The Mike Bradley Show

Deported! U.S. 2, Mexico 0

Michael Bradley, once again, showed that there isn't any neptotism behind his selection to the U.S. national team, as his brace led the U.S. to a 2-0 thumping of CONCACAF rivals Mexico in the first match of the final round of World Cup qualification at Crew Stadium on Wednesday.

Bradley smacked home an rebound in the 43rd minute and then added another from distance in injury time to drive the stake through Mexico's heart. The first goal was set up by a corner kick that was headed to the six by Landon Donovan and then put on frame by Oguchi Onyewu. Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez made the initial save but Bradley was on the doorstep to put it away. Mexico went down a man in the 65th minute after captain Rafael Marquez challenged U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard in the air, making no attempt to play the ball and cleating Howard in the thigh. Although noticeably limping, Howard stayed in the match.

The next qualifier for the U.S. will be March 28 in El Salvador.

TYH's Patriot of the Pitch©: Michael Bradley

MATCH REPORT

TEAM	1st half	2nd half	Final
USA	1	1	2
MEX	0	0	0

Scoring:
USA - Bradley 43.
USA - Bradley (Donovan) 92+.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 2-Frankie Hejduk, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 15-Heath Pearce; 8-Clint Dempsey, 4-Michael Bradley, 16-Sacha Kljestan (13-Ricardo Clark, 86), 7-DaMarcus Beasley; 10-Landon Donovan, 11-Brian Ching (9-Jozy Altidore, 83)

MEX: 1-Oswaldo Sanchez; 2-Aaron Galindo, 3-Carlos Salcido, 4-Rafael Marquez (capt.), 5-Ricardo Osorio; 6-Leandro Augusto, 12-Alberto Medina (15-Antonio Naelson, 60), 8-Pavel Pardo; 11-Carlos Ochoa, 10-Nery Castillo (14-Israel Martinez, 34), 17-Giovani dos Santos (9-Omar Bravo, 72)

Misconduct Summary:
MEX – Marquez (ejection) 65.
USA – Howard (caution) 67.

STATS	USA	MEX
Shots	10	9
Shots OG	5	3
Saves	3	3
Corners	5	1
Fouls	26	16
Offside	4	3

Showdown in Ohio!

Sorry to be M.I.A. (and I'm not referring to the pregnant pop star) lately, life is getting in the way but there's a big match tonight in Columbus. Maybe you heard.

Expected Starting line-up:
GOALKEEPER: Howard
DEFENDERS: Bornstein, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Wynne
MIDFIELDERS: Beasley, Bradley, Kljestan, Dempsey
FORWARDS: Ching, Donovan*
*I'd love to see Jozy as a second-half sub, if he doesn't start.

And here's the complete roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (Toronto)
MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönch.), Ricardo Clark (Houston ), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus ), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Xerez CD), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Hammarby) Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich)

Special K's highlights

Hats off to Sacha K

With a team featuring a majority of