USA gets the W in front of a packed CenturyLink Field

By Money Mike


Over the past couple of years, all the U.S. soccer fans in Seattle have been asking hundreds of times when the U.S. men's national team will come to Seattle? Let alone for a match that actually counts, like the World Cup Qualifier. We didn't have to wait any longer as the U.S. made a stop in the Emerald City for their first World Cup Qualifying match in Seattle since 1976, and it was one to remember. On Tuesday, the United States defeated Panama 2-0 in front of a crowd of 40,847 at CenturyLink Field, the seventh largest crowd for a home World Cup Qualifier and the second largest crowd for a U.S. men's soccer match in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone inside the stadium (including myself) came in full voice all the way through the final whistle and the home field advantage paid off for the Americans as they now climb on top of the hexagonal group and their unbeaten streak at home in World Cup Qualifying play lives on. Just a memorable night all around for U.S. soccer.

The Americans had the first crack at goal in the third minute. Brad Evans, who more than likely appears to be a regular now for the USMNT, took the long throw in from the far side. His throw in was aimed towards fellow Seattle Sounder Eddie Johnson, but it was over his head and the ball bounced to Fabian Johnson for a left foot volley which sailed over the bar but not by much.

A couple minutes later, DaMarcus Beasley sent in a high lofted ball in the penalty area for EJ who whiffed on his attempted volley. Clint Dempsey stepped up and struck it first time but this one was high and wide by a mile but it was good to see the U.S. pouring pressure on early in the match.

The officiating in this match, as far as I'm concerned, was very poor. A lot of soft challenges have been called against us. Clint Dempsey's been getting clipped a lot in this game and the referee hasn't been calling them. I mean, for years we've been having to deal with shitty referees in MLS and none of them (except for maybe one and no I'm not talking about Ricardo Salazar) should be called in to officiate the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. As a matter of fact I don't know how one of the MLS officials were called in last year by FIFA to officiate the 2012 Men's Olympic Tournament in Great Britain. Of course everybody around the World knows that the officiating in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was godawful. There was also some crappy officiating in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, most notably the Quarterfinal between the U.S. and Brazil. And with the officiating we're getting in the qualifying stage, I'm starting to have a bad feeling that we're gonna have shitty referees in the 2014 World Cup.

In the 22nd minute, the U.S. probably would've been up had one of the players not gotten in the way. Fabian Johnson picked up the ball on the near side, cut to his right foot and curled the ball to the far post over the head of Clint Dempsey and it was poorly cleared by Carlos Rodriguez right to Michael Bradley to volleyed low and hard, but it hit Dempsey on the way and Panama dodge another bullet.

Speaking of poor officiating, in the 34th minute, the USA should've been awarded a PK. DaMarcus Beasley found Jozy Altidore, who spun around Ramon Torres and was clipped from behind and it looked like the referee pointed to the spot, but he said Torres got the ball and then a second later Altidore was whistled for a handball. Torres won the ball? Not from what I saw. Jozy Altidore spun around Torres, had him beat. Torres clipped him from behind, did not get the ball and the referee was in perfect position to see that. How is that not a penalty?

Enough talk about the refereeing in this game. Moving on to the 36th minute of play, the Stadium erupted as the U.S. drew first blood......



Panama thought they had an equalizer on the stroke of halftime. Marcos Sanchez, who was released by D.C. United not too long ago, slid the ball to the top of the box for Anibal Godoy who poked the ball into the box for Luis Tejada to tap it in, but the offside flag was up, which means the goal did not count. Correct decision as well, Tejada was definitely offside.

In the 53rd minute, Geoff Cameron got Eddie Johnson in behind with a good long ball and the Sounders striker did the rest......



In the 65th minute, USA had a chance to make it 3-0 and put this match in bed. Jozy Altidore worked a nice give-and-go with Clint Dempsey and gave it a crack from about 30 yards out (don't know exactly, I don't have a measuring stick) which was saved by the goalkeeper Jamie Penedo. Clint Dempsey tried to follow up with the rebound, but his chance skipped off the grass, over Penedo's head and off the crossbar.

In the 79th minute, the Americans were once again denied by the woodwork. Jozy Altidore slid the ball for DaMarcus Beasley who sprinted all the way from his left back position. Beasley took a touch and then just when everyone thought it was gonna go it, the ball instead hit the outside of the post.

Panama's only threat in the match came a minute and a half into second half stoppage time when Luis Tejada played a nice through ball to Rolando Blackburn, but U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard came out and cut down the angle. Other than that, Howard wasn't really tested much in this game as the U.S. climb to the top of the hexagonal group with a 2-0 win.


Observations:

DaMarcus Beasley has started the last six matches at left back (including friendlies), but after picking up that yellow card late in the match, he will not be seen on the pitch next Tuesday for USA's match with Honduras at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City. Now Jurgen Klinsmann has some tough decisions to make with that spot. He's got Graham Zusi returning from his suspension and he should get the start at right midfield for the match. But does he start Edgar Castillo at left back? Does he move Fabian Johnson to left back and move Eddie Johnson to left mid or even give Brad Davis the start at left midfield? Those are tough decisions for a coach to make, but Klinsmann knows what he's doing and he's the only one who has the answer to that question.

Again, a great turnout at CenturyLink Field by the fans. The seventh largest attendance in U.S. soccer history for a home qualifier. It was loud all night long and just great to be a part of it. My first ever international soccer match in person and it's one to remember. 100 years and counting for U.S. soccer and I just wonder what it's gonna look like in 2113? Of course that another 100 years from now, which is a long time.

Cobi Jones (right) is the all-time caps leader
in U.S. soccer history with 164.

You know, time was a little slow during the day. Probably the reason for that is because we've had to wait in line for about 40-45 minutes at FX McCrurys to get a table. This was before the game, so we didn't miss any action. And during that time, my mom went to the bar a couple of times to look for a table. In the first attempt, she wanted me go with her to help find a table (I'm allowed to go in the bar now since I am 21), and no surprise, we didn't find a table. So I told her that "we're never gonna find a table." Then she responded by saying, "it's about luck." And to be honest, that was the dumbest thing I ever heard. Because the truth was, we were never gonna find a table in the bar because the entire restaurant was packed with a lot of USA fans. So that killed a bit of our time, then a few minutes later I see Cobi Jones, one of the greatest if not the greatest U.S. soccer player of all-time, entering the building. For those of you that have never heard of Cobi Jones is, he has the most caps out of any U.S. soccer player in history (as said on my photo), he's won two MLS Cup titles with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2002 and 2005, he's the all-time leader for the Galaxy in games played for them as well, he's been on three World Cup squads including 1994 when the U.S. were the host nation and he also led the Americans to a Gold Cup title in 2002. He was one of my favorite players growing up and I was just glad that I got a chance to meet him.

