At the Half: USA 0 - 1 England

I have seen worst things. I have seen better things.

Mostly what I have noticed is that the USA is slower off the ball than the England players are. The USA is also giving away too many free kicks, and the bulk of them are being gifted by the defenders. England already burned the USA with one of those freekicks, and had too others that should have been in the goal as well.

If the defenders weren't the worst showing in the first half... Rico Clark definately was. Clark is starting to really worry me with his impression of Pablo "Hulk Smash" Mastroeni. He picked up the huge Red card at the end of the MLS season and the lengthy suspension and seems to have carried more of a chip on his shoulder in his latest matches. I know that his role is the defensive midfield position, but you can play the position without crushing guys every time you come near them.

All in all, considering that Donovan isn't on the field, down 1 goal isn't the worst situation and if the game ends 1-0, then it is an ok result. England needs to pick it up a bit, they should be ahead 3-0 right now.

Match Recap: USA 2 - 2 Mexico

This was a very different match compared to the last two in the series between Mexico and the USA, I can tell you that. Unfortunately, I am not really sure as to how the differences came into play. Different players obviously and different venue have to be mentioned, but the match really had a different feel to it.

On the one hand, you have Mexico, whom has had a huge monkey on their back where it comes to playing the USA outside of Mexico. This match they came out like they did last February and started to push their weight around and put on a display of force. Maybe it is because the Mexican players are all in one way or another, in season; but they were much faster on the ball and quicker with their man marking than the USA.

A much bigger difference between this match and the one last February is that Mexico put away their chances on goal, something that hasn’t exactly been their MO when playing us in the last few years. Although they put away their chances, I do have to question on whether or not their goals were more a result of a better Mexico offensive performance or a result of a pretty poor performance by the USA?

That leads me to the other hand, the USA played a pretty poor match in my opinion. Yes, Onyewu’s goal and Altidore’s goal were great and I honestly think that Deuce was robbed of a goal in the first half (even though he was offsides); the USA didn’t look good pretty much over the whole field.

Our passing and set piece passes looked like they were taken by guys who were too scared to commit the kicks. Michael Bradley spent a lot of the first half making pretty weak passes, a lot of them being ones that lead directly to a Mexico attack.

Our defense, central defense (Gooch & Carlos) looked very uneasy, but then again, the main problem for them was that they were getting run at a little too much, as Bradley and Clark really failed to show that well in the central midfield. I really can’t blame them, they both play the same position and one was really needed to have stepped up to play the offensive midfield position that Benny Feilhaber stepped into once Michael came off the field.

Drew Moor didn’t show me that much, beyond his great pass on Altidore’s goal. He was directly responsible for the two Magallon goals. He failed to stay with Magallon on both set pieces; burn you once, shame on you… burn you twice, shame on Bradley.

Bobby Convey really didn’t show me anything on the left side of the field that should have DMB worried. Convey has a great cross, I know, I have seen him do it once or twice, but he didn’t do anything tonight. His pace was way, way off and he looked like he wasn’t sure what to do with the ball once he got it.

All in all, despite the fact that I think that the USA played poorly and looked at times completely out of sorts and out of sync with itself, I think that this result against Mexico, in the USA, is a very good thing for the USA. First off, it gets that idea that if we face Mexico outside of Mexico we will always win, out of our minds. This is a good thing, especially where it comes to the younger guys. Adu, Edu, Bradley, Feilhaber, Altidore, Moor, and the rest really need to have a different mindset that the other players. They need to know that they are in for a real fight every time they face Mexico. The fact that we didn’t beat them tonight, hopefully it will make a change in their minds.

I am also thinking that this is a good result for the coaching staff. Last season, we went 10-0-1 until the Copa America, which was essentially mailed in anyways (as I think it should have been, it was to give guys overseas experience). Hopefully the coaching staff will be much harder on their preparation for the next few matches, hopefully they will be able to iron out the kinks that we all saw with our defense and passing.

As this match is a perfect simulator for World Cup qualifying (short gathering time for the players and coaching staff) the coaching staff should have a huge amount of info to work on with the players. The result wasn’t great, but it is definitely something that the players and coaching staff can build on.

Let’s just hope that they do.

All in all, a poor performance by the USA and a pretty inspiring performance by Mexico. Mexico played much better tonight than they did 12 months ago. A 2-2 draw isn’t the end of the world. A loss wouldn’t have had Bob Bradley fired, but I wanted to see a much better performance by the USA. They have a few more matches to get their shit together before the matches really start to count.

USA vs. Mexico: USMNT Roster

Bob Bradley released his final roster over the weekend for this Wednesday night's match against Mexico. He called in a few more Euro based players than expected.

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC).

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo).

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County).

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK).

With injuries aside, I can only think of two other players who I would have liked to be brought it, but as Kenny Cooper doesn't really look like he is on the USMNT radar, this is the strongest line up I can think of for this up coming match. The other is Eddie Johnson... yes, I am actually asking for Eddie to be called in. His speed against the Mexican defense, (even if he doesn't take a shot) would cause problems that would have been able to open up things for Deuce and Donovan. However, as Eddie has just made the move to Fulham, he looks to be best served with being left out to take care of his affairs in London.

