audience that the stakes are high. And while that is certainly true the day before the U.S.-Slovakia match in Bratislavia, there is plenty to learn about the state of the U.S. team both Saturday, and next Wednesday in Denmark.

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With a couple of upcoming Friendlies (Macedonia on Nov 14 & Poland on Nov 18), and with a break in my Masters happening right now (oh, how convenient), I finally have chance to to write a proper blog post that isn't a summary of my Twitter stories.

Yeah a lot has happened lately. First Begovic, then Jacob Lensky (and thank you, Stephen Hart, for publicly expressing your disappointment).

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There was a time when the names Diego Armando Maradona, Carlos Bilardo and the Argentine National team were synonymous with success. The magical run to the 1986 World Cup made both men house hold names in the sport, and heroes back home.

Boy, does that seem like a life time ago.

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The Beauty: Adriana Karembeu is perhaps the WAG with the most successful modeling career. She has appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, both of the fashion and men's varieties, and she has walked the catwalk for some of the world's top designers.

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The Beauty: When I saw this photo of Miss Sarah Brandner, I almost dropped my own beer. Look at that image. When I saw it, I knew how James Joyce's character felt at the end of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I too had seen a beauty that radiates nature's perfection.

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It's just as well that the World Cup invite is in pocket because it will be a U.S. Men's National team playing Costa Rica with a lot on their minds at RFK tonight.Due to the nature of the day and of the game's qualification irrelevance, I won't do a big breakdown.I will say I expect to see several line-up changes. Click to continue reading...

I'm afraid there is more bad news from the USMNT pool, and this time it's even scarier. I've confirmed with the 'Nats that forward Charlie Davies was in a D.C.-area one-car accident at 3.15 AM this morning. He is in surgery, but he is in stable condition.We don't have all the details yet, but the car was literally ripped in half, leaving one person dead and two in serious condition. Click to continue reading...

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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They say Benny Feilhaber is having a breakout year for both club & country. Who's they you say? SBI. As I have no idea what the hell he's doing in Denmark --and let's be honest here, without actually seeing his games on TV who does-- I'll just take their word for it. As for his performance with the nats I'd say he has been quite good but not standout to me; I think if I were "Blue Eyes" Bradley I would start Stu Holden ahead of him in Dempsey absence and maybe bring him in off the bench late tomorrow night. Click to continue reading...

Dear DC United,
I thought you weren't supposed to handle balls in the penalty area HA HA HA HA OH GOD THE COMEDY it burns
Boy, I'm really glad you guys got a chance to do that picture. Remember when Brian McBride and Cobi Jones did the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue? Remember those fashion shoots the Nats did - boy, I sure hope they do another one next summer! Click to continue reading...

You can see Jimmy there toward the right.
Franco Panizo of Soccer by Ives checked in today with a report from the USA training camp in Miami. No mention of Jimmy, but he was there and took part of the full session. How would you like to be a goalkeeper for Barry University and get a chance to train with the Nats? Click to continue reading...

I have a non-soccer question for my regulars: what was the best comedy movie you've seen so far this calendar year? Is it just me or do they not make enough comedies anymore? I think that is the fact, Jack...#1 - Today I called Fulham. Then I called the 'Nats. Then then 'Nats ran their own story. Urgh. Click to continue reading...

US Soccer is reporting that Clint "Don't Tread" Dempsey sprained his shoulder and will miss the qualifier vs. Honduras on Saturday. No word on the Costa Rice qualifier yet. Some might say this is a good thing after some of his recent performances for the Nats, but it sounds like he's been playing better for Fulham lately.

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Sadly, I am beyond swamped with work, so I won't go into great detail explaining my prediction for today's game. I will keep it simple.The Baby 'Nats will win a tough scrap and finish second in the group. Bam.The reading room awaits:- U.S. U-20 match notes- FIFA match preview- FIFA profiles So. Korea F Cho Young Cheol- Cameroon v Germany match preview- U. Click to continue reading...

Casey was on the 22-man roster announced today for the final two World Cup Qualifiers on 10/10 and 1014. Oct. 10th is our bye week, we don't have a game after Saturday's match until Oct. 17th. Casey will probably travel with the team to Honduras for the match on the 10th and to DC for the final game of the hex on the 14th. Click to continue reading...

The World Cup trophy is touring Egypt during the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
That's right, the U.S. U-20 National Team rebounded from their 3-0 loss to Germany Saturday with a 4-1 thrashing of Cameroon. The Nats spread the goals around, with Arguez, Taylor, Duka and Ownby all scoring. Duka was the star of the night, however, as the #10 was involved in multiple goals and scored on an amazing chip. Click to continue reading...

Yes the USA is very close to qualifying for the 2010 World Cup for next summer and this coming October there will be two more matches remaining for the Nats when they visit Honduras on the 10th & home against Costa Rica on the 14th. Once the official word comes from FIFA that our boys have qualified for South Africa then we can watch the World Cup Draw this coming December 5th.

