SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) -- The U.S. soccer team is headed to South Africa for a chance to redeem itself in the World Cup.
Conor Casey scored his first two international goals in the second half, Landon Donovan added another and the United States clinched its sixth straight World Cup berth with a game to spare by rallying past Honduras 3-2 Saturday night.
File this under the worst week ever for U.S. soccer's all-time leading goal scorer Landon Donovan. As if losing to Mexico 2-1 on Wednesday wasn't bad enough, Thursday night Donovan told Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl that he tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus.
Donovan told Wahl that he felt ill before the U.S. team arrived in Mexico City for its CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Wednesday and most likely contracted the virus in the United States. Still, he soldiered through the sickness and played all 90 minutes in the altitude and heat of Azteca Stadium, sending the through ball that set up Charlie Davies ninth minute goal which gave the U.S. a brief 1-0 lead.
As if Wednesday's hotly anticipated U.S./Mexico showdown at the Azteca Stadium didn't already have enough prematch buildup, Mexican midfielder Andres Guardado did his best to fan the flames by making a bold prediction. Monday the Deportivo La Coruna player not only predicted a win by El Tri, but told Goal.com that it would come by a 3-0 margin.
Guardado and the rest of the Mexican camp have plenty of reason to be confident for Wednesday's crucial 2010 CONCACAF World Cup qualifier in light of a 5-0 win over the U.S. at Giants Stadium last month in the Gold Cup final, even if the U.S. fielded a secondary 'B' lineup.
Consider this a rumor that's slowly gaining steam over the last few days. Goal.com confirmed Wednesday that Landon Donovan's agent has been contacted by promoted Serie A club Livorno for a possible transfer to the Italian club. The report also confirms that the club is also interested in U.S. midfielder Ricardo Clark.
It's surprising that after his standout performance during June's Confederations Cup that a small-ish club like Livorno is the first to make official contact with Donovan and attempt to pry him away from the Los Angeles Galaxy this summer.
The other day, driving to a Fourth of July barbecue, I saw a pair of young kids riding their bikes. Obviously that's not all that unusual, except these two weren't wearing jerseys for LeBron James or Eli Manning. Rather, one was in a Liverpool FC top, the other a Los Angeles Galaxy shirt with the No. 23 and the name of a certain famous English midfielder printed across the back.
I wasn't sure whether I should shake my head or smile.
Ah, David Beckham. Two words that can elicit reactions from people everywhere from Athens to Zanzibar and, yes, America too -- or at least on Madison Avenue. Beckham, the man with the misreported $250 million salary -- is back in America with the Los Angeles Galaxy this month after his much ballyhooed loan stint at AC Milan.
So this morning when I woke up and skimmed through the seemingly never ending tide of European transfer rumors, one headline caught me eye -- "Everton to sign American midfielder." Immediately I thought it might have been U.S. International Clint Dempsey moving from Fulham, which had been talked about during last month's Confederations Cup.
Turns out, Everton's signing was hardly on the profile of Dempsey -- not even close. Instead it was 22-year-old Anton Peterlin who currently played in the American Premier Development League, the fourth tier of U.S. domestic leagues.
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.
Imagine if that famous 1980 Olympic hockey game between the American collegians and the Soviet Big Red Machine had been played in Red Square instead of Lake Placid. Those were the kind of odds facing Bob Gansler and his young U.S. national team on June 14, 1990, when they kicked off against Italy in a World Cup match at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
The American side defined "moral victory" that day, holding the tournament favorites to one goal and nearly scoring through Peter Vermes in the second half. "The difference between our team in the first game [a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia] and the second was psychological,'' Gansler said at the time.
Nineteen years later, Gansler told FanHouse that the psychological again will play the defining role as the U.S. faces similarly long odds against a Spanish juggernaut in the Confederations Cup semifinals Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Landon Donovan was named the best player on
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File this under the worst week ever for U.S. soccer's all-time leading goal scorer Landon Donovan. As if losing to Mexico 2-1 on Wednesday wasn't bad enough, Thursday night Donovan told Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl that he tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus. 
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Substitute Miguel Sabah scored in the 82nd minute for Mexico to beat the United States 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
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As if Wednesday's hotly anticipated U.S./Mexico showdown at the Azteca Stadium didn't already have enough prematch buildup, Mexican midfielder Andres Guardado did his best to fan the flames by making a bold prediction. Monday the Deportivo La Coruna player not only predicted a win by El Tri, but told Goal.com that it would come by a 3-0 margin. .jpg)
Consider this a rumor that's slowly gaining steam over the last few days. Goal.com confirmed Wednesday that Landon Donovan's agent has been contacted by promoted Serie A club Livorno for a possible transfer to the Italian club. The report also confirms that the club is also interested in U.S. midfielder Ricardo Clark. .jpg)
The other day, driving to a Fourth of July barbecue, I saw a pair of young kids riding their bikes. Obviously that's not all that unusual, except these two weren't wearing jerseys for LeBron James or Eli Manning. Rather, one was in a Liverpool FC top, the other a Los Angeles Galaxy shirt with the No. 23 and the name of a certain famous English midfielder printed across the back. .jpg)
So this morning when I woke up and skimmed through the seemingly never ending tide of European transfer rumors, one headline caught me eye -- "Everton to sign American midfielder." Immediately I thought it might have been U.S. International Clint Dempsey moving from Fulham, which had been talked about during last month's Confederations Cup..jpg)