Overall, it was a great night. Again this was my first U.S. soccer match that I got to see in person and surely won't be my last and I hope that the USMNT will be back in Seattle soon. More importantly, they got a big World Cup Qualifying win which puts them a step closer to booking their ticket to Brazil.


Scoring summary:

United States - Jozy Altidore (Fabian Johnson) 36'

United States - Eddie Johnson (Geoff Cameron) 53'


Misconduct summary:

United States - Jozy Altidore (caution; foul) 56'

United States - Geoff Cameron (caution; foul) 69'

Panama - Marcos Sanchez (caution; dive)* 69'

United States - DaMarcus Beasley (caution; foul)^ 92'+

United States - Tim Howard (caution; time wasting) 93'+

* - Will miss Panama's next match on June 18th against Jamaica

^ - Will miss USA's next match on June 18th against Honduras


Lineups:

Panama - Jamie Penedo; Lionel Parris, Ramon Torres, Felipe Baloy, Carlos Rodriguez; Marcos Sanchez, Armando Cooper (Nelson Barahona 59'), Amilcar Henriquez (Gabriel Torres 78'), Alberto Quintero; Anibal Goboy (Rolando Blackburn 59'); Luis Tejada

United States - Tim Howard; Brad Evans, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, DaMarcus Beasley; Eddie Johnson (Joe Corona 87'), Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, Fabian Johnson (Brad Davis 87'); Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore (Stuart Holden 91'+)


Hexagonal table:

1. United States; 3-1-1 (10 points), GF 6 GA 3 GD +3
2. Costa Rica; 2-1-2 (8 points), GF 5 GA 3 GD +2
3. Mexico; 1-0-5 (8 points), GF 3 GA 2 GD +1
4. Honduras; 2-2-1 (7 points), GF 6 GA 6 GD 0
5. Panama; 1-1-3 (6 points), GF 5 GA 5 GD 0
6. Jamaica; 0-4-2 (2 points), GF 2 GA 8 GD -6

Brad Evans' late winner rescues all three points for the United States

By Money Mike


With just under two minutes to go plus stoppage time, it appeared that Jamaica was on route to its third straight World Cup Qualifying defeat and the U.S. were on its way to its first ever World Cup Qualifying win in Kingston (believe it or not). But after the Reggae Boyz equalized late in the match, it appeared the Americans were gonna walk away with a disappointing result going into the match against Panama on June 11th, which of course will take place here in Seattle. But an unlikely hero stepped up in stoppage time. Brad Evans, who was making his second straight start at Right Back for the U.S., came through with one of the biggest goals of his career as he scored the game winner to salvage all three points for the U.S. in a 2-1 victory of Jamaica. The American are now sitting in a three way tie for first place with Mexico and Costa in the Hexagonal table with seven points. Costa Rica is currently sitting on top of the group with a +2 goal difference while the U.S. sits in second by virtue of goals scored. Again the top three teams will automatically qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. While the fourth-placed team will face New Zealand (winner of the Oceania qualifier) in a home and away playoff for one of the final spots in the World Cup.

USA came out attacking right from the start and they should've been 1-nil up in the 2nd minute. Graham Zusi's cross sailed over the head of Clint Dempsey, but it was cleared poorly by Alvas Powell. Jermaine Jones stepped up and hit it first time and it hit his own teammate and fell to Michael Bradley who his it on the half volley, right on the sweet spot, had goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts beat but it comes off the post and Jamaica dodge an early bullet.

Two minutes later, Jermaine Jones played a good long diagonal ball to Fabian Johnson on the near side. Johnson cut inside of Power and got the shot away before one of the Reggae Boyz had any chance to slide in and break up the play, but Donovan Ricketts got down and made the save.

Now we're gonna fast forward to the 30th minute, when the United States continued to press and this time would make it count. Graham Zusi got around O'Brian Woodbine and whipped in a very good driven ball into the six-yard area where he had two blue shirts and getting on the end of it, unmarked was Jozy Altidore with a snap header to put the U.S. ahead 1-0 in Kingston. It was Jozy's 15th international goal and his second in as many caps after only recording one goal in the Klinsmann era, which of course came from the penalty spot in USA's 3-2 win over Slovenia back on November 15, 2011.

In the 38th minute, USA nearly got pegged back. Ryan Johnson lifted the ball over the head of Omar Gonzalez and found Rodolph Austin, who brought it down and tried to slot it inside the far corner with the outside of his foot, but the post saves the Americans. Shortly after, Jermaine Johnson had a go but he missed well wide of goal.

In the 49th minute, Jamaica continued to push for the equalizer. Jermaine Johnson cut inside of Fabian Johnson and drove one low and hard, but wide as well. Johnson's been causing a lot of havoc on the right hand side for Jamaica and made life really difficult for the U.S. even though they've dodged a lot of bullets from him. I think one of the big mistakes that Jamican coach Theodore Whitmore made was replacing 'Jermaine' Johnson with Theo Robinson in the 68th minute because they lost some creativity on the right hand side since that move.

In the 50th minute, nearly got burned with a long distance effort. Garath McCleary played the ball back to Rodolph Austin, who was given so much room to take a touch and crank from well outside and he didn't miss by much. Michael Bradley tried to close him down, but he was too late. That's why you can not give the opposition that much room, especially Austin because he really can hit em' from outside with a lot of power.

