International Friendlies

[Grizalltheway]

Jesus Bornstein, how does it feel to single-handedly lose a game for your country?

[appmaj]

Bad foul...cant feel too bad about the last 5 or 10 minutes of the match

[DukeJack]

Ugly game. De Jong should have been sent off, Holden's leg's broken and is out for about 6 weeks, long balls to no one, forwards who can't trap the ball, just bad all around.

[JMU DJ]

Ugly game. De Jong should have been sent off, Holden's leg's broken and is out for about 6 weeks, long balls to no one, forwards who can't trap the ball, just bad all around.

Bad ball handling and control all around. That tackle was ridiculous, cleats up and doesn't look like he was trying to make a play for the ball. I know there's a lot of "theatrics" in football (take Schneider selling the awful Bornstein foul... and Schneider on an earlier penalty too), but you just crushed this guys leg with your cleat, don't pull on his leg afterward because you think he's fakin'.


I always remember slide tackling with your cleats up getting you a red card, especially when you are endangering another player.

[DukeJack]

Bad ball handling and control all around. That tackle was ridiculous, cleats up and doesn't look like he was trying to make a play for the ball. I know there's a lot of "theatrics" in football (take Schneider selling the awful Bornstein foul... and Schneider on an earlier penalty too), but you just crushed this guys leg with your cleat, don't pull on his leg afterward because you think he's fakin'.


I always remember slide tackling with your cleats up getting you a red card, especially when you are endangering another player.

Yeah, he completely missed it, went "over" the height of the ball had it been there, and just crushed Holden. I guarantee if an American made that tackle he would have been red carded and very likely would have been suspended. Also, there was the dive he made at the Dutch 18 after Beasley rounded him with no defenders between him and Sheklenberg (or whatever it is). The ref was right there both times and screwed it both of them. And in De Jong's own words:

"Such offences are part of football," he said on the Netherlands website.

"I went for the ball and got the opponent at the end.

"I had no evil intent. If the ball is between me and the opponent, you have to go in full. If you do not then the opponent takes you.

"And if you're scared in a game you get injured yourself."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 549209.stm

De Rossi McBride WC 06
De Jong Holden Friendly 10
Who else has a last name that starts with "de"?

[EPJr]

FRIENDLY IN SOUTH AFRICA

U.S. VS. Australia on June 5

CHICAGO — The United States will take on Australia in Roodepoort, South Africa on June 5, one week before playing its first match of the World Cup.

Kickoff at Ruimsig Stadium in suburban Johannesburg is set for 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Fans can also follow along live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/usa ... e_id=22902

[EPJr]

U.S. Men vs. Brazil
New Meadowlands Stadium; E. Rutherford, N.J.
Aug. 10, 2010 @ 8 p.m. ET
Live on ESPN2 and Univision

[EPJr]

Altidore and Gonzalez replace Marshall and Jones on the USA roster for Brazil friendly

A day after releasing the roster for next Tuesday's friendly against Brazil, the U.S. national team made two personnel changes: Omar Gonzalez will replace fellow center back Chad Marshall and forward Jozy Altidore will step in for midfielder Jermaine Jones.

After weekend matches for many players, the 18-man squad will begin gathering in New Jersey on Sunday and hold its only full training session Monday ahead of the match at the new Meadowlands stadium Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Univision).

Jones, who missed last season with Bundesliga club Schalke because of a shin injury, initially accepted the U.S. invitation. However, he and his club didn't think that he would be fully fit for what would likely have been his U.S. debut. The USSF said that Jones will "remain with FC Schalke to prepare for his first competitive matches in more than a year."

"I would like to thank Bob Bradley and the U.S. federation greatly for my first official invitation," Jones said in a prepared statement. "It is an honor that I have been working towards for over a year, and while I initially felt like I was ready to make my first appearance, it is also extremely important to me that I am 100 percent fit for my first national team game and that I make a good impression on the manager and my teammates. I hope to receive another invitation and finally fulfill my goal of playing with the U.S. national team in the very near future."

