U.S. Men Complete 3 For 3 Run, Jozy Altidore Scores In 4th Straight Match

It lacked the excitement of their improbable 2-1 win at Jamaica from a few weeks ago or the incredible crowd in Seattle for the 2-0 win over Panama last week but tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, the U.S. men's national team got three more vital points thanks to a 1-0 win over Honduras. This put them in real good shape to come in first place in the hexagonal to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Jozy Altidore had the goal on a one-timer in the 71st minute after a cross by Fabian Johnson and Tim Howard earned the clean sheet despite a very quiet night in the goal. Altidore now has scored in four straight matches, tying a U.S. record held by five other guys: William Looby, Eric Wynalda, Brian McBride, Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan (twice).



The Americans have won their last four matches including three World Cup qualifiers in a row. The U.S. leads the hexagonal standings after six matches with 13 points, Costa Rica (11), Mexico (8), Honduras (7), Panama (6) and Jamaica (2) round out the rest of the group.

This was the perfect way to begin the summer since the top players can get some rest before younger guys or washed up former stars (Donovan) start training in July for the Gold Cup. The U.S. opens up with Guatemala on July 5 in San Diego; they meet Belize on July 9 in Portland, Oregon; they are back in Sandy, Utah on July 13 to play Belize and finally they take on Costa Rica July 16 in Hartford, CT.

They have four more hexagonal matches left: two in September, at Costa Rica (Sept. 6) and hosting Mexico (Sept. 10) in Columbus, Ohio. Things will be sorted out in October as the U.S. hosts Jamaica (Oct. 11) in Kansas City then travels to Panama (Oct. 15).

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U.S. Men Beat Panama 2-0 To Grab First Place In Hexagonal Standings

As far as I'm concerned, beating Panama (a country of 3.5 million people that has never made the World Cup) is hardly notable except for the fact that the U.S. men's national team handed them a 2-0 defeat tonight in a World Cup qualifier at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.



Coming off Friday's improbable 2-1 win at Jamaica in stoppage time, the U.S. had confidence and it showed since they dominated Panama for most of the match. They were rewarded with three points and first place in the hexagonal standings halfway through the final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Tim Howard only had to make two saves, one difficult shot in stoppage time, for his 26th career clean sheet. Both American goals were top notch as Jozy Altidore scored for the third straight game (something he's never done for the national team) in the 36th minute and Seattle Sounder Eddie Johnson thrilled his awesome home fans with a goal in the 53rd minute.

Old man DeMarcus Beasley was busy, he hit the post in the 60th minute after a remarkable run that was straight out of 2002. Unfortunately, he picked up a yellow card in stoppage time (he was already carrying one) so he'll miss the next U.S. match.

Many trusted American soccer writers felt that Michael Bradley was the man of the match and it was hard to argue after he controlled the midfield, made wonderful passes and won every 50/50 ball. Bradley started the sequence on Altidore's goal as he sent it down the wing to Fabian Johnson who one-touch crossed it across Panama's goalmouth. Altidore finished it perfectly.

Johnson's goal was assisted by Geoff Cameron, who also had an excellent performance and found Johnson with a long aerial pass. Johnson did the rest with a cool shot around Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.



The U.S. (3-1-1) will go for its third World Cup qualifying win in a row next Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium against Honduras (2-2-1).

UPDATE 6/15: Midfielder Kyle Beckerman was added to the U.S. roster for the match vs. Honduras.

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U.S. Men Get Ready For A Busy Couple Weeks, Calling 26 Players Into Training Camp

I have been slacking lately with this blog but things should be picking up in the next month. The U.S. men's national team has a pair of top-notch friendlies stateside (vs. Belgium and Germany) before they get back to 2014 World Cup qualifying against Jamaica, Panama and Honduras. In anticipation of those matches, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann today named his 26-man roster that's coming to training camp in Cleveland starting on May 26.

U.S. ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (6) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8) : DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg)
MIDFIELDERS (10) : Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5) : Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

For me, the most notable parts of the roster are Holden who hasn't played for the U.S. since October 2010 because of various injuries. Also, Howard and Johnson are back after they missed the last qualifiers-in March. Of course the biggest name not to be on here is Landon Donovan although reports earlier in the week indicated this would be the case. Defenders Steve Cherundolo and Timmy Chandler are both still out like in March as they rehab from knee injuries.

