We'll Always Remember The 2013 Gold Cup (Slight Exaggeration)

I was actually looking forward to the 2013 Gold Cup final this afternoon: U.S. men vs. Panama so shame on me for having any type of expectations that it would be a good match. Sure, I'm happy that the Americans came away with a 1-0 win at Chicago's Solider Field for their fifth Gold Cup title (first since 2007; 2nd most behind Mexico's 6) and extended their team record win streak to 11 games but I must say that it was a really dull event.

As seen above in the video clip, substitute Brek Shea scored less than a minute after he came onto the field in the 69th minute, his second international goal-both in this Gold Cup. True to this match, it was a rather ugly goal-yes they all count the same-as Landon Donovan (Golden Ball winner for the tournament) whiffed on Alejandro Bedoya's cross which it allowed Shea to sprint to the goal-line and touch it in (it was going in anyways).

The U.S. outscored its opponents 20-3 in the 2013 Gold Cup and went 6-0-0. They also tied their longest home win streak (10 games) in team history. They earned a spot in the playoff vs. 2015 Gold Cup winner for a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup. If the Americans also win in 2015 then they'll automatically qualify.

U.S. goalkeeper Nick Rimando only had to make one save for what had to be one of the easiest shutouts of his life. Eddie Johnson could have ended it with a goal in the 84th minute but somehow he put Shea's perfect cross over the crossbar from a few feet away. Oh well, the reason I don't take the Gold Cup seriously is that if you watch the World Cup next summer I'll bet that only one or two players (Donovan and Johnson or DeMarcus Beasley) will start from this B-squad team and competition.

Jurgen Klinsmann was relegated to watching this match in a press box since he was suspended one game for his bizarre outburst vs. a referee in the semifinal on Wednesday vs. Honduras. The only thing that probably bummed him out was another possible serious injury to Stuart Holden's knee. After an awkward challenge caused him to bang his knee with a player from Panama, he came out in the 23rd minute with a limp. Even worse, he was very emotional on the bench and sidelines-showing that he knew it was bad. It was reported to be a sprained knee but we'll see about that. After the match, Klinsmann admitted that it could be serious. Remember Holden missed most of two years with separate knee injuries. Ugh, seeing him hurt again made me sick. Poor guy.

The A-squad is back in action on August 14 at Bosnia-Herzegovina (2:30, ESPN2) in an interntaional friendly. 2014 World Cup qualifying starts up again in September.

UPDATE 7/30: Terrible news for Holden as he tore the ACL in his right knee during Sunday's match.

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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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Another American Will Play In The English Premier League: Tim Ream Goes To Bolton

Ironically on a day when four Americans face off in an FA Cup match pitting Everton (Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Landon Donovan) vs. Fulham (Clint Dempsey), another U.S. teammate Tim Ream officially completed his signing with Bolton.

He inked for 3.5 years with the EPL squad that is struggling to stay above relegation. Bolton is currently 17th out of 20 teams (the bottom two get relegated) over halfway through the season (22 of 38 matches played already).

The 24-year-old defender, formerly of the New York Red Bulls, had to cut short his honeymoon in Tahiti to head to England.

Ream convinced Bolton manager Owen Coyle of his worth while training in December with Bolton's squad and completed a transfer from Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls on Thursday.

"I was married for all of 24 hours when I got the phone call," Ream said. "The manager asked if I'd be willing to cancel the honeymoon and come to Bolton and honeymoon here. As much as we were disappointed that we had to pass up the trip, I think we both knew it was in our best interests. Hopefully, it shows my commitment to being here and doing well here."

Ream's wife took a little more convincing.

"I can't really repeat what she said," Ream said. "But her and I have talked, and as long as we're together in whatever we do I think both of us will be happy. She wants the best for me, and I just want her to be happy.

Ream fills the gap in Bolton's roster created by the sale of Gary Cahill to Chelsea earlier in Europe's January transfer window.

Stuart Holden, an American midfielder, is also on Bolton so Ream will have a familiar face around the training grounds and at the games.

Ream's transfer fee of $2.75 million is the highest ever for an MLS defender and sixth highest for an American player-behind Maurice Edu, Jozy Altidore, Stern John, Howard and Dempsey.

"I knew there was interest in me when I came over last year and trained for a couple of weeks, and then after Christmas time things really did start to ramp up," Ream said. "Negotiations started, and that's when I knew things were getting serious. Even before that week I aimed to challenge myself in England and, if an opportunity arose, I wanted to come over and try to make it here."

Coyle is sure Ream has what it takes to succeed in the Premier League.
"He is a U.S. international - a player that year-on-year has progressed and got better, and he will continue to do that," Coyle said. "Tim is everything that we want in the players we are bringing to the club when we spend in the transfer market. He is young, has a tremendous attitude and a winning mentality."

