Jurgen Klinsmann will announce his roster for the upcoming camp/friendlies/qualifiers on Thursday. He is going to name about 27 players, which is slightly more than usual, due to seven players sitting on yellow cards and late arrivals into camp.
One player who is rumored to be missing from this roster is Landon Donovan. If Landon does not get called in, you would have to think he would be called in with the guys for the Gold Cup.
Speaking of that Gold Cup roster, it looks like they will have their own friendly against Guatemala down in San Diego before the tournament begins on July 9. But US Soccer has not officially announced anything yet.
We told you about the Gold Cup getting a new trophy last week. Well, here it is and it sort of looks like the old trophy.
With all these different USMNT rosters, Brian Sciaretta takes a guess at both rosters.
Jozy Altidore was named to the De Telegraaf Eredivisie Team of the Season. And here are two photos of Jozy holding the Dutch Cup after last week’s victory: Photo 1 & Photo 2.
Carlos Bocanegra is looking forward to returning to Rangers next season, although Bocanegra’s agent tells Greg Seltzer that there is some MLS interest.
There was a Sky Sports story that we posted last week about Bursaspor trying to obtain Maurice Edu from Stoke City on a permanent basis and multiple people are telling Greg Seltzer the same.
If Edu does return to Stoke City next season, he along with Brek Shea and Geoff Cameron will look like they play for the Columbus Crew in away games in their new black-and-yellow kits for 2013-14.
Remember when Freddy Adu’s manager at Bahia was fired a week after he joined the club and there was some crazy stat about the club going through 20-25+ managerial changes over the previous 10 years? Well, Bahia fired another manager.
As expected, Steve Cherundolo will be getting a new one-year extension at Hannover 96.
After being released by Carlisle United, Frank Simek is currently on trial with D.C. United even though he would still need to go through the allocation rankings since he has played for the USMNT before. Yay weird MLS rules!
Even with the broken leg, Will Packwood has agreed to a one-year extension with Birmingham City.
The LA Times has a new story up about Bob Bradley.
Brian Sciaretta talked to Alejandro Bedoya recently about his good start to the season and his big summer ahead.
Mix Diskerud talked to Goal.com this week about his future with the USMNT and his failed move to Portland.
Tijuana defeated Palmeiras 2-1 last night meaning they will advance to the quarterfinals of Copa Libertadores. Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona both got the start in the win and they will now take on Brazilian side Atlético Mineiro.
Alex Kurial of Yanks Abroad has a story up on how Americans Shane Recklet and Jacob Wilson are trying to help Vasas SC back to the top level of soccer in Hungary.
And go take a look at our cool new Sacha/Over There shirt. They will go up for sale next week.
The big news from yesterday, which Howie already posted, is that Stuart Holden is back in the USMNT picture. Holden also did an interview with Lion of Vienna Suite this week where he states that he feels 100%.
Steven Goff gives us the latest USMNT ticket sales update. I really need to stop playing around and pull the trigger on a trip up to Seattle in June.
Jurgen Klinsmann doesn’t appear to be happy about Brek Shea’s lack of playing time at Stoke City.
Sky Sports is reporting that Maurice Edu might make a permanent move from Stoke City to Bursaspor, but the article really only has quotes from Edu about being happy in Turkey.
Here is a video of Geoff Cameron talking about Stoke City’s summer tour to play against Houston Dynamo.
Greg Seltzer updates us on AZ Alkmaar’s all-time single-season goals list (plus gives us some other numbers and stats). Jozy Altidore is fourth with 30 goals and has three games left to add to that tally. Kees Kist holds the top three spots with 39 goals (1981-82), 36 (1978-79) and 35 (1977-78).
Steve Cherundolo talked to US Soccer about soon becoming the fourth player in Bundesliga history to play 300 games and playing the most games in club history after his next appearance. Cherundolo is also close on a new contract with Hannover 96.
This is from last week, but this story has some quotes from Tab Ramos on the US U-20 team, including why DeAndre Yedlin didn’t make the CONCACAF U-20 Championship roster.
A player that was on the CONCACAF U-20 Championship roster, Mario Rodriguez, scored a goal for Kaiserslautern in the semifinals of the U-19 German Cup the other day.
US U-17 forward Junior Flores is headed to Germany to train with Borussia Dortmund up through their Champions League final appearance. Flores signed a pre-contract deal with Borussia Dortmund back in October and can’t sign a professional deal until he turns 18 in March of 2014.