Moving on to the 89th minute, the Reggae Boyz came through with the equalizer. After Graham Zusi committed a foul in his own half, which also resulted in a yellow card, Rodolph Austin curled his free kick to the six yard area and found an unmarked Jermaine Beckford and all he needed to do was get a head to it and that's exactly what he did as he snapped it inside Tim Howard's left hand post and the U.S. appeared to have let two points slip away with a minute to go plus stoppage time. I don't know how the linesman didn't see it and obviously none of the U.S. players had their hands raised, protesting to the officials, but it looked like when the ball was chipped into the box, Beckford was in an offside position. But the linesman didn't see it, the goal stood and Jamaica leveled things up at 1-1. By the way, that yellow card on Zusi will keep him out of USA's next qualifying match on Tuesday against Panama.

In the second minute of stoppage time, just when you thought all was lost, Brad Evans stepped up and came through with a late winner. Michael Bradley played a short corner and got the return pass from Graham Zusi. Bradley cut to his left foot, slid the ball into the area for Evans and here's what happened.....



Big win for the U.S. in Kingston in the first of three qualifying matches in June. Many people believe the U.S. need to get seven points out of these three matches. So far they have three, now it's time to get ready for the Panama match on June 11th here in Seattle. And of course, I'm gonna be there....


Scoring summary:

United States - Jozy Altidore (Graham Zusi) 30'

Jamaica - Jermaine Beckford (Rodolph Austin) 89'

United States - Brad Evans (Michael Bradley) 92'+


Misconduct summary:

United States - Graham Zusi (caution; foul)* 89'

United States - Brad Evans (caution; excessive celebration) 91'+

* - Will miss USA's next match on June 11th against Panama


Lineups:

United States - Tim Howard; Brad Evans, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, DaMarcus Beasley; Graham Zusi, Jermaine Jones (Geoff Cameron 59'), Michael Bradley, Fabian Johnson (Edgar Castillo 14'); Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore (Eddie Johnson 83')

Jamaica - Donovan Ricketts; Alvas Powell, Daniel Gordon, Adrian Mariappa, O'Brian Woodbine; Jermaine Johnson (Theo Robinson 68'), Rodolph Austin, Marvin Elliot, Jermaine Hue (Jermaine Beckford 70'), Garath McCleary (Omar Daley 75'); Ryan Johnson


Hexagonal table:

1. Costa Rica; 2-1-1 (7 points), GF 5 GA 3 GD +2
2. United States; 2-1-1 (7 points), GF 4 GA 3 GD +1
3. Mexico; 1-0-4 (7 points), GF 3 GA 2 GD +1
4. Panama; 1-0-3 (6 points), GF 5 GA 3 GD +2
5. Honduras; 1-2-1 (4 points), GF 4 GA 6 GD -2
6. Jamaica; 0-3-2 (2 points), GF 2 GA 6 GD -4

USA gets a huge World Cup Qualifying victory in a blizzard

By Money Mike


Despite all the heavy snow late in the night in Denver, the match went on and it was the USA who came away with the three points they so desperately needed. On Friday night, the U.S. defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in front of a sellout crowd at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. With the win, the U.S. moves up two second place in the hexagonal table. Remember, the top three teams in the group qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the fourth placed team will play New Zealand in a home-and-away playoff for one of the final spots in the World Cup. New Zealand clinched the top spot in the OFC Qualifier with a game to spare after coming away with a 2-1 victory over New Caledonia in their match on Friday. The U.S. have another Qualifying match on Tuesday as they head down to Mexico for a clash against their arch rivals.

In the 15th minute, the U.S. pressured the Costa Rican backline early as the visitors struggled to clear the ball out of their own area. Michael Umana got over Jozy Altidore trying to head the ball clear, but he headed to right to Clint Dempsey who decided to have a go from about 30 yards out, but it was always going high and wide.

A minute later, the Americans took advantage of a poor goal kick from goalkeeper Kaylor Navas and climbed out to an early lead. Graham Zusi picked up the loose ball and fed it to Clint Dempsey, who then turned and found Jozy Altidore from about 19 yards out. Jozy had a go which was blocked by Roy Miller and right there to poke the ball into the empty net was Clint Dempsey to give the United States a 1-0 lead. It was Dempsey's seventh goal of this Qualifying campaign and his fourth in the last three World Cup Qualifying matches. The Costa Rican defenders were claiming offside, but that wasn't even close. Dempsey was well onside on the shot from Altidore so there's no way the linesman would raise his flag on that play.

Five minutes later, the Costa Rican's nearly caught the Americans on the break. Geoff Cameron was looking to feed the ball out wide to Herculez Gomez, but it was cut out by Bryan Oviedo who continued his run and chipped ball toward the back post which took a deflection and bounced off the foot of Christian Bolanos and into the hands of Brad Guzan.

In the 38th minute, Costa Rica had another opportunity to pull level. Bryan Oviedo once again jumped in from the back and worked a 1-2 with Christian Bolanos and looked to square the ball across for Alvaro Saborio, but it took a deflection and once again landed in the arms of Brad Guzan who of course was making his first start in the Klinsmann era, replacing Tim Howard who was out with a back injury.

Now moving on to the 42nd minute, USA should've had a penalty. DaMarcus Beasley curled the ball in the box with his left foot for Jozy Altidore. Kaylor Navas made a dumbass decision coming off his line and try to punch the ball away and he didn't get a finger to it. The ball bounced to Clint Dempsey, who made a cut and was clipped by Roy Miller. The referee was right there and he does not call a penalty. Why? I do not know, but it should've been called.

In the 51st minute of the match, the U.S. had an opportunity to double the lead. Clint Dempsey whipped in a good cross for Herculez Gomez, who flicked the ball to Jozy Altidore, but the momentum carried him away from the goal. Altidore chased the ball down near the end line, cut inside to the top of the penalty area turned and struck the ball near post with his right foot, but it rolls wide of net. It was a nice bit of play though from Altidore. We've seen him do that a couple of times during his early days with the New York Red Bulls. I thought Altidore was lively all game long, making some good runs in the box, getting a couple of good looks at goal.

In the 60th minute, Costa Rica began to push forward and they had another opportunity to pull level. Michael Barrantes played a good long ball for Alvaro Saborio who volleyed it low from a tight angle, but Brad Guzan read it perfectally.