The friendlies start on May 29 as the Americans host Belgium at First Energy Stadium. After that, they'll play Germany on June 2 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC. Things get real on June 7 as the U.S. visits Jamaica in Kingston then they return home to face Panama on June 11 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. This very busy stretch wraps up on June 18 with the U.S. taking a trip to Rio Tinto Stadium in Honduras.

“We are very excited about the group we have put together,” said Klinsmann in a press release. “The players understand more how we’re working, what we’re looking for, the way we want to play and the way we want to challenge big nations eye-to-eye. As we go into this stretch of two friendly games against Belgium and Germany and three big World Cup Qualifiers, we want to see more consistent performances. There is a huge opportunity to pick up a lot of points and put ourselves in a good position to qualify for Brazil.”

Michael Bradley will compete in the Coppa Italia Final on May 26 in Rome against Lazio.

Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona have continued the historic run with Club Tijuana in the 2013 Copa Libertadores, advancing to the quarterfinals to face Atletico Mineiro on May 22 and May 29.

Sean Johnson (May 26-30), Bill Hamid (May 30-June 2), Tally Hall (June 2-June 8) and Nick Rimando (June 9-19) will all rotate through camp at different stages and serve as the third goalkeeper.

Eight players are carrying yellow cards into the next World Cup qualifiers: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Matt Besler, Brad Davis, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Fabian Johnson and Graham Zusi. Their next caution will result in a one-match suspension.

I'm looking forward to all these matches since it's rare that they get to play such quality European squads. The World Cup qualifiers are their own animal and it will be exciting to get back into that emotional grind.

UPDATE 5/21: Midfielder Brad Davis was added to the training camp roster.

UPDATE 5/23: Houston Dynamo defender Corey Ashe was added to the training camp roster for the U.S.

UPDATE 5/28: Edu, Shea and Ashe are all out with injuries that will force them to miss this week's friendlies and the World Cup qualifiers in June.

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U.S. Men Survive In Mexico To Get What They Need: A 0-0 Draw

Tonight's game at Estadio Azteca had many things that I hate about soccer (no goals, few scoring chances, tons of fouls, plenty of diving) that won't help it appeal to new audiences but I certainly can't complain about the final result: the U.S. men's national team tied Mexico 0-0. Coupled with Friday's 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the blizzard in Denver, four points in two matches is exactly what the Americans needed.

It was only the second time that the U.S. has earned a point in Mexico during World Cup qualifying, the last time was another scoreless draw on Nov. 2, 1997. The draw in the USA’s third of 10 matches in the final round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying moved the Americans to 1-1-1 (4 points) in the Hexagonal and into a three-way tie for second place with Honduras and Costa Rica behind Panama (1-0-2, 5 points) at the top of the table. Mexico (0-0-3, 3 points) is in fifth place and Jamaica (0-1-2, 2 points) sits in sixth. The top three finishers qualify directly to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In other results tonight Panama blanked Honduras 2-0 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City and Costa Rica moved up from last place with a 2-0 victory against Jamaica at Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Mexico outshot the U.S. 17-1 and had 13 more corner kicks (15-2) as the Americans played in an Italian style defensive shell that for once, I totally understood and agreed with. Backup goalkeeper Brad Guzan picked up his second straight clean sheet with a few solid saves but truthfully, Mexico wasted all their chances including headers that somehow went over the net or wide from a few yards away.

Center backs Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler along with fullbacks Geoff Cameron and DeMarcus Beasley were the real stars as they did their best to stay composed despite the fact that they had to play defense basically the entire match. I can't remember one decent U.S. chance that didn't come off a set piece or corner kick.

Their next 2014 World Cup qualifying games are June 7 in Jamaica and then June 11 vs. Panama in Seattle. Hopefully by then, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra (maybe?), Steve Cherundolo, Timmy Chandler, Fabian Johnson etc. are in form, healthy and in the lineup or at least on the U.S. bench. There are only so many games like this where you can get a result with the MLS All-Star team. Before that, Jurgen Kliinsmann's squad hosts two quality European teams: Belgium on May 29 in Cleveland and his home country-Germany-on June 2 in Washington DC.

