As the clock continues to wind down towards World Cup 2010, there are a plethora of players striving to make their dream a reality; being a part of the US National Team heading into South Africa.

Off of the clear successes this team has enjoyed during the Bob Bradley era, the States are expecting to turn in one of the most memorable performances in it's long and painful soccer history.

Portugal, as Cat Whitehill sees it

To be fair, I'm merely battling a hangover as a result of last night's karaoke extravaganza which you would already know about if you follow me on twitter. (warning: I rarely tweet about football). The USWNT made a somewhat ironic move this week as the formerly ill Megan Rapinoe replaced the now ill Tobin Heath on the Algarve Cup roster.

Hope, Carli, & Amy all agree the new USWNT kits look much better than the men's

This post will be quick as I'm spending the weekend in rainy San Diego (you stay classy) to visit my sister... and her wine collection.

The USWNT are taking the Algarve Cup competition by storm.

Yes! We are again live-blogging the US Men's match today against The Netherlands.

Join us here at 2:30 EST to follow along or take part in the live blog. If you are recording the game and don't want spoilers then be sure to come back here after you watch it for our post-game analysis.

Here is Dave's projected starting lineup:

——— Jozy— Johnson———
Beasley–-Bradley—-Edu—-Donovan
Bocanegra-Goodson-DeMeritt-Pearce
———— -Howard————— -

Some readers have suggested that Bradley might be going with a 4-5-1 with Jozy alone at the top.

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The USMNT continues there World Cup vetting process, this time featuring a squad rich in stateside talent that are looking to move out of obscurity and into the limelight. Bob Bradley's domestic internationals will be taking on the ever dangerous El Salvador, who have never won on American soil.

Pia Sundhage will leave no stones unturned, people! Today, the preliminary roster for the USWNT training camp that will determine the (from what I understand) two different sets of eighteen players for two separate friendlies against China in October... was announced today. And, as various WPS teams get kicked out of the playoffs, Pia will then nab a few from those squads as well.

After naming Freddy Adu a fringe player yesterday, I am taking full credit for this hard fought second goal. Check out the 'du continue his torrid scoring pace with Aris in the Greek Cup Quarterfinals!

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Me? I am just tweeting away . . .
www.

This man needs Dr. Dre!

I will be back later this afternoon with some thoughts and insights on the team. Meanwhile, check out this USMNT rap above (done by a National team supporter).

One of the greatest USMNT kits of all time came in the form of a third jersey. The Nike "Don't Tread on Me" campaign of 2006 featured a deep red kit, with a black sash down the middle, and a modified US crest on the chest. It was a thing of beauty.

This years versions has taken a bit of that popularity and made it the standard.

Another week of fixtures in the books, and the legend of Landon Donovan continues to grow. The American dynamo seamless transition to the worlds greatest league proceeds in impressive fashion, this time assisting Everton in toppling the mountain of a team known as Manchester United, 3-1.

Robben. Kuyt. Huntelaar. Van Bommel. Sneijder. van Bronckhorst. Stekenlenburg. These are the names the USMNT will be facing down as they continue to lay down the pavement on their road to the World Cup.

The Orange Machine will be sporting some heavy hitters, and the USMNT will be no different.

Lauren Cheney was the real winner during this tournament with 4 goals, including one in the final. Against Germany, Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach scored the first two and for the second time in however many months, the #1 team wiped the floor with the #2 team. Total confidence boost. Even Wambach and Cheney agree:

Abby: A big positive from playing Germany in a final is the experience factor for some of these young kids.

Which is essentially just a hair away from sharing a towncar with Nicolas Anelka.

If you're here, you probably don't need a recap of why this news is relevant. If you do need a recap, put on a helmet, click this link for Denny's post-match thoughts, and enter Thunderdome in the comments section.

Well that was anti-climactic. Today US Soccer announced Bob Bradley's contract has been extended four more years. Meaning, we've got him through the next World Cup. Huzzah. That's right, we've got four more years of sideline scowls and the most magnificent sweatpants collection in FIFA. I definitely agree some of his selections have been a bit suspect,

and perhaps he has a slight problem being the mastermind behind a few embarrassing terrible tactical blunders

and maybe he hasn't quite figured out it doesn't necessarily make the USA look so good to play the newbies in games against the really good national teams

(Insert picture of the 2007 Copa America roster here or whoever the crap those guys were playing against Brazil earlier this month)

But hey no matter what crazy dumb-ass thing our Bob has done over the past four years, it's kinda moot because we've got him for another four so that's four more years to make stupid mistakes and drive the USA to another World Cup of utter mediocrity OR that's four years ahead for us with an experienced leader who has worked the college and professional systems in this country so that should count for something, you know, for picking out budding talent.

Today, the USA Women beat Italy, making a crucial step towards the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. In true USA fashion, the winning goal came late in the match and was scored by a bright young National teamer. Today's match was the first match of a two-leg playoff to determine which team will be going to the 2011 World Cup.