With this line up, my starting 11 would be:

Howard

Parkhurst ------- Onyewu ------- Bocanegra ------- Pearce

Adu ------- Bradley ------- Edu ------- Convey

Donovan ------ Dempsey

I would like to see Feilhaber and Altidore get some time on the pitch for this one, but considering that Benny hasn't played regular minutes for Derby and Jozy only has a few caps under his belt, seeing them play Wednesday night isn't that big a shot IMHO.

With Feilhaber not expected to start, I had trouble selecting who player were in the midfield. As Donovan is listed as a forward, I put him up there, but I can easily see Freddy and Landon rotating back and forth from midfield to forward through out the match. I like the idea of Freddy on the right, as his left foot cutting across the goal could provide some pretty good sweeping crosses.

Last year, when Bradley called in only four Euro based players for this match, I expected a loss to our neighbors to the south. Instead we saw an inspired defensive performance and that all too familiar score line in a USA vs. Mexico match: 2-0. As we have what looks to be a much stronger looking squad being brought in for this match, I fully expect to see us pick up our second victory of the new year.

New USMNT Home Jersey....

Ok, so I understand that the sponsorship deals stipulate that the different jersey suppliers will change a teams jersey every two years. I got that. What I don't really get is how they can let some jersey designs through. I am wondering if this jersey design is one of those that someone should have stopped before it was released.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like this one more than the current home jersey with the blue/red stripes down the left side, but in the past when the USSF releases the new jersey, I am not that shocked with its look. This is the second straight one that I have had to think for a moment about. I guess that as it is much better than the previous one, I am shocked that they made a better looking jersey.

According to US Soccer, this jersey will make it's debut on February 6th against Mexico. You can order it here.

Ives had some funny things to say about this one.

US Soccer making the headlines lately.

With the USMNT coming off of an important 2-0 victory over a domestic heavy Sweden side, focus has primarily changed over to the February 6th match up in Houston with Mexico.

I say that the 2-0 win was important because not only was important for Bob Bradley and his charges to start the season off on the right foot, but it gave those who were the rookies in camp a very good taste of the international level, without suffocating them with an intensive, emotional type of match... just like the Mexico matches. Bob has started 2008 just as he did with the 2007 campaign, so hopefully we will see the same type of success as we saw last season.

One difference from last year to this year is that the USMNT seem to be getting ready to break out the passports earlier this year. The confirmation of the match up against Poland on March 26th in Europe is a very welcome sign for the build up for the start of World Cup Qualifying. Yes it seems that we are always playing against Poland in some way shape or form, but as Bradley has already shown that only a few of the guys who made the trip to Kaiserslautern in 2006 will be on this trip in March. Giving Freddy, Josy, Feilhaber, Little Bradley, Edu all a taste of international matches in Europe, especially against a side that will be in full gear for the Euro Championships is as good a learning experience as anyone can ask for.

Following up that trip to Poland, it seems that the Yanks will be heading over to the Iberian Peninsula for a match up against Spain, this scheduled for June 4th. This is one match up that I am really stoked for. Playing Spain over in Europe is one of possibly the top five best types of matches that the USMNT can schedule. This is a definite gold mine of a match.

This still leaves the March 21st FIFA date open, one that I hope is utilized as an away match as well, maybe against Belgium, or Denmark as they both have that match date open (according to FIFA.com). Hell, England seems to be without a match scheduled that date and as they seem to have an open summer schedule, they might want to try and get a match penciled into their schedule quick. Why not try and have the USMNT take on Capello's boys at Wembly in March?

Having the first of the two March matches in England would make it easy for most of the European based players, as most play in England. Hell, Eddie Johnson just joined up with Fulham with a new three and a half year contract. EJ joins Deuce & Bocanegra as current USMNT players. Depending on his health and if he gets a call up, Kasey Keller might make the list of Fulham Yanks as well.

I think that this is a good move for EJ. He is going to get a very different view of how soccer is played and how you get a spot on the roster. He is going to have to be tough on the training pitch and fight against guys who have been doing the training pitch scramble for years, while he was assured of a spot in Dallas and in Kansas City. Just like how having to fight for a starting job seemed to have lifted Freddy's play in Benfica, EJ should get a lift in his play. Hopefully that carries over to the USMNT. Hopefully Fulham avoid getting relegated and remain in the Premier League, but it isn't looking good.

2007 was great season for the USMNT. The team was able to move younger players into spots that were getting vacated by the old guard and they were still able to pick up wins and impress on the pitch. They were able to retain the CONCACAF Gold Cup and book a trip to South Africa for the World Cup preview tournament in 2009, coming back from a goal down to Mexico in their greatest match in recent history. Bradley took a very raw and inexperienced side down to the Copa America and was able to see who would sink and who could swim, and regardless of the match results, I am certain that the travel and tournament experience that the players and coaching staff got out of the Copa America will help us out in World Cup Qualifying and in the finals.

The year was also a great one for the fans. The supporters were able to finally get the sour taste of 2006 Germany out of our mouths and we could celebrate again as Donovan hit a hat trick against Ecuador and as Feilhaber hit his Goalazo against Mexico to win the Gold Cup. We were able to embrace the younger players who stepped up to fill the voids left by Renya, Pope & McBride.

Following the 2-0 victory over Sweden last weekend, the 2008 season seems to have picked up right where the 2007 season left off.