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The Scene: The US faced off against Trinidad & Tobago last night @ Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I assume almost everyone reading this has never been to the HCS in Port of Spain, and for those of you who also missed the game on TV last night, let me tell you about the atmosphere.

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Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings puts a bicycle kick on goal in the second half of the team's 1-0 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday. (photos by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Â

Colorado striker Conor Casey wasn't supposed to be at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night.

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Last Saturday was a historic day. It was the date of the first ever WPS Playoff Game. It was also the first WPS game I ever watched with my wife. She is not a huge soccer fan, but we were killing time in a hotel room before meeting friends, and I got her to watch the 2nd half. Now she is hooked.

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Well, TFC managed to do what was needed to move up the table this weekend but what of the media that covers them? The race for the first Graham Leggat Trophy is heating up!
Round 4 of the TFC Media League sees the race at the top stay tight as Toronto's two main dailies, the Sun and Star, battle it out but the National Post got some valuable points. Click to continue reading...

This is another WPS post, but I wanted to hit some other stuff first.
Chapka may be on to something, even though I couldn't naviagate the Buff site to save my life, and I couldn't figure out from the diagram how to make the pirate headband.
"Dan, why do you want to dress like a pirate? Click to continue reading...

In my runaway bestseller, "Let's Round Up All the Eurosnobs and Harvest Their Internal Organs," I define the term Eurosnob as follows:
1. a****le
2. douchebag
3. someone born in the United States to non-soccer fan parents who supports another national team.
4. someone who self-refers as a soccer fan, who lives within an hour's distance of an MLS team, but never goes to games
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A quick thanks to Michael and the spectacular job he does on this blog. Â He's been busy this past week, so you'll have to excuse the lack of posts. Â Moving and then traveling from your new home all within a four day span doesn't leave a lot of time to blog. Â Lucky for him it was a pretty slow week for USMNT news.

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We will come to the end of a marathon stretch for the 'Nats (especially coach Bob Bradley, staff and frequent flyer miles king Heath Pearce) with Sunday's CONCACAF Gold Cup final against arch rival Mexico at Giants Stadium.Being that this match is not widely available in the States, I will break from usual weekend tradition and do a LIVE for this one. Click to continue reading...

Hailed as the biggest professional soccer game in Austin history, the State Farm Copa Aztex is this Saturday, July 18. The match will be an exhibition game between two storied Mexican teams gearing up to start their season: Cruz Azul and UANL Tigres.
The Chronicle has more on the game and why it's a big deal:

It's the final preseason tune-up for the clubs, who open the 2009 Apertura season next week.

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Sorry this is a little late, but I think it's an important discussion to have...

We've all read plenty of articles praising the Nats for their improbably run to the Cup finals, so we'll spare you the discussion of their "grit" and "heart."  (Funny I was always led to believe that Frankie Hejduk was our sole source of these invaluable commodities.

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For the past few days I have had that damn phrase "what if" running thru my head. What if Stephen Hart kept the reins after the 2007 Gold Cup? What if that whole Dale Mitchell thing was just a bad dream?

I cannot see how the CSA can deny the man the top job. With Canada's 1-0 win over El Salvador tonight, Hart has strung together 4 wins for the nats.

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I have to see it as a positive for the maturation of the game in this country that we are now involved in conversations that the rest of the world has been having for generations - club or country?

The flash point today (to bring you up to speed in case you haven't heard) is the now confirmed fact that TFC has made a significant offer to our favorite midfielder Julian de Guzman.

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A 2-1 victory for FC Dallas on the 4th of July over the worst team in the MLS...fortunately you get three points no matter how bad the opposition is. Two comments complaining that Kenny Cooper didn't play for the USMNT against Grenada...further proof most FCD fans have no clue that Kenny Cooper isn't really that good and doesn't even deserve to ride the bench for the Nats. Click to continue reading...

Soccer by Ives has reported than none of the extra 7 players, which includes Casey, are in Seattle for today's U.S. - Grenada match. Presumably this means Casey will be starting for the Rapids tonight. Click to continue reading...

Its time for the annual full house game on the 4th of July as the Rapids host Chicago. The Rapids are 11-1-1 all time on Independence Day (with the draw and the loss both being against Columbus). Game time is moved up 30 minutes to 7pm to allow for the post game concert and fireworks. The supporter's group will be starting the tailgate an hour earlier than usual at 4pm, and for this week only they will be in a special location at the East edge of Lot C. Click to continue reading...

Instead of bringing up some more MLS guys looking for their first shot with the Nats or some guys in need of finding their form again, Bob Bradley has called on seven Confederation Cup players to fill out the additional seven roster spots for his Gold Cup roster.

Here is the list:

Jozy Altidore
Jonathan Bornstein
Conor Casey
Ricardo Clark
Benny Feilhaber
Brad Guzan
Sacha Kljestan

These seven players will not be traveling with the 23-man U.

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