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World Cup 2014 Qualifying: U.S. Men's Soccer vs. Honduras Live Blog

The U.S. starting 11: Howard; Chandler, Gonzalez, Cameron, F. Johnson; Williams, Jones, Bradley, E. Johnson; Dempsey, Altidore

Honduras' starting 11: Valladares; Peralta, Bernardez, Figueroa, Garcia; Boniek, Espinoza, Garrido, Martinez; Bengtson, Costly

This might be the first U.S. men's national team game that the legendary Ray Hudson has commentated for. Exciting for hardcore soccer fans. Former U.S. star Cobi Jones also joins him and

1st minute-Great news already, with Chandler starting that means that now he's CAP tied and a U.S. player (not German) from here on out.

4th minute-Chandler gets burned by Martinez who whips a low cross in. Howard bobbles it but he hangs on.

8th minute-Honduras had a 3-on-1 but they screwed it up by going offside, big break for the U.S. defense. No clue where all the guys went on that play.

15th minute-Haha Honduras' head coach is wearing jeans and a Honduras polo shirt, classy.

17th minute-4th time Honduras has been called offside already, weird.

23rd minute-Espinoza has a shot from outside the box, caught by Howard.

25th minute-the 1st U.S. corner is a good one but Eddie Johnson heads it over. Gotta put that on goal.

29th minute-that was a nice counterattack by the U.S. Eddie Johnson crossed a low ball to Altidore who one touched it barely over the net. The U.S. has picked it up after a slow start.

31st minute-Chandler clears a Honduras pass off the goal line, yikes.

33rd minute-Howard with a strong punch on a quality shot from distance.

36th minute-Jones chips it beautifully to Dempsey who runs onto it and one touches it out of the air. Exquisite goal, 1-0 U.S. 33rd career international goal for Dempsey which moves him up to sole possession of 3rd place in U.S. history.

40th minute-Honduras ties it with an even more brilliant goal. It all started with a corner kick then ended with a bicycle kick by Garcia. You'll see that on highlight reels for years. Nothing you can do about that.

Halftime: U.S. 1, Honduras 1. A fair score since both teams finished their best chance with a flourish. The U.S. would have been in much better shape with a 1-0 lead but they probably didn't deserve it anyway.

No changes for either team to start the 2nd half.

50th minute-Bradley had a chance but his weak shot was deflected out.

52nd minute-Boniek is free down the wing but he puts the shot in the side netting.

55th minute-Bengtson almost takes advantage of Cameron's miscue in the back but he shoots it over.

56th minute-Haha Honduras is offside again, wiping out a goal.

58th minute-Come on Bradley, his corner kick never even went inbounds. That is unacceptable and can't happen at this level, ever. 1st U.S. sub: Maurice Edu is on for Williams.

59th minute-2nd U.S. sub: Sacha Kljestan on for Eddie Johnson.

65th minute-Bradley laid it off for Dempsey, his shot might have been trouble but it was blocked out for a corner before it got on goal.

67th minute-last U.S. sub: Graham Zusi in for Jones. So this is it, the U.S. won't have any more guys come on.

70th minute-Figueroa flashes up for a header but he can't put it on Howard. That was a good chance if he aimed it better.

71st minute-Costly shoots wide from distance.

79th minute-lazy defending leads to a tap-in by Bengtson. Gonzalez and Cameron were the culprits leaving Howard stuck in no-man's land. 2-1 Honduras, crushing goal to allow, especially in that fashion.

84th minute-And Bengtson gets carried off on a stretcher. Haha pathetic, let the stalling tactics commence.

93rd minute-Honduras makes its first sub: Welcome in for Costly.

94th minute-That's about right, the U.S. has one last chance on a corner but Gonzalez heads it over.

Final: Honduras 2, U.S. 1. That was a crappy performance by the U.S. and a blah game as well but you felt like Honduras would find the go-ahead goal at some point if the U.S. didn't take another lead. As always, the U.S. defense is a disaster and they can't find four above average players to put together. Ugh, nothing like a heartless loss by the U.S. to ruin your day. Thanks guys! They had never lost the opener during the final round of World Cup qualifying until today so they've got that going for them.