USMNT Roster set for Winter Camp

Happy New Year everyone, 2008 is now upon us. Hopefully for the USMNT, we will see 2008 as a year were the side builds on the success that they had in 2007 and continue to march towards 2010 and a third trip to South Africa in four years.

Bob Bradley released his 26 man roster for the winter USMNT camp in preparation for the January 19th match against Sweden and the February 6th match against Mexico. His roster is -

GOALKEEPERS(4) – Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Matt Pickens (Chicago Fire), Zach Wells (D.C. United)

DEFENDERS (9) –Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Todd Dunivant (Toronto FC), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7) –Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)

FORWARDS (6) –Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus)

I am surprised to see that Altidore was called into the senior camp, as the U-23 squad will be assembling in Bradenton for training camp in preparations for the Olympic Qualifying that will take place in March. If Bradley believes that Altidore's development will best be served with time in the senior team training camp, rather than the U-23 camp, I agree with him. i would have been a little upset had he not been called into this camp.

On the other hand, I am a little shocked to see that Taylor Twellman was called in. Twellman had another pretty good season with New England in MLS, but his performance on the field for the USMNT over 2007 wasn't exactly the greatest. I used to be a big fan of him being brought into these camps. However, I am getting to the point where Twellman (IMHO) has used up all of his chances to show that his play in MLS can translate to the USMNT level.

One guy who I am a little torn about not seeing on this roster in Kenny Cooper. I understand that Copper is currently or will be in the next few days, going over to England to train for two weeks with Manchester United, his former club. On one hand I think that getting two weeks of training with United will be very good for Cooper, especially after coming off his broken leg that he suffered in 2007. On the other hand, I would have liked to have seen him in the USMNT camp to see if he can try and get move of a look from Bradley. Who knows, maybe he spends two weeks with United, then flies back to Texas and gets a roster spot on the side that takes on Mexico in Houston?

Over all, this roster is pretty much what was expected for this training camp. We might see about four or five of these guys not actually dress for the Sweden match, but their time in the camp will be good for them none the less.

2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: USMNT

The 2010 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off for most of the soccer playing world yesterday (CONMEBOL has already started their qualifiers) as the Qualifying draw was held in Durban, South Africa. CONCACAF will be using three groups during the first group stage, with knock out matches deciding who makes it into the groups. The USA found out that it will be in Group 1, which will break down like this:

Group 1:
- Winner of Dominica/Barbados vs. USA
- Winner of Turks and Caicos Islands/S. Lucia vs. Guatemala
- Winner of Aruba/Antigua and Barbuda vs. Cuba
- Winner of Bermuda/Cayman Islands vs. Trinidad and Tobago

Most are expecting the USA to face Barbados in a home/away series in order to advance to the group phase. The groups are expected to shake out to look like this:

Group 1
USA
Guatemala
T&T
Cuba

Group 2
Mexico
Jamaica
Honduras
Canada

Group 3
Costa Rica
Guyana
Panama
Haiti

The USA definitely has a better group than Mexico & Canada do. Guatemala has never been a push over and as we faced them twice this year, drawing 0-0 and winning 1-0, playing them twice again this round should be interesting, especially in Guatemala.

T&T qualified for the last World Cup, but at last that I had heard, their regular players hadn't made peace with the T&T football federation, so who knows who will be playing for them in the Qualifying.

Cuba is definitely the weakest link in this possible group. The USA hasn't had any trouble with the Cubans in recent memory. Granted that a match in Havana would be one of the more "interesting" matches that the USMNT has played in recent years, I do not see the potential two matches against Cuba as anything other than 6 points, 4 at the least.

All in all, the USMNT were drawn into a pretty easy path to the Hexagonal stage of the CONCACAF Qualifying. Considering that only two teams from each group advance, the two that move on from Group 2 will be the most watched in CONACACAF. Will Canada be able to grind out points in potential trips to Jamaica or Honduras? How about the potential trip to Azteca? Will the Canadian's do as the USSF has done in the past and try and schedule the Mexico match for Toronto when the weather is just above freezing?

I am looking forward to these matches. I want to see the USA advance based on some very good, solid performances and not just the ones that are at home.

News & Notes 11/14/2007

USMNT announce date with Mexico
The USSF officially announced the February 6th match with Mexico. It will be held in Houston at Reliant Stadium. The USMNT has faced Mexico there once before, playing them to a 0-0 draw in what was seen as Tim Howard's coming out party on his way to being signed by Manchester United.

I have said it before, I like that we seem to always play Mexico each year. It marks the best type of regional competition that we can get and it is always a heated match. I don't really like the fact that we always play them in the USA, with the one trip to Azteca every four years being the exception to the rule. I understand that even in the southern USA, when we play Mexico, it is a pro Mexico crowd, so home field advantage isn't "as" strong (when was the last time they beat us here???) but playing Mexico in Mexico is an entirely different beast. That is one beast that we should see more of. Hell, losing to Mexico might actually do our guys some good.

America advance to Copa Sudamericana Finals
America of Mexico (Blanco's former club) has advanced to the finals of the CONMEBOL Copa Nissan Sudamericana, winning their series with Millonarios of Colombia 5-2. They won the first leg 3-2 in Columbia only to return to Mexico and win 2-0. They will face either River Plate or Arsenal in the finals. That series is tied 0-0 going into tonight's match.

