SPRING FRIENDLY ACCORDING TO THE BBC


Northern Ireland is set to take on the USA in a friendly as England's Group C opponents build up for the World Cup finals in South Africa. The Americans have asked the Irish FA for the game, which would take place in March or May.

IFA president Raymond Kennedy said it has a number of offers for friendlies but the USA was the front-runner.

He added that the match would likely to be staged away from Windsor Park to make it "financially feasible." -BBC sport

Reports: USA to face Honduras in January friendly

If you are wondering who the U.S. men's national team will be lining up for friendlies in 2010, it appears the first of those opponents has been lined up, while another potential opponent has surfaced.

According to reports out of Honduras, the U.S. men's national team will face fellow World Cup participant Honduras on Sunday, January 24 at Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

The meeting would be the first for the sides since the Americans posted a 3-2 victory in San Pedro Sula on Oct. 10 to clinch their World Cup place. That win by the Americans was their fourth of 2009 in four meetings between the teams this year.

His medical situation isn't nearly as serious as those of teammates Oguchi Onyewu and Charlie Davies, yet U.S. defender Jay DeMerit will undergo eye surgery Monday in London.

DeMerit is suffering from an eye infection and will need to have the cornea in his left eye replaced. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Julian Stevens at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in a new procedure that DeMerit says will cut his recovery time in half.

"There's only one place in the United States that does it and only one place in Europe, and that's in London, so I'm really fortunate to be there," says DeMerit, who debunks reports that he cut himself putting in a contact lens. "A lot of people in Europe fly into London to have this surgery done."

U.S. finalizing February friendly vs. Mexico

Whether it's for the money or to assist preparations for the 2010 World Cup, U.S. Soccer is negotiating to play a friendly against Mexico in February.

According to a source, several cities -- at least one of which has hosted a U.S.-Mexico friendly in the past -- are in the running to stage the game. It would be the second game on the national team's calendar this year, following a Jan. 24 game against Honduras at Home Depot Center that has been reported in the Honduran press but not confirmed by U.S. Soccer.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/12/09/us.mexico/index.html#ixzz0ZJbufOLm

Six months from now, the U.S. national team will take on England to start the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and while there is a good chance that most of the key American players in that match will be players who are already fixtures of the team, there is still a good possibility that some relatively new faces will emerge in 2010 to be World Cup factors.


Robbie Findley

forward, RSL No national-team prospect enjoyed a better MLS postseason than Findley, who helped propel Real Salt Lake to an MLS Cup title and staked his claim to a place in the race to try to fill the void left by Charlie Davies' absence. Findley's speed has always been there, but his improved confidence and finishing earned him a call-up in October, and also make him a prime candidate for a serious national-team look in January. "He's slowly gotten better at different parts of the game," said Kansas City coach Peter Vermes. "He's got a good work rate for a forward, and is a guy that will put other teams' backs under pressure. "More than anything, you can tell he's a much more confident player now."

OTHERS:
Geoff Cameron, defender/midfielder, Houston
Chris Pontius, forward, D.C.
Kevin Alston, defender, New England
Darrius Barnes, defender, New England
Omar Gonzalez, defender, Los Angeles
Alejandro Bedoya, midfielder, Orebro
Marcus Tracy, forward, Aalborg

Bradley names U.S. training camp roster for January

full training camp roster:

Goalkeepers:
Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga, Norway), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)

Defenders:
Kevin Alston (New England), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Brandon McDonald (San Jose), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto)

Midfielders:
Kyle Beckerman (Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Geoff Cameron (Houston), Brad Davis (Houston), Brad Evans (Seattle), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas), Jeff Larentowicz (New England), Dax McCarty (Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C.), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)

Forwards:
Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado), Jeff Cunningham (Dallas), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg, Denmark)

El Salvador has accepted an invitation to play the U.S. in a friendly in the U.S. on Feb. 24, according to Salvadoran media reports quoting federation president Reynaldo Vasquez. U.S. Soccer, which has yet confirm the game, had hoped to play Mexico on that date.

A proposed friendly against fellow World Cup 2010 qualifier Mexico on that Feb. 24 in the Rose Bowl fell through because of a television rights battle between Univision and Telemundo, according to Mexican newspaper Esto.

