2013 Gold Cup Update: Landon Donovan Is Earning His Place In The 2014 World Cup

This is coming from someone who spent money on a ticket to last week's the U.S. men's match vs. Costa Rica in East Hartford, CT: By and large the Gold Cup is pretty pointless. Yes, I have paid attention to all the U.S. games and even some that didn't have much bearing on anything but that's only because it's smack dab in the middle of the summer when the lack of choices in the sports world is dire.

I would compare the Gold Cup to preseason games in other sports, the best players either don't play at all or not as much as usual leaving the contests up to the B-squad players. You know, the has beens, never weres and never will bes. Oh and it's against mostly garbage squads from CONCACAF, many of whom don't have a prayer to beat the U.S. (hello Belize). To make my point clear, the U.S. men beat El Salvador 5-1 this afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore but probably all people will talk about is Landon Donovan's re-emergence. The U.S. advanced to the semifinals (for the seventh consecutive time) on Wednesday in Dallas, Texas against Honduras (a 1-0 winner over Costa Rica) at 7 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel. Mexico plays Panama in the other semifinal.

After his sabbatical from soccer and the U.S.' A-squad, he seems to be returning to form in MLS with the Galaxy (or so I hear) and in this tournament. I believe this makes him a lock to go to Brazil with the U.S. next summer, assuming they reach the World Cup. I also think he could find himself back in the starting 11 after this journey of self-discovery. He still isn't finishing at a very high level but he managed to put up a goal and two assists today, giving him 55 career goals and 54 career assists for the Red, White and Blue.

The funny thing is that this could have been even more of a blowout, the U.S. easily should have scored another goal or two but who can worry about such things after 4-goal victories? Goodson got forward and one-timed Donovan's cross in the 21st minute. Joe Corona, who might have the best name ever, made it 2-0 with a pretty little move then shot from the top of the box in the 29th minute.

El Salvador's only highlight came via a penalty kick in the 39th minute earned by their lone star Rodolfo Zelaya. He chipped it in slow motion down the middle to beat U.S. goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

A 2-1 halftime lead only motivated the U.S. to put their cleats on the gas more as Eddie Johnson (sporting bleach blonde hair like Sisqo or Cisse, Gus Johnson called him "Demolition Man"-Wesley Snipes movie in 90s-which hopefully catches on) came off the bench and scored seconds later in the 60th minute with a powerful header on Donovan's corner. Johnson returned the favor by finding Donovan for a breakaway in the 78th minute then Mix Diskerud completed the scoring with another header-this time from Donovan in the 84th minute.

We always root against Mexico but I am openly hoping for a U.S.-Mexico Gold Cup Final, that would be a rematch of 2007 (the last time the United States won this dinky competition). The U.S. is currently riding a nine-game win streak, the longest in the team's long history.

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Jurgen Klinsmann Calls In The Unofficial MLS All-Stars To Face Canada In Houston

If you've already made plans on January 29, don't worry about not catching the U.S. men's national team's friendly vs. Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Looking at Jurgen Klinsmann's 25-man roster that he called to training camp in California starting tomorrow, it's clear that this is a game best caught on DVR or maybe reading about online.

Of the 25 guys, 21 of them currently play in MLS which is about all you need to know. Basically, this is the JV roster (for the JV game) before the Varsity returns to face Honduras on February 6 in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. The makeshift squad will train together before leaving for Houston on January 27, the Canada match is set for a 9 p.m. ET start on ESPN2.

From ussoccer.com
“There is a tremendous amount of talent in the player pool. We follow these players very carefully, and the group coming in is the next line to challenge the players ahead of them in the National Team,” said Klinsmann. “This is absolutely a huge opportunity, and we’re looking forward to working with them. We are getting ready for the friendly against Canada, and also the big World Cup qualifier in Honduras, so these are going to be an important few weeks of preparation.”

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
DEFENDERS (9): Steven Beitashour (San Jose Earthquakes), Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Connor Lade (New York Red Bulls), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Justin Morrow (San Jose Earthquakes), Jeff Parke (Philadelphia Union)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (out of contract), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Joshua Gatt (Molde), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo), Edson Buddle (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

I'm not even joking when I tell you that I have never even heard of at least half these players. That's because I'm a soccer snob and I can't be bothered with MLS, sorry. I remember Hamid, Morales, Beckerman, Bedoya, Diskerud, Feilhaber, Gatt, Zusi, Agudelo, Buddle, Johnson and Wondolowski from previous U.S. games.