It is good to see another CONCACAF club is crashing the party down south. As the Mexican clubs continue to flex their muscles with the CONMEBOL clubs, MLS will sooner or later have to increase the club salary caps to allow for deeper rosters and the ability to sign the best young domestic talent.

Chris Armas Retired
Chris Armas of the Chicago Fire retired yesterday, after capping a 12 year MLS career with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Armas player the last 10 years with Chicago, winning one MLS Cup and four US Open Cups.

I will give props to the guy, he had a great MLS career. Best of luck to him in the future.

USMNT Roster for South Africa Friendly

Bob Bradley released his roster for the November 17th friendly match against South Africa, in Johannesburg.

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege)

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

FORWARDS: Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

It is good to see that Freddy is getting a second straight call up for this match. Seeings how his level of play has on the rise ever since he was moved to Portugal, a place where you must fight for your job every day, instead of MLS where your job is secured, getting more USMNT callups is a good thing. I would like to see how he does in a midfield with Bradley and Feilhaber, I think that the three of them could do some really, really great things.

Look who finally got invited to the dance? Altidore is finally going to see what the senior level camp looks like and I bet he comes on in the second half of the match. Good for him.

As for the rest of the side, I have a feeling that this is beginning to be the same group that we will start to see on most FIFA dates. 11 of the 17 called up are already regulars, with Lewis and Dolo being the only two guys who are on the higher end of the age bracket. This should be the same type of squad that we see once the World Cup qualifying starts later next year.

This match is one of the better scheduled matches of this season. Playing Switzerland & Sweden were great choices and ones that I hope will lead to other matches in Europe. This one however, represents a great chance for the players and coaching staff to get a good away match, away from pretty much any USA supporters and in an environment that they are guarenteed to see at least once, and should see twice after this match. Having the FIFA Confederations Cup scheduled for 2009, the USSF will get a first hand account of the South African scene, even if it "might" look different in 2 years.

I will be at Summers watching this match early Saturday morning along with several other members of the US soccer blogosphere who will be in town for the MLS Cup. Hope to see many of you there.

USMNT Schedule for 2008?

In the wake of yesterday’s 1-0 road victory over Switzerland, I figured I would begin to try and come up with what I thought would be the perfect way for the USMNT to prepare for 2010 World Cup qualifying, which starts June 2008. More of the USMNTs schedule will be apparent once the preliminary draw is conducted in Durban, South Africa on November 23rd. However, considering that FIFA only has the preset dates to use for their official matches, their previously released calendar can give us a pretty good idea of their next year.

FIFA has set aside the following dates for match in 2008:

- February 6 (Friendly date)
- March 26 (Friendly date)
- August 20 (Friendly date)
- September 6 through 10 (2 official dates)
- October 11 through 15 (2 official dates)
- November 19 (Friendly date)

That gives us 8 specific FIFA dates to work with. FIFA has the bulk of June set aside for the European Championships, so you have to figure that the beginning of CONCACAF qualifying will take place in that time frame as well. If we assume that CONCACAF will schedule more qualifying matches for the four official dates in September and October, that will leave us with the four friendly dates for potential match ups.

It has been reported that the USMNT will be adding a match to this schedule, outside of the FIFA schedule. The USMNT will host Sweden at the Home Depot Center January 19th, similar to the Denmark match this last January. Considering that both teams will most likely be made up of domestic league players, this won’t exactly be a very good indicator of either squad, but it will give our MLS players a chance to break out of their winter hibernation and get their fitness levels back up to speed.

It is rumored that the February 6 friendly date is pretty much scheduled, as the USMNT will host our “friends” south of the border, Mexico. Considering that the match is set for 3 days after the NFL Super Bowl, I doubt we will see a rematch in Glendale, Arizona. Houston’s Reliant Stadium has been mentioned, although I wouldn’t be shocked if Raymond James Stadium in Tampa is used for this match either. As it is a FIFA date, European based US players should be called in and a shorter travel time to Tampa would be ideal. Playing Mexico isn’t the worst idea as they are the best competition in the region and we most likely won’t be facing them in the first round of World Cup qualifying anyway.

The March 26 date might be a very good opportunity to get some away match experience right before the USMNT has to open up World Cup qualifying in June. The question is, where should we try and get a match? Do we try and head over to Europe, where most of our players will be? Do we try and travel to a place like Columbia or Venezuela, where we will encounter a similar style of football to the ones we will face in World Cup qualifying? Assuming we can get the best of both worlds, I suggest that the USSF try and get a match schedule with Portugal in Lisbon or Porto. Portugal plays a more Latin flair type of game and playing in Europe gives us a chance to not jet lag our Euro based players and a match in a hostile stadium.

With the World Cup qualifying starting sometime in January, I assume that we will see the USMNT have two matches at least scheduled in June, most likely a home match and an away match. Who they will face we find out in just over a month.

The next FIFA friendly date is August 20, which will be the only time that Bob Bradley will be able to get a full squad in for review before what should be four straight matches of World Cup qualifying. As this date also falls during the Beijing Olympics, we can expect that a good number of the younger guys who made impacts yesterday against Switzerland will be either away with the Olympic team, or just returning from China. So well will probably see a squad made up of guys off the radar and guys who are over the age 23 restriction. Given that Bob will only have 48 hours before the match to gather his troops; a match in Europe again would be a good idea. Getting a match scheduled in Kaiserslautern, Germany (similar to the 2006 Poland match) against either a European side or an African side would be best. Playing Germany wouldn’t be that bad either, but the chances of getting that match in Kaiserslautern are remote. In any case, who we play isn’t as important as where this match is. The scheduling puts this match right at the beginning of the European domestic league seasons and during the Olympics. Having our Euro based players traveling shorter distances for this match will help them and help the USSF when they call up their players from the clubs for future matches.

