Donovan still interested in EPL

Yanks Abroad reports that Landon Donovan's agent failed to deny a Sky Sports report concerning a possible move by the American to the EPL.

They then report this:

Donovan was recently quoted by the English media giant as saying, "The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at."

"I think the Premiership would be the best place the play."

Sounds pretty exciting and it has caused a bit of a buzz on the internet, however, the quote is actually almost a year old.

There is another part from the interview last year that was missed this time around: "At the moment I'm happy here (LA), at least for the next few years with Dave (Beckham) here. I want to be a part of this too. Not many people get to be a part of this, so I want to live it."

I bring up the fact that this is an old quote not because it means it is no longer valid or that a move will not happen, just to give it a context.

So what will happen with Donovan?

Well he is in a bit of a bind. LA doesn't want to let him go because they want a championship this year and without him, it probably is not going to happen. That would seem to suggest a delay in any move till December, however that means coming in halfway through the EPL season, which will make starts even harder to obtain, which could effect his build up to 2010 (not to mention his availability for qualifiers).

That said, it is time for him to return to Europe and see what he can accomplish. His work over the past six-months has been some of his best and if he is ever to reach the heights we all want him to, he needs to move.

US Olympic roster - Guzan, McBride and Parkhurst overage Olympians

Peter Nowak has released his 18 man roster for Beijing and there are not a lot of surprises. As expected, Nowak went with Bad Guzan in goal and McBride up top. Both will give the team much needed depth in their positions with McBride providing a little bit more then Guzan.

The overage selection that could benefit the most from this experience is New England's Michael Parkhurst. Since the US's backline is probably going to have a lot put up against it, especially if they advance to the knockout stage (hello Argentina), a solid showing by Parkhurst could get some European suitors.

Overall this roster represents the best the US has to offer in the under 23 group at this moment.

As far as MLS teams go, they account for 10 of the 18 with the Houston Dynamo, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC each losing two players for the games.

Here is the full roster:

GK (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

D (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

M (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)

F (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

2008 US Open Cup - Third Round sees three MLS teams go down

Last night is the perfect example of why I enjoy the US Open Cup so much. Seeing all these underweight teams try to out punch MLS sides really is enjoyable. Sure, the MLS teams see this as little more then a reserves match, but it is still good fun.

As bad as it is that MLS teams dropped three of the eight games last night, it is actually much better then last season when five top teams fell. The biggest surprise of the night took place in Maryland where Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL-2) bounced the Red Bulls out of the Open, even though they played down a man for an hour.

Ranking just below on the shock level was the Dynamo losing on kicks to the Charleston Battery (USL-1), even though Houston played up a man for 50 minutes and up 2 men for 15. Really, the defending MLS Champions were up two men for 15-minutes and could not find a way to get a goal. Not only that but the Battery's Osvaldo Alonso was still giving the Dynamo fits in the second period of overtime (Alonso must be on Kinnear's radar after last night). I think Dynamo forward Franco Caraccio summed up the whole night for his club when he collapsed to the pitch in shame after having his penalty kick stopped, thus giving the Battery the win.

The only other lose came in Seattle where the Sounders showed Chivas USA the exit. The goats have not won a USOC match since beating the Charlotte Eagles (USL-2) on 13 July 2005. This streak includes a defeat by Roma FC of the USASA.

There was almost something big in Dallas, however FCD was able to get a late stoppage time goal to take Miami 2-1.

Kansas City also needed a little rally as they were down 2-0 in the 67' minute before coming back to tie and send it to extra time where they piled on two more goals for the win.

DC United needed two goals via free kicks from Marc Burch to take down the Rhinos of Rochester. Both New England (last year's USOC champ) and the Fire (perennial USOC powerhouse) easily saw off their foes for the evening.

Here is the full list of results:
FC Dallas (MLS) 2-1 Miami FC (USL-1)
Charleston (USL-1) 1(4-3)1 Houston (MLS)
DC United (MLS) 2-0 Rochester (USL-1)
Carolina (USL-1) 2-4 Kansas City (MLS)

CP Baltimore (USL-2) 2-0 New York (MLS)
New England (MLS) 3-0 Richmond (USL-2)
Chicago (MLS) 4-1 Cleveland (USL-2)
Seattle (USL-1) 2-0 Chivas USA (MLS)

These results move the numbers a bit when it comes to higher versus lower ranked teams. Before last night, it stood at 19-2 (90.5%) for those higher ranked, but now is at 24-5 (82.75%).

