Major League Soccer tries to deny accusations that it is a combination developmental league/retirement home for aging veterans without viable options elsewhere, but the recent kerfuffle over the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the MLS Players’ Union as well as US Men’s National Team Coach Bob Bradley’s likely roster choices for tickets to South Africa this summer tell a different story.

Tags: Major League Soccer, US Men's National Team, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, Soccer Business, World Cup 2010

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On Friday I gave the low–lights of the US Men’s National Soccer Team’s experiences in 2009, so in an effort to end the year on a better note than their 3–1 loss to Denmark, here is a look back at the moments that made me think dreamily of what happy surprises could await the US in the first African–hosted World Cup.

Tags: US Men's National Team

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2009 was a rather schizophrenic year for the US Men’s National Soccer Team. I’ll list the highs tomorrow, but below are the moments from this year that made me despair the most for what is to await in South Africa next summer.

Tags: US Men's National Team, World Cup 2010

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With 7 months before the beginning of Anglo–American hostilities at the Battle of Rustenburg, I’m hoping Coach Bob Bradley borrows a page from General George Washington’s successful strategy for winning the Revolutionary War: don’t over–commit in any part of the battlefield, strategically conceding the meaningless possession game, and wait to strike and take advantage when you can. If he does, maybe another 6-5 victory awaits.

Tags: US Men's National Team, World Cup 2010

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It’s hard being a fan of the US national soccer teams while having to work a 9–to–5 job. It means that in the days leading up to big games, like tomorrow’s Super–Duper–Clásico vs. Los Tricolores of Mexico, you have to spend large amounts of time either surreptitiously scanning for tidbits of news to satisfy a voracious appetite for anything to encourage your hopes, or worse, make you reach for your stomach/nerve–soother of choice, often without enough time left over to keep it all in perspective.

Tags: US Men's National Team, US Opponents

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With passage secured to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, the U.S. must now turn its efforts towards building as much roster depth as possible to make it to South Africa in 2010, and hopefully do better there than they did in Germany 2006.

Tags: US Men's National Team

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Hopefully the US men will be popping the corks on a case of mini bottles of Champagne around 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time after a comfortable victory at R.F.K. stadium here in Washington, D.C., guaranteeing them a spot in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. But as in most competitive sports, anything can happen in 90+ minutes on the field so we’ll have to wait and see for sure.

Tags: US Men's National Team

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It’s highly unlikely that come 9:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time in Chicago the US men will be anything but 1 to 3 points closer to clinching their spot in the CONCACAF final round of qualifying for South Africa 2010.

Tags: US Men's National Team, US Opponents

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Hot on the heels of a historic victory in Guatemala, the US Men’s National Team travels to Cuba for another historic game on Saturday in Havana: its second game ever in Cuba and the first in 61 years. Game-time is 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Cali-time, live on ESPN Classic and Galavision. The Fed's MatchTracker can also be found at the USSF site, generally the first place you’ll see the lineup for those too antsy to wait. All the pre–game articles I could find and index follow below the poll.

Tags: US Men's National Team, US Opponents

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The semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying kicks off for the US Men in the heat and humidity of hostile Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.
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All of the articles I’ve indexed related to the US Men’s U-23 National Team’s First Round Games at the Beijing Olympics.
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All of the articles I’ve indexed related to the US Women’s National Team’s First Round Games at the Beijing Olympics.
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Without actually playing another game DC United clinched the Major League Soccer Supporters Shield when Chivas USA lost 2-1 to the Rapids. At the same time, the Rapids keep the pressure on Kansas City and Chicago to get points on the last game-day of the MLS or risk being left out of the Playoffs.

Tags: Major League Soccer, DC United, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards, Colorado Rapids, CD Chivas USA

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One down, three to go. The Rapids will also be done if Colorado doesn't win on Sunday vs. Chivas USA. The fact that Los Angeles’ Other Team will have failed to take advantage of DC United's draw versus Chicago in the quest for the Supporters Shield for best regular season record is a secondary story-line that those rooting for an MLS Single Table should be playing up. Includes a handy-dandy MLS Playoffs Scenario Calculator!

