Alex Morgan scored a pair for the U.S. Women's National Team as they overcame a 1-0 deficit to grab the win in stoppage time, 2-1.
Fun fact: The two headers in the 88th and 93rd minute meant that ten of her career 16 goals have come in the 80th minute or later.
An uncharacteristically poor backpass to second half goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart gave New Zealand the lead shortly after halftime (49th minute), but the sometimes sloppy Lady Nats found another victory in the jaws of defeat.

Now that The USWNT team has qualified for the Summer Olympics after a superb tournament in Canada, Head Coach Pia Sundhage can now turn her focus onto her squads first friendly match of the new year against New Zealand. The match will be played at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas, marking the eighth time the USWNT will play in the Lone Star State.

In what was shaping up the be one of the most promising seasons and competitive teams the Beat had put on the field in recent years everything crashed to a grinding halt. On Monday, January 30th 2012 the league issued a statement to suspend the 2012 season citing the pending legal issues with former magicJack team owner Dan Borislow.

Having already qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by winning Friday's game versus Costa Rica, the USWNT's win over Canada in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament was the icing on the cake. The Canadian side came into tonight's match with a lot of confidence, but when it came time to perform, fell quite short.

The U.S. Women's National Team will be heading to London this July and August for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The team secured their spot Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica at BC Place Stadium; Vancouver, Canada. The U.S. women were not quite as dominate as in previous games where they racked up [.

I highly doubt they will see Lon Cheney Jr. walking with the queen, but our USWNT have secured a ticket to the 2012 Summer Olympics following last night's 3-0 win over Costa Rica.Ah-oooooooo!USA Beats Costa Rica and Advance to Olympics - from Universal Sp - Celebrity bloopers here- Greg Seltzer

The U.S. Women's National Team faced a tougher test than expected, but ultimately the Americans proved too tough for underdog Costa Rica and eventually punched their ticket to the Summer Olympics.

A first-half goal by Tobin Heath gave the U.S. women the lead and despite a courageous fight from the Costa Ricans, the United States held that one-goal lead before Carli Lloyd blasted home a long-range blast in the second half to give the Americans a 2-0 victory in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semifinals in Vancouver.

Hope Solo could potentially miss tomorrow nights all important semifinal match against Costa Rica with a lingering quad injury. The timing could not be any worse as whoever loses the match tomorrow will not qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Solo was seen clutching her right knee during the game against Mexico this past Tuesday night.

The US Women did it again last night, defeating a Mexican squad that actually gave them a run for their money. Don't let the 4-0 score fool you; the USWNT got lucky with two quick goals in the 7th and 8th minutes. That was it for the first half. Despite the strong will of Mexico, it wasn't enough to stop the US who scored two more goals in the second half, winning Group B with all nine points.

The offside rule in football is one that perplexes many casual fans, but in commemoration of the upcoming summer Olympics, Britain's Royal Mint has created an explanation of the rule that fits in your pocket.

Bad news comes for the USWNT as star defender Ali Krieger will be sidelined for 6-8 months with tears in both her ACL and MCL. The injury occurred during the the first half the teams landslide victory against the Dominican Republic. After taking a shot on goal, Krieger was kicked hard in the knee when a DR player was trying to make a tackle.

Chalk up another win for the Los Angeles Galaxy

Only this one wasn't just for them, it perhaps was an important win for MLS as well. Despite massive offers from numerous European clubs, David Beckham officially chose to remain in the United States, agreeing to new multi-year contract with the Galaxy that keeps the famed midfielder in Los Angeles through the 2013 MLS season.

The beat (no pun intended) goes on for the Independence, announcing the signing of former US Women's National Team standout, Lori Chalupny earlier today. Chalupny comes to Philadelphia from the Atlanta Beat, where she played in 17 games and scored two goals. "Lori is a world class midfielder. She has great vision, is a fantastic engine and can play both the percentage and million dollar pass," Philadelphia head coach Paul Riley told the official Independence website today.

Pia Sundhage, head coach of the United States Women's National Team, announced earlier today the 20-player roster that she will be bringing with her to Vancouver, B.C. for the CONCACAF Women's Qualifying Tournament. The two teams that make it to the final of the tournament, set to begin on January 19th, will qualify for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Twenty-eleven turned out to be an interesting year, to say the least. It was a year that witnessed the long-awaited arrival of Jurgen Klinsmann as U.S. Men's National Team coach, the U.S. Women's National Team falling in agonizing fashion to Japan in the World Cup final, Steve Nicol's departure as Revolution manager, the introduction of Jay Heaps as his successor and.

New Year's in NYC x AFR

No, the whole AFR Team didn't come together to take over the Big Apple. Now that would be writing a few thousand words about. But my brother and I, alongside a couple of friends, did enjoy a few festivities and quite a bit of footy.

By CALEB SONNELAND

David Beckham isn't going anywhere — for now.