[EPJr]

[EPJr]

Brazil named their roster for the friendly against the US

Goalkeepers:
Jefferson (Botafogo), Renan (Avai), Victor (Gremio)

Defenders:
Andre Santos (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Daniel Alves (Barcelona, Spain), David Luiz (Benfica, Portugal), Henrique (Racing Santander, Spain), Marcelo (Real Madrid, Spain), Rafael da Silva (Manchester United, England), Rever (Atletico Mineiro), Thiago Silva (AC Milan, Italy)

Midfielders:
Carlos Eduardo (Hoffenheim, Germany), Ederson (Lyon, France), Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Jucilei (Corinthians), Lucas Leiva (Liverpool, England), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Ramires (Benfica, Portugal), Sandro (Internacional)

Forwards:
Andre (Santos), Neymar (Santos), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan, Italy), Robinho (Santos), Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro)

Lots of kids on the roster, but still serious competition for the US.

[UNHWildCats]

US loses 2-0

[Big Sam]

US loses 2-0

'dey done lost up? damn bobolitionists......dey be gone free Big Sam!

[EPJr]

U.S. set to face Poland in Chicago


The U.S. men will play Poland in an exhibition game Oct. 9 at Soldier Field.

The United States has won seven of its 16 matches against Poland, including three of the last four. The last time the teams met in the United States was in 2004, also in Chicago, when the Americans got an equalizer from Carlos Bocanegra in the 88th minute.

"We know this is an important opportunity for Poland as they prepare for the 2012 European Championship, so we expect a challenging game," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "Chicago has a fantastic tradition of supporting soccer and the U.S. national team, and with the large Polish community in the area it should make for an exciting atmosphere."

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/ ... in-chicago" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[EPJr]

In the span of six days, Philadelphia fans will get the chance to watch the best American soccer players, men or women, at PPL Park.

The US Soccer Federation and the Philadelphia Union announced on Monday that the newest MLS stadium, which opened in June, will host a US Men’s National Team friendly against Colombia on Tuesday, Oct. 12 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and Galavisión).

The match will come less than a week after the US Women’s National Team hosts China in preparation for World Cup qualifying on Wed., Oct. 6.

It will be the second USMNT match in Philadelphia in less than five months. Bob Bradley’s men previously beat Turkey 2-1 in their final send-off match before the 2010 World Cup on May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field.

[S F State Gaters]

Brian Ching scored a diving header in the 75th minute and Sacha Kljestan got the go-ahead goal in the second minute of stoppage time Wednesday night in a 2-1 friendly victory over 71st-ranked El Salvador.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=289058&cc=5901

Ching is my favorite player for the US side, i was really ticked when he wasn't named to the World Cup team.

[EPJr]

Just five months after reaching the round of 16 in the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa, the US National Team will be returning to the country that hosted their thrilling, heart-stopping displays.

Bob Bradley & Co. will play South Africa’s national team on Nov. 17 at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town as part of the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Galavisión at a time yet to be determined.

“We are honored to once again be invited to participate in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup,” said Bradley in a statement. “The experiences in South Africa the past three years were a critical component of our team preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and we will use this opportunity as part of the process of building for the next four year cycle.”

Fans will recall Green Point Stadium as the venue that housed Germany's 4-0 bashing of Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals, and the exciting semifinal match between Netherlands (3) and Uruguay (2).

The match, the US’ 11th on South African soil, will mark the Yanks’ second participation in the Nelson Mandela Challenge. The Americans defeated the Bafana Bafana three years ago with a long-range goal from Steve Cherundolo.

The two sides also met in Washington D.C. on June 3, 2000, with Cobi Jones leading the US’ 4-0 victory with a brace

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/u ... ica-nov-17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[EPJr]

Aston Villa defender Eric Lichaj and Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones were selected Thursday for the 20-man roster for the United States' exhibitions against Poland and Colombia next month and could make their national team debuts.

