Oh Klinsi, nonchalantly dropping that the US will be playing Mexico in Azteca this August after today’s USMNT v U-23 scrimmage down in Carson, California late on a Friday night.  I know some people will say that this game serves no purpose, especially with the US about to start World Cup qualification and will get their shot at Azteca soon, but you could give me this game every year and I still will be giddy about it.

Speaking of that scrimmage, the USMNT won 4-0, scoring all goals in the first half.  The goal scorers were Chris Wondolowski (x2), Teal Bunbury and Graham Zusi (although some people were tweeting that the second Wondo goal was by Benny Feilhaber).  I guess the U-23s showed some good possession, but they had a 20-minute defensive lapse when all the goals came against them.  I am hoping US Soccer will put up some highlights over the weekend.  They will play one more time next week before the USMNT heads back to Phoenix.

As for that friendly against Venezuela in Phoenix, it looks like ticket sales are a bit slow, but that is not surprising for a “B” team type friendly in January.  Steven Goff also thinks the likely friendly against Brazil in May will be held at FedEx Field.

Three last USMNT camp tidbits.  Heath Pearce brings his humor to the USMNT blog to break down a typical day in camp.  Jermaine Jones has been added to the camp since he is suspended for the next eight games with nothing to do.  And here are some photos of the team doing some interesting workouts from earlier this week.

Moving to the club scene.

George John’s loan deal to West Ham has become official.  He will be there until March 1 and the Hammers have an option to buy at the end.  Manager Sam Allardyce has some words on John.

The only centerback left in the MLS trifecta after John and Omar Gonzalez is Tim Ream, but all signs point to him heading to Bolton, possibly as early as next week.  Speaking of Gonzalez, he had his surgery today and is expected to miss the next 7-9 months.

Greg Seltzer was a on roll today, giving us goodies on Maurice Edu, Edson Buddle and Kevin Burns, letting us know that Charlie Davies might play with Sochaux’s reserves this weekend and produced a bunch of numbers on goalkeepers.

So much for Brad Guzan playing more for Aston Villa as Shay Given is expected to start for Villa this weekend.

And finally, Adrian Ruelas is still hoping that he can make the Olympic squad this year.

Sorry for the beyond cheesy post title, but today made me lose my mind.  But here are some links for those of you still mourning Omar Gonzalez’s ACL.

Speaking of MLS centerbacks, the interwebs seem to indicate that Tim Ream is close to making a move to Bolton, while George John is in talks with West Ham United.

French side Sochaux keep going after Maurice Edu, but Rangers rejected their latest offer.

It looks like Frank Simek’s latest ankle injury is nothing serious as he is expected to be back this weekend when Carlisle United hosts Leyton Orient.

Brian Sciaretta is at it again and introduces us to Brian “Cobi” Span.

Former Columbus Crew midfielder Kevin Burns is headed to Europe to trial with Danish club FC Hjorring.

Anthony Brooks played the second half of a friendly with Hertha Berlin’s first team in a 3-2 win over Osnabruck yesterday.

Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson and Joe Gyau all played for Hoffenheim in some 5v5 indoor-type tournament recently, with Johnson and Gyau both scoring throughout the tournament.  Read a fun Google translate article about it here, which includes some photos.

This was an interesting read from yesterday, but ESPN.com’s Leander Schaerlaeckens talks to former USMNT player and current AZ Alkmaar technical director Earnie Stewart about his “Moneyball” approach that has produced results in the Dutch Eredivisie.

As for some various things from US Soccer.  Sean Johnson gives us a journal entry into Camp Cupcake.  The USMNT will be having an open practice to the public.  All the information about attending can be found here.  The U-20 team had an intrasquad scrimmage at their camp, which ended in a 3-3 draw.  And as I posted earlier today, Caleb Porter selected his guys for January’s U-23 camp.