One of Jurgen Klinsmann's goals upon becoming coach of the U.S. national team was to revamp the system from senior team to youth structure, and with Friday's announcement, he has certainly made a major change to the latter.

Starting in September, the U.S. Development Academy will operate on a 10-month schedule, mimicking the development systems of nations around the world.

How sad to hear Harry Keough had passed away. I was lucky enough to interview him along with another legend Tom Finney in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup and I never forgot his warmth and generosity.I probably took up more of his time than I should have done, and the interview only ended when his wife Alma reminded him that he needed to get his cleats on and referee a girls' school match, at the

I meant to get this up last night, but had some technical difficulties with Blogger. A day later, there's still a lot swirling around in my head after hearing the news that Harry Keough had passed away. Many of those swirling things are memories, which is funny because for a long time I didn't actually realize who he was.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. Soccer community lost a legend Tuesday, as Harry Keough, a national team captain during the memorable 1950 World Cup and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, died at age 84.

Keough was one of the last surviving members of the 1950 team that beat England, 1-0, in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in all of soccer.

By Eric Beard

Today, along with his wife Lindsay, Bob Bradley joined the thousands of mourners in Cairo's Sphinx Square to express his sympathy to the victims and families affected by the clash between rival fans of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the Egyptian city of Port Said.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. Soccer released its ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday, with 31 former players -- and 12 first-time nominees -- making the final ballot for the Class of 2012.

Among the first-timers are former U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola and captain Claudio Reyna.

When a politician suspends his or her campaign, it effectively means the end of the campaign. Even if it is restarted, all of the momentum generated has been lost and almost impossible to recover. Sports league operations are no different, and especially soccer leagues in the USA. So the news today that Women's Professional Soccer has suspended operations for the 2012 season is very bad.

Former New England Revolution star Clint Dempsey could be changing teams before England's January transfer window comes to a close at 6PM ET on Tuesday. The current Fulham FC midfielder has been lighting it up in the Barclays Premier League with 15 goals through all competitions and could see a dream move to one of the top clubs in the league before Tuesday's deadline.

After taking down Costa Rica 3-0 on Friday, the US Women's National Team had clinched its bid to the 2012 London Olympics. The CONCACAF tournament final versus host Canada yesterday... Read more »

Through the first four games of Olympic qualifying, the United States silenced each of its powerless opponents. On Sunday, it was Canada's time.

The U.S. defense pitched its fifth shutout of the tournament while Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach each netted a pair of goals to give the Americans a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Canada at BC Place in Vancouver.

With the January camp behind us we take a look at the 21 players on the roster and give you our winners, losers, and those that maintained the status quo.

Forwards

Agudelo, Juan
Agudelo injured his right ankle during a scrimmage on Jan 13 and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

How 51 USMNT players performed for their club teams this weekend:

Goalkeepers (7)

Guzan, Brad (Aston Villa/BPL)
Dressed however did not play in 3-2 loss to Arsenal in FA Cup 4th round.

Dominic Cervi (Celtic/SPL)
Did not dress in 3-1 win over Falkirk in League Cup action.

It was no walk in the park, but United States claimed an Olympic berth after withstanding a spirited and stubborn Costa Rica to earn a 3-0 win Friday night.

Tobin Heath put the U.S. on the board with a 16th minute goal while Carli Lloyd followed up with an insurance strike in the 74th minute.

Four days after putting together an impeccable performance against Venezuela, the United States had to overcome a sloppy and disheveled showing to escape Estadio Rommel Fernandez with a 1-0 win over Panama Wednesday night.

Graham Zusi's ninth minute goal survived more than 85 minutes of as Panama squandered countless chances to equalize against a maligned back line during the international friendly.

Eddie Pope was kind enough to contribute mightily to the long-promised Top 5 List of transfers that weren't for Americans, so I'm going to air his full comments on the relevant matter contained within unedited. If you haven't seen it yet, you may wish to read that before the following text.--"At a couple points throughout my career, I had a lot of interest from many European teams.

After two blowout wins against Dominican Republic and Guatemala, the US Women's National Team got its revenge defeating Mexico yesterday 4-0. The star of the match was Carli Lloyd, with... Read more »

U.S. Soccer Press Release:
RICHIE WILLIAMS NAMED U.S. U-17 MNT HEAD COACH Former U.S. MNT Midfielder to Oversee U-17 Residency Program
CHICAGO (Jan. 24, 2012) - U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati has named former U.

The US Women's National Team demolished their first two opponents in their quest to London. First up was a CONCACAF minnow who fell prey to the USWNT's elite squad in less than ten minutes. The Dominican Republic fell by the embarrassing score of 14-0.
Some raised questions of a mercy rule while others criticized the Americans for punishing such a weak squad into a pulp.

U.S. Soccer Communications
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The U.S. Men's National Team opened the year in dramatic fashion as Ricardo Clark tallied a game-winning goal seven minutes into second-half stoppage time for a 1-0 win against Venezuela at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The U.

It wasn't that long ago that Providence product Michael Parkhurst and Attleboro native Geoff Cameron were just two local talents hoping to play their way from the grassy fields of southeastern New England onto the big stage.

Cue the big stage.

On Saturday, the defending duo both of whom played club soccer for Rhode Island-based Bayside FC found themselves paired together in the center of the United States defense for the first time during the squad's 1-0 shutout of Venezuela.