10 minutes later, the Costa Rican's thought they had an equalizer. Not so fast. Michael Barrantes curled the ball out with his left foot and it sailed over everybody in the box. However, Ariel Rodriguez was there to track the ball down and play it back in and the U.S. back stuggled to clear the ball away and Roy Miller poked the ball back to Barrantes who curled the ball to the far post for Joel Campbell who headed the ball off the post and into the back of the net, but the flag was up for offside so the goal did not count. It was the right call as well because when the ball was played in, there were two Costa Rican's in an offside position, including Campbell. If Campbell wasn't in an offside position, then the goal would probably stand, but it wasn't and the U.S. were able to hold on for a big win.


Scoring summary:

United States - Clint Dempsey (Unassisted) 16'


Misconduct summary:

Costa Rica - Roy Miller (caution; foul) 49'

United States - Jermaine Jones (caution; foul) 69'

Costa Rica - Giancarlo Gonzalez (caution; foul) 90'


Lineups:

Costa Rica - Kaylor Navas; Cristian Gamboa (Juan Diego Madrigal 81'), Michael Umana, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Roy Miller, Bryan Oviedo (Diego Calvo 73'); Ariel Rodriguez, Michael Barrantes, Christian Bolanos (Joel Campbell 62'); Bryan Ruiz, Alvaro Saborio

United States - Brad Guzan; Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson, DaMarcus Beasley; Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones (Maurice Edu 83'); Graham Zusi (Eddie Johnson 76'), Clint Dempsey, Herculez Gomez (Kyle Beckerman 94'+); Jozy Altidore

Looking ahead to USA's two upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches

By Money Mike


We're only one match into the Hexagonal Round of the CONCACAF Qualifier for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and already it feels like the United States need to get a result in one of these two matches. The U.S. are coming off a 2-1 defeat down in Honduras in the first match of the Hexagonal round and now for the two upcoming matches tomorrow against Costa Rica at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Colorado and Tuesday at the Estadio Azteca against Mexico, they're going to be without a few key players including their goalkeeper. Tim Howard is out with a back problem, so Brad Guzan will be called upon to fill in for the injured Howard. Now Guzan does have experience playing in big games like these. He's appeared in five WCQ matches and has registered a clean sheet in three of the five. He's done well in goal lately for Aston Villa, so we'll see how he does. Howard's not the only one ruled out, as I just said earlier. Steve Cherundolo is still not fully recovered from his knee injury, Timmy Chandler suffered a hamstring injury during a match last Saturday, Fabian Johnson has been out for two weeks with a hip problem and Danny Williams has been dealing with an illness. Another player that isn't on the squad is their leader Carlos Bocanegra, who was left out due to the fact that he hasn't seen any playing time for his club for over a week and a half now. Other players that haven't been getting any playing time...... the ones that you'd consider as a possible replacement in the back of course. Oguchi Onyewu has made only 1 appearance for Malaga this season (what the hell is going on with this guy?). Michael Parkhurst has lacked playing time since his move to FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga. And here's one that I don't recall anyone mentioning, Eric Lichaj. He's had a good run of form up to December 23 and then he's only appeared in two matches since then. So the inexperience in the back has led to concerns for the entire week now.

Now if you hadn't read anything regarding the critics of this U.S. team, you might want to do that. There was a piece on Sporting News about 11 anonymous players criticizing Jurgen Klinsmann's coaching methods (which were pathetic as of last match), but there criticism was a step too far. Not even Michael Bradley appreciated any of it.....

“It’s shameful, and it’s embarrassing. I think for every guy who has ever played on a team, you give everything you have … and on every team in the world, not every guy is going to be happy. There’s going to be guys who go back to their room and talk with their roommate about things they wish were different. But that’s normal.

…But you cross a line when you take those thoughts and you take your disappointments outside of the team, outside of the inner circle."

And Bradley's 100% right. We hear about shit like this every year. Players not being happy, wondering why they're here, etc. But when you spread this crap outside the system, you're taking it a step too far (I don't know, I can't explain). Here's a look at the squad. You can see the lack of experience in the back. DeMarcus Beasley is back in the side along with Terrence Boyd and of course Brad Guzan will be back in net for the Red, White and Blue.....


U.S. squad by position (caps/goals):

Goalkeepers:

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; England) - 20/0

Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) - 6/0

Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) - 3/0


Defenders:

Clarence Goodson (Brondby; Denmark) - 34/3

Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; England) - 12/0

Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 4/0

Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake) - 1/0

Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City) - 1/0

Justin Morrow (San Jose Earthquakes) - 1/0


Midfielders:

DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla; Mexico) - 97/17

Michael Bradley (AS Roma; Italy) - 73/11

Maurice Edu (Bursaspor; Turkey) - 43/1

Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium) - 39/4

Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04; Germany) - 27/2

Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) - 24/1

Brek Shea (Stoke City; England) - 15/0

Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) - 8/1

Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) - 6/0

Joe Corona (Tijuana; Mexico) - 3/0


Forwards:

Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur; England) - 92/31

Jozy Altidore (AZ; Netherlands) - 53/13

Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC) - 46/14

Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna; Mexico) - 19/5

Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna; Austria) - 7/0


USA vs Costa Rica prediction:

So for this one, I'm gonna break everything down and go from there. I mentioned that the U.S. lacks experience defensively, Costa Rica brings in a good attacking side with Alvaro Saborio (who last I heard, may not play due to injury). They also have Bryan Ruiz who struck twice against the American's the last time these two teams met in a World Cup Qualifier. Then there's young Joel Campbell and of course Jairo Arrieta. But as good as their attack is, Costa Rica is not that good at defending. I mean, they are not a physical team and when it comes to that. Whether it's from open play or on set pieces, they are just not that good. I mean, the American's are a physical team. Eddie Johnson's an aggressive player, Herculez Gomez, Michael Bradley and Omar Gonzalez are aggressive players. So I kind of draw this to who's the more physical side, and it's definitely the U.S. If they can hold their ground defensively and on put the Costa Rican backline under a ton of pressure, I think they can put in a couple of goals and come away with a result. The U.S. has a 24-match home unbeaten streak in World Cup Qualifying play, and I've been wrong before, but I think they'll get a result and extend it to 25.

USA - 2
Costa Rica - 1


USA vs Mexico prediction:

Last time the U.S. visited Mexico, they defeated them 1-0 on an 80th minute goal by Michael Orozco Fiscal. However this is not going to be the same Mexico side we saw in the last visit. Mexico is off to a slow start themselves after drawing at home to Jamaica in their first match of the Hexagonal round. But again, the El Tri has had their number against the American's in this stage and I don't see why the match on Tuesday would be any different. I just hope I'm wrong with this one, but I have to go with a loss.