It does look like home field advantage was reinstated. During the second round, home sides only went 3-5, but yesterday saw only one visitor walk away with a win.

Here is the schedule for next Tuesday night's round of eight:
Chicago Fire at DC United (Boyds, Md)
Crystal Palace (USL2) at New England (New Britain, Conn)
Charleston (USL1) at FC Dallas
Kansas City at Seattle Sounders (USL1)

Can Crystal Palace bring down two giants? Will the Battery take out both teams from the Lone Star state? Will Seattle give another MLS team an introduction to soccer in the Northwest? Can DC finally beat Chicago in a playoff situation? It will be fun to find out.

2008 US Open Cup - Second Round results

The second round of the US Open Cup is in the books and yet again the biggest factor is which team is in the higher division. During the first round, only one lower division team pulled off an upset, resulting in a 15-1 run for higher level clubs. Last night saw the higher division squad take 4 and lose 1, while 3 games involved clubs of the same level. That means that 86% of all games are won by the team higher up on the US Soccer pyrimid.

The Minnesota Thunder (USL-1) join the Portland Timbers (USL-1) as the only teams to lose to a lower division team as they lost 0-2 to the Cleveland City Stars (USL-2).

Here are the full results:
Harrisburg (USL-2) 2(1-3)2 CP Baltimore (USL-2)
Western Mass (USL-2) 1-2 Richmond (USL-2)
Rochester (USL-1) 3-0 Pittsburgh (USL-2)
Charleston (USL-1) 2-1 Charlotte (USL-2)

Carolina (USL-1) 1-0 Real Maryland (USL-2)
Minnesota (USL-1) 0-2 Cleveland (USL-2)
Miami (USL-1) 1-0 Atlanta (USL-1)
Seattle (USL-1) 6-0 Hollywood United (USASA)

The winners move on to round three where they will face a MLS team. If the 86% number holds, it means one MLS side will lose in round three. Who could it be?

Here is the schedule:
Houston Dynamo (MLS) at Charleston Battery (USL-1)
Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, S.C., 7:30 PM

New York Red Bulls (MLS) at Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL-2)
UMBC, Catonsville, Md., 7:30 PM

Kansas City Wizards (MLS) at Carolina Railhawks (USL-1)
WakeMed Soccer Park - Cary, N.C., 7:30 PM

Rochester Rhinos (USL-1) at DC United (MLS)
Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, Md., 7:30 PM
Broadcast: English/Spanish Radio (DCU)

Richmond Kickers (USL-2) at New England Revolution (MLS)
Veterans Stadium - New Britain, Conn., Time TBD

Cleveland City Stars (USL-2) at Chicago Fire (MLS)
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill., 8:30 PM

Miami FC (USL-1) at FC Dallas (MLS)
Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, 8:30 PM

Chivas USA (MLS) at Seattle Sounders (USL-1)
Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, Wash. - 10:00 PM

By the way, home pitch advantage is limited as home sides went 10-6 in round 1 and 3-5 in round two. In matches were the teams were in the same division, home teams only went 1 for 3.

US WNT - Olympic roster has Hope but no Scurry

Hope Solo is returning to China while Briana Scurry is staying home.

Less then a year after coach Greg Ryan set off a goalkeeper firestorm by benching Solo ahead of their World Cup semifinal match against Brazil in favor of Scurry, Hope will finally get her chance to win a big tournament in China.

New coach Pia Sundhage has decided that Solo is the better keeper at this time and will likely be her number one between the posts in August. Sundhage said that Scurry's national team duty might not be finished depending on how she does in the new Women's Pro League.

Nicole Barnhart will act as backup keeper.

The full roster is:

GK: Nicole Barnhart, Hope Solo

D: Rachel Buehler, Lori Chalupny, Stephanie Cox, Kate Markgraf, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone

M: Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Angela Hucles, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Aly Wagner

F: Natasha Kai, Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach

Half these players were on the 2004 squad that took gold in Athens.