Before we dig into some of my takeaways from tonight's battle with Venezuela (another three-pointer!), the original starting lineup: Bill Hamid, A.J. DeLaGarza, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron, Heath Pearce, Jeff Larentowicz, Jermaine Jones, Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber, Brek Shea, Teal Bunbury. As for the highlights, check out the ESPN3 replay here.

By Saf Hossain, writing hours after returning from Craven Cottage

Attending a live match is, obviously, an entirely different experience to watching on TV. When you are free of the director's control, you might choose to follow an individual on the field for long periods of the game.

Two weeks ago Clint Dempsey made headlines with his first career hat trick, hitting the back of the net three times in Fulham FC's 4-0 FA Cup Third Round win over Football League One (English second division) side Charlton Athletic.

Now, just a day after being named 2011 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year, Dempsey is in the news again, with another three goal performance.

U.S. Soccer Communications
VANCOUVER, Canada – The U.S. Women's National Team rolled past a young and over-matched Dominican Republic side to open the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Women's Qualifying Tournament with a dominating 14-0 victory in a match played indoors at BC Place.
The 14 goals set a U.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

After turning in a dynamic year for the U.S. men's national team, Clint Dempsey being named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year should come as a surprise to nobody.

Dempsey turned in perhaps his finest year as a professional for both club and country.

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. – In a match that was much closer than the last time these teams met, the U.S. Under-23 national team battled to a hard fought 1-1 draw against the U.S. national team on Tuesday evening at the Home Depot Center Complex.

ATTN: Those near Phoenix this week!!The USMNT is holding an open training for fans, Friday from 5-6 pm at the University of Phoenix. They generally don't even allow us scribes to watch that - maybe 15 minutes near the end. Plus, Klinsi will address those gathered to kick off the hour.If you are not yet a US Soccer Supporter's Club member, go here to attend the practice session.

The U-23 back line had its guts ripped out yesterday in a 4-0 win to the Nats. Goals came from Chris Wondolowski, Benny Feilhaber, Teal Bunbury and Graham Zusi. SKC represent. Here were your starting lineups. Currently hunting around for a highlight vid. Will update as it comes. - Will Parchman

No. 1 selection Andrew WengerU.S. Soccer Communications
U.S. Under-23 defender and U.S. Soccer Development Academy alum Andrew Wenger out of Duke was the top selection by the Montreal Impact during Thursday's MLS SuperDraft held at the NSCAA Convention in Kansas City. Three of the first five selections in the draft had Development Academy ties.

Episode 02: Eric Wynalda is the Art Bell of American Soccer

On this edition of the show, I explain why Eric Wynalda is the Art Bell of American Soccer...and why it's either a clever bit of genius or he's just completely insane. Either way, American soccer fans should be warned not to take him seriously.

Goalkeeper Sean JohnsonU.S. Soccer Communications
The 21-year-old Bill Hamid and 22-year-old Sean Johnson are prime examples of young talent hoping to get noticed during the U.S. MNT's January camp. Both have taken on significant roles with their respective MLS teams and also trained abroad during the offseason in Premier League environments.

U.S. Soccer Communications
The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins May 15, and with the 99th edition comes a multitude of changes. For lower-division teams, the most significant is the random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals.
In previous years, all teams pursued this opportunity through a bidding process.

Eclipse Select and U.S. Soccer Communications
CHICAGO -- Eclipse Select Soccer Club alumna and Notre Dame freshman defender/midfielder Sammy Scofield (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) was one of 24 players named to the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team for a Jan. 15-22 training camp in Sarasota, Fla.
Scofield unites with newly-named U.

The Phoenix New Times has an in-depth look at some events in Arizona a few years ago that highlight some of the problems inherent to youth soccer and how youth soccer has changed recently. A successful coach at Sereno Soccer Club named Les Armstrong was suspended from coaching after he forged a parent's signature to drop a player from his roster before the State Cup championships.

The Beckhams will not be setting up their French court much to the chagrin of Paris society.

The French elites had been predicting which side of the Seine the Court of Beckham would be established. Existentialists in cafes debated whether this important choice would determine whether he played in left or right midfield for Paris St.

This is the type of junk I come up with on a typical day watching Americans play:Aston Villa really does have one of the most underrated youth/reserve set-ups around. That probably explains how they've finished sixth or better in the Prem nine times in the last 16 seasons and haven't been relegated since 1987.

This past season in U.S. soccer was certainly an interesting one. In MLS, two new teams were promoted and the soccer world fell in love with them and their passionate fans. Coaches were hired and fired, players finally fulfilled their ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

Part I of the 2nd Annual Yanks Are Coming Best of US Soccer Awards featured 2011′s US Soccer disappointments, frustrations, and best hairdo. The second portion of our awards focuses on the promise of youth, goalkeepers, and the goals scored in what was a thrilling year in American soccer. Again, a list of the finalists [.

Women's Professional Soccer lives, albeit conditionally and mysteriously.On Monday night, US Soccer's Board of Directors agreed to sanction "Division I" five-team WPS for 2012 on the basis of arguments made by league officials citing growing support from the 2011 Women's World Cup, continued exposure for the sport promised by the 2012 Olympics Games, and potential expansion.