Johnson leads in goals (14) and caps (44) for this inexperienced bunch. In fact, eight of them are looking for their first cap: Beitashour, Beltran, Besler, Bruin, Hall, Lade, Morales and Morrow. Additionally, eight players on the roster are 23 and under. Agudelo, the first Development Academy alum to play for the senior team, is the youngest at 20.

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U.S. Men Escape Russia With A 2-2 Tie Thanks To Mix Diskerud's Stoppage Time Goal

I can't sit here and tell you that the U.S. men played particularly great this afternoon in Russia. Russia dominated for large portions of the international friendly and Tim Howard (6 saves) was forced to make his usual assortment of incredible saves. However, if you are a U.S. fan, you can't complain with the result: a 2-2 tie at Kuban Stadium in Krasnodar, Russia after rallying twice.

The last game in 2012 for the U.S. men was a particularly memorable one since it looked certain they would go down 2-1. That is until substitute Mix Diskerud (in his 3rd career game) scored in the 93rd minute when his shot was deflected by a Russian defender into the goal. Did I mention that it was his first international goal? Talk about wonderful timing.



In a way, all four goals were rather crazy. Russia got on the board first in the 9th minute as U.S. defender Danny Williams gave the ball away on a free kick in his own end. Russia's Fedor Smolov went in on a rush and blasted it by Howard.

The Americans didn't show much of an attack in the first half and rightfully trailed 1-0 at the break. Slowly, they turned things up a bit in the second half and were eventually rewarded in the 77th minute as Michael Bradley scored an incredible goal (his 11th for the U.S.). Substitute Juan Agudelo headed it back to Bradley, who volleyed it out of the air, off the post and in.



Carlos Bocanegra limped off in the first half with an injury and that reared its ugly head as the man who replaced him-Clarence Goodson-was called for a foul that resulted in a penalty kick. Roman Shirokov calmly converted it in the 84th minute and it looked like that would be it. The U.S.' winless streak vs. Russia (0-2-2) would continue.

Complaints of the U.S. not having some of their top players like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan should be tempered with the fact that Russia likewise was without many of its best guys. Still, this was a team that's currently ranked ninth in the world and hadn't allowed a goal so far in World Cup qualifying. Any time you can earn a win or tie in Europe, against a quality opponent, you have to be content.

Jurgen Klinsmann's team finished with 9-2-3 record in 2012 and a .750 winning percentage which ties for best mark in national team history. Think of it this way: they won in Italy and Mexico while gaining a tie in Russia. We get caught up in the sluggish World Cup qualifiers but it's hard to argue with those results. They get back in action on February 6, 2013 when they resume 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying with a match in Honduras as the hexagonal begins.

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Nightcap To A Spectacular Day: U.S. Under-23 Men's Team Blanks Mexico 2-0

I honestly can't remember a full day quite like this one for U.S. soccer in my lifetime. Between the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2012 announcement, the U.S. women's 5-0 triumph over Denmark at the Algrave Cup and of course, the U.S. men's 1-0 shocking upset of Italy, who could ask for anything more?

Well the U.S. Under-23 men's team aka what will be most of the Olympic team this summer, capped off this memorable leap day with a 2-0 victory over Mexico.

The friendly was played in Frisco, Texas so there was a pretty even distribution of fans. What makes the win so impressive for the Americans is that they controlled play basically from start to finish. Mexico's Under-23 team is one of the best in the world but they looked frazzled the entire match.

Mexico is the U.S.' biggest rival and at any level, I honestly can never remember a performance like that. Usually the script is the complete opposite with the U.S. men forced to stem the non-stop Mexican attack.

The U.S. scored both of its goals during a wild two-minute span in the first half. Juan Agudelo (rocking a Neymar-esque blonde mohawk) headed in a corner kick from Mix Diskerud for a 1-0 U.S. lead in 35th minute. Less than a minute later, Freddy Adu's hard shot from outside the box was tipped in by Diskerud.

American goalkeeper Bill Hamid took a queue from Hope Solo and Tim Howard before him as he also posted a clean sheet. Collectively, the U.S. teams outscored their opposition 8-0 today between the three matches.

Tonight served as a mere tuneup for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying which begins on March 22. Even though it was broadcast on Telefutura, I was able to brush up on my spanish skills while the U.S. dominated. It was beautiful.

You'll want to pay attention to this squad since it figures to contain many of the United States' brightest young stars (Adu, Diskerud, Agudelo, Hamid, Shea, Bunbury, etc.). This game should serve notice that they are worth watching and paying attention to this summer for what should be an exciting tournament in London (I'm assuming they'll get there).

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