USA - 0
Mexico - 2

USA falls 2-1 to Honduras to kick off the final round of Qualifying

By Money Mike


The United States kicked off the final round of Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but not the way they would've wanted. The Americans fell 2-1 on the road to a very tough Honduras team in the first of 10 hexagonal matches on the road to Brazil. The loss now leads to questions and concerns leading up to their next World Cup Qualifier on March 22nd against Costa Rica, which will take place at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Questions like, why the hell did USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann go with a 4-3-3 formation? Why did he bench Carlos Bocanegra? You know, those kind of questions. And concerns on whether or not the U.S. can put this loss behind them and show up with a different mentality in their next match six weeks from now. Not that this was an upset because it was not even close to being an upset. We knew Honduras wasn't going to be a gimme for the American's, but when you look at the upcoming schedule in qualifying, this team is looking at what we consider a figurative must-win game against Costa Rica.

Not much action early on until the 23rd minute. Oscar Boniek Garcia tried to dribble around Geoff Cameron but had the ball poked off his feet by the Stoke City defender. The ball rolled to Roger Espinoza for a turning shot, but it was right at goalkeeper Tim Howard.

In the 26th minute, the U.S. had an opportunity to go up 1-0. Jermaine Jones took the corner from the near hash mark and his inswinger found Geoff Cameron whose header sailed well over the top. Eddie Johnson was also there and I've looked at the replay of this opportunity a few times and it almost looks like the ball came off EJ's head, but I'm pretty sure Cameron got a head to it because if Johnson got to head to it, then it probably would've been a goal from my point of view. I don't know, but the bottomline is, the U.S. missed a set piece opportunity.

A couple minutes later, the U.S. came so close to breaking the deadlock. Jermaine Jones played a beautiful diagonal ball to the near side for Eddie Johnson who had plenty of room out there. Johnson settled the ball before curling it into the area for Jozy Altidore who just flicked it over the bar.

From about the 30th minute to the end of the match, the American's started to get a little sloppy with their passing. Especially in their own area that nearly lead to goals by Honduras. You can also add crappy defending to that list as well. In the 31st minute, Carlo Costly chipped the ball in the penalty area for Roger Espinoza who got by Danny Williams and square the ball across for Oscar Boniek Garcia, but Fabian Johnson stepped in and cleared the ball away before Boniek Garcia had a chance to tap the ball into an empty net.

Shortly after, another giveaway by the U.S. in their own area allowed Mario Martinez to cut inside with his left foot and curl his shot toward the far post, but Tim Howard punched the ball over bar to keep the match at 0-0.

In the 36th minute, the United States found the breakthrough. Jermaine Jones chipped the ball into the area for Clint Dempsey who beat the offside trap and side footed it off the half volley into the left corner to put the U.S. ahead 1-0.

That lead was short lived however. In the 40th minute, Honduras hit back. Mario Martinez took the corner from the far hash mark and curled the ball into the area which was headed away by Omar Gonzalez. The attack wasn't over tough. Victor Bernardez tracked the ball down on the near side and sent it toward the back post for Maynor Figueroa who headed the ball back across and just when you though Geoff Cameron was going to clear the ball away, Juan Carlos Garcia connects on the bicycle kick and all Tim Howard could do on that play was watch it because there was no way in hell he could've kept that out and Honduras leveled the match up at 1-1 on the stroke of halftime.

In the 79th minute, Honduras took advantage of some lazy defending from the back line and took the lead. Maynor Figueroa poked the ball into the area with the outside of his boot for Oscar Boniek Garcia to chase and it looked like he wasn't going to get there before Tim Howard came out to claim it, but Geoff Cameron let him get there and Boniek Garcia poked the ball across and Jerry Bengtson beat Omar Gonzalez, who was late to react, to the ball and slam it into the empty net for what turned out to be the game winner and USA's final round of qualifying starts out poorly.


Observations:

I really don't know what hell kind of tactics Jurgen Klinsmann is going with, but it is 100% ineffective and Derek Richey from the Straight Red Card picked up on this as well and it was pretty funny how he put. Saying that the U.S. were playing Barcelona type football. And from what I've been watching, I have to agree with him because it seems as if Klinsmann is not interested in crossing the ball, he's interested in just kicking the ball around without any direct play. Everything Derek has said on his latest episode relating this is dead on. And why? Why is crossing the ball not Klinsmann's priority?

Also, you start Timmy Chandler and Fabian Johnson and all of us our expecting both of them to make a lot of runs from the back and get in on the attack for the U.S. and we saw none of that. And why not? How can you start those two and not get them to go forward? Of course this is Chandler's first competitive game for the United States because of the fact that Steve Cherundolo is out injured and he just underwent minor knee surgery so I don't think he'll be fully recovered in time for the Costa Rica match. One more thing defensively, you bench Carlos Bocanegra? Honestly, starting Cameron and Gonzalez back there was a big mistake. I've heard people say Bocanegra wouldn't have made a difference back there. EH EH!! WRONG!! I probably would've half expected Gonzalez and Bocanegra to partner up in the center of defense, but in big games like this you have to stick with your leader at all costs. Bocanegra has been back there a lot with Geoff Cameron, he's been back there a lot with Fabian Johnson, and has been back there a couple times with Chandler. He absolutely would've made a difference. If there was a mix up defensively, then you would have Bocanegra talk it over for a few seconds and hope that it doesn't happen again. But because he wasn't out there, the same mistake happened over and over again and Honduras took advantage of it.

I hope within the next six weeks, Jurgen decides to not only make a couple of changes to the lineup, but changes his tactics as well and goes back to a 4-4-2. This kind of crap he's using does not work for this team. We need guys who can get the crosses into the box, no short passes through the middle. Another thing, if there's a counter attacking opportunity, don't slow the play down and let your opponents get back, you get your asses forward immediately and catch them on the break. I've said this a number of times and I'm going to say it again, what we saw on Wednesday does not work for the U.S. and will never work. This better be fixed.


