Gol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is some great audio. Even if you don't habla castellano, you'll get it.

Plans are afoot...

Carlos and I are planning to meet at Grand Slam for the US vs Algeria game tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Grand Slam is located in the Grand Hyatt at 11th & H Streets (Metro Center metro). I'm going to try to arrive before 9:45 to get a seat. It will likely be crowded in there but I'm sure there will be room.

Interested in joining us?

Talking trash before the big game

This email exchange allegedly from the diplomatic corps is making its way around the Internet. Funny.




From: Philip Breeden, US Embassy London
To: Martin Longden, British Embassy Washington DC
Subject: World Cup Bet
Mr. Longden, It has not escaped our attention that a certain sporting event is fast approaching, and that our respective nations will soon be meeting on the fields of South Africa.
My Ambassador has asked me to see if your Ambassador might be interested in a small wager? We will understand if you decline, given the outcome of the last such encounter.
Sincerely, Philip Breeden, U.S. Embassy, London
________________________________
From: Martin Longden, British Embassy Washington DC
To: Philip Breeden, US Embassy London
Subject: Re: World Cup Bet
Mr. Breeden,
Even for such an exceptionally optimistic nation as the United States, I am struck by the confidence with which your Ambassador proposes this wager. It is testament, I assume, to the generosity of your great nation - since the British Ambassador does not anticipate paying out.
Your email does not specify the exact terms of the wager. May I suggest that, in the event of an England victory, the US Ambassador agrees to entertain the British Ambassador at a steak-house of his choosing in downtown DC? And in the event that the United States is able to engineer a fortuitous win over England, then my man will entertain yours at a London pub of his choosing. Loser pays.
Your reference to a previous sporting encounter between our two countries puzzles me. Since the history of English football is long and extensive, in contradistinction to US soccer, I regret that I cannot immediately recall the encounter to which you refer. No doubt it is remembered fondly on these shores; we have quite forgotten it, however.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Yours sincerely, Martin Longden British Embassy Washington DC
________________________________
From: Philip Breeden, US Embassy London
To: Martin Longden, British Embassy Washington DC
Subject: Re: World Cup Bet
Mr. Longden ,
It is with great pleasure, and no small measure of anticipation, that the U.S. Ambassador accepts the terms of the wager. I am surprised, given the well known love of the British for history, that you have forgotten what happened the last time the "special relationship" was tested on the pitch. Of course, given the result, you are to be forgiven for having misplaced that particular episode in your memory banks. I refer of course to the victory of the U.S. over England in the 1950 World Cup.
It is true that our soccer (a fine English word we have kindly preserved for you) history is not as long and illustrious as yours. However, as your generals noted during WWII, we have a unique capability for quickly identifying and advancing talent.
Game on!
Sincerely, Philip Breeden
________________________________
From: Martin Longden, British Embassy Washington DC
To: Philip Breeden, US Embassy London
Subject: Re: World Cup Bet
Mr. Breeden,
Very well; it's a bet!
Incidentally, you should know that the Ambassador takes his steak like American soccer victories - somewhat rare.
Sincerely,
Martin Longden

The cycle

If you want to get pumped for the US run in the World Cup, watch this video posted on Shin Guardian. It's over dramatic, but fun. There's some great footage from the Conferations Cup, World Cup qualifying, and even Donovan's last goal at Everton. There's a nice emphasis on the amazing counter-attack executed by Clark to Davies and Donovan against Brazil.

Elyse, is that you out there?

There was a great video linked on the popular Soccer Insider blog this week. It shows all touches by Jose Torres in last weekend's USA vs Turkey friendly.

Torres was capped for the first time at RFK stadium last year. I was there to see it. He is a much-heralded Mexican-American prospect that plays for Pachuca in Mexico. He chose to play for the US national team instead of Mexico. He has a gifted touch at the age of 22, but he just didn't fit into the team during qualifying. Maybe it was attitude, maybe it was pace or something else. But he finished the Mexican clausura strong and played his way onto the final World Cup squad in camp. I hadn't really understood his potential until last weekend. He came on in the second half and changed the game by playing it cool in the midfield and distributing like a mad man. We will see him on the field in South Africa.