Despite rumors that the LA Galaxy's Beckham was present at Paris Saint-Germain's Ligue 1 clash with Lille on Sunday, reports have emerged to squash any notion of that kind.

With a reported move to PSG imminent, Beckham was thought to be in France to finalize an 18-month deal to the newly-rich club.

The Hat Trick

- Seattle Sounders' announcer Arlo White has been named as the lead soccer announcer for NBC Sports. This means he will be on the national MLS games NBC inked back in August. He will also take the lead for other soccer games like the Summer Olympics coming up. SB Nation's Jeremiah Oshan writes very favorably on the idea:

The first thing you'll notice about him is that he knows his subjects as well as anyone.

By JOEY SAMUEL

The field competing for CONCACAF's spots at the 2012 Summer Olympics is officially set.

Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba each recorded the results they needed Monday night to advance out of Caribbean qualifying and earn the final two spots in the 2012 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament.

Akron's Caleb Porter was named head coach of the United States under-23 men's national team, which will try to qualify this spring for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Porter now has to balance both jobs as he wears multiple hats, with his Akron Zips in the NCAA National Tournament and the US Under-23 team going through preparations for qualification for the next Olympics.

Feel free to begin making your plans to catch the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.

CONCACAF announced that the tournament will take place at three sites starting in late March, with eight teams vying for two spots at the 2012 Olympics in London. So far, the United States, Mexico, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama have qualified for the tournament.

This coming March and April, the US U23 team will attempt to qualify for the 2012 summer Olympics in London. And if Caleb Porter, the team's coach is to be believed, the semifinals and finals would seem to be in KC. On The Best Soccer Show, Porter said that the tournament would start in Tennessee before moving to KC, with the semifinals being on April 2nd.

One of the world's most famous stadiums is due to be opened in 18 months or so, just ahead of the world's biggest football tournament the Confederations Cup, obviously. And then such afterthoughts as the World Cup and the Summer Olympics.

A detailed look inside the future of the stadium in 3D graphics, with lots of little digital people.

Tickets went on sale today for the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualify being held at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada from Jan. 19-29.
If you live in the Northwest, that's would be awesome if you could come. If you don't, and you still come, well that's one way we define a great fan of the U.

With a World Cup on the way and the 2016 summer Olympics on the horizon, Brazil is gearing up for a high-profile decade by hosting the planet's two largest sporting events. This brilliant decade in Brazilian sports will kick off with the 2014 World Cup estimated to bring millions of football fans into the country.

Tonight kicks off what I would consider to be the second most important international soccer competition outside of the World Cup for the United States, and, yes, I'm including the Summer Olympics in that statement. The Summer Olympics are fun, but largely resides outside the world of FIFA.

Part of SBNation.com Soccer's preview for the 2011 MLS season are profiles and previews on incoming international players. Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon was one of those incoming internationals chosen to be previewed on SB Nation soccer.

Here's part of my preview on Mondragon for the site:

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While one Brazilian icon exits the soccer stage, a future one took another step toward entering the limelight after a stellar showing in the CONMEBOL Under-20 championships in Peru.

Neymar scored two goals in the finale on Saturday -- a 6-0 thrashing of Uruguay -- to capture the tournament's golden boot with nine goals, outlasting his closest competition by five scores.

Yet another objectively evil regime was hosting yet another Summer Olympics, and someone asked Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice about a boycott. She spoke out strongly against it.
Quote: "I do not think the boycott of the '80 Olympics was very effective. In fact, I think it looked feckless," she said.

By AVI CREDITOR

Pep Guardiola and FC Barcelona have agreed to a one-year extension that will keep the manager at Camp Nou through the 2011-2012 season. Financial terms of the extension were undisclosed.

According to the Associated Press, the 40-year-old Guardiola has said that he prefers one-year deals as opposed to long-term ones in order to stay motivated, and he has been granted his wish.

The Atlanta Silverbacks recently announced the hiring of head coach Jose Manuel Abundis to guide the team in the upcoming 2011 NASL season. Assisting Abundis will be former MLS MVP Alex Pineda Chacon and goalkeeper coach Jose "Gaucho" Pinho. The Silverbacks' staff will have a decidedly Latin flavor, as Abundis is a native of Mexico, while Chacon hails from Honduras and Pinho is Brazilian, but all three have been involved in U.

In exactly 18 months, the vibrant city of London will be host to one of the most highly awaited sporting events in the form of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Footballers in England are already doing there part in promoting the showpiece event.

We have already seen David Beckham hanging out in the Olympic Stadium to show his excitement.

By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

Though Brazil will develop into the decade's epicenter of South American sport thanks to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer olympics, this summer the spotlight will be on Argentina at Copa América 2011, the continent's prestigious quadrennial international tournament.

The new year is here, and it's tempting to think of 2011 as a bit of a let-down in terms of international football. After all, 2010 was the big one, the World Cup year, and now we enter the long three year hiatus of World Cup football before Brazil 2014. But there is, of course, far more to the international game than just the World Cup.