...but am not a good enough writer to communicate. Here you go, I suggest checking it out.

He's right you know. Commentator Marcelo Balboa said during the Dutch telecast something to the effect of "get your yellow card suspension over with now before the quarterfinals" I have to respectfully disagree. Click to continue reading...

I got up early again to rev up the DVR and watch the US take on Nigeria. The US needed a win or tie against a good Nigerian squad. I'm ready, I'm pumped. What happens next? The worst thing possible, the thing I didn't want to see, heartbreak...

A red card in the 4th minute. Michael Orozco makes a stupid mistake and elbows a Nigerian player while tussling for a ball. Click to continue reading...

I am going to do my best to recreate the "magic" of the 2002 World Cup by waking up early tomorrow morning to catch the US vs. Japan. No, not 3 am early, but maybe 5:30 so I can start up the DVR and see the entire match before heading to work. We'll see if my ambitions match my ability.

Check out today's US Soccer Studio 90 post. Click to continue reading...

US Soccer posted the schedules for both Men's and Women's Olympic soccer on NBC. I am happy to report you don't have to get the special NBC Olympic soccer channel to watch all the games, so long as you do have cable.

The US kicks off their Olympic journey Thursday...yes in two days!

Aug. Click to continue reading...

Not too long ago the US Olympic team was made up of exclusively college players. 1996 was the first year of MLS and MLS players did make that team. Since 1996 the Olympics have been a goal of American MLS based players looking to move up to the first team if they haven't already made a spot for themselves. Click to continue reading...

This morning I watched as the US U-23 men were outworked, outplayed and outscored. It is a good thing this was the "B" U-23 team because they were unimpressive, slow on the ball, made poor passes and didn't play well as a team. It was obvious many of the players didn't have significant playing time together. Click to continue reading...

The US U-23 Men are taking part in a tournament in Toulon, France that will serve as the final warm up before heading to China for the Summer Olympics. Most of the guys with the team are fringe players trying to get noticed for the biggest youth event of the summer. Ten of the guys are MLS players and the rest are either European based or out of contract after not agreeing to terms with MLS. Click to continue reading...

U.S. Under-23 national team coach Peter Nowak has named the 22-man roster for the upcoming Toulon Tournament in France. The call-ups here are mostly players that are being looked at a little closer for a roster spot for the Olympics roster later this summer. Most big names are left off in this case. No Jozy Altidore, [. Click to continue reading...

Columbus Crew left midfielder, Robbie Rogers, is leading his team to the top of MLS and wants to prove a point. He didn't get to help the US qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics but his early season form should help punch a ticket to China this summer. U-23 coach Nowak can not afford to ignore 5 goals in his first 7 starts, especially when wing play was one of the poorest parts of the team that qualified. Click to continue reading...

The US Olympic team will play Japan, the Netherlands and Nigeria this summer at the Bejing Summer Olympics. The young Americans will have to place in the top two of the group in order to move onto the Quarterfinals. Matches kick off in August.

This is certainly a difficult group, one the US will need to improve to succeed in. Click to continue reading...

This clinches it: we need to discuss the overage options for the U-23 squad this summer.

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McBride on the U-23 squad? Yes, please. He's a great option, and for so many reasons:

1) The national depth pool at forward is seriously lacking; we don't have many quality options. Click to continue reading...

But who is going to score the goals? Yesterday the US fell to fellow CONCACAF qualifier Honduras. All that was at stake in the final of the tournament was pride. With the 1-0 overtime loss to Honduras, I guess the US walked away with less pride. The scoreline brings up the bigger issue. The US U-23 men, head and shoulders above their opponents for long periods of time in each game, were taken to overtime scoreless . Click to continue reading...

US 3-0 Canada

This was the game US fans had been waiting for. Finally the play on the field reflected the talent in the roster as Canada was no match for the U23 US men. And although Freddy Adu will deservingly get the headlines, that second goal was pure art, but he was far from alone out there. Click to continue reading...

The US over matched Canada at every position this evening to win their semi-final match-up. That means they'll be heading to China for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Freddy Adu showed he's learned some free kick tricks scoring both of the first two American goals. A great play by Holden saw him get free on the left wing to slot a ball into wide open Sacha Kljestan who calmly sent his shot past the sprawling Canadian keeper. Click to continue reading...

I know, I'm tardy with my report. Please accept my apologies for going to a good friend's wedding in Austin this weekend. I won't let it happen again. :)

I haven't had a chance to watch the DVR of Saturday's game, so I'm going based on other people's game summaries. It sounds like the team played similar to how they had in the first two games. Click to continue reading...

Mexico 5-1 Haiti

Even with a win, Mexico fails to make it out of their group. In a match where they played up a man for an hour, had a penalty kick (which was stopped) and had at least three open shots on goal, there is no reason for Mexico to have failed to get the needed six goals, but they did. Click to continue reading...

I'm going to stop calling these 'recaps' because honestly, I don't recap what happened in the game. I'm just posting what I think about it. And here's what I think about this one:

A clean sheet is just what Seitz and the US defense deserve. The Panamanian offense isn't the strongest of the group (by the numbers it's the weakest, actually) but it's to the US' credit that there were a scant few chances on goal. Click to continue reading...

US - Panama
8pm ET
TV - Fox Soccer Channel

The US U-23s return to the pitch tonight looking to improve on their poor form from Tuesday. Although the team does not have to win to make it into the next round, anything short of a full three points will make it very difficult to sneak by. Click to continue reading...

In the last 24-hours, seven Cuban U-23 players have defected. The seven include goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defenders Erlys Garcia Baro, Yendry Diaz, Eder Roldan and Yenier Bermudez and midfielders Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto.

Cuba only brought 18 players with them to the tournament so all they have left is 11. Click to continue reading...

The next game in CONCACAF qualifying for the US is tonight. They'll face off against Panama at 8 pm edt, live on FSC. Don't forget to tune in. I hope to see a better formation put on the field by Coach Nowak with a second striker for Jozy to pair with. Jozy showed he can't do it all without good support. Click to continue reading...