Reminds me of a certain someone...

Watch and enjoy.

World Cup Watch Party Set

The evite just went out so don't forget to RSVP. We're having a watch party at George's place. I can't tell you how excited I am for this. Sat. June 12th. Party starts sometime after 1:00 pm. Kickoff at 2:30, you don't want to miss that. This will hopefully be a great game.

Save the Date!

The most anticipated soccer match ever for the US Men is happening at 2:30 EDT on June 12th. It's the U.S. vs England.

We're going to have a watch party.

While we work on the details, save the date!

Starting XI

The Shin Guardian, a good blog about soccer and particularly the US men's natonal team, is putting 5-to-1 odds on this starting lineup versus England on June 12th.

What do you think?



G: Howard; DEF: Spector DeMerit, Gooch, Boca; MID: Dempsey, Bradley, Edu, Donovan; STR: Casey, Altidore

The hype

Enjoy this World Cup trailer geared to the US team. It's not at all over-hyped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBlpzVSOCQ&feature=player_embedded

Scenarios

Going into Wednesday's US vs Costa Rica match, the MNT will be looking for a first-place finish in Concacaf. I'm not sure if that will give them a higher seed in the draw. I doubt it. I think they do seeds based on rankings and overall reputation. Thus, Mexico always gets an easy group and we always get a hard one. Anyway, here are the scenarios from the US Soccer website:

In order to secure a first-place finish the six-team CONCACAF hexagonal:

The U.S. has to equal or exceed the number of points that Mexico earns at Trinidad & Tobago, which can be accomplished the following ways:

1. A U.S. win (with any Mexico result)
2. A Mexico loss (with any U.S. result)
3. A U.S. tie with a Mexico tie or loss

Note: If the U.S. loses and Mexico ties, the teams will be even with 19 points, but the U.S. would fall behind on the goal differential tiebreaker and would finish in second-place in the hexagonal.

MNT have unfinished business

The CONCACAF Hex - the final round of qualifying in our region - is crowded at the top. The US is in a tight race to qualify and that sucks. Bradley left some points on the table in the early games. Going into the last two fixtures, starting next weekend and finishing at RFK a week from Wednesday, we still need at least a point to go to South Africa. We have two tough matches at Honduras and home against Costa Rica, which last whipped us 3-0.

I hope you're planning to go to the last qualifier at RFK - you don't want to miss it. Sadly, it could end up being the most important game of the 4-year qualifying cycle.

The US is leading the group with 16 points, Mexico with 15, Honduras with 13, Costa Rica with 12. The top 3 will qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth place team will go to a 1-game playoff versus the fifth-place team in South America. That's current Argentina so you don't want to be there.

Here are some modest predictions:

- Mexico wins the group with 21 points (beats El Salvador and T&T)

- The US finishes second with 18 points (ties Honduras and Costa Rica). You won't be able to watch the US-Honduras match next weekend thanks to a breakdown in the bidding process fr TV rights.

- Honduras finishes third with 17 points (ties US, beats El Salvador)

- Costa Rica finishes fourth with 16 points (beats T&T, ties the US). CR has to do the one-game playoff and it's tough to see them getting the job done.

The US and Mexico have let these other teams get in on this race by failing to pick up points in easy matches. As stated on the US soccer website, the key for the US on the first fixture is just getting the same or more points than Costa Rica. If we do that, we qualify.

Watch USA Mexico tomorrow!

The biggest World Cup qualifying match of the year happens tomorrow when the U.S. plays Mexico in Mexico City. It's on Telemundo (Spanish) and Mun2 (English) at the very strange time of 3:00 p.m. Eastern. That means you have to set your DVRs tonight or leave work early.

Why is this match important?

Mexico is our arch rival, and it's one of only a handful of CONCACAF teams that can hang with us. Mexico cleaned our clock in the recent regional Gold Cup tournament (5-0) and it's time for payback. If we win, and it's a big "if," it will be historic: our first ever win in Azteca stadium in approximately 20 attempts. Also, we will take a major step towards qualification for South Africa. Mexico, on the other hand, really can't afford to lose. They are sitting on the outside of qualification looking in. If they were to lose to the U.S. in this match, their confidence would be shot and they would reach for the panic button. Trust me, if they are trailing late in the game, you will see desperation on the pitch. Without their captain, Rafa Marquez, it's not going to be easy for them.