Scoring summary:

United States - Clint Dempsey (Jermaine Jones) 36'

Honduras - Juan Carlos Garcia (Maynor Figueroa) 40'

Honduras - Jerry Bengtson (Oscar Boniek Garcia) 79'


Misconduct summary:

NONE


Lineups:

United States - Tim Howard; Timothy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson; Jermaine Jones (Graham Zusi 67'), Danny Williams (Maurice Edu 58'), Michael Bradley; Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Eddie Johnson (Sacha Kljestan 59')

Honduras - Noel Valladares; Arnold Peralta, Victor Bernardez, Maynor Figueroa, Juan Carlos Garcia; Oscar Boniek Garcia, Luis Garrido, Roger Espinoza, Mario Martinez; Jerry Bengtson (Jorge Claros 84'), Carlo Costly (Georgie Welcome 93'+)

EJ and Evans called up for WCQ in Honduras

By Money Mike


In just two days, the 2013 CONCACAF Hexagonal kicks off. For the United States, it's going to be one tough ride for them starting this Wednesday down in Honduras. Earlier today, Jurgen Klinsmann has called in 24 players for Wednesdays match including Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans. Both EJ and Evans were called up for a friendly this past week against Canada and both got the start in the match. With a much more experience USA side than we saw last week, it's highly unlikely that Evans will be in the starting lineup and because of the fact that you can only have a maximum of 23 players on your international roster come gametime, one of the 24 players that were called up will have to be left behind.


Rest of the team:

This won't be the same USA side we saw last week against Canada. That was full of inexperienced players, five players getting their first cap and just not everybody used to playing together. And luckily that wasn't our regular team because if it was, then we would have some problems here. However the key here will be our outside backs. The U.S. has dealt with injuries on the defensive end leading up to the final two matches in the third round of qualifying and right now Steve Cherundolo could be the biggest loss for the team defensively. We do know that Timothy Chandler accepted a call-up to the squad. He currently has nine caps for the U.S., but all of them were friendly matches. It's good to see Fabian Johnson on the squad after he went a full 90 minutes for Hoffenheim during their match this past weekend. He's been dealing with a knee injury for a couple of weeks and there have been questions on whether or not he would fully recover in time for Wednesday, but he's on the squad and ready to go. Both Chandler and Fabian Johnson better be on their toes because Honduras are going to go with Mario Martinez and Oscar Boniek Garcia on the wing for sure, and both of them are known for causing a lot of havock.

Another thing I want to point out is Jozy Altidore, who was the target of racist chants from the dutch football fans, is back on the squad. The 23-year old is currently tied for second in the league with 15 goals on the season and has made a lot of strides since joining AZ Alkmaar in 2011. Altidore currently has 13 goals in 52 appearances for the United States, but he hasn't scored since the friendly match against Slovenia back on November of 2011. In big matches like this one, this is where you need Jozy's goalscoring form in league football to carry on to the international level.


U.S. squad by position (caps/goals):

Goalkeepers:

Tim Howard (Everton; England) - 84/0

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; England) - 20/0

Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) - 3/0


Defenders:

Carlos Bocanegra (Racing de Santander; Spain) - 110/14

Michael Parkhurst (FC Augsburg; Germany) - 15/0

Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; England) - 11/0

Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim; Germany) - 10/0

Timothy Chander (1. FC Nuremberg; Germany) - 9/0

Edgar Castillo (Tijuana; Mexico) - 7/0

Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 3/0

Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City) - 1/0


Midfielders:

Michael Bradley (AS Roma; Italy) - 72/11

Maurice Edu (Bursaspor; Turkey) - 42/1

Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium) - 38/4

Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04; Germany) - 26/2

Jose Francisco Torres (Tigres de la UANL; Mexico) - 20/0

Danny Williams (Hoffenheim; Germany) - 11/0

Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) - 7/1

Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC) - 7/0

Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) - 6/0


Forwards:

Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur; England) - 91/30

Jozy Altidore (AZ; Netherlands) - 52/13

Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC) - 45/14

Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna; Mexico) - 19/5

Projected Lineup:

Howard

Gonzalez           Bocanegra
Chandler                                                                   F. Johnson

Williams
Zusi                                                                    E. Johnson
Bradley

Dempsey         Altidore

Prediction:

The United States are 12-3-3 all time against Honduras. In fact their last visit to Honduras was a World Cup Qualifying match back on October of 2009. The United States defeated defeated Honduras 3-2 in that match to book their place in the 2010 World Cup. However this is a much different Honduras team than a few years ago. We all know this will not be an easy task for the U.S. Hopefully they can get a win over there. A draw would also be a good result. We won't know the outcome of this match until the final whistle is blown, but both teams look evenly matched, so I'm gonna go with a draw with this one.

USA-1 Honduras-1

Eddie Johnson gets the call for two critical upcoming World Cup qualifying matches

By Money Mike


After almost two years since his last international cap, Eddie Johnson finds himself back in the ranks as he gets called up to the U.S. men's national team for two huge World Cup qualifying matches against Antigua and Barbuda this Friday and against Guatemala next Tuesday. EJ's last cap for the U.S. came on October 13, 2010 against Colombia. Since then, his form began dipping during his spell in Europe and he eventually fell out of the picture. On Friday, Johnson sent out a tweet saying that he was called into the squad, but we didn't officially find out until yesterday. Johnson has appeared in 26 matches and scored 14 goals this season for the Seattle Sounders.

Again, it has felt like a long time since we've last seen EJ in a USA jersey and I'm pretty sure everybody was aware of the season why that was the case and why most of them hated the trade this past offseason that sent Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle to the Montreal Impact. Back then, I did say that I was gonna keep my thought on the trade to myself and see what happens, but now I'll tell you that I thought it was a good move all along. I knew they made the right move, because as hard working as Fucito was, I didn't think he was that good and Fredy Montero needed a true stike partner and it did take a while for the Johnson-Montero partnership to click, but these two have combined for 27 goals this season. I'm really glad Johnson got called up after a terrific season with the Sounders. He deserved it.


