Robbie Rogers Is Going To England, Assuming He Can Obtain A Work Permit

It looks like U.S. midfielder Robbie Rogers is headed to England to play for Leeds, a second-tier club that used to be in the English Premier League but was relegated.

The only hang up is that Rogers needs to get a British work permit (visa).

Rogers is not automatically eligible for a work permit in Britain because he has not played at least 75 percent of competitive matches for the U.S. in the last two years.
On the Leeds website, manager Simon Grayson said that "as soon as the work permit business is complete he will be an immediate part of our plans and have an opportunity with the first team.''
Grayson added that "we believe he will make an impact here.''

Rogers is 24-years-old and he was a free agent after completing the 2011 season with the Columbus Crew in MLS. He came onto the U.S. national team radar under new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and he appears to have some promise.

My dream is that one day all U.S. men's national team players will play for European club teams rather than MLS. As long as they still rely on guys that compete in MLS full-time, they will never be able to take the next step and become one of the world's consistently top national teams.

Fingers crossed that the work permit comes through for Rogers, and since he's a pro athlete and not some random dude I think it will in short order, and he can play for Leeds right away.

UPDATE 1/19: Rogers' work visa was approved today.

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U.S. vs. Mexico 2nd half live blog

No substitutions for either team at halftime.

Bradley gets out in space but he's 1 on 4 and he can't dribble through that many people (nobody can that's not named Messi or Ronaldo).

Guardado tries to cross it but he hit it a little too far and Howard gobbles it up.

Salcido called offsides during a run forward.

Damn, De La Torre is 9-0-2 so far in his stint as Mexican coach.

Marquez almost scores on a header following a corner. It hit the side netting, thrilling all the drunk and or stupid fans in the crowd.

Haha apparently Castillo had three caps for Mexico in friendlies. Is it possible to give him back? Can't imagine why they'd let a guy of his incredible ability walk away.

dos Santos is in, Mexico can relax now. That storyline is over. De La Torre didn't start him in this pointless friendly! Oh the horror!

Donovan hits a great corner to Bocanegra, his header is powerful but right at Ochoa. That was the U.S.' first shot of the game, yikes.

No surprise, the old Mexican man doing commentary thinks Torres should have a bigger role.

First U.S. sub: Agudelo in for Buddle, Brek Shea in for Jones in the 60th mionute.

Hold the phone, Shea has the third-most goals in MLS. Look out world.

With Agudelo's first touch, he at least attacks Mexico before shooting way over the Mexican goal.

2nd Mexico sub: Arellano for Peralta.

Shots are 5-2 in favor of Mexico.

Good passing sequence by Mexico but Arellano shoots wide and over.

Shea looked to win a corner but he didn't get the seemingly easy call.

Marquez is the sub for Mexico, Javier Rodriguez is in.

Never heard one before but I think John Harkes just made a joke: regarding airline travel. Not bad John, keep it up.

Bermudez in for ; Robbie Rogers in for Michael Bradley.

Agudelo got loose in the box but he couldn't hang onto the ball before going down.

Haha, Rogers ties it up in the 73rd minute as Shea feeds him a great ball across the goalmouth. All he had to do was tap it in. (1-1)

Second international goal for Rogers, first assist for Shea.

Donovan and Torres combine for another near goal. The ball was played behind Torres.

After a good run into the area, Donovan gets taken down. That was a close one, could have been given a penalty.

Haha Darke drops a Elton John "Philadelphia Freedom" reference. Well done sir.

Rogers shoots over, Agudelo started another good rush.

I honestly didn't know a thing about Shea before this match but he's impressing me. His hair is awful but to look that silly you have to be a baller. Nice move forces a good save by Ochoa.

Hey Ricardo Clark is back! Torres out, Clark in. Ok performance by Torres, he clearly had few options tonight of guys that could play with his type of skill.

Wow. Agudelo plays a great through ball to Rogers, he gets pulled down by Torrado but he only gets a yellow card. Unbelievable, fouls don't get much more dirty and intentional than that.

Three minutes of added time. Clark bungles play and shoots well wide after some nice work by Donovan. One last time, Clark plays a pass a little behind Agudelo in the box.

That's it, 1-1. Fair result; Mexico dominated for most of the match but the U.S. finally woke up with about 20 minutes left in the second half. Shea, Rogers and Agudelo provided nice sparks off the bench and showed why they deserve more time (over Buddle).

All in all a positive debut for Klinsmann and his new squad. The next match is Sept. 2 vs. Costa Rica in Carson, CA.