The roster:
Goalkeepers:
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England)

Defenders:
Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne, France), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa, England), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland, Denmark), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders:
Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jermaine Jones (Schalke, Germany), Brek Shea (Dallas)

Forwards:
Jozy Altidore (Villarreal, Spain), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England).

[EPJr]

Rookies Agudelo, Bunbury and Ream get US calls

Trio among nine MLSers to travel to South Africa for friendly

With most of his first-teamers busy with European club duty or Major League Soccer playoffs, Bob Bradley was expected to call a young group of players to compete against South Africa in a friendly on Nov. 17 in Cape Town (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2/Galavision)

Bradley, known for his unpredictable selections, surprised again, calling an even less experienced collection than anticipated.

Six players, including New York Red Bulls' Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo and Kansas City Wizards Teal Bunbury, will have a chance to earn their first cap.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/r ... t-us-calls" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


FULL ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Dom Cervi (Celtic, Scotland).

Defenders: Nat Borchers (Real Salt Lake), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa, England), Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway/Brondby, Denmark), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England), Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres, Mexico), Tim Ream (New York), Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami/Braga, Portugal).

Midfielders: Brian Carroll (Columbus), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek, Norway), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Logan Pause (Chicago).

Forwards: Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City). Juan Agudelo (New York).

[Skjellyfetti]

I'm a very casual soccer fan... so don't laugh at this question.... but, what ever happened to Freddy Adu?

[Grizalltheway]

I'm a very casual soccer fan... so don't laugh at this question.... but, what ever happened to Freddy Adu?

Currently plays for the Greek club Aris.

[DukeJack]

I'm a very casual soccer fan... so don't laugh at this question.... but, what ever happened to Freddy Adu?

Currently plays for the Greek club Aris.

"plays" for Aris, oh this is gonna be fun. I have hated this one-trick pony ever since he got "drafted" by DC United. He's all flash with some nice moves that worked on other teenagers but not once he got put against men. I'll just summarize his career, you can pick out where he fell apart.

MLS forced DC United to draft him at 14, in was contingent on him signing with the league. Thought he could run the CAM spot as a kid against adults, but DC used him as a reserve wide player. We traded him to Salt Lake three years later because they stupidly thought he could run their midfield.

A year later he was signed by Portuguese giants Benfica and actually had a pretty good run for a while - something like 4 goals in 5 games as a late sub. Fans were happy, but the team wasn't doing so good and so they canned the coach. The team had three coaches that season and the last two had no plans for Adu and so he sat.

They loaned him out to French club Monaco, whose American president tried to pick up a couple of Americans, I think Michael Bradley was the other one. The coach never wanted him and basically only let him sub on when the team hit a major injury stretch and had to call up a bunch of reserves.

At the end of the year, Benfica loaned him back out to another Portuguese team, Belenenses (sp?). Same thing, coach didn't want him and didn't play him. A year ago Benfica loaned him out again to Aris for 1.5 years. Their coach actually decided he could use Freddy and had him playing quite a bit in the second half of the season as winger. To start this year, Aris decided they didn't want him back and basically didn't allow him on their training grounds, like Benfica did a couple years ago.

Basically, everything that's come out is that he's too much of a party boy and would rather go to a titty bar than train and when he is at practice he goofs off throughout. Lazy player who's all flash, has no desire to track back on defense (contrast with Donovan - his main competition on the US), makes bad decisions off the ball, ie poor runs, and generally gives up once he loses the ball - check his youtube "highlight" videos 99% of clips cut off immediately before he loses it, just awful.