Rest of the team:

As happy as I am to see EJ back on the roster, with these two upcoming WCQ matches, you need to stick with your big guys. Guys that have come into the ranks and put together some solid performances day in and day out. I think the U.S. should stick with the same backline that started against Jamaica in the last qualifying match with the Cameron-Bocanegra partnership in the center of defense. Fabian Johnson has been solid at left back. It's gonna be interesting to see who's gonna get the start in the midfield because Jose Torres has been left out of the squad and Sacha Kljestan was recalled along with Michael Bradley, so I think Klinsmann will probably switch things around in the center of midfield. Last game I think the U.S. went with a 4-2-3-1 formation, but by the look of things, they might go 4-4-2 with diamond look to it which means somebody will be left out of the starting 11, but who? Of course Torres is not in the squad, which was no surprise because he sucked last match against Jamaica. Jermaine Jones put in a good performance. Graham Zusi was very impressive last match. And Danny Williams also put in a solid performance in a holding midfield role. So we'll see what Klinsmann will do.

There were complaints about Jozy Altidore being left out of the squad because he is having a terrific season for Alkmaar Zaanstreek. He's currently tied to the league lead with eight goals scored. But to hear Jurgen Klinsmann say that it had to do with his attitude, you know, his frame of mind going into camp just goes to show you nobody's safe. Alan Gordon was sort of an odd call up. We still have yet to see Joe Corona in a WCQ match. He's made two friendly appearances and that's it.

The match on Friday away to Antigua and Barbuda I think will determine USA's fate going into their home match on Tuesday against Guatemala. I mean, a lot of things could happen here. A win will surely boost their chances of advancing to the final round of qualifying. Right now they're in a three way tie with Jamaica and Guatemala in the group table with 7 points. I think USA will advance to the final round of qualifying after it's all said and done.


U.S. squad by position (caps/goals):

Goalkeepers:

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; England) - 20/0

Tim Howard (Everton; England) - 81/0

Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) - 6/0


Defenders:

Carlos Bocanegra (Racing de Santander; Spain) - 107/13

Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; England) - 8/0

Edgar Castillo (Tijuana; Mexico) - 7/0

Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96; Germany) - 85/2

Maurice Edu (Stoke City; England) - 40/1

Clarence Goodson (Brondby IF; Denmark) - 32/3

Fabian Johnson (1899 Hoffenheim; Germany) - 9/0

Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland; Denmark) - 14/0


Midfielders:

Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) - 23/1

Michael Bradley (AS Roma; Italy) - 69/10

Joe Corona (Tijuana; Mexico) - 2/0

Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04; Germany) - 24/2

Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium) - 35/4

Danny Williams (1899 Hoffenheim; Germany) - 8/0

Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) - 4/1


Forwards:

Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur; England) - 89/28

Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna; Mexico) - 16/5

Alan Gordon (San Jose Earthquakes) - 0/0

Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC) - 42/12

Projected Lineup:

Howard

          Cameron          Bocanegra            

                           Cherundolo                                                 F. Johnson

Williams

                                Zusi                                                          Kljestan

Bradley

Dempsey           Gomez

Final day of Group play in the 2011 Gold Cup. USA, Canada and Guadeloupe. Somebody will pack their bags, somebody moves on to the quarterfinals.

By Money Mike


With a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, the United States need to do what they did in the 2010 World Cup, and that is advance out of their group on the final day. Tomorrow, the United States will be taking on Guadeloupe in Kansas City and they will be under so much pressure after suffering an embarrasing 2-1 loss to Panama on Saturday. Panama won their 2 matches and are clear to advance to the quarterfinal round. Now the U.S., Canada and Guadeloupe will be fighting for a spot. Mexico took the top spot in group A with ease. After winning their first match 5-0 over El Salvador, five Mexican players were diactivated from the squad for testing positive for a banned substance. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Defenders Francisco Javier Rodriguez and Edgar Duenas and Midfielders Christian Bermudez and Sinha were banned from the squad. It didn't seem to effect Mexico as they won 5-0 over Cuba and 4-1 over Costa Rica. Jamaica and Honduras will advance out of Group B. Now tomorrow, the 2nd spot will be decided in Group C, the United States can still win the Group if they beat Guadeloupe and Canada defeats Panama. So that is 6 spots locked in, so we need 2 more. The two best 3rd placed teams in this tournament will fill in the two spots, Guatemala finished with 4 points tied with El Salvador but are in the clear due to a higher goal difference. But it's time to focus on tomorrow...


United States will advance if:

• They do not lose to Guadeloupe or


• They lose by only 1 goal and Panama defeats Canada

Canada will advance if:

• They defeat Panama or


• They draw and Guadeloupe defeats United States

Guadeloupe will advance if:

• They defeat United States by 2 or more goals and Panama defeats Canada

United States will be eliminated if:

• They lose to Guadeloupe by 4 or more goals or


• They lose and Panama does not defeat Canada

Canada will be eliminated if:

• They lose to Panama and Guadeloupe defeats United States by 4 or more goals

Guadeloupe will be eliminated if:

• They do not defeat the United States

USA opens up 2011 Gold Cup with a 2-0 win over Canada

By Money Mike


Day 3 of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup is now officially in the books. Both the United States and Canada kicked off their Gold Cup campaign and it was the United States coming out on top 2-0 with Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey finding the back of the net for the Red, White and Blue. Panama and Guadeloupe also kicked off their campaign with Panama winning 3-2. The United States will face Panama next on Saturday at 5pm on FOX Soccer Channel.

The U.S. got on the board first in the 15th minute. Landon Donovan with a good through ball found Jozy Altidore, who made a nice turn and slotted the ball under goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld for the opening goal. It was Altidore's 11th international goal, and this dude has received a lot of criticism for his lack of confidence while in Europe. You know, the lack of playing time, lack of goals (6 total. 2 for Hull City, 3 for Villereal and 1 for Bursaspor), etc. So I don't care how lucky that was, it was nice to see him get a goal for the U.S.

The 2nd goal came in the 62nd minute. Juan Agudelo slid the ball into the danger area and as the ball rolled past Altidore, Clint Dempsey made a run at the far post and tapped it into an open net to put the United States up 2-0 and that was the final score.

Missed the match, wasn't able to catch it on TV:

OK, sorry that was all I could share to you guys. I wasn't able to see the match at all, so I had my friend send me text messages regarding the match. This is the 3rd straight time that I missed the first match. In 07', I was able to catch like, the first 10 minutes of the USA-Guatemala match in which the U.S. won 1-0 on a goal by Dempsey. In 09', I couldn't see their match against Grenada, which took place here in Seattle, because I was at my grandmothers house for the 4th of July, she didn't have FSC, and this was just after USA's 2nd Place Finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. The United States won that match 4-0. As for the next match against Panama, I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch this one because of the Tacoma Relay for Life, but we'll see.