Tags: Major League Soccer, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew

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It’s been a long-time coming, and finally we have not only a potentially dramatic finale to the MLS regular season, but one that should make ESPN and Soccer United Marketing salivate over the commercial possibilities since it involves the still semi-realistic scenario of putting David Beckham and the LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup Final in front of a national audience and sell-out crowd at RFK stadium. We still have a ways to go to get there, but hopefully below will help whet a few appetites for what lies ahead the next two weeks. Includes a handy-dandy MLS Playoffs Scenario Calculator!

Tags: Major League Soccer, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Soccer Business

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Greg Ryan and Hope Solo’s critics need to take a few deep breaths and venture back a little bit in time. Members of the US Women’s National Team, past and present, along with those in the media and sitting at home, need to remember the moments immediately in the aftermath of the systematic and devastating 4-0 destruction by the Brazilians, as she started her way through the press gauntlet known as the "mix zone," where reporters like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Erin Paul try to get quick interviews with the players on their way to the locker room.

Tags: Soccer Business, US Women's National Team, Women's Professional Soccer, US Opponents, Women's World Cup 2007

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I hope hindsight proves that I'm wrong about this, but I can’t help wondering what in the Hell was US Women’s National Team coach Greg Ryan thinking when he decided to bench starting goalkeeper Hope Sole for the Women’s World Cup semi-final match vs. Brazil?

Tags: US Women's National Team, Women's World Cup 2007

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Now that the Collinsville City Council approved Jeff Cooper’s pre-annexation proposal to get the ball rolling on bringing a Soccer-Specific Stadium to town, will Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber quickly follow suit with an expansion franchise, or will he make St. Louis cool its heels a little bit?
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Over a series of 3 articles I will be looking at the generic idea of soccer in St. Louis, and Collinsville specifically, from both logical and emotional perspectives, but first I thought it would probably be a good idea to try and examine some of the numbers and assumptions from the pre-annexation agreement that Jeff Cooper and St. Louis Soccer United have presented to the Collinsville City Council for approval on Sept. 10 to give us a baseline to measure those arguments against.

Tags: Major League Soccer, Soccer Business

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Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber’s statements that MLS expansion will stop at 16 teams until at least 2010 before deciding if/when/how to continue with expansion makes it clear that there are literally just two expansion franchises remaining at the current $30 million asking price, triple what the admission fee was for the last round of double expansion that saw the arrival of CD Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake.

Tags: Major League Soccer, Soccer Business, ReAL Salt Lake

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And now for my left brain arguments for why I am rooting for soccer in St. Louis, and most particularly Collinsville in the Metro-East.

Tags: Major League Soccer, Soccer Business

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Here’s my quick debunking of Inzaghi's claims regarding his rejected MLS transfer to Red Bull New York.

Tags: Major League Soccer, Red Bull New York, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Soccer Business, US Opponents

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Below is all I know to help those like myself without access to ESPNU or Galavision to watch the US U-20 Mens Team match versus Austria today.

