FanHouse Soccer

Sort of a weird situation that developed Saturday with U.S. teenage striker Jozy Altidore at his Premier League club team Hull City. Altidore wasn't in the lineup, nor was he even on the bench for the Tigers 0-0 draw with last-place Portsmouth.

Apparently Altidore was late to the KC Stadium and posted an apology on his Twitter page. What's weird, is on his actual page, the apology is no longer posted and the most recent tweet is encouraging Hull fans to make a lot of noise at the game.

All things considered, it's hard to read all that much into the situation. Altidore wouldn't be the first player in the history of professional soccer to be late for a match. It was a little distressing that the 19-year-old, who is fighting for a place in the starting XI, would risk being late and nullify any chance of seeing the field.

A rough couple of months for American midfielder Maurice Edu might have hit a new low on Tuesday night. While going to his car after Rangers' stunning 4-1 home loss to Romanian minnows Unirea Urziceni in Champions League group play, Edu said via his Twitter page that he was racially abused by his own home fans.

Edu posted this late Tuesday:

"Not sure what hurt more: result last nite or being racially abused by couple of r own fans as I'm getting in my car...smh...off to rehab."

Most of the intrigue that could have resulted from Monday's draw for the second-place playoffs for the final four 2010 World Cup berths from Europe was eliminated when it was decided the eight remaining nations would be broken up and seeded via their FIFA ranks near the end of the qualification process.

So instead of creating some possible Cinderella scenarios from smaller nations like Slovenia or Bosnia-Herzegovina would have a good chance to qualify for their first World Cup, the underdogs now face an uphill battle. This is no more the case than for the Republic of Ireland, which must played a wounded, yet still very dangerous France team next month.

In a very unsurprising development, AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani declared that the club is "95 percent" finished on bringing back David Beckham to the club in January on loan. Galliani went as far as to call it a "done deal."

Unlike last year when there was a lot of alarm and acrimony when Beckham announced his intentions to play somewhere else during the break in the MLS season, this time there doesn't seem to be too much problem that he'll be away from the Los Angeles Galaxy for a period of time after the 2009 season wraps in November.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where the date Oct. 14, 2009 doesn't become the stuff of lore in the European country of Slovakia as it turned out to be the day the nation booked its place in its first FIFA World Cup finals.

And the Slovaks achieved history in perhaps the most adverse conditions possible in a soccer match, downing Poland 1-0 at the Silesian Stadium during a driving snowstorm that would seem more at home for an NFL playoff match than a World Cup qualifier.

The puzzle pieces for the 2010 FIFA World Cup became a lot clearer on Saturday on the penultimate day of UEFA qualification. Longtime stalwarts Germany and Italy both punched their tickets, while Denmark and Serbia also booked passage to South Africa next June.

Germany was the first European country to qualify on Saturday, defeating Russia 1-0 in what was essentially a first-place Group 4 playoff game in Moscow. The Germans held on with 10-men after a first-half goal from Miroslav Klose. Meanwhile, Guus Hiddink's Russia must now await its fate in the second-place playoffs. For the Germans, it's the country's 15th-straight World Cup finals berth and 17th overall placing it second to Brazil. (These streaks include time as West Germany.)

This much is simple for the U.S. national team's Saturday night 2010 World Cup qualifier at Honduras. If the U.S. leaves San Pedro Sula with three points, then it automatically qualifies for next June's World Cup in South Africa. Anything else? Well it's so confusing that the U.S. Soccer site has established a scenario generator to run through all the possible outcomes.

It's also known that a) the U.S. is stepping into a tricky road environment in a country in the midst of a political crisis, b) the U.S. won't have midfielder Clint Dempsey and c) the game will not be seen in America except for select closed circuit establishments.

Ever since he burst onto the worldwide scene at the 1994 World Cup thanks in part to his unmistakable fiery red goatee and flowing locks, Alexi Lalas has been one of the Apostles of spreading the world on U.S. soccer.

In the 15 years since the U.S. announced its ambition on the world stage, Lalas has witnessed the gradual steps as soccer awareness in America has slowly crept from the fringes, edging closer to the mainstream.

So when his brother Greg decided to host a soccer-themed film festival -- Kicking & Screening -- earlier this year in New York, he jumped at the chance to help. And when Greg Lalas decided to host another event next week in Washington, well, Alexi Lalas was going to be there to both help his brother and help spread the gospel of soccer.

Much like an American sports columnist needing a punchline and relying on old standbys like, say, the Detroit Lions, their British equivalents can always fall back on some good old fashioned bashing on American soccer when needed. Lately, though, as America has improved across the board both internationally and with MLS, this old cliche doesn't ring as true.

Yet Friday afternoon the stodgy old Brit working the English language feed of the U-20 World Cup in Egypt wasn't far off with his relentless bashing and tweaking of the U.S. performance. Needing a result vs. South Korea to guarantee advancement to the knockout stages, the U.S. was instead thoroughly defeated 3-0 in Suez.

The U.S. now must wait for the final group stage matches Saturday to see if it's one of the top four third place finishers.

As of right now, the Oct. 10 CONCACAF World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and Honduras still has the green light from FIFA to be played in San Pedro Sula, even though the Central American nation is a state of political turmoil.

Wherever the match is played, Honduras manager Reinaldo Rueda brought in a a first-choice squad, which could pose some problems for the U.S. who will qualify for South Africa with a win. Honduras, would guarantee a place if it beats the U.S. and Costa Rica loses to Trinidad & Tobago.