He didn't play any club ball for basically two years

[EPJr]

17 year old Juan Agudelo of the New York Red Bulls scores

USA 1:0 South Africa

[EPJr]

B]USA to host Paraguay, Argentina in March[/B]

Bob Bradley's team will play matches in New Jersey, Tennessee

he United States national team will face stiff competition as it prepares for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup during the FIFA international fixture window in March. The Stars-and-Stripes will play Argentina on March 26 at the New Meadowlands Stadium, followed three days later by a match against Paraguay in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Argentina continues to be one of the most talented teams in the world, and we are excited to have the opportunity to compete against them," US head coach Bob Bradley said in a statement. "When you talk about the best players around the globe, the Argentines certainly contribute a lot of names to that list.

"Paraguay showed during the World Cup that they are a creative and organized team capable of being very dangerous in the attack. Both of these matches give us a chance to continue to raise the bar for our team, and it will also be a great part of our preparation for the Gold Cup."

The American manager will call his first team for the pair of matches, although the squad will feature a few different faces compared to the roster for the 2010 World Cup.

Bradley was at the helm the last time the US battled Argentina in 2008. The match was also held in East Rutherford, N.J. and ended in a scoreless tie, the first in the all-time series that favors the South American side (6-2-1). The two-time World Cup champions are currenty ranked fifth in the world.

The Americans last played Paraguay -- ranked 24th -- during the 2007 Copa America. Benny Feilhaber, Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan started in the 3-1 defeat.

The US plays another South American side -- Marcelo Bielsa's Chile -- on Jan. 22 and travels to Cairo to take on Egypt on Feb. 9.

Noah Davis covers the United States national team for MLSsoccer.com. Follow him on Twitter at @noahedavis.

[EPJr]

Preview: Young US side faces Chile at HDC
While defenders vie for spots, McCarty also one to watch


The Basics
United States vs. Chile in an international friendly on Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

TV
TeleFutura and ESPN3.com (10 pm ET)

Overview
The United States national team begins the 2011 campaign with a match against Chile, but both the Stars and Stripes and their South American counterparts will feature squads lacking in first-team talent. Only forward Esteban Paredes joined coach Marcelo Bielsa at the World Cup, while Bob Bradley one-upped his fellow coach by not calling a single member of the 23-man roster that traveled to South Africa. This is a match about both countries' youth movements.

As a result, the result doesn't really matter. Both managers would enjoy a victory, but the focus is on individual performances. Bradley wants to see how his inexperienced squad rises to the occasion after a 17-day training camp.

"This whole camp starts with trying to build things on a foundation of certain ideas," Bradley said Thursday. "That foundation is still getting [the players] to understand a little bit more what happens technically, tactically when the games get faster. So a lot of the general stuff that happens during training helps that and then as we get closer we try to create some situations in training where it's tighter, it's faster and they start to understand what the game might be like."

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/p ... -chile-hdc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[EPJr]

Young US side rallies to draw Chile 1-1 at HDC

Bunbury converts PK to force result; seven get USMNT debuts

CARSON, Calif. – A young United States side showed pluck, guile and determination in coming back to draw 1-1 with Chile in front of 18,580 fans at the Home Depot Center in Saturday night's friendly.

The equally green Chileans opened the scoring early in the second half before Teal Bunbury provided the American strike, converting from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute after Juan Agudelo was taken down in the box.

Seven MLS-based Americans – Eric Alexander, Sean Franklin, Jeff Larentowicz, Zach Loyd, Sean Johnson, Chris Wondolowski and Anthony Wallace – earned their first senior-team caps, marking 12 debutants in the US' last two games.

After a sloppy opening from both sides, the US began to dominate possession. Dax McCarty and Wondolowski both struck shots from distance in the opening quarter-hour, but Chilean goalkeeper Paulo Garcés punched the first one over the bar and smothered the latter attempt for the 2010 Golden Boot winter.

In the 17th minute, Francisco Silva brought down Brek Shea after the FC Dallas winger won a footrace. The Universidad Católica star earned a yellow card from Mexican referee Francisco Chacón Gutiérrez. Loyd returned the favor, drawing a caution six minutes later for a late challenge on Silva in the midfield.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/y ... le-1-1-hdc

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