Danny Szetela made his season debut, going the distance as Brescia were defeated by Serie A team Torino in the third round of the Coppa Italia in extra time. Click to continue reading...

American Danny Szetela, just back from playing in the Olympic soccer tourney in China, is back into the swing with his Serie B club Brescia. Last night he started and played a solid 30 minutes in a 4-1 preseason friendly win over Darfo (...don't ask). Coach Serse Cosmi substituted five of his starters by the half since he had a four goal lead and perhaps wanted to rest his players for Saturday's Coppa Italia match. Click to continue reading...

The Coppa Italia tournament already started 10 days ago with first round matches between the clubs at Lega Pro (Serie C) level and below. Two weeks ago, American striker Gabe Ferrari played 47 minutes as Perugia topped Lumezzane 1-0 to earn a berth in the second round. But Perugia's Coppa Italia campaign came to an end this weekend as Ferrari saw 71 minutes of action as Perugia fell to Serie B side Ascoli 3-1. Click to continue reading...

Michael Orozco's elbow to Solomon Okoronkwo's chest as the two grappled was picked up by the German referee who gave Orozco marching orders. The US were reduced to ten men in the 4th minute.

It was an ill advised foul which happened right in front of the referee and he was forced into taking the more harsh option.

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Memo to the Galaxy: U.S. Men's Olympic Coach Peter Nowak is now available.

The U.S. played with 10 men for 87 minutes, saw Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan score an 88th minute penalty and Benny Feilhaber hit the post in second half stoppage time, but it wasn't enough as Nigeria beat the U.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The task is simple, but far from easy. Avoid defeat against Nigeria and the U.S. men's Olympic team advances to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Secure a victory against Nigeria and the Americans advance AND avoid facing Argentina in the quarters.

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After scoring two goals over the weekend to help Standard Liege beat RSC Anderlecht 3-1 in the Belgian Cip over the weekend, Oguchi Onyewu has his sights on their next foe; Liverpool.

Onyewu told the Belgian press that he thinks Standard can surprise a team like Liverpool when he said "Now we must concentrate our Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

In a group that includes quality teams like Nigeria and Holland, the U.S. needed to beat Japan today in its Olympics Group B opener.

A Stuart Holden goal proved enough for a 1-0 win and while not particularly convincing, the U.S. took its chance while Japan did not take their more plentiful chances.

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The day before the Olympics officially begin with the opening ceremonies, what is really the U.S. Men's Under-23 National Team (with three over-age players) plays at 2 a.m. our time on MSNBC against Japan in its Group B opener.

The U.S. roster:

goalkeepers Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) and Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake; defenders Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC); midfielders Freddy Adu (Monaco), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio); forwards Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (Chicago Fire), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Olympics are set to kick off for the U.S. men's national team on Thursday morning against Japan, which means that in less than two days we will know who head coach Peter Nowak has chosen to start.

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Olympic squads were finalized today. Here are the MLS, USL and NCAA based players as well a list of former MLS players particpating. Michael Boxall/New Zealand Craig Henderson/New Zealand Chris Seitz/USA Mo Edu/USA Marvell Wynne/USA Patrick Ianni/USA Michael Parkhurst/USA Stuart Holden/USA Robbie Rogers/USA Sacha Kljestan/USA Dax McCarty/USA Brian McBride/USA Emanuel Ekpo/Nigeria  FORMER MLS PLAYERS Ramon Nunez/Honduras Carlos Pavon/Honduras Ryan Nelson/New Zealand Simon Elliot/New Zealand Samuel Caballero/Honduras Freddy Adu/USA Michael Bradley/USA Danny Szetela/USA Jozy Altidore/USA Bookmark to: Click to continue reading...

Let me first apologize for the delinquency of this post. I slept through this morning's match and then caught the match later on the internet. The match today showed some weakness for the US at the back early in the match playing a 4-4-2, but the team believe it or not caught lightning in a bottle of sorts when Benny Feilhaber entered the match at halftime and helped control the next 15 or 20 minutes of the match. Click to continue reading...

Dax McCarty from USSoccer.com

Peter Nowak swapped one Floridian for another as Dax McCarty replaces the injured Nathan Sturgis on the US squad. This leaves Nowak with only four natural defenders on the squad which leaves for Hong Kong and pre Olympic training tomorrow.

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U.S. Soccer put out a press release a couple of minutes ago naming Dax McCarty (FC Dallas) as an injury replacement for Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake) on the U.S. Olympic team roster. With McCarty moving to the full roster, our starting left back Michael Harrington has been added to the three-person alternate list. Click to continue reading...

With smart overage call-ups Brian McBride, Brad Guzan and Michael Parkhurst the U.S. Olympic doesn't look horrible.

Goalkeepers: Guzan, Chris Seitz.
Defenders: Patrick Ianni, Michael Orozco, Parkhurst, Nathan Sturgis, Marvell Wynne.
Midfielders: Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela, Robbie Rogers. Click to continue reading...

Peter Nowak named his sqaud for the Beijing Olympics. The team includes several current and former MLS players. Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and Houston Dynamo are all losing 2 players to Nowak's Olympic roster while the Columbus Crew, Chivas USA and the New England Revolution will be missing a single player to Nowak during the Olympics.

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He's the latest player to be the subject of the dreaded weighted lottery. Played for SMU under Schellas Hyndman, so I'm sure if Dallas wins there will be a lot of complaining. I don't really know anything about him, but Buzz at 3rddegree.net apparently thinks that he would've been a first rounder in this year's draft. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good morning all. The end of a very busy and news-filled week is upon us and as we wind down toward Saturday's MLS schedule (and David Beckham's return to the New York area), it is time to catch up on some news and notes from the soccer world.

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Brian McBride, Michael Parkhurst and Brad Guzan made the U.S. Olympic Team as Peter Nowak's three overrage selections.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake).

DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC).

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The U.S. Men's National Team for this year's Olympic games was announced today and it contains a great list of some very talented players. Coach Peter Nowak made some excellent choices, especially with the 3 over age 23 players that he is allowed to select in Brian McBride, Brad Guzan, and Michael Parkhurst.

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The "old man" of US football raised American hopes of a decent Olympic tournament as Brian McBride was listed on Peter Nowak's roster of American under 23 talent.

Brian joins future Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst as one of the three over-age players allowed in the under-23 tournament. Click to continue reading...

Plenty of Southern California representation on the Olympics roster announced today by Coach Peter Nowak.

Locals include soon-to-be-ex-Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Fontana's Maurice Edu (Toronto) and former Bruins Marvelle Wynne (Toronto), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo) and Benny Feilhaber (Derby County).

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Peter Nowak has released his 18 man roster for Beijing and there are not a lot of surprises. As expected, Nowak went with Bad Guzan in goal and McBride up top. Both will give the team much needed depth in their positions with McBride providing a little bit more then Guzan.

The overage selection that could benefit the most from this experience is New England's Michael Parkhurst. Click to continue reading...

Michael Parkhurst was selected for the U.S. Men's Olympic Soccer team to compete in China.

"We realize from the last couple of years what his qualities are," said Coach Peter Nowak. "We watched him in the Gold Cup and I think he was very valuable in the process. We didn't look so much at his number of international appearances because we know what he's capable of.

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New-Agey instrumental music is playing on hold. Ok, it's stopped now. Silence. Blessed silence. Oh, no, it's started again. Now Neill Beuthe comes on and introduces Peter Nowak. Buethe also reads off the complete roster:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

Peter says he has evaluated the whole roster and Olympic team needs. Click to continue reading...