Michael Cardillo Posts

File this one away under something that nobody, I mean nobody, saw coming. Michael Owen was at Manchester United's training ground for medical tests and could sign with the Premier League champions before Friday is over.

It's not too often that a transfer is actually shocking, but if this one goes down it's a Grade A stunner. After losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez it's hard to fathom that Sir Alex Ferguson is chasing down a player who could barely stay on the field during his star-crossed tenure at Newcastle United. In fact, I read somewhere that Ronaldo and Tevez scored more goals the last two seasons than Owen made appearances.

When the U.S. Soccer Federation announced the roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup in the midst of the U.S.'s surprising run to the Confederations Cup final, the general consensus was that the lineup was thoroughly a "B" team. After all, the supposed "A" team had done enough work in upsetting then-FIFA No. 1 Spain, and giving newly minted top dog Brazil a run for its money, before losing 3-2 last week.

On Wednesday, CONCACAF said it would allow the U.S. to add seven players to the already 23-man roster for the Gold Cup due to playing in back-to-back competitions barely separated by a week and, more importantly, over 10,000 miles. Thursday the USSF announced those seven players -- all members of the Confederations Cup roster -- upgrading the roster to a solid "B+."

Wednesday superstar Cristiano Ronaldo officially completed his world-record transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Perhaps the pressure is already getting to the Portuguese winger, as England's Sun newspaper alleges he got in a bit of a dust up with a 17-year-old female fan following him in Lisbon on Sunday by kicking in a window of a car she was sitting on.

Of course, usually anything that comes from the always reputable Sun (sarcasm alert) ought to be taken with a slight grain of salt. The paper also said Ronaldo apologized for the alleged incident, citing the fact his mother was with him when it occurred.

This summer, as the European transfer season began at 12:01 AM ET on July 1, one thing is absolutely clear -- all roads lead to Real Madrid.

Fresh off the heels of completing the mega-money swoops for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the Spanish giants appear to have added another high profile attacking talent in Lyon's French international Karim Benzema. Reports coming out Wednesday put the sides very close on a deal in the range of €35 million ($50 U.S.) that could be finalized before the day is over. (Update -- it appears the deal is complete.)

For about 85 minutes Thursday it looked like lady luck would shine her fortune upon the underdogs for the second consecutive day at the Confederations Cup semifinals. Host South Africa was giving powerhouse Brazil all it could handle, continuously stymieing the five-time world champions all across the field in Johannesburg.

Yet it all came crashing down in an instant for the determined Bafana Bafana thanks to a moment of brilliance generated off the foot of Brazil sub Dani Alves, who had only entered the match a few minutes earlier. The Barcelona back curled in a perfect free kick in the 87th minute around the South African wall to push Brazil to a 1-0 victory and a date with the United States in Sunday's final.

The work, apparently, is never over for the U.S. National Team. Fresh off takings its bows after a stunning 2-0 upset over No. 1-ranked Spain at the Confederations Cup Wednesday, the U.S. was back to work Thursday.

In this case, it was naming a 23-man roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which begins on July 4 in Seattle with a match against Grenada. Of note, only six players on the Gold Cup roster have over 10 caps. On top of that, just Michael Parkhurst and Brian Ching were on the 2007 competition roster, which the U.S. won, punching their ticket to the 2009 Confederations Cup in the process.

Wednesday night in chilly Bloemfontein, South Africa, the U.S. national team lodged one of its greatest victories in its history, beating FIFA No. 1 Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semifinals. The win snapped Spain's 35-match unbeaten run, denying them a chance to set a new record at 36.

This win almost made me pull out the thesaurus for the proper word to describe it. Stunning? Yes. Unbelievable? Pretty close. Deserved? You bet.

As a fan of the U.S. national team, you probably couldn't ask for more from Wednesday's Confederations Cup semifinal against Spain, especially considering how the first two games of the tournament unfurled for Bob Bradley's team. In short, the underdog Americans are up against FIFA's No. 1-ranked team, Spain, which has already set the all-time international record for consecutive wins (15) in this tournament and could break the all-time undefeated run (36) by defeating the Americans.

With a win, or even simply a strong performance, the U.S. can garner a boatload of goodwill toward the 2010 World Cup. At the very least it would erase the lingering doubts raised in the opening two games of this tournament.

All in all, the odds are surely stacked against the U.S., but that's why we follow sports, right? To see the chance of a colossal upset. The match kicks off from South Africa at 2:25 PM ET and we'll be blogging shortly before the opening whistle.

It's Spain's world, the rest of us are all just living in it. Saturday in the Confederations Cup, Spain dispatched hosing South Africa 2-0 on goals from David Villa and Fernando Llorente.

The win extended Spain's unbeaten run to an astounding 35 games, which ties the all time mark set by Brazil in the early 1990s. Perhaps even more impressive is that Spain has won its last 15 matches during the streak to set a world record there as well. Nobody is even close to Spain's level, although they haven't exactly played the world's toughest team's yet in this tournament.

Something that often amazes me is talking to people from England, us here in the Colonies actually tend to have better access to the Premier League matches on television.

After Friday, that access is going to change in some major ways after the Premier League pulled its television package from the troubled Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports. Setanta had a £392 contract to broadcast 46 live matches in the U.K. for the upcoming 2009-10 season, but that is now open to the highest bidder and will be determined by Monday.