Univision has the rights to U.S. national team games and Telemundo has the rights to Mexican national team games.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/01/11/us.salvador/index.html#ixzz0cRrEiIvL

Davies on remarkable path to recovery


Charlie Davies is lucky to be alive. He knows it, and even if he were to forget, there are plenty of reminders.

There are the surgical scars that now tattoo the American soccer star's body. There are the constant reminders from family and friends who never let him forget what he nearly lost, and what he has already overcome. Then there are the pictures burned into his memory of the mangled car he was pulled from after he survived a car crash that killed another passenger on Oct. 13. Davies, 23, sustained multiple serious injuries (a broken right femur and tibia, a broken left elbow, facial fractures and a lacerated bladder). The prognosis was that he would face an arduous six- to 12-month recovery and extensive rehabilitation.

Charlie Davies hasn't ruled out recovering in time for the World Cup.
The strongest reminders of how fortunate Davies is come from Davies himself as he pushes through what is shaping up to be a miraculous recovery from that laundry list of major injuries. Less than four months after the crash that threatened to end his promising career, Davies is already jogging at a good rate and working on agility drills that would have seemed impossible just weeks earlier, when simply getting out of a wheelchair was an exhausting exercise.

What does this progress mean, exactly? It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June's World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.

"Charlie is pretty much light years ahead of where anybody would tell you he should be," said Jim Hashimoto, the former U.S. national team trainer who is overseeing Davies rehabilitation. "When everybody heard about the accident, including myself, it was like, 'OK, this is going to be a long one' -- and it's still going to be a long one, but to see his progress is pretty amazing."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4856256/ce/us/davies-remarkable-path-recovery?cc=5901&ver=us

US to play Turkey in May.

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/1 ... p-warm-up/

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Us National Soccer Team

The United States has struggled to a friendly win over El Salvador that achieved little but prove that the team struggles without its Europe-based stars.

Brian Ching scored a diving header in the 75th minute and Sacha Kljestan got the go-ahead goal in the second minute of stoppage time Wednesday night in a 2-1 friendly victory over 71st-ranked El Salvador.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=289058&cc=5901

Lauren Cheney scored in the 61st minute and Hope Solo saved two penalties as the United States beat Iceland 2-0 on Wednesday in the opening round of the women's Algarve Cup.

The Americans took the lead thanks to an own goal by Sif Altadottir, who deflected a Meghan Schnur cross into the net.

Cheney broke clear a minute later and extended the U.S. advantage. The forward, who had earlier missed several clear chances, took a pass from Lori Lindsey and struck her shot into the right-hand corner for her fifth international goal.

17th Annual Algarve Cup
The Algarve, Portugal

Group A
Germany, Demark, China, Finland
Group B
USA, Norway, Sweden, Iceland
Group C
Portugal, Austria, Romania, Faroe Islands


http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/022410-uswnt-downs-iceland-in-algarve

U.S. to face Czech Republic and Turkey before going to South Africa

May 25: U.S vs. Czech Republic (TBD)
May 29: U.S vs. Turkey (in Philadelphia)

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Mens-National-Team/2010/02/US-to-Face-Czech-Republic-and-Turkey-in-Send-Off-Series.aspx

US falls to Netherlands in friendly
Bocanegra nets late goal in final match before naming of World Cup roster


Dirk Kuyt and Klaas Jan Huntelaar grabbed the goals as Holland beat fellow World Cup qualifiers the United States in Amsterdam.
Kuyt opened the scoring from the spot five minutes before halftime after Wesley Sneijder was fouled and substitute Huntelaar made it two with a deflected strike in the 73rd minute.

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20100303&content_id=8663608&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

Holden breaks leg in USA friendly


Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden will be sidelined for up to six weeks after breaking his right leg in the United States' 2-1 exhibition loss at the Netherlands.

Holden was hurt from a hard tackle by Nigel de Jong in Amsterdam on Wednesday night, limped off and was taken for X-rays. The U.S. Soccer Federation issued a statement Thursday saying that Holden was "recklessly tackled." The USSF said the bone was the fractured was his fibula.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN
US women edge Germany for Algarve title


Carli Lloyd opened the U.S. scoring against Germany.
Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
FARO, Portugal—The U.S. Women’s National Team put Germany on their heels early, then held on for a 3-2 win and their seventh Algarve Cup championship Wednesday on a sloppy field at Stadium Algarve.

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/usa2.php?article_id=22773