The September & October match dates should be World Cup qualifying dates, so who the USMNT will be playing will be determined this November. That leaves us with the final FIFA friendly date in November.

Considering it is the final match date of the year, the opponent or location isn’t that important. Bradley can use this match to give some younger guys a run out or to give some of the MLS players one last match before they all head off for their winter vacations. The most important thing about this date is that the USSF schedule a match. The USSF has already wasted one official FIFA date this year (the failed Catalonia match) and it looks like they are going to miss out on the November 21st match date this year as well. Even though they lost, Mexico proved that you can schedule an international match a week in advance, as they did for their match last night against Guatemala in LA. Having the USMNT return from South Africa and face Jamaica in LA or Washington, D.C. would be better than having the team miss out on an official FIFA date. This is why next year, I hope that the USSF scheduled matches for everyone of the FIFA dates. Getting the squad together as many times in the year as possible will help build the type of chemistry that this team has at times shown it doesn’t have.

All in all, next year’s USMNT schedule will revolve around World Cup qualifying. The friendly match dates before and around the qualifiers will help Bob Bradley and his coaching staff not only get ready for the qualifiers, but will help the players get back into the rhythm of the national team. As CONCACAF qualifying doesn’t really look like it will be that much of a problem, scheduling matches outside of CONCACAF that challenges the players is the next logical step to ensure that they are prepared for their away matches and ultimately, the World Cup.

USMNT Roster for Switzerland

USMNT coach Bob Bradley announced his 21 man roster today for the 10/17 matchup against Switzerland in Basel.

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England), Tally Hall (Esbjerg, Norway), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Dan Califf (Aalborg, Denmark), Jay Demerit (Watford, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Steve Purdy (1860 Munich, Germany)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England), Danny Szetela (Racing Santander, Spain)

Forwards: Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburg SV, Germany), Sal Zizzo (Hannover, Germany).

Overall, I am impressed with this roster. Think about it for a moment: the USMNT is currently in a five game funk where they haven't won, this after a ten game win streak for the year. The press is hyping the fact that Bradley has led the US to this "decade-worst five-game losing streak " and he still brings in a group of guys that is collectively long on experience on the senior level. Yes, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Gooch, Lewis, Beasely & Deuce are on the roster (Deuce doesn't have that much experience over two years), but the rest have either only just cracked the seniors team (Bradley, DeMerit & Feilhaber) or like Hahnemann, hasn't really been a stalwart on the roster before this year.

Bradley looks to be a guy who isn't reading the press or worrying about what place the USMNT gets ranked every month by FIFA. He is a guy who is still looking towards the future. By bringing in guys like Edu, Szetela, Seitz, Zizzo, & Adu (guys who look to be the future of the squad along with Bradley & Feilhaber), Bradley is continuing with the program he started with the Copa America roster; getting the new, younger guys into the mix. By getting them into these camps and matches, Bradley is setting up for the 2008 Olympic Qualifier squad and for the 2010 World Cup Qualifier squad.

I am also happy to see that Bradley resisted bringing in several guys from MLS squads that are in the playoffs or in the playoff hunt. He could have easily have brought in Donovan, Twellman, Johnson, Mastroeni, Conrad and others, but he didn't. This gives both their clubs and the newer guys chances for the future. Their clubs still have chances to get into the playoffs or get ready for them. It also, as stated above, gives the new guys shots at playing time.

I honestly do not expect the USMNT to win this match against Switzerland. Given the situation, Switzerland should be fielding it's A Team, as they need to use every available match for training for the 2008 European Championships. The US doesn't need to win this game, despite what the media is saying. Bradley did his primary job for 2007: win the Gold Cup and get into the Confederations Cup. He now is charged with getting the newer players more international match experience and that is exactly what he is doing.

USA vs. South Africa

The USSF finally announced the much rumored November 17th match in Johannesburg against South Africa. This is the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup, which South Africa plays annually. The match will kick off at 10am EST. Not a bad way to start the MLS Cup weekend here in DC.

Hopefully the USSF is trying to line up another international friendly match for the 21st, as it is the second FIFA match date. How about having Ghana for a rematch? Ivory Coast? Fly up to Europe if they have to, but schedule a second damn game.

USMNT in need of an opponent.

So as it was rumored yesterday, the Catalonia match set for October 13th has been canceled for the USMNT. As this has only happened six weeks before the match date, the USSF should now be in scramble mode trying to find a replacement opponent and venue for a match on the 13th of October. As I always enjoy trying to help out the USSF, I came up with a list of five countries that according to the FIFA website, do not have any matches scheduled for the 13th.

- Cameroon
- Canada
- Croatia
- Ivory Coast
- Ghana

If you consider any of these possible match ups, all would be good tests for the USMNT. Each side brings something that would provide a great challenge for the Yanks.

