US National Team Selections

The final week of World Cup qualifying is almost here for the CONCACAF region. The United States has an away game against Honduras on October 10th and a home match against Costa Rica in RFK Stadium in D.C. There are a few things to keep in mind heading into these to games:


1) Honduras sits 3rd and Costa Rica 4th in the current CONCACAF standings, neither have clinch a World Cup or playoff spot yet, so they will be brining their A game. Especially, Honduras since it is their final home game.
2) The US has several first team starts in yellow card jeopardy, including Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore, and Oguchi Onyewu. If any of these players pick up a yellow card during the Honduras match they will have to sit out for the home game against Costa Rica.


Keeping this in mind I starting thinking about who I put into my starting XI for the US National Team. Some factors I took into consideration were - (1) Forget the yellow card issue, a win on October 10th and the US is in, go and take the game, (2) Focus on the attack, don't sit back and allow Honduras to use their home field advantage to control the game, and (3) Not a well known name, doesn't matter, play on the field is #1. 


Goal Keeper: Tim Howard - Easiest choice, outside of Landon Donovan. Howard is one of the world's top 10 goalies and the undisputed US #1 goalkeeper.


Defenders (4): Oguchi Onyewu (Strong central defender that is also good on set plays and corner kicks), Carlos Bocanegra (US captain and second most caps, 72, behind Donovan), Jonathan Spector (getting time at West Ham, younger and more athletic than most of his competition for this spot), Jay DeMerit (fully back from injury and can regain his spot on the left flank)


Midfielders (4): Landon Donovan (first pick and most needed player for the US), Clint Dempsey (has great ability when he remembers to stay motivated for the game at hand, a regular first team starter for Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (has had several great moments coming in as a sub over the summer in the Confederations Cup and World Cup matches, has the ability to control the ball in the middle), Michael Bradley (coach's son, excellent worker on the field, combination with Feilhaber could be the key for the US). 


Forwards (2): Charlie Davies (proved his striking ability during the Confederations Cup over the summer and is seeing a lot of playing time in the French league), Jozy Alditore (big man compliment to Davies, the two work well on the field together and he will only get better as we get closer to the World Cup).




Thought on my starting XI? Who would you start and sit for the next World Cup qualifier?

Table Update as of 9/28

MLS:
- Past Week's Results - Colorado only gets 2 points out of 2 games - Columbus defeat the Beckham-less Galaxy 2-0 - FC Dallas thrash Real Salt Lake 3-0
- Current MLS Table - Another week of action and the same result a table without movement - Columbus pull 3 points ahead of Houston with a game in hand for the regular season title - New England sits just 1 point ahead of DC United for the final playoff spot.

EPL:
- Past week's results - Portsmouth drops their 7th straight match - Tottenham and Liverpool destroy Burnley and Hull City, respectively, with a combined 11-1 - Wigan ends Chelsea's perfect season 3-1 - ManCity rebound from their tough loss to ManU to grab 3 points from West Ham
- Current EPL Table - ManU takes over the top of the table from Chelsea on goal differential - Liverpool, Tottenham & ManCity are all tied at 15 points for the final European spots - West Ham, Hull City & Portsmouth make up the relegation zone this weekend.

Serie A:
- Past week's results - Double round of action this week in the Italian league - AC Milan manage only 1 point out of 2 games - Sampdoria have their first loss of the season to Fiorentina, but bounce back to beat Inter 1-0 this weekend - Juventus pull in two draws and fall to grab the top of the table
- Current Serie A Table - Sampdoria takes full possession of 1st place, with Juventus, Inter and Fiorentina filling up the top 4 (Champions League spots) - Udinese rises to 5th place overall, while AC Milan struggles in 11th place.

USL Playoff Update

I was in attendance yesterday for the Railhawks' home match in the Quarterfinals of the USL 2009 Playoffs. Although they came into the game down 1-0 from the away leg there was still plenty of confidence that Carolina could knock off the 2008 USL Champions. However, after a missed PK and two yellow cards the Railhawks could not overcome the 1 goal deficit and were knocked out of the playoffs by the Vancouver Whitecaps. While it is never fun to watch your team's season end, it is important to remember that last year the team finished 8th in the USL and finished 2nd in the table this season. The Railhawks had great home form (besides this last game) and were a much better and more entertaining team this season. 
In other action Sunday, Puerto Rico overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Rochester Rhinos and advance into the final 4 of the bracket. Meanwhile, Montreal continued their dominance of Charleston and won 4-1 aggregate. The update bracket is below:

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
	2	Carolina RailHawks FC	0	0	0
	7	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1	0	1
								1	Portland Timbers
								7	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	3	Puerto Rico Islanders	1	4	5
	6	Rochester Rhinos	2	1	3
								3	Puerto Rico Islanders
								5	Montreal Impact
	4	Charleston Battery	0	1	1
	5	Montreal Impact	2	2	4

The next round of games will take place this Thursday night and Sunday evening.

News & Rumors

• England and the United States both dropped their opening games games in the Under-20 World Cup. 
• TV Schedule and Current Standings for the U-20 World Cup.
  
• Brian Ching signed a 4-year extension with the MLS Western Division leading Houston Dynamo. The deal will keep the US national striker in Houston until 2013. He is currently the Dynamo's all-time leading scorer.
  