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Catching Up With The U.S. Men's National Team Before It Takes On Mexico

Just found a bunch of interesting tidbits about on the U.S. soccer men's national team's official blog (http://www.ussoccer.com/Social/MNT-Blog.aspx) ahead of its friendly with Mexico on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Rather than put up a bunch of short posts, I figured I would save our precious time and put them in the same place.

-Jonathan Spector signed a two-year deal last week with Birmingham City (which dropped down to the English League Championship.

Spector, 25, spent the last five seasons at West Ham and joins Birmingham on a free transfer after his contract expired this summer. A member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup team, he has 31 caps for the United States.

"I'm delighted to be here and to be part of this club," Spector told Birmingham City's official website. "It's a big club and I've heard a lot of great things about the manager Chris Hughton."
"I'm looking forward to start training and getting with the team as soon as possible. The first game is less than a week away now. So I'm trying to get myself fit and in contention."

The move makes him neighbors with U.S. teammates Brad Guzan and Eric Lichaj, who play for Birmingham-based Aston Villa.

Much like the team, this is a move in the wrong direction for Spector but it makes sense because he has struggled the last few years with both his club and country. Maybe this will be the boost he needs to find his game again.

-Klinsmann's first coaching staff
As head coach Jurgen Klinsmann mentioned in his opening press conference, he is planning on bringing in a variety of different coaches for the next few months before settling on his future staff. Here's a brief intro to the first crew:

Martin Vasquez - Vasquez re-unites with Klinsmann after serving as an assistant coach at Bayern Munich. Currently he is the head coach and Director of Soccer Operations for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 and U-18 teams of the Real Salt Lake AZ Academy. One of only two players to represent both the United States and Mexico at the international level, he was the head coach of Chivas USA in 2010.

Thomas Dooley - A former U.S. captain and National Soccer Hall of Fame member who played in two World Cups and competed against Klinsmann in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, the German-American had a long professional career that included a Bundesliga and German Cup title with Kaiserslautern and a UEFA Cup title with Schalke 04. A member of the MLS Best XI as part of the Columbus Crew in 1997 and 1998, he went on to coach FC Saarbrucken in Germany before returning to the United States where he was part of the coaching staff for Pateadores that just captured the 2011 Development Academy U-17/18 championship.

Tab Ramos - Born in Uruguay, the legendary midfielder for the U.S. National Team played in three World Cups en route to earning 81 caps for the United States. Known for his flair and creativity on the ball, the Hall of Famer played professionally in Spain and Mexico before becoming the first ever signing for Major League Soccer, where he spent six seasons with the MetroStars in New York. Ramos founded NJSA 04, a club which is a member of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

Mike Curry - A goalkeeper coach with more than 37 years experience, Curry has trained goalkeepers at the club, state and college levels since 1974. A member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Goalkeeper Institute staff, he teaches courses at the regional and national levels and spent eight years with U.S. Soccer Development Academy club FC DELCO. Prior to his coaching career, he played collegiately at then Division II powerhouse University of Baltimore.

Mark Verstegen - One of the foremost leaders and innovators in athletic training, Mark Verstegen is owner and president of Athletes' Performance, which provides athletes with cutting-edge training based on the latest sports science. Vestergen handled the fitness preparations for the German National Team prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in which Klinsmann led the team to a third-place finish. Named the Director of Performance for the NFLPA in 2002, he is the author of Core Performance, which reached the top 25 on Amazon within six weeks of its release and has sold more than 100,000 copies.

That looks like a good mix of former star players and experienced coaches for Klinsmann's first U.S. match.

-Mexico's 20-man roster for Wednesday night
MEXICO ROSTER BY POSITION:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)
DEFENDERS (7): Paul Aguilar (Club America), Efrain Juarez (Celtic), Rafael Marquez (New York Red Bulls), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres UANL), Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Stuttgart), Carlos Salcido (Fulham)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Javier Aquino (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Giovani dos Santos (Tottenham Hotspur), Andres Guardado (Deportivo La Coruña), Antonio Naelson Sinha (Toluca), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Jesus Zavala (Monterrey)
FORWARDS (4): Omar Arellano (Chivas de Guadalajara), Pablo Barrera (West Ham United), Christian Bermudez (Atlante), Oribe Peralta (Santos)

You'll notice that Javier Hernandez aka Chicarito is missing from that list. The Manchester United star is out with an injury but other than him, Mexico will field the exact same roster that beat the U.S. 4-2 in the Gold Cup final in June. Barrera, Guardado and dos Santos had the goals for Mexico in that win.

-Chandler and Edu out, Rogers in
Timmy Chandler will stay with his German club (FC Nurnberg) rather than make the long trek to Philly. Maurice Edu picked up a left calf strain in a match for his club (Rangers) against Chelsea on Saturday so Columbus Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers will take his place.

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