Cameroon are ranked right ahead of the USA in the current FIFA rankings, so it isn't like we would be playing Montenegro or Bermuda. Considering the recent lack of African match experience, matching up against Cameroon in Europe would kill two birds with one stone; give the USMNT more European match experience as well as match experience against African nations and their style of play. The chance to possibly have Samuel Eto'o return to international play against the USA would be an equally a great attraction.

Canada would be one of those mouth watering rematches that CONCACAF could use. As the result of the Gold Cup Semi-Final match probably still stings with the Canadian Soccer federation, scheduling a rematch either in Europe (most ideal) or in Toronto should be pretty easy to do. Considering it looked like Canada was going to go on to beat the USA, Canada should no longer be looked upon as an oversight in CONCACAF.

Croatia currently doesn't have a match scheduled (not sure if this is an error or not on FIFA.com) but if they are available, this is a match that should be pursued. The #6 ranked country according to FIFA would be a great test for the USA. Facing them in Croatia would be the exact type of situation Bob Bradley and his boys need to get a taste of for World Cup Qualifying. Croatia has a Euro 2008 qualifier on the 17th of October, so they should be in the market for a warm up match.

The Ivory Coast can provide several of the required tests that the USSF should be looking for. Matching our defenders up against Didier Drogba would be an eye opening experience for those who aren't in the Premier League. The Ivory Coast will already most likely be in Europe as they are scheduled to face Austria on the 17th, so why not see if they are interested in a match at Stamford Bridge?

The final country I suggest the USSF try and schedule is Ghana. The chance for a rematch from the final group match in the 2006 FIFA World Cup should be enough to get the USSF on the phone for this match up. Facing off against a Ghana lead by Michael Essian should be a good test for the USMNT. It could also be a great chance for Bradley to decide on whether or not he forces Freddy Adu's hand in which nation he wants to play for.

Any of these five countries would provide a good match up for the USMNT. Any of these could be held outside of the USA, even if it is only being held in Toronto. Having matches outside of the comfort zone of the USA will go a very long way towards getting the players more prepared for tournaments that aren't the Gold Cup. If we want our team to do well, they need more challenges outside of the USA.

USMNT Roster Set

USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley has set his 19 man roster for the September 9th match up against Brazil. Considering the fact that this is a FIFA date, the roster isn't that big a shock:

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Everton, England), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday, England), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Bobby Convey (Reading, England), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado)

Forwards: Davy Arnaud (Kansas City), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich, Germany)

I have to figure that Bradley will use the following starting line-up:

Howard

Bocanegra ------ Gooch

Cherundolo ------------------------- Spector

Mastroeni ----- Bradley

Donovan -------------------------------Beasely

Johnson ----- Deuce

I would like to see DeMerit play in central defense instead of Gooch, but considering the way that Bradley has been playing the side, Gooch should be a lock for a start. A lot of people are speculating that Donovan and Dempsey will start up top with each other. I think that they will both start, but I think that EJ will get a start up top with Deuce, who seems to have found a calling at forward for Fulham.

I would have liked to have seen Jimmy Conrad play in the middle of defense, instead of Bocanegra, as I think he supports Gooch much better than 'Los does, but Jimmy got a pass on flying to Chicago this time around.

All in all, I really don't have any complaints for this line up. I am surprised that Bornstein was left off the roster, but considering that Chivas USA are in the middle of a playoff race, Preki must have called in a favor.

My biggest complaint is that the USSF has seemed to have failed at securing a second match for the two FIFA dates in September. I know that playing against CONCACAF teams is getting old, but hell, see if Panama wants to take a trip to Miami or LA or something like that. Getting our guys playing time together now will help them out later when they are trying to handle the hostile atmospheres of Costa Rica or Azteca.

BTW, it seems as if the Catalonia match is getting terminated as well. If this does happen, a second match in September seems more important than ever.

Luis Bueno: Beg to differ.

I was checking CNN/SI today and came across Luis Bueno’s article on Pachuca. Luis covers Mexican soccer for Sports Illustrated and does a very good job at it. I like that he calls out the Mexican players and Hugo whenever they produces excuses instead of results. IMHO, Luis is one of the better soccer writers on the net.

I disagree with him in his latest article, the end of the article that is.

Luis claims that with the breakdown of the USA vs. Mexico at Azteca Stadium;

“…Mexico supporters are left with essentially the same type of match. After all, Mexico replaced an opponent with no chance of winning in the Azteca with another opponent that has no chance of winning in the Azteca.” - CNN/SI.com

While I agree that Panama will be an easy match for Mexico, even if they field a group of younger players as reported; I do not agree that the USMNT would be “an opponent with no chance of winning in the Azteca.” A few years ago, maybe, but not any more. Azteca Stadium is the single greatest case of home field advantage that exists in World Football. If I am not wrong, I can count on one hand the number of time Mexico has lost an international match within the not so friendly confines of Azteca. That said, with the proper preparation, I give the current USMNT a 50/50 shot anytime they ever go there now.

My reasoning is because of how we did in 2005 and how we have done against Mexico over the last few years. With the exception of the shotty 10 minutes in which Mexico dropped a deuce on the USA, the World Cup Qualifier in Azteca was a very competitive match. The USA even scored there for the first time in how long? I honestly think that the mystique of the stadium is beginning to wear off. Hell, didn’t Paraguay beat them in Azteca?

