FanHouse U.s. Soccer

To call 2009 a busy year for the U.S. national team would be an understatement. Even labeling it a marathon wouldn't be quite right. An ultra-marathon might make more sense.

Bob Bradley's team has participated in two tournaments -- the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup -- along with the final round of CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualification. All told the U.S. has already played 22 matches -- going 13-6-3 -- on two different continents.

The grueling year winds down with a trip to a third continent -- Europe -- when the U.S. places fellow 2010 World Cup qualifier Slovakia in Bratislava. (10 a.m., Fox Soccer)

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.

For fans of the U.S. national team clamoring for midfielder Clint Dempsey to move from the right side of midfield to the right side of the bench, well, they've gotten their wish, though the circumstances aren't exactly ideal.

Dempsey has been ruled out for Saturday's 2010 World Cup qualifier at Honduras due to a shoulder sprain. Dempsey picked up the injury in the closing minutes of Fulham's 2-2 draw Sunday vs. West Ham United. His status for next Wednesday's final qualifier vs. Costa Rica in Washington is still unknown.

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.

Maybe it's something about U.S. soccer teams playing the first games in FIFA tournaments held in Africa. Saturday in Suez, Egypt, the U.S. Under-20 national team was beaten 3-0 by Germany at the U-20 World Cup Group C opener for both teams. (If you remember, the U.S. senior national team lost to Italy 3-1 in the Confederations Cup opener played in South Africa in June.)

It was a rough day all around for coach Thomas Rongen's men, who had a tough time finding their footing. A two-goal blitz by the Germans that netted consecutive scores in a span of three minutes midway through the first half put the game away.

Aside from the fact that they're both a) human beings, b) American international soccer players of African descent and c) from the greater Washington, D.C. area, there aren't too many similarities between Freddy Adu and Oguchi Onyewu, saying nothing of the pair's nearly one-foot height and seven-year age discrepancy.

Adu, as we all recall, entered MLS in 2004 with fanfare worthy of a Michael Bay special effects blockbuster and was supposed to set the league afire with his amazing skill and footwork -- all at 14 years of age. Since his arrival the pint-sized midfielder has played for two MLS clubs, made a much ballyhooed transfer to Portuguese giants Benfica and now at 20 years old finds himself loaned out for the second time in three years.

Meanwhile the same year Adu attempted to burst onto the MLS scene, Onyewu quietly moved from French club Metz to Belgian power Standard Liege, where he blossomed into a hulking central defender with a pair of Jupiler League crowns under his belt. Most American fans probably didn't even know of the alliterative defender's existence until his famous stare-down of Mexican forward Jared Borgetti in the U.S.'s 2-0 win over El Tri in Columbus, Ohio, which booked a place in the 2006 World Cup.

Chances are you don't need to have a degree in medicine to realize the words, "metal plate" and "soccer player" don't exactly mesh like peanut butter and jelly. Yet that's the situation facing would-be U.S. international Jermaine Jones, who still waiting to get onto the field for Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga due to a hairline fracture in his left shin. The injury doesn't require another surgery but will keep him out the next three weeks.

Though born in Germany, Jones has the chance to play for the U.S. national team since his father is an American serviceman. Jones has suited up for the German national team, but only on a couple of friendlies which due to a new wrinkle in FIFA rules would allow him to switch allegiances.

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.

Better than that never for the U.S. national team. Friday, a scant four days before next week's crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier in Mexico City, U.S. coach Bob Bradley released his 20-man squad.

There aren't too many surprises among the 20 men selected for the Aug. 12 match where the U.S. is looking to break its all-time winless streak at the Azteca Stadium. (The U.S. is 0-22-1 in Mexico overall) Mainly it's the core team that finished as runner's up to Brazil at June's Confederations Cup.

The trickle down effect of the U.S. national team's run to last month's Confederations Cup final is coming into fruition this week. First we saw defender Oguchi Onyewu ink a deal with AC Milan and now it appears that young forward Charlie Davies is on to bigger and better things with a possible move to Sochaux of France's Ligue 1, as reported by the French sports daily L'Equipe.

Probably more than any other player on the American roster, Davies broke out during the two weeks in South Africa thanks to his blinding speed. The New Hampshire native has carried that form into July's CONCACAF Gold Cup, scoring a goal and pacing the attack in Saturday's 4-0 stomping of Grenada as well as playing off a perfect lay off to Santino Quaranta for the U.S.'s first goal in a 2-0 win over Honduras Wednesday night.