Tags: US Youth National Teams, Soccer Business

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I promised to do this a couple days ago for the Brasil game and ran out of time, and this may be too late to be useful for tonight’s game vs. Uruguay, but it will at least be a good reference point to start for the next game if you find yourself without local broadcast options or within range of a good soccer bar.
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Over the course of 466 first team games for Liverpool, Scottish International Steve McNichol scored 46 goals despite primarily being a defender, and won the 1989 English Footballer of the Year award, in addition to winning a European Cup, 3 FA Cups, 4 league championships, and a Charity Shield for good measure.
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All of the years of success in our Women’s national team programs have made such qualifications necessary, so it is nice to see our men start to consistently rise to the challenge. It might seem strange thinking a 2-1 victory over Brazil in an under-age tournament could be more important to the program’s future success than the Copa América, but I fully believe that to be the case.
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US-Brasil in FIFA Under-20 World Cup Canada @ 7:30 Eastern Daylight on ESPN, ESPNU and Galavision in the US, and FIFA.com in Europe.
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And just like with the stereotypical gastrointestinal disorder that can accompany drinking untreated water in México, the ultimate effect of México's scoreless draw with Chile combined with Brasil's 1-0 win over Ecuador resulting in the United States Men's National Team's elimination from the tournament is unpleasant, but hardly life-threatening.
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If I wanted to be philosophical about it, the ideal US game to miss in the Copa América if I had to miss one would have been last night's pre-ordained trip to the woodshed with Argentina. At least in the next two games nobody's already counting us out.
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Below is all the articles I have indexed in advance of the US’s Thursday Copa América game versus Argentina.
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I know most people know more than a little about Argentina’s national team, but just for entertainment’s sake I thought I would repeat the experiment from this year’s Ecuador game and give another opponent preview, courtesy of Youtube, of some of the Argentine players likely to start against the US Mens National Team in Venezuela on Thursday, plus a noteworthy possible sub or two. Please bear in mind: I can not vouch for the video quality, nor would I be too surprised if somebody gets fired up and pulls one or more of these for "terms of usage" violations.
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If you’re one of the too-many American fans unfamiliar with many of the players on Bob Bradley’s Copa América roster, here's a short primer of a couple of the relative newbies, plus a couple happy memories of better-known players.
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On paper the group of Americans Bob Bradley has chosen to take down to Venezuela does not stand much of a chance against Argentina, perennial favorite and sometime champion, especially at the youth level. But the game is not played on paper, and this is not a FIFA under-age tournament, so let me explore what may or may not happen Thursday and over the next couple weeks a little bit further.
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Benny Feilhaber’s 25-yard volley into the corner of the Mexican goal was one for the ages, not least because it guaranteed a dry run for the US Men’s National Team at the Confederations Cup just one year prior to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, to say nothing of proving once and for all that there's much, much more to the American team to torment Mexican fans where-ever they may be than just Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley.
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The second of now 4 potential grudge matches this year between the US and México, this time with something on the line.
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I love having an excuse to quote Tom Petty, and now that David Beckham's days with Real Madrid have come to a close, we are left waiting for his arrival in Los Angeles.
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What the US Mens National Team needs is enough fearless and talented players and coaches that we can win on our own before we could ever hope for getting such a positive result out of another foreign coach. Until that day, all but the most humble and self-effacing of foreign coaches would naturally add the complex history of foreigners on American soccer to the mental equation of coach/star player interaction.
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Landon Donovan showed with all three of his strikes why he is the best American attacking player ever. His combination of pace, technique, and raw shooting ability are really something new to American fans. We've had fast strikers, and opportunistic goal-getters, but not really the kind of player until Donovan who could first beat someone with his pace, then pull something special out of his bag of tricks, before spanking a sweet shot into the corner.
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What follows, courtesy of Youtube, is a preview of some of the Ecuadorian players likely to take the field against the US Mens National Team in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
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I have my opinions of US Soccer's ussoccer.com, and if you have ever used their site, or are a fan of any of our national teams but don't use it often or at all, you should check out the site then fill out their Fan Survey on the web site. It is good news that the Fed is asking what we think, but it only works if we actually take the time to tell them.
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The "Beckham," I mean Designated Player Rule states that each Major League Soccer team gets one player signing starting in 2007 whose salary will not count towards the somewhat flexible salary cap that all MLS teams have had to operate under since Day One back in 1996.
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The first of 3 potential grudge matches this year between the US and México kicks off Tonight in Arizona. May the following reading help prepare you for your viewing enjoyment.