Watch it! And don't text me any updates about it that night.

Watch Confederations Cup final on Sunday at 2:30 pm on ESPN

The US had an amazing victory against top-ranked Spain earlier this week in the semifinals of the FIFA Confederations Cup. Many of the young guys who will be fighting for World Cup roster spots had inspired performances - Jozy Altidore, Jonathan Spector, Charlie Davies among them. We play Brazil in the final match of a tournament that matches up regional champions (Euro, Gold Cup, Copa America, etc).

Here's a photo of me watching the first-round US vs Italy matchup in the delivery room. My wife is awesome!

Gold Cup coming to DC

Katya alerted me that the US will play a Gold Cup game in Washington in early July. The Gold Cup is the regional tournament sponsored by CONCACAF, akin to the Euro but, umm, not nearly that competitive.

http://www.goldcup.org/page/Home/0,,12802,00.html


Katya asked me to forward this message:

Hey guys- anyone interested in going to the game July 8th? Should be a TON of fun! PLease let me know who's down to go nad I can get thie tickets. Pete, could you forward this out to the team? Thanks!

Katya
jafarikh AT gmail DOT com

U.S. vs Iran?

The U.S. is currently talking to Iran about a potential friendly. I asked Washington Post reporter Steven Goff today about it online. Here's our Q&A.

Arlington, Va.: Iran is back in the news, for both politics and sports.
Have you talked to any U.S. national team players about how they would feel
playing a friendly in Iran? The Insider has let us know that a friendly for
later this fall is possible. I'm guessing the players would be more than happy
to leave politics at home in such a unique matchup. But do they have concerns
about security, and how would the U.S. federation handle this?
From a Loyal
Insider

Steven Goff: Initially, the Iranian federation said their national team
would play the USA in mid-October -- which conflicts directly with World Cup
qualifying. They also mentioned the possibility of a game in November as well.
The USSF told the AP that a game is possible later this year, but at this point,
it's much too early to gauge the situation. A USA visit to Tehran would be
historic and, in my opinion, free of problems. The scene outside and inside the
stadium for the USA-Iran World Cup game in 1998 was memorable (in a good way).

See the US play again

The US men are scheduled to play another qualifying match tonight at 8:00 p.m. in Trinidad.  You can catch the game on ESPN.  

Who will Adrian be rooting for?

We have two games left in this second round of qualifying.  They are essentially exhibition matches because we're undefeated in our group and guaranteed a spot in the third and final round of qualifying in 2009.  But Trinidad is trying to survive; let's not forget they were the surprise qualifier for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

It will be an interesting game, in my opinion.  These are critical games for the B team, to try to work their way into the rotation and eventually onto that final roster in South Africa.  Most of the starters are headed back to their home clubs.  It's time for Guzan, Adu, Edu, Torres, and company to shine.  To the right, you can see Freddy subbing for Sascha Kljestan at this past weekend's game versus Cuba - a 6-1 rout.

Here's the roster for the T&T game, according to US Soccer:

UPDATED U.S. ROSTER VS. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF: 0/0) 
DEFENDERS (6): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA: 0/0), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 13/1), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 6/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco: 3/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 20/6), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 4/0), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio: 1/0) José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 1/0)
FORWARDS (3):  Jozy Altidore (Villarreal C.F.: 1/1), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF: 0/0), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire: 1/0)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

[Photo by author]

US vs Cuba - 1 ticket available

Jeremy has a ticket available to the US vs Cuba match on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.  Face value is $38, but he might discount it.  The ticket is part of our group of premium seats, section 228, row 4.  Let me know if you want it.  You would have to pick it up before 6:30 in the RFK parking lot.