We have another American at Club Tijuana as former LA Galaxy youth academy player Paul Arriola has signed with the Liga MX club.
Alejandro Bedoya and Helsingborgs IF were knocked out of the Svenska Cupen with a 1-0 loss to IFK Göteborg. I guess Bedoya didn’t like how Göteborg played “anti-football”.
Club Tijuana have advanced to the Round of 16 in Copa Libertadores. Some quality competition ahead for Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona and Greg Garza.
It appears that Rangers manager Ally McCoist wants Carlos Bocanegra back in Scotland next season.
Maurice Edu, who missed last weekend’s game for Bursaspor is expected to return to training this week after picking up a groin injury.
Brian Sciaretta caught up with Tyler Ruthven to talk about signing with IK Brage.
Huddersfield Town midfielder Duane Holmes has been offered a professional contract with the club.
And US U-17 head coach Richie Williams has named 20 players for the U-17′s roster for the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Panama.
Maurice Edu got the start, but had to leave in the 80th minute after picking up his second yellow card in a 2-1 loss. He received his first for a hand ball (2:43 mark) then got a second a few minutes later (3:30 mark).
Mix Diskerud is expected to sign with a clubs this week according to Brian Sciaretta.
Brian Blickenstaff spoke to Russell Canouse and Zach Pfeffer about Hoffenheim’s youth academy.
I posted Part 1 last week, but Part 2 of Will Parchman’s look at the USMNT’s failed attempt at qualifying for the 1986 World Cup is now up.
According to Grant Wahl and his sources, here are the venues for the remaining USMNT home qualifiers. If true, I might have to make a trip to Seattle in June.
Source: USSF aiming for home WCQ venues June 11 (PAN) Seattle; June 18 (HON) Salt Lake; Sept 10 (MEX) Columbus; Oct 11 (JAM) Kansas City.
Here is a quick rundown of things you might want to look at before today’s game.
» The game is at 4 PM Eastern on beIN Sport.
» US Soccer gives us all their game notes and factoids right here. The US is 12-3-3 all-time against Honduras, including a 4-1-1 record in World Cup qualifiers. And the US is 3-0-1 all-time in the first match of the Hex. As for my own little nugget: Landon Donovan has played in 22 of the last 24 USMNT Hex matches. The two he missed came in 2005 after a WC bid was already clinched.
» US Soccer’s youtube channel decided to post highlights from a bunch of US-Honduras games from the past, including a 2-1 win from March 2001, a 3-2 loss from September 2001 and a 3-2 win from October 2009.
» If you are out of the loop on Honduras’ roster, Jon Arnold does a good job breaking down their starters/roster right here. Also on the site from yesterday, it looks like the USMNT centennial jerseys have leaked. I am a fan. I am also guessing they will wear them for the rumored friendlies against Germany and Belgium in May.
» Want some more previews on the match? Here is one from Grant Wahl. He is guessing this starting lineup: Tim Howard; Timmy Chandler, Geoff Cameron, Carlos Bocanegra, Fabian Johnson; Danny Williams; Graham Zusi, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones; Clint Dempsey, Hérculez Gómez. As for my guess, I think it will be the same, but replace Zusi with Jozy Altidore and they will be playing a 4-3-3.
» Want some even more links/stories? The Shin Guardian has their official preview up. Brian Straus looks at the “passing of the torch” as Landon Donovan is not here and Timothy Chandler will become cap tied. Straus also looks at the craziness that is the road experience in the Hex.
» Really? You want more links? Noah Davis is in Honduras and talked to Geoff Cameron and Jozy Altidore on the difficulties of playing in Estadio Olimpico. Cameron also thinks that his experience in the Premier League should help him deal with the rowdy crowd in Honduras. Here are some more quotes on Chandler becoming cap tied. And Maurice Edu thinks his move to Turkey is helping him stay in the USMNT mix.
» Paul Carr and the ESPN stat gurus ran some simulations on the whole Hex and they have the US coming in at third with a 61.6 percent chance of qualifying for the World Cup. Doug McIntyre (ESPN Insider) does a roster breakdown, comparing the 2009 and 2013 teams.
» As for some non-Honduras news, it looks like FOX is grooming Gus Johnson to become their main announcer for soccer in time for the 2018 World Cup. It might sound something like this.
