6-nil?  Dayum!  And no Wambach on the scoring sheet?  (3 Assists)
I know every team has a bad day, but lately Canada’s been bringing it on the international stage.  Hopefully for them it was just a one off.

I’m liking Abby and Natasha together.  Seems like their playing tendencies are starting to flow together.

Big props to our girl Leslie for finding the back of the net in the 87th.  And big props to Michael Kammerman on the play by play.

The US Roster has been announced for the exhibition in Krakow, Poland.

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, England), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England).

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich, Germany)

While we knew this game was going to be one for the Euro-based players, the inclusion of Ricardo Clark, Landon Donovan and Brian Ching will make for an interesting situation with kickoff for the 2008 MLS Season at the weekend.

Wonder how many minutes these three will log ahead of Fox Soccer Channel’s double-header between New England v Houston and Colorado v LA on Saturday night?

image via BeloBlog

With France’s International Friendly against England set and a “B” game scheduled as well, you’d think that head coach Raymond Domenech would call up a player that has scored 16 Serie A goals, right?

Wrong.  Juventus’ David Trezeguet, a man who has represented France 70 times and scored 34 times was again left out of the squad, but this time is just a slap in the face.

See, Domenech has called up 39 players to be involved in both matches and besides the heroic year that Lyon’s Karim Benzema has had with 17 goals in Ligue 1, you’d think that it would be a no brainer that the 30 year old would be an automatic call in on form alone.

Wonder what happened behind closed doors?

image via WorldCupBlog

Remember this guy?  Yes, that’s Robert Huth back in the German kit that he hasn’t worn since the 2006 World Cup under Jurgen Klinsmann.

After beginning in 2001 with Chelsea and a subsequent 41 appearances, Huth failed a physical before finally getting the necessary clearance to sign with Middlesbrough in 2006.  With injuries limiting Huth to only 25 appearances since (and a disappointing non-partnership with Jonathan Woodgate), his latest form has earned him a call back into the Full Team ahead of Germany’s match in Switzerland on Thursday under Joachim Loew.

Question is, can Huth stay healthy enough and continue the form that once saw him as the future of Stamford Bridge?

image via Stern

After not qualifying for the 2008 Olympics, Hugo Sanchez has now set his sights on Mexico’s London Friendly match up against the Black Stars of Ghana. Today he announced his line-up, and once again included Naturalized Foreign players (something he blasted Ricardo La Volpe over).

Mexico Roster:

Goalkeepers: Moises Munoz (Morelia), Jose de Jesus Corona (Tecos), Oswaldo Sanchez (Santos).

Defenders: Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart, Germany), Aaron Galindo (Frankfurt, Germany), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Israel Castro (Pumas), Julio Cesar Dominguez (Cruz Azul).

Midfielder: Pavel Pardo (Stuttgart, Germany), Andres Guardado (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain), Fernando Arce (Santos), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Antonio Naelson (Toluca).

Forwards: Antonio Nigris (Ankaraspor, Turkey), Nery Castillo (Manchester City, England), Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca), Adolfo Bautista (Jaguares), Carlos Vela (Osasuna, Spain), Guillermo Franco (Villarreal, Spain), Giovani Dos Santos (Barcelona, Spain)

image via ESMAS

Here’s what Poland is bringing to the table against the United States for next Wednesday’s (the 26th) Friendly.

Poland Squad:

Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic), Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United), Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal).

Defenders: Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bukarest), Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow), Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna), Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos), Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade), Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna).

Midfielders: Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze), Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow), Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow), Jacek Krzynowek (VfL Wolfsburg).

Forwards: Maciej Zurawski (Larissa), Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Santander), Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin), Radoslaw Matusiak (Wisla Krakow), Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow).

image via CNN

Pink beach sand and the bluest water I have ever seen. Add coves, caves, and some tropical fish… We truly are in paradise at the beautiful Grotto Bay Resort, located in sunny Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. These Three days have gone by so fast, as they usually do when you are having fun.
On our first day we were greeted by warm smiles and comfy beds. (We had a red eye followed by a five hour lay over in Atlanta) Many of us could not wait to go straight to the beach, located a few steps away from our rooms.
We had a late training session Thursday night. It’s always good to get a run in;, as it helps get the trip out of your system.