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Actually, as any follower of American soccer knows, the British have been heavily involved with the game here for a long time, most particularly following the arrival of the N.A.S.L. However David Beckham can still play, which is quite a bit more than almost all of the rest of them can say.
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Phil Anschutz is now down to owning 3 MLS franchises, only one of which is actually for sale, so are the days of collective ownership of players dwindling faster than baseball's television ratings?
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meaning, will Claudio Reyna be the first high profile player to take advantage of MLS's new so-called "Beckham Rule," which allows each club the rights to have one player not count towards its salary cap limits?
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...or 2018; I'm not too terribly picky, but sooner rather than later, please!
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How else can you interpret this decision but as a blatant attempt to win votes in the far larger member-wise Asian confederation?
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How is that again, Mr. Blatter?
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Remember Project 2010, where the goal was to field a team in South Africa capable of challenging for the championship?
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I don't think even avowed critics of the recently-resigned Bruce Arena would deny that is the most apt description of him.
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It won't be quick, easy, or painless, but American soccer players and fans will get over the disappointing performances in Germany this summer. Here's what I'm going to try.
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...for luck, and a change. Ya see, I wore that awesome limited edition, shiny-red "don't tread" jersey for the debacle vs. the Czechs. Italy saw my white Dempsey jersey, so will Ghana.
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Points that is.
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Even if I have to start it up myself.
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Their achievements in Korea in 2002 were certainly worthy of garnering some long-overdue respect, but that was four years ago, in front of less than half as many US TV viewers, plus at an ungodly local hour. This was the middle of a hot Saturday afternoon in June, short-handed, against 3-time World Champions and perennial favorites Italy. This was the beginning of what we've been waiting for, some of us for a very long time.
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What would a writer who grew up in the 80's be without his hard rock references? Furthermore, what would a World Cup be without a "Battle of Wits" between two opposing managers? Much, much more boring, that's what!
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This is where you might normally expect to see, "I never thought I'd say this, but...," except I actually did think I'd say this, just not necessarily so soon: there are just too many good articles about the US Men's National Soccer Team for me to read. Or more accurately, there are too many for me to read and maintain any semblance of a normal life with my family, job, friends and the general world at large. And that's not including all of the various preview shows and speculation on television.
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Much of the world considers the opera to be the greatest Italian dramatic form, but recent events in the soccer world there remind us that in addition to the traditional arts losing more and more relevance with each passing decade, they also no longer speak of the things that really get people worked up: like fixing a game owned by billionaires and played by millionaires.
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That's just one of the team-building activities that is apparently on the agenda for the US MNT as they prepare for June in Germany.
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I'm a bit behind on all of this, but here are all of the articles that I've found and indexed so far related to the recently-named World Cup roster:
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While it is probably not exactly literally the "last chance" for some, it is close enough to that to make Sunday's New England vs. Chicago game the match of the weekend for neutrals and US MNT fans. If you want to dream about in-form strikers with no chance of making the roster, Saturday gives us Alecko Eskandarian's DC United vs. Kenny Cooper's FC Dallas.
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It's hard being a sports fan, deeply committed to an institution that is just as deeply committed to not giving that fan anything resembling the real scoop of what goes on with the team. Journalists are supposed to help provide us, the unwashed masses, with the eyes and ears in places we are normally not welcome, but what if the eyes are bleary from pulling too many all-nighters and the ears are tin from hearing too much screaming? Well, that's where the internet and smart-alecks like me step in to provide the fine-tuning in those areas where something seems to have been stereotypically lost in translation.
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It's good to see that I'm not the only one obsessing over whose name will and won't be announced by Bruce Arena on Sportscenter next Tuesday night.
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There are all kinds of tools that soccer coaches use to gain insight into what lies behind the eyes of their players. Before a once-every-4-years type tournament like the World Cup, the importance of utilizing all of those tools to their fullest becomes crystal clear as you glance around the headlines.
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Today is May 2, 8 days before Coach Bruce Arena names his 23-man roster plus 10 provisionals for Germany, and some 49 days before he displays his starting 11 vs. the Czech Republic in Italy. My intention for this column is to primarily focus attention on the issues around the US team as it prepares for and competes in the World Cup this summer. The heart of soccer is the games of course, but there are all kinds of stories and perspectives around these games that provide not just depth and color, but sometimes actual insight into what's really going on.
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