US 1-0 Barbados - US advances

US 1-0 Barbados

In a game that saw the favorites look tired and even more defensive minded then normal, the underdogs had their chance to run the game. But unlike the Italy-Spain Euro match, the US was able to see their opposition out of the competition.

Yesterday's game was a flashback for me as right from the opening moments, it reminded me of some late-80's games due to the horrible video production. Combine that with the frustration of the US to break through a Caribbean nation's backline and a crowd that was less then present and it was just like the old days (except the broadcast wasn't on some UHF channel that I didn't even know I got nor was the game tape delayed to 3am nor was it dubbed in Spanish).

The good news, unlike the old days, the team on the pitch was not our A-team and that was probably the biggest lesson of the day.

This is the type of match the US men are going to see a lot of over the next 16-months as we begin the full World Cup Qualifying run. The 'lesser' teams of Concacaf are all going to adopt a similar structure to Barbados and play heavy defense while hoping for something on the counter. This is nothing new, but it still gives the US problems.

Overall, it was a boring game that saw Barbados have the better run of play for most of the second half. A few players looked good (Szetela, Lewis, Pearce, Adu), some had their moments (DeMerit, Califf) and some looked a bit under focused (Bradley, Guzan, Beasley, Moor). Nothing came out of this game that is going to cause major changes to Bradley's future lineups (with the possible exception of getting Kenny Cooper on to the pitch).

The US senior men are off till August 20th, when they travel to Guatemala to take on Carlos Ruiz and La Azul y Blanco.

One last thing, great idea by the USL-1 teams to sponsor all the boards during this match.

US starting lineup for Barbados World Cup Qualifier leg 2

US vs. Barbados
2:55p ET/ 11:55A PT
TV: ESPN classic, Galavision

Less then an hour to go till the US plays their second leg World Cup Qualifier against Barbados and Bob Bradley has released his lineup.

----------------Guzan---------------

Moor--DeMerit--Califf---Pearce

Kljestan-Bradley-Szetela-Lewis (c)

---------Adu---------Beasley--------

This is a very different lineup from last week with only four players starting both games (and only three are in the same position). With DeMerit and Califf taking over the center back and Moor out on the right, Pearce is now the experienced member of the defensive line.

The US will win this game, but expect Guzan to have a little more to do today.

Adu will have a lot of opportunities to open up on the offense front, but will he be able to turn his fancy footwork into goals?

By the way, this is the Word Cup Qualifying debut for Moor, DeMerit, Califf, Klejstan and Szetela.

Clint Dempsey gives back to his Nacogdoches roots

US international Clint Dempsey, who is back home in Nacogdoches, Texas, played a friendly game of soccer at the Stephen F. Austin State University intramural field Wednesday.

This is a class move by Dempsey and a great way to help move soccer forward in the US. Nacodoches is a city of just 30,000 in East Texas, so Dempsey coming to play is big news.

Hopefully while in town, he can take it easy before he heads back to pre-season training with Fulham in July.

Bradley names his roster for Barbados World Cup Qualifier

USA vs. Barbados
Sunday - 2:55p ET/11:55a PT
TV: ESPN Classic & Galavision (Spanish)

Bob Bradley has released his 18-man roster for the second leg of the US-Barbados World Cup Qualifier. With the US up 8-0, the starting lineup is likely to include a number of younger players.

Here is the full roster:

GK (3): Dominic Cervi, Brad Guzan, Chris Seitz

D (6): Carlos Bocanegra, Dan Califf, Jay DeMerit, Drew Moor, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce

M(6): DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Danny Szetela, John Thorrington

F (3): Freddy Adu, Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe

The big thing I notice is the lack of Tim Howard and Eddie Johnson from the list as they were not players he released earlier in the week. The Howard move makes sense since he has a minor injury and Guzan (who got called back into camp) needs the international cap. The lack of Johnson is good since we need to find some other forward options, although Barbados is not much of a test.

Some people might wonder why Lewis is in there, but it makes sense since the experience of most of the players is limited. Good to have some old timers in to bring the experience.

Here is my guess at a starting lineup:

GK: Guzan
D: Moor, Califf, Bocanegra, Pearce
M: Kljestan, Bradley, Lewis, Beasley
F: Adu, Barrett