Alejandro Bedoya replaces Benny Feilhaber in USA's Gold Cup squad:

So, just before USA's final tune up match before the Gold Cup, the United States made a change on their Gold Cup squad. Benny Feilhaber picked up an ankle injury during New England Revolution's 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy, so Alejandro Bedoya replaced him on the squad. Remember I made a complaint when I showed you guys the squad about Bedoya not being named when I think he should've. So it's nice to see him on the squad because, he left Boston College, went to Europe, and he has worked his ass off every season with Orebro SK in Sweden.

Here's the scoring summary from the match:

United States - Jozy Altidore (Landon Donovan) 15'

United States - Clint Dempsey (Juan Agudelo) 62'

Booking summary:

United States - Michael Bradley (caution) 51'

Canada - Will Johnson (caution) 52'

Lineups:

Canada: 1 - Lars Hirschfeld, 2 - Nik Ledgerwood, 4 - Kevin McKenna, 5 - Andre Hainault, 7 - Terry Dunfield (21 - Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault, 82'), 8 - Will Johnson (10 - Ali Gerba, 65'), 11 - Josh Simpson, 13 - Atiba Hutchinson, 14 - Dwayne De Rosario (9 - Rob Friend, 81'), 17 - Simeon Jackson, 19 - Marcel de Jong

United States: Tim Howard; Steve Cherundelo, Clarence Goodson, Tim Ream, Carlos Bocanegra; Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones (Maurice Edu, 79'), Landon Donovan; Jozy Altidore (Sacha Kljestan, 74'), Juan Agudelo (Chris Wondolowski, 65')

Note: I put Canada's starting lineup in numerical order because I didn't know their exact lineup.

USA announces their 2011 Gold Cup squad.

By Money Mike


With the CONCACAF Gold Cup now a couple weeks away, some teams have still yet to unveil their squad, while the others are all set and ready to go including the United States national team. USA head coach Bob Bradley earlier today, announced his squad for their friendly match on June 4th against Spain and also for the Gold Cup, and after looking at the squad, I must admit, I'm a little disappointed in his work. Looking at the squad, of course there are players that definitely deserve a spot on the roster like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Juan Agudelo, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, etc. And there are players that I just do not understand why they are on the roster or how they made the roster. I mean, looking at the squad here, you'll understand what I'm talking about here...


United States 2011 Gold Cup squad:

1. Tim Howard (Everton; England)

2. Jonathan Spector (West Ham United; England)

3. Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne; France)

4. Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach; Germany)

5. Oguchi Onyewu (A.C. Milan; Italy)

6. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96; Germany)

7. Maurice Edu (Rangers; Scotland)

8. Clint Dempsey (Fulham; England)

9. Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; MLS)

10. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy; MLS)

11. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; MLS)

12. Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres; Mexico)

13. Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04; Germany)

14. Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa; England)

15. Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls; MLS)

16. Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium)

17. Jozy Altidore (Villarreal; Spain)

18. Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; MLS)

19. Robbie Rodgers (Columbus Crew; MLS)

20. Freddy Adu (Caykur Rizespor; Turkey)

21. Clarence Goodson (Brondby IF; Norway)

22. Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution; MLS)

23. Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers; England)


Players that should've made the squad:

Timmy Chandler:

- I don't get this at all, he's only 21, he now has a starting job at right back with FC Nurnburg. Bob Bradley what the hell did you not like that made you decide to leave him off the squad. He made his debut against Argentina and did very well all around the pitch. He made his second appearance for the U.S. national team against Paraguay, and again, didn't disappoint. Every was expecting him to make the Gold Cup squad and now I look at the list and he is not there.

Alejandro Bedoya:

- This guy graduated from Boston College in 2008, went straight to Europe and quickly earned a starting job at Orebro SK in Sweden. Since he began in 2009, he's made 58 appearances and scored 8 goals for that club. Now, he didn't make the World Cup squad in 2010, and nobody expected him to make it either, but no Gold Cup either?

Teal Bunbury:

- Why is he left out? Another young player that was expected to make the roster and I don't see his name. Teal Bunbury had a good rookie season with Kansas City last year and I know he came back from injury at the start of the 2011 MLS season but he's still having a good year. This guy is very good on the ball, he finds ways to burst through a trap and he has that goalscoring potential. Leaving him off the roster - STUPID MOVE!!

Edson Buddle:

- Why is Buddle left out? Didnt you see him domintate in 2010 while he was with the LA Galaxy? He is a goalscoring threat, and the US team only has three strikers because Bob Bradley just ditched him because he's not thinking straight.


Players who made the squad that absolutely did not deserve a spot:

Jonathan Spector:

- This guy had a crappy 2010-2011 season at West Ham. He was only useful for cup matches because he scored in those matches, but in the League, he sucked. Pretty much the reason why he lost his job at right back and also why he shouldn't be on the U.S. team.

Freddy Adu:

- God damn, this guy is a worthless soccer player. How the fuck did he make the squad. Ever since he left for Europe, it was like, nobody wanted him anymore. Look, in 2004, he gets drated by D.C. United at 14-years of age, he makes 30 appearances and scores 5 goals that year, and everybody started to love him when he was at D.C. from 04'-06'. Get's traded to Real Salt Lake in 2007, but then he opts out of his contract and moves to Europe (TOO DAMN EARLY!!). He signs with Benfica and he just struggles. He gets loaned out to AS Monaco to try to pick up his game, that didn't work. Next season, he's loaned out to Belenenses and he sucked over there, then loaned out to Aris FC, same story, he sucked. Seriously, I can't believe he's on the roster, especially after he's proven to be worthless.

Jonathan Bornstein:

- Here's another guy that doesn't deserve to be on the roster. The last two times he's capped for the United States, he was terrible defensively, and he also keeps giving the ball away. So let me get this straight, you add him on the roster so he can continue to play like shit? If the U.S. wins the Gold Cup, then maybe I'll take back everything I said, but if not, I think it's time Bob Bradley stepped down.