A finalist for the MLS Rookie of the Year award in 2010, Ream was selected to the MLS All-Star team last year and has played seven times for the U.S. national team.

"This was a hard decision for me considering the fact that I enjoyed playing for the Red Bulls and was looking forward to the upcoming MLS season," Ream said. "However, after consulting with those closest to me, I decided that this was a once in a lifetime chance that I could not pass up."

Let's cross our fingers for a couple things: Holden's health, Ream getting playing time and of course, Bolton not getting relegated. This is a great move regardless, but it definitely loses some shine if they get bounced from the EPL this spring and fall back down to the League Championship.

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Another injury for Stuart Holden

I happened to catch part of Bolton vs. Manchester United on Saturday and I couldn't have picked a worse time to pay attention for a few moments.

Bolton midfielder and U.S. men's national team budding star Stuart Holden got taken down by a nasty challenge by United's Jonny Evans. It resulted in a large gash on his knee which required 26 stitches and the bottom line is that after today's surgery, he'll be out for six months.

After breaking his leg last season in a friendly against Netherlands, Holden recovered in time to play a crucial role in South Africa for Bob Bradley and the U.S. team. Since then, he's been having a superb season with Bolton. Don't believe me and think I'm just an American honk? Listen to Bolton manager Owen Coyle.

"Stuart has been outstanding for me this season and he has shown in his performances that he is one of the best midfielders in the Barclays Premier League. He has such desire, strength of character and a winning mentality, and he will draw on all those attributes in his rehabilitation."

Holden will miss this June's Gold Cup with the U.S. team.

Holden wrote on his Twitter account: "I can promise you all I will come back stronger and better than before. Have had bad luck in the past and will continue to beat it."

Holden gets extension with Bolton

I don't really know why, maybe because of his position (midfielder) but one of the U.S.' best young players, that gets absolutely no hype is Stuart Holden.

Hopefully more American soccer fans will start to respect him and his game, today he signed a two-year extension with Bolton in the English Premier League.

It has been eight months since he made the big leap to England from the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. So I think it's safe to say he's done an adequate job so far.

The 25-year-old from Texas, who was born in Scotland, had been signed through this season. The club announced Thursday he agreed to a deal through 2012-13.

Holden initially joined Bolton in January on a short-term deal. The Netherlands' Nigel de Jong broke Holden's right leg during a March 3 exhibition against the U.S., restricting Holden to just three appearances last season, but he has started each of Bolton's six Premier League matches this season.

A member of the U.S. World Cup team, Holden says the injury "made me more determined to make an impact when I came back for preseason."

Maurice Edu is having a great time, thanks for asking

As soon as I published the last post, the US made me look like a fool as Maurice Edu scored in the 17th minute.

Stuart Holden had a free kick to the side of the box and he served it into the box where Czech goalkeeper Peter Cech whiffed on it. Edson Buddle stuck his nose in traffic and hit it along while Edu was able to throw himself at the ball and put it in the vacated net.

1-0 US.

Holden is back, just in time

Stuart Holden is not a familiar name to most soccer fans outside America but he could be a big part of what the U.S. does both this summer in South Africa and in the next few World Cups.

A midfielder, who successfully made the jump from the MLS (Houston Dynamo) to the EPL (Bolton), Holden was just starting to make a name for himself with the U.S. team when he broke his right leg in the friendly against Holland on March 3.

The good news is that he's back, coming on as a substitute for Bolton in its last game of the season on Sunday: a 2-0 win over Birmingham.

"Felt really good to get back on the field today and a great way to end the season!!" Holden wrote on his Twitter account.

Holden left Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo to sign with Bolton last winter and started two matches before breaking his right leg playing for the United States in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands on March 3.

The U.S. national team starts pre-World Cup workouts May 17 at Princeton, N.J.

Stuart Holden makes his Bolton debut

Lost amidst the US-El Salvador game and the Champions League action of the last couple days, U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden made his debut last night for Bolton in their 4-0 loss to Tottenham in a fifth-round replay FA Cup match.

Holden was in the starting 11, one of five midfielders in Bolton's peculiar 4-5-1 formation. It was clearly a tough result but the good news is that he played all 90 minutes so his fitness must be at a decent level ahead of a likely World Cup roster spot.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=289035&cc=5901

Holden joined Bolton in January after playing with the Houston Dynamo of the MLS. He previously had a brief stint in England with Sunderland but that was cut short after getting injured in a bar fight in Newcastle. Happens to the best of us, right?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/746348/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us