The game was the following day and everyone was preparing in their own way, with the game day rituals or superstitions they like to follow. (I have one were I must lace my left boot first, don’t ask I have been doing it since Club Soccer)
Friday night at the local sports complex, in front of hundreds of thousands (ok, it was more like hundreds) the Colorado Rapids squared off against the Bermuda National Team.
The match was a classic display of playing to the level of your opponent. Not being able to break down the gritty and awkward play of the Bermudans proved frustrating for our young Rapids team. As time went on things were beginning to look bleak.

When you play a team of this caliber, the longer you go with out a goal the more life you give them and their confidence grows with every dieing second. Goals can lift you or crush you; in this instance no goals crushed us.
The first half would be much of the same with no midfield play and long ball after long ball. Half time rolled around with both teams scoreless and the Bermudan team was full of life while the Rapids were looking for signs of life.

Second half begins with no changes in either squad, and in this scenario we are hoping for a quick goal to start off on the half right foot. Nope, we start off on the wrong foot!
Bermuda scores two scrappy goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half and seven substitutions are quickly made to our side. With a new crop of players in eager to impress we get under way. Finally with some life our team begins to put pressure on the opponent.

We repeatedly attack at will with a new found energy and get rewarded by good combination play down the flank with a goal. Yours truly was the beneficiary of a good run by Jovan Kirovski and a great square ball by Jacob Peterson.  Too little too late, as time was against us. The final result was 2-1; a victory sending the Islanders and those in attendance into pure joy.
It was actually better that something like this happened in pre season rather than in our regular season. I know you hear this all the time, but that’s what these games are for. You get more out of a game like this than you would from a 7-0 win. This gives the Coaching Staff a chance to see how certain players deal with adversity and who they can count on come crunch time.

It really was a great experience on and off the field. Bermuda is one of the most beautiful places on earth. These are the type of things you look forward to as a footballer as not many people can say they had the opportunity to see a place like Bermuda for doing something they love.
New England has gone to Bermuda and Cancun for pre season the last three years, and they have also been in the final the last three years. Coincidence…. I think not.

Sometimes all it takes is a little fun in the sun to bring the group together.

Herc

image via Swasc

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Blackbaud stadium down in Charleston.  The Revolution were having their first preseason under Clavijo and they’d scheduled a couple of games and training sessions down in the crack sweat of humidity that is South Carolina.  When we rolled up to the stadium, I couldn’t believe it.  Sick fields, sick facilities and then there was the crown jewel, the true pub up stairs so after the game you could relax with family and friends, all for the low cost of $5.7 million back in 1999.  It was such a great place for soccer that it became the building point for the true original MLS soccer stadium, Crew Stadium and since has seen everything from seasonal MLS/Battery tournaments to Olympic Team games under the one and only Clive Charles (RIP).

Once again the Charleston Battery have done it right, this time reducing it’s global footprint and going GREEN by installing 60 Solar Panels, hoping to lose at least 12 TONS of carbon dioxide each year.

image via Mdzol

Ex-Colombian player and Ex-Ecuador (he coached them at the 2002 World Cup)  manager Hernan Dario Gomez is now Ex-Guatemala manager.  After posting too many defeats for his own liking, Gomez handed in his resignation following Guatemala’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Argentina.

image via LindseyAthletics

After being down in injury time at The Office in Kingston, Tyrone “T-Rex” Marshall leveled the match 1-1 in the 92+ for Jamaica in their Wednesday night friendly against Costa Rica.  In other WTF news/sightings, ex-MLS’ers Pablo Chinchilla, Douglas Sequeira and William Sunsing all had cameos in the match for the Ticos.