U.S. Men's National Team: September 2008 Archives

A full slate of World Cup qualifying games around the world is scheduled today.

Right now, for instance, Carl Robinson of Toronto FC is leading Wales against Russia and the sensation of Euro 2008, Andrei Arshavin, on Fox Soccer Channel.

Televised games later today include the Netherlands against Macedonia at 11:30 a.m. on FSC, U.S.-Trinidad & Tobago live from Chicago at 5 p.m. on ESPN2 and Canada facing an uphill battle to remain alive in qualifying on the road against Mexico at 8 p.m. live on Telemundo.

For others, check your local listings or click the Live Soccer TV link to the right.

More info than you could ever want to know about the U.S.-T&T game is here, but the crucial piece of info is that the U.S. hasn't lost to the Caribbean nation in 10 World Cup qualifying games.

T&T are no push-over, of course - they played in the 2006 World Cup - but the country will be without probably their best player tonight, former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke.

Meanwhile, the large population of Croats in San Pedro will undoubtedly be keeping their eye on England's game against Croatia, the nation that knocked the Brits out of Euro 2008 qualifying. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, who played a minor role in England's 2-0 win over mighty Andorra last weekend, is set to play a larger part in today's game.

A Clint Dempsey goal was enough for the U.S. to beat Cuba 1-0 Saturday, while Mexico beat Jamaica, 3-0.

David Beckham started on the bench for England in the win over Andorra and Croatia downed Kazakhstan, 3-0.

Up next for Mexico Wednesday: a likely dispirited Canada.

The U.S. takes on Trinidad & Tobago, which moved into second place in the group with a 1-1 draw with Guatemala.

All the scores are here.

Before we get started, it's worth noting that Deputy MLS Commissioner Ivan Gazidis announced on the commissioner's blog on the league Web site Friday that the issue of scheduling will belatedly be reviewed.

About time. And why couldn't Garber blog about that himself? He's in Cuba for the U.S. World Cup qualifier. Let's hope that irony hasn't escaped Garber et al.

Still, that doesn't help Chivas USA or Toronto FC. Both teams spent the week scrounging for warm bodies to put on the field for today's 1 p.m. game in Canada that's live on Prime.

The U.S.-Cuba game is live at 5 p.m. on ESPN Classic and Galavision.

The political implications of the game have overshadowed the sporting ones, but on paper Cuba have little chance against the U.S. Cuba hasn't beaten the U.S. on a soccer field since 1976.

Notable:
*Defender Steve Cherundolo is suspended for the game.
*Michael Bradley leads the U.S. in 2008 in minutes played (647).
*Leagues from eight different countries are represented on the U.S. roster: Belgium, Denmark, England (4), France, Germany (3), Mexico, Scotland (2), and the United States (7).

Standings so far:
GROUP 1 W D L GF GA Pts.
Trinidad & Tobago 1 0 0 3 1 3
United States 1 0 0 1 0 3
Guatemala 0 0 1 0 1 0
Cuba 0 0 1 1 3 0

BTW, Hurricane Ike isn't expected to hit Cuba until later in the week, but the weather sounds brutal to play soccer in.

Finally, the Galaxy plays at 7:30 p.m. against Real Salt Lake live on Prime.

Here's what former RSL midfielder Chris Klein had to say about the transformation in Utah:

"It's a completely different team. (Coach) Jason (Kreis) has completely over-hauled them and done a good job of getting them to play better as a team. They've got good players at every position and they're very organized when they come out to play.

They've struggled on the road a little bit, but I don't think that's any indication of the team we're going to see Saturday night.

The real engine of their team is (Javier) Morales in the middle. He's a guy who provides their service and creativity. Obviously they're very sound defensively, but offensively they have Morales and (Fabian) Espindola scored their two goals last week (in the 2-0 RSL victory over the Rapids) so those are two of the guys we can key on Saturday night."

Since I am in vacation, a barbecue beckons and there is plenty of soccer on TV, I'll skip the Galaxy game tonight.

For those of you going, there's a T-shirt and towel giveaway, while L.A. band Under the Influence of Giants plays a pre-game concert.

Check them out:

Almost forgot:
Here is a brief college soccer roundup of Friday scores.

In other games it was:
Long Beach State 3 Harvard 0
Pepperdine 1 Iowa 0
Cal State Northridge men 1 UNLV 0
Cal State Northridge women 2 UC Irvine 1
LMU men 1 Cal Poly 0
LMU women 3 UC Irvine 1

Kidding themselves it was somehow bright to continue with a full domestic league program when most others around the world are suspended this weekend, MLS officials are trying to ignore what the rest of the planet is focusing on: the dozens of World Cup qualifiers scheduled this weekend (and next week).

The action begins at 11:30 a.m. today with England playing Portugal in a Under-21 qualifier on Fox Soccer Channel.

Here's a sampling of what other games are on when and where this weekend (and, as always, consult your local listings for the complete run-down):
*7 a.m. Saturday - Azerbaijan at Wales on GolTV.
*10:30 a.m. Saturday - Denmark at Hungary on Fox Soccer Channel.
*Noon Saturday - Germany at Liechtenstein on GolTV.
*1 p.m. Saturday - Iran at Saudi Arabia (delayed) on Fox Soccer Channel.
*2 p.m. Saturday - Bosnia-Herzegovina at Spain on GOLTV.
*3 p.m. Saturday - Jamaica at Mexico on KVEA.
*5 p.m. Saturday - U.S. at Cuba on ESPN Classic, Galavision.
*8 p.m. Sunday - Japan at Bahrain on Fox Soccer Channel.

The U.S. arrived in Havana Thursday night.

BTW, FIFA released the latest version of its always suspect rankings Thursday. Spain remains atop the table, England and Scotland are 15th and 16th respectively, Mexico is 24th (up eight places) and the U.S. 28th (up three spots).

Complete rankings.

I think there's a couple of MLS games involving the Galaxy and Chivas USA Saturday, too. More on that later.

Which reminds me: former Galaxy forward Herculez Gomez is on the move again and now he really is a wizard on the field.

In other MLS news, Rolling Hills Estates' John Thorrington still intends to play for the Chicago Fire Saturday against the New York Red Bulls despite suffering a nasty broken nose last weekend.

In Chicago Thursday, Chivas beat bitter rivals Club America 2-0 in an exhibition game.

And finally, given the dominant topic in this post it's perhaps an apt time to note the documentary on the Homeless World Cup ESPN was plugging during Thursday's MLS game that will air next week was dismissed with this cursory review in Variety.

In any event, here's the trailer for "Kicking It":

Catching up from the long weekend:
*Top-ranked USC lost 1-0 in overtime to No. 6 Portland Monday in Oregon, the goal coming seven minutes into overtime. The loss dropped the Trojans to 2-1.

USC returns home to host Santa Clara at 3 p.m. Friday and Alabama at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

*In contrast the UCLA women battered Portland State 7-0 Monday, the Bruins' biggest margin of victory since a 2005 9-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. Lauren Cheney started the rout in the 14th minute, Canadian Kara Lang got the second six minutes later. Also scoring: McCall Zerboni, Kristina Larsen, Lauren Wilmoth, Caitlyn MacKechnie and Liz Zadro.

Next up for UCLA is a 1 p.m. Sunday meeting with UC Irvine at Drake Stadium.

*The Galaxy have confirmed a tour down under after the MLS season for the second consecutive year.

*In Rhode Island, Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl interviews the Galaxy's Landon Donovan at a Cuban restaurant over steak chimichurri, sautéed garlic shrimp and maduros ahead of Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Cuba.