Another reason is because outside of Mexico, the USA owns El Tri. We haven’t lost to them since March of 1999 in matches held outside of Mexico City. We’ve played them twice this year, both times we have beaten them 2-0 n Phoenix (in front of a totally pro-Mexico crowd) and 2-1 in the Gold Cup Finals. The Mexican National team doesn’t know how to beat the USA anymore, unless they play in Azteca. Why do you think the match was going to be played there? It was their last gasp for hope that they would be able to defeat the USMNT.

I agree that the Mexico team that plays anyone in Azteca is a different beast than the one that plays anywhere else. I also agree that when the USA has played there, we haven’t done that well. I see a different trend coming up with the USA vs. Mexico rivalry that is closely getting as heated as Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. The USA is getting a swagger that the Mexicans are scared of and their only hope is to bring the USA into Azteca to see if they still got it.

I have been on the fence as to if the third act of USA vs. Mexico should have been played this year. Now, after reading this, I wish that we still had the match and that we stuffed the all too familiar score line right down the collective throats of the entire group of Mexico supporters, including Luis. 2-0.

What, no Adu?

So no later than maybe 15 seconds after the USMNT roster for the International Friendly against Sweden was announced, all of the internet pundits started demanding to know why Bob left the MLS phenom and new Benfica midfielder Freddy Adu, off the 19 man roster. I on the other hand, would have been a little more shocked at Freddy being included than I am about Donovan being taken away from the LA Galaxy. Freddy needs to not be in this roster, for his own good.

It is pretty simple, and if anyone had read Bradley’s interview with Jack Bell in the NY Times, then you would have had a very good understanding that Adu would not be selected.

“Really what people need to do is to look on the FIFA calendar and if you see a single fixture date you know it is pretty much in and out. The Sweden game pretty much means the guys will play with their clubs on the weekend and then fly in to Sweden, which already should be a huge advantage for European-based players. That gives you a light training Monday and Tuesday then the players all leave.

Whenever you see a double date, there's an opportunity for us to have four-five days of training and make it more like a camp, that's importance of the double-fixture dates. If you look back to when we played Mexico in Phoenix I had said that it wasn't the right time to bring the younger guys in. I wouldn't want to bring a player in, and then a day or two later throw them on the field. We had not had a camp so I could assess some players. I said then that the double date in March would be a good opportunity, and it was.” – Bob Bradley

So from this viewpoint, considering that Adu hasn’t been in a Bob Bradley camp before, he wouldn’t get the right amount of time to evaluate Adu on his level of play, so it would be a wasted trip for him to go to Sweden. This does fail to show why Bradley did call in Sal Zizzo. The only guess I can venture is because Zizzo plays forward, which is pretty thin of a position to call up. Midfield, which Freddy plays, is stacked with experienced players to call up.

The bigger reason, in my mind of why Adu was not called up to the national team is that because he has only had a week and a half of training time with Benfica. I am assuming that Zizzo has been with Hannover 96 a little more than that. Given that Adu will be fighting for a starting spot with Benfica, having him leave for four days wouldn’t help him with the club. Having Adu stay in Portugal for this match will go along way towards getting him first team action with his club. Considering Bradley’s statements, I would actually expect Adu to be in the camp in September.

Freddy needs to get settled and used to Portugal and Benfica. Once he gets adjusted to his new club and gets first squad time, then it will be a better time for him to start collecting caps.

USMNT Roster Released vs. Sweden

Bob Bradley announced his 19 man roster for the August 22nd friendly against Sweden today. 16 of the players currently play in Europe, with the remaining three being taken from MLS.

Goalkeepers (2) – Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders (6) – Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

Midfielders (6) – DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

Forwards (5) – Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Kamani Hill (VfL Wolfsburg), Josh Wolff (1860Munich), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96)

Most of this roster doesn't surprise me but here are a few that do:

Landon Donovan: The LA Galaxy are putrid right now; so Bob Bradley calls Donovan up for a midweek friendly in Europe? The Galaxy have a Thursday night ESPN2 match against Chivas USA the following day, unless the US Air Force fly him back or the Concord is brought out of moth balls, Landycakes won't be suiting up against the best team in LA. I guess it is Don Garber's fault for the MLS schedule not allowing for FIFA dates, but tell that to the Galaxy fans.

Jonathan Bornstein: Chivas USA are currently third in the West and have a good look at a playoff spot, so they aren't in the same situation as the Galaxy are. However, they are playing in that same ESPN2 Thursday night match up, so I am shocked that he was brought in as well.

Bobby Convey: Convey is returning from injury and didn't even suit up for Reading this last weekend, due to fitness issues. So why even have him make the flight to Sweden from England? Convey might be better off staying in London and training with his club's trainers.

Giving more of the relatively unknown US players who work in Europe a chance with the squad is a good thing. I would have liked to see Heath Pearce brought in from Hansa Rostock, but Bornstein got that roster spot. All in all, it isn't a bad line up.

Here is my starting 11:

Howard

Bocanegra ----- Onyewu

Cherundolo -------------------------Bornstein

Bradley ------- Feilhaber

Donovan/Deuce ----------------------- Beasley

Wolff --- Deuce/Donovan

For all the shock I have with Donovan being called up, I understand it. The USMNT plays completely different when Donovan is not on the field. Is he a true #10? No, he isn't. Yet he still brings the creative spark that the team needs. Without him (or in matches that he disappears in) the team is very, very flat and cannot play their way out of a wet paper bag. This is why Bradley brought him in. I am just shocked that MLS didn't bring up a huge stink when LA was notified.

