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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Clint Dempsey Scores His First Goal At White Hart Lane For Tottenham, In Their 3-1 Win Vs. Reading

Predictably, it's been a big adjustment for American midfielder Clint Dempsey as he went from being Fulham's top star in 2011-12 to a part-time starter, part-time substitute for Tottenham. Through 15 games for his new club, I think that he is starting to figure out his role for the third-place team in the English Premier League.

This afternoon, Dempsey rung in the New Year with his third goal of the season for Spurs in a 3-1 win vs. Reading. It was Dempsey's first goal at White Hart Lane-their home field. In 15 appearances, he has three goals and three assists. He came on as a substitute in the 75th minute and scored the third goal for Spurs (that made it 3-1) in the 79th minute.



The goal is far from a classic by Dempsey since it took a deflection off a Reading defender's foot. However, you have to note that he must still have plenty of confidence to even attempt an audacious shot like that.

Up next for Tottenham, they host Coventry on Saturday (10 a.m. ET) in an FA Cup match. Their next EPL opponent is at Queens Park Rangers on January 14 (3 p.m. ET).

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Brad Friedel Is My Hero, Now And Forever

He might not be the starting goalkeeper anymore but American Brad Friedel is obviously doing something right at his current club-Tottenham. Today, he signed a new contract extension through the 2013-14 season with the English Premier League power.

If you're keeping track at home, Friedel is 41-years-old (!). He's been at Tottenham since June 2011 but he lost his starting spot in October to Hugo Lloris. Tottenham blanked Aston Villa 4-0 this afternoon but Friedel sat on the bench the entire time. His last start was on December 6, a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos in a Europa League match. Friedel's last EPL match was November 11, a 2-1 loss at Manchester City.

The funny part is that Friedel hasn't played for the U.S. men's national team for years, despite the fact that he would still be the best backup goalkeeper behind Tim Howard. In his career, he has 82 CAPs for the U.S. He has progressed from the Columbus Crew (MLS) to Galatasaray (Turkey) and Brondby (Denmark) before moving to England in 1997 to play for Liverpool. He was at Blackburn for eight years and Aston Villa for three years before becoming a Toffee.

I have no idea if he would be interested in coaching after he retires but U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann should definitely look into it. What a great resource Friedel would be for young American goalkeepers to have around. It might be a romantic notion on my part but I'd love to see Friedel get to one more World Cup with the U.S. as a third goalkeeper or something. I'd say that at this point, he's more than earned that courtesy and curtain call on his professional career (even though he retired from international soccer a while back).

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For Tom Sermanni's Debut, U.S. Women Will Play Two Games Against Scotland In February

I'm not sure if it's just a happy coincidence or that they planned it that way but for Tom Sermanni's first two games as the U.S. women's national team's head coach, he'll face the county of his birth: Scotland. You know that the U.S. will probably take on Australia (his previous team) at some point in the next year too if I had to guess.

They also represent the first matches of 2013 for the U.S. as they'll meet Scotland on Saturday, February 9 at EverBank Field (home of the Jaguars) in Jacksonville, Florida followed by Wednesday, February 13 at LP Field (home of the Titans) in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be the fourth time overall that the U.S. women have played in Tennessee and first time since 2004 (Canada). The game in Jacksonville begins at 5 p.m. and the broadcasting information for both matches will come out at a later time.

The U.S. has only faced Scotland once before, an 8-2 win by the Americans in September 2002 that included a hat trick by Abby Wambach (first of her career) and Mia Hamm (last of her career). Speaking of Wambach and Hamm, Abby is only six goals shy of Mia's record for most goals in the history of international soccer (158).

You can expect a similar scoreline this time around since the U.S. is the top team in the world while Scotland couldn't qualify for the 2012 European Championships-they fell to Spain in a two-game playoff. The Americans finished 28-1-3 in a wildly successful 2012 that included a gold medal at the London Olympics and simultaneously revenge against Japan who had beaten them at the 2011 World Cup.

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Michael Parkhurst's European Adventure Continues

Michael Parkhurst's whole professional career has been about beating the odds so it only makes sense that his good fortune continues to this day. This morning, the U.S. men's national team defender (15 CAPs) went on a free transfer to Augsburg (Germany) from FC Nordsjaelland (Denmark). He signed a three-year deal with Augsburg, which begins in January 2013 and ends in June 2015.

Coming from the smallest state in the country (Rhode Island), Parkhurst was great at Wake Forest and after being drafted by his hometown MLS team-the New England Revolution-he carved out a nice four years in Foxborough. He's spent the last four seasons in Denmark's Superliga. No disrespect to Denmark but I don't think anyone would argue that the Superliga is a superior league to Germany's Bundesliga.

For me, the Bundesliga is a very close third behind England's Premier League and Spain's La Liga. The only bad news with this move is that Augsburg is currently tied for last place in the Bundesliga with SpVgg Greuther Furth (haha who?). The last two teams in the 18-team Bundesliga get relegated and the 16th-place team has a relegation playoff with a club from the lower division.

For Parkhurst's sake (he turns 29 in January), let's hope that his first taste of Germany isn't spent on a last-place team that gets dumped out of the Bundesliga in his first season there. With a record of 1-10-6 in its first 17 matches in 2012-13, things can only get better for Augsburg.

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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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The U.S. Women Wrapped Up An Unreal 2012 (28-1-3) With 4-1 Win Vs. China

The U.S. women had an incredible 2012 so it's only fitting that their last match of the year was another one-sided beating. They rolled 4-1 over China at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. It was the 10th and final match of their Fan Tribute Tour and they went 28-1-3 in 2012.

For the second game in a row against China, Abby Wambach scored twice. Those two headers gave her 152 career international goals which moved her within six of Mia Hamm's record. Props to Wambach though for honesty as she admitted afterwards in her postgame interview on NBC Sports that Alex Morgan (assist) will probably shatter her record in no time after she retires. Her openness was refreshing, when have you ever heard a professional athlete say something like that?

Speaking of Morgan, she combined with Wambach for 55 goals this year (28 for Morgan), tying a U.S. record from 1991 with Michelle Akers and Carin Jennings. Morgan also finished with 22 assists this year, second all-time behind Hamm (23).

Sydney Leroux also set a team record, scoring her 14th goal of 2012 (all as a reserve). Megan Rapinoe had the other goal. China went down hard for the third game in a row (10-1 aggregate for the U.S.) but at least this time they got on the board-something they hadn't done before. Hen Peng cut it to 2-1 in the 45th minute after a nice move and shot into the side netting past Hope Solo.

Wambach made it 1-0 in the 18th minute after Morgan's looping cross. Rapinoe took advantage of China's goalkeeper getting caught way outside of the goal as she chipped one into the vacated net from about 40 yards out in the 36th minute. Rapinoe assisted Wambach's second powerful header, in the 64th minute. Finally, Leroux had a sparkling header of her own in the 87th minute thanks to Heather Mitts's cross.

When we next see the U.S. women-February 9 vs. Scotland in Jacksonville, Florida-Tom Sermanni will have fully taken over as the head coach. Interim head coach Jill Ellis went 5-0-2 during the tour which has to count for something.

Happy Holidays ladies, enjoy the time off. You have more than earned it after a spectacular tour and year.



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