• With the current political unrest in Honduras the US Soccer Federation is monitoring whether or not the World Cup qualifying match next weekend will need to be moved for security issues. FIFA has announced they do not plan on moving the match, but four international airports have already had to be closed, limiting the travel options into the country.
• Former English Premiere League & English National Team star (Arsenal, Portsmouth & Tottenham) Sol Campbell recently walked out at Notts County after just 1 game. However, that hasn't stopped several MLS teams from showing interest. The LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, and 2010 expansion Philadelphia Union all have talked with his agents and the MLS front office to bring another international player to the States.

TV Schedule for the Week of 9/26

TV lineup of all the live games on ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel over the next week:

Saturday (26th):
- EPL: Everton vs. Portsmouth - 7:30am - ESPN2 HD
- U-20 World Cup: USA vs. Germany - 9:55am - ESPN Classic
- EPL: Liverpool vs. Hull City - 10am - FSC
- EPL: Fulham vs. Arsenal - 12:30pm - FSC
- Serie A: Livorno vs. Fiotertina - 2:30pm - FSC
- MLS: New York Red Bulls vs. Chivas USA - 10:30pm - FSC

Sunday (27th):
- Serie A: Juventus vs. Bologna - 9am - FSC
- EPL: Sunderland vs. Wolverhampton - 11am - FSC
- Serie A: AC Milan vs. Bari - 2:30pm - FSC
- USL Playoffs: Charleston vs. Montreal - 7pm - FSC


Monday (28th):
- EPL: Manchester City vs. West Ham - 2:55pm - ESPN2 HD

Tuesday (29th):
- U-20 World Cup: USA vs. Cameroon - 12:30pm - ESPN2HD
- UEFA Champions League: Rangers FC (SCO) vs. Sevilla (ESP) - 2:30pm - FSC
- CONCACAF Champions League: Columbus (USA) vs. Saprissa (CRC) - 8pm - FSC

Wednesday (30th):
- Serie A: AC Milan vs. Udinese - 2:30pm - FSC
- UEFA Champions League: Manchester United (ENG) vs. Wolfsberg (GER) - 2:30pm - FSC
- CONCACAF Champions League: DC United (USA) vs. San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) - 8pm - FSC
- CONCACAF Champions League: Houston (USA) vs. Pachuca (MEX) - 10pm - FSC

Friday (2nd):

- U-20 World Cup: USA vs. Korea - 12:30pm - ESPN2HD

- MLS: LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire - 11pm - ESPN2HD

Railhawks lose to Vancouver 1-0

The Carolina Railhawks traveled out to Vancouver, Canada this past Tuesday to play the Whitecaps Thursday night in the first leg of the 2009 USL Quarterfinals. Sadly, the Railhawks dropped the game 1-0 to the #7 seed. Here are the video highlights from the game.

However, there are few good notes to cheer up Railhawk fans (like myself) before the second leg on Sunday afternoon.
- The Carolina Railhawks were 11-2-2 this year at home, scoring 32 goals while only giving up 8 goals in 15 games.
- The Whitecaps struggled on the road going 2-7-6 with a negative 5 goal differential on the year.
- The Railhawks always rotate their squad and on Thursday night they rested their top 3 goal scorers for the year - Gregory Richardson (MVP of the 2nd half of the season), Joseph Kabwe, & Sallieu Bundu.

All of these considered and only down by 1 goal, I believe the Railhawks will win out on aggregate over Vancouver and advance to the semi-finals. Carolina must either win by 2 goals or win 1-0 and defeat Vancouver on penalty kicks. You can see the game live in person this Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park at 5pm or watch it live (for free) online at USLLive.com.

2009 USL Playoff Preview

2009 marked the 23rd season of play for the first division of the USL (United Soccer League). The new season started off with four team changes:
- The Cleveland City Stars were promoted from the USL-2 Division
- The Austin Aztex were added as an expansion team
- The Atlanta Silverbacks went on a 'hiatus' for the season (refer back to the current struggles going on between the owners group and the new league owners)
- The Seattle Sounders left to become an expansion MLS team

The season began on April 11 and ended on September 20th with each team playing a total of 30 league games. The following are some interesting league stats from this year:
- Average goals per game: 2.35
- Biggest victory: 9-0 (Carolina over Miami)
- Longest Winning Run: 5 (Portland & Puerto Rico)
- Longest Unbeaten Run: 24 (Portland)
- Highest Attendance: 14,103 (Portland)
- Lowest Attendance: 67 (Miami)
- Average Attendance: 4,702

The final table ended up like this:
Position-Team-Points
1-Portland Timbers-58
2-Carolina Railhawks-55
3-Puerto Rico Islanders-53
4-Charleston Battery-53
5-Montreal Impact-44
6-Rochester Rhinos-43
7-Vancouver Whitecaps FC-42
8-Minnesota Thunder-31
9-Miami FC-29
10-Austin Aztex-21
11-Cleveland City Stars-19

The top 7 teams made the playoffs with Portland getting a first round bye. The Quarterfinal match-ups will be a home and away series with the first game at the lowest seeded team on Thursday (24th) and the second leg at the higher seeded team on Sunday (27th). The Semifinals will take place in the same format the following week and the Finals home-and-away series the week after.

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
	4	Charleston Battery
	5	Montreal Impact
								1	Portland Timbers
	2	Carolina RailHawks FC
	7	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	3	Puerto Rico Islanders
	6	Rochester Rhinos