My prediction for the starting lineup follows.  It's not my favorite lineup in the US pool, but it will do for now.  We have a host of problems, including finding a forward who can finish and finding a midfielder who can orchestrate the attack as opposed to disrupt on defense.  Right now, Donovan and Dempsey are kind of lost between the midfield and forward position.  We have lots of depth on defense.  The competition for left back will be pretty fierce leading up to South Africa.  More on that later.  Here's my prediction for Saturday.  I do think we'll see Adu in the game and probably Altidore too.

                           CHING

                          DONOVAN

BEAS           EDU                BRADLEY               KLJESTAN

PEARCE      GOOCH           BOCA                     CHERUNDOLO

                         HOWARD

US roster chosen

I'm headed to the US vs Cuba world cup qualifier at RFK next weekend.  Only Jer, Leslie, and Carlos were interested in joining me.  That's strange.  This is your one and only chance to see the US men's team this qualifying cycle.  Granted, it's versus Cuba, but still a good opportunity. Tickets are still available.

Who do you think will start the match?

Here's a little background.  Looking over the available players, it seems that Coach Bradley is not yet ready to experiment much.  There are plenty of regulars and a few reserves who will surely be trying to prove their worth in 2009 as we get closer to South Africa.  He's called in a lot of the European-based players, even potential reserves like Davies, Califf, and Guzan.  Not a lot of MLS talent on the roster - I suspect that is because the regular season is ending and many MLS clubs need their players for the final stretch.  There's a loud clamor to call in Kenny Cooper of FC Dallas, who has shredded DC United in the last two matches.  He's a strong striker, like a throwback to McBride.  I think we'll see him in camp after the MLS season is over.  One surprise: Troy Perkins, who now plays GK in Norway, returns to RFK for the first time.  He must be having a good season over there.

Here's the roster, as posted the Soccer Insider.

USA Roster Announced

Here is the group for the Cuba qualifier at RFK next Saturday:

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga).
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock).
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca).
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Hammarby) Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy).

For the complete press release, click here.

USA vs Cuba

On Saturday October 11th, 7:00 p.m., the U.S. will play Cuba in a World Cup qualifier at RFK stadium.  Tickets will probably be $30-35 for the premium seats.

This is the only qualifier to be played at RFK this cycle.  While the Cuban national team hasn't shown us much at the senior level, they do have some talent and it could be a good game.  Mainly, it's a chance to see the best of the US team right here in Washington.

I'm not going to formally organize a group.  We'll buy tickets on Wednesday.  If you want to join us, send me a note and be prepared to pay in advance.

Olympics

You're an American, I'm sure you know that we qualified for the Olympics in both Men's and Women's soccer. Both teams are contenders for a medal, the women more so than the men of course.

The futblogosphere is buzzing because the olympic rosters are due soon. Who's in? Who's out?

The US women's roster was announced yesterday. It features the usual suspects, with some notable but unsurprising absences. GK Brianna Scurry, in her late thirties, is probably out of the national team picture for good now. Maybe a few more friendlies to end her stellar career. She is replaced by Nicole Barnhardt as the backup for Hope Solo. Two players - Cat Whitehill and Leslie Osbourne - are recuperating from ACL surgery and won't make the trip either.

Here's who's going to Beijing.

GOALKEEPERS: Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Hope Solo (Richland,
Wash.).

DEFENDERS: Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis,
Mo.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills,
Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant,
N.J.).

MIDFIELDERS: Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.).

FORWARDS: Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Amy Rodriguez
(Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Alternates: Scurry, defender Ali Krieger, midfielder Kacey White and
forward Lauren Cheney.

The men's roster isn't due until late July. Coach Peter Novak and his new assistant, Josh Gros, will have to choose carefully. The base roster will look something like this:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Chris Seitz (Real Salt
Lake)

DEFENDERS (7): Hunter Freeman (New York Red Bulls), Kamani Hill (Vfl
Wolfsburg), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Jonathan
Spector (West Ham United), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne
(Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie
Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas
USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96)

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

But expect surprises. The coaches have to take into account injuries, form, European pre-season, WC qualfying, and of course the roster rules, which require all players to be under the age of 23, with three exceptions.

So which three senior players will go to Beijing? What will the rest of the roster look like?