And finally some predictions. I am going with a 1-1 draw, while Howie is saying a 2-1 loss.
There was really nothing to take away from the US-Canada game, but here are the “highlights” for those that missed it. I would suggest just checking those out over watching the whole game if you DVR’d it.
As for some other games of note from Tuesday. Maurice Edu and Bursaspor also played to a 0-0 draw in the Turkish Cup (highlights here). Jozy Altidore scored his 20th goal of the season in AZ’s 5-0 victory over Den Bosch in the KNVB Cup (highlights here). I would check out those highlights for his goal and his post-game interview where he addresses the racial cheers by the opposing fans. Altidore’s 20 goals across all competitions is a new career high after netting 19 last year. He is also the second American to reach 20 in a top-flight European league, only trailing Clint Dempsey’s 23 goals from last season.
There was also two games in the Premier League on Tuesday. Brad Guzan and Aston Villa continue their struggling ways in a 2-1 loss to the French National Team Newcastle United (highlights here). And Geoff Cameron returned from injury to go 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw to Wigan (highlights here).
I made note the other day about how the expected starters on the USMNT backline have all missed some time this month. As for the latest update, Cameron is playing again. Carlos Bocanegra is playing again. The announcers on the USMNT telecast mentioned that Steve Cherundolo is probably out for next week’s game according to Jurgen Klinsmann. And it looks like Fabian Johnson is expected back to training with Hoffenheim on Wednesday.
As for replacing Cherundolo, Brian Sciaretta was told by some sources that Timothy Chandler will be with the US for the Honduras qualifier. Then he can get cap-tied to the US and we can worry about something else for the next couple of months.
Tony Pulis has confirmed that Stoke City are planning on signing Brek Shea pending his physical and him getting a work permit.
Alejandro Bedoya is still without a team, but it is likely that he will re-sign with Helsingborg on another six-month deal.
Aron Johannsson did make the move to AZ Alkmaar and here is a photo of him with Earnie Stewart.
Marc Pelosi scored a goal for Liverpool’s U-21 team in their win over Wolverhampton earlier this week. You can see the highlights here. He is #3 and his goal is around the 1:13 mark.
I haven’t seen Devann Yao’s name with Boussu Dour Borinage recently, then he popped up on trial with Birmingham City’s U-21 team.
And finally, American-born Canadian Daniel Stanese has signed with Nurnberg. While he was born in New York, he has mainly played with Canada’s youth national teams.
The USMNT are now in Houston gearing up for tomorrow’s friendly against Canada. Canada’s young and inexperienced team lost to Denmark, 4-0, on Saturday.
Jurgen Kinsmann recaps the camp so far in this video. Grant Wahl also informs us that Klinsi has been using a helicopter to travel between his Orange County home and the camp while it was in Carson. If only I had one to avoid the 405 traffic. Also while training at the Home Depot Center, the team hung out with the U-15 team. Pretty cool idea.
Brian Sciaretta spoke to Houston Dynamo forward Will Bruin about the current camp. While Andrew Keh talked to Alejandro Bedoya about being a free agent.
Hann0ver 96 are still unsure of when Steve Cherundolo will return to the field. Cherundolo has missed the last couple games and did return to training last week only to have a set back. But he did train today.
Geoff Cameron missed Stoke City’s game this past weekend, but it sounds like he should be back for tomorrow’s game against Wigan. For those counting at home, the likely starting backline for the US (Cherundolo, Cameron, Bocanegra and Johnson) have all missed at least one game this month due to injury. Hopefully they can get healthy before the Honduras qualifier.
Speaking of Honduras, here is their roster for that qualifier.
Brian Sciaretta also talked to Maurice Edu recently to talk about his start in Turkey.
It looks like Aron Johannsson is making the move from AGF Aarhus to AZ Alkmaar. Maybe Jozy Altidore can convince him to play for the US? That said, I am wondering if this move is about lining up a Jozy replacement since most pundits think he will be making a move to a bigger club this summer.
DC United midfielder Nick DeLeon declined a call-up with Trinidad & Tobago. He is dreaming of a future USMNT call-up.
Eugene Starikov and Rostov defeated some team 17-1 (!) in a friendly this weekend with Starikov scoring two goals.
We have a Jemal Johnson sighting (not to be confused with Jamel Johnson)!
Jeff Carlisle gives us an update on Junior Flores.
And finally, some American named Patrick Otte is on trial at Leeds.