This should be a good match up. Both sides seem to be bringing their best teams available, so the on pitch performance shouldn't disappoint.

USMNT vs. Brazil

It's official now, and they are bringing their big guns.

Here's to Big Bob's first home loss.

Soccer News & Notes: 8/12/2007

Wayne Rooney Breaks foot, Manchester United held.
Manchester United were held 0-0 today against Reading at Old Trafford. Despite something along the lines of 70% of the possession during the match, United were unable to crack the Reading defense. Considering that Reading were able to hold United 1-1 twice last season, this seems like a fair result. United shouldn't have that much of a problem in the rest of the league.

Then again, with Wayne Rooney breaking his foot during the first half against Reading, the entire outlook for United might have to be re-examined. The addition of Carlos Tevez seems to be an even brighter point in the summer transfer market action now. During the match the announcers were listing off that Saha & Ole were down with injuries, so adding Rooney to that list isn't promising for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Steve McClaren is probably the only person who is going to be in more of a bind than SAF will be, as England really haven't any other options for striker in their upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers. The return of Michael Owen might be able to ease the pain of losing Rooney, but Owen has his own injury demons to deal with.

Bayern Munich start off Klose; 3-0 victory over Rostock
A very much retooled Bayern Munich dropped Hansa Rostock 3-0 in their Bundesliga opener Saturday behind two goals by new striker Miraslav Klose and one goal behind Italian striker Luca Toni. The Bayern defense looked very good in the match.

The inclusion of Ze Roberto, Frank Ribery, Toni and Klose showed to be an excellent grouping. Ribery was excellent in the midfield, especially working with German International Bastian Schweinsteiger. I'm not the only one picking Bayern to win the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the UEFA Cup this season.

USA vs. Mexico off; USA vs. Brazil on.
According to Washington Post uber Soccer Guru, Steve Goff, the September 9th away match in Azteca Stadium for the USA vs. Mexico has been canceled. Due to the cancellation, the USSF has been able to pull of a major coup and schedule a match in Chicago's Soldier Field against Brazil.

If this is in fact true, and Steve is rarely, rarely wrong, it is interesting. I have just as much mixed feelings about its cancellation as I did when the match itself was announced. The idea of getting our new guys and new look squad an away match in Azteca, in front of 110,000 Mexican fans would be huge in the way of getting them all ready for World Cup Qualifying and for playing in the World Cup. That said, having a third match against Mexico in one calendar year is a little over kill.

Playing against Brazil is another matter. I like this. I wish it could be held in Europe, but getting the Copa America Champions is a great match to line up. I am hoping that the USSF still gets a match scheduled for the Sept. 12 match date as well. Even if the match in the USA, get a match scheduled.

USMNT Match Options for 2007

As the match schedule for the USMNT begins to fill up for the remainder of 2007, I figured I would toss out a few ideas on who the USSF should be trying to line up for the final few match dates this year. As FIFA has seven match dates scheduled for the remainder of the year, and the USSF has only scheduled five of those dates for matches. The two outstanding match dates are 9/12 & 11/21.

The US will be facing off against Mexico in Mexico City on 9/9 so it makes sense to have a match scheduled for the 9/12 match date. Considering that our side will have been in Mexico, having a home match would be logical for the second date. The following teams currently do not have anything scheduled and any one of them would be a pretty good test, as they are sides that have shots at making it to the 2010 World Cup.

- South Korea
- Angola
- Bolivia
- Cameroon
- Israel
- Nigeria
- Cote D'Ivoire
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
- Brazil

Having anyone of those teams in the states for a match would be rewarding. The only problem would be logistics. As this is during the European club season, I doubt that several of these sides would want to travel across the Atlantic, to only have their players have to fly right back over. Assuming that one of these teams did sign up for the match, it would most likely have to take place on the East coast to cut down on the travel time. Considering that this falls right in the middle of the NFL season, the match would most likely have to be held in an MLS park, so Crew Stadium or Toyota Park would be the most likely of venues.

As it stands right now, the US does not officially have a match scheduled for the 11/17 match date, but as well have read in several different locations, the Yanks will be making a trip down to South Africa to take on the 2010 World Cup hosts. Following that logic, as the team will already be overseas and will most likely have to fly through Europe to either drop off the European based players or to return to the States, why not try and schedule something in Europe for the 11/21 match date? After a quick scan of the FIFA schedules, I found that these teams do not have matches scheduled for the 21st:

- Belgium
- Portugal
- Czech Republic
- France
- Germany
- Croatia
- Italy
- Hungry
- Spain

Playing anyone of these teams in Europe would be a great match up. Germany, France, Italy, Spain & Portugal are most likely going to get matches scheduled soon, so I figure that our best bets might be to try and schedule matches with Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia & Hungry. Hell, getting a match in Europe, especially after having to deal with the long flight from South Africa would be a good enough test on its own.

I am hopeful that we will see the USSF schedule the two remaining FIFA dates and follow the trend of always scheduling USMNT matches on FIFA dates. I am tired of seeing FIFA match dates go bye without a USMNT match scheduled. If it only meant playing against Canada (which would be one helluva good match now) or playing in Panama, these dates need to be taken advantage of and used.