This was the first of 10 matches (2 against 5 other teams), if the U.S. can't finish ahead of Panama and Jamaica then heaven forbid lose to New Zealand in the final playoff, well then they don't deserve to be in the World Cup. That's a long way off though and a doomsday scenario. Still, the next U.S. game: March 22 vs. Costa Rica in Denver, Colorado now becomes a must-win since the next match is at Mexico and we all know how much they struggle there. Thankfully, the Costa Rica game will be on at a better time (10 p.m. EST and a real network (ESPN). Today's game in Honduras was a B-squad presentation all-around: middle of the day and week, on an obscure network.

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Who's Pumped For U.S. Men Vs. Canada? (Crickets)

What better way to tune up for matches that actually mean something than by having the U.S. men's national team beat up on Canada for fun? The first official game of 2013 for Jurgen Klinsmann's squad was announced today as the U.S. will host Canada on January 29 at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium (where the U.S. women recently played China on Dec. 12).

Even though it is a friendly, it will be a meaningful match for the United States since the final round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup begins on February 6 vs. Honduras in San Pedro Sula.

Don't let the scoreless draw on June 3-their most recent meeting-fool you, the U.S. completely owns Canada in the last nearly three decades. The U.S. is in the midst of a 15-game unbeaten streak (8-0-7) since losing 2-0 to Canada on April 2, 1985, in Vancouver. The series record is 13-8-10 in the USA's favor, including a 10-1-8 record on their home turf.

From ussoccer.com
"The match against Canada will come at the end of an important training camp as we get players ready for the World Cup qualifier against Honduras, and also get a good look at some up and coming players in the National Team pool,” said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. "Obviously we have a great history with Canada, and they were unlucky not to qualify for the final round. The stadium in Houston is awesome and the fans have been incredibly supportive there, so for us it’s a great way to start off the centennial year of U.S. Soccer."

BBVA Compass Stadium just opened up last year and it's the home of the Houston Dynamo, the 2012 MLS Cup finalists. In their brief history there, the U.S. men's national team is unbeaten (1-0-2) in Houston, with a pair of ties against Mexico and a 1-0 victory over Panama in the 2011 Gold Cup semifinals.

The game will be at 7 p.m. ET but at the moment, the broadcast information is yet to be determined. Stay tuned for that along with who Klinsmann will call into training camp in January ahead of this match plus the World Cup qualifying matches. Needless to say that 2012 will be a pivotal year for the U.S. men's national team in terms of establishing who they are on a regional stage and eventually (we hope) the world stage.

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Official Draw Held For CONCAF's Final Round Of 2014 World Cup Qualifying

You probably weren't aware of it but tonight was a big evening for the U.S. men's national team as CONCACAF held the draw in Miami for the Final Round of 2014 World Cup qualifying.

The U.S., Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama are the six teams that will battle in a 10-game round-robin format which begins on February 6, 2013 and concludes on October 15. The top three will advance to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil while the fourth-place team faces the Oceania region winner in a two-game playoff for the last spot.

From ussoccer.com
“Usually, a team would like to have the first game at home, but if you don’t have the first game at home you make the best out of it,” said U.S. MNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. “We are looking forward to going to Honduras for the first game and then we’re going to take it one game at a time. I think it’s an exciting group and it will go all the way down to the last game to decide who is going to the World Cup. We are excited. Finally, we have our schedule and we can plan ahead like coaches want to plan, so it’s all good.”

The journey begins with a trip to Honduras on February 6. From there, the U.S. opens at home against Costa Rica on March 22 but goes back on the road for two more: at Mexico on March 26 and at Jamaica on June 7. The U.S. enjoys back-to-back home games on June 11 vs. Panama and June 18 vs. Honduras. They visit Costa Rica on September 6 and play Mexico in the U.S. on September 10. Their last game on home soil is October 11 vs. Jamaica then it ends on October 15 in Panama.

Some historical notes courtesy of ussoccer.com
The U.S. has qualified for six consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, amassing an overall record of 63-34-31 overall in World Cup Qualifying, including a record of 40-6-12 all-time in qualifiers played on American soil. Against Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Panama, the U.S. has an all-time record of 58-49-31 in all competitions.

They haven't decided the locations for the qualifiers in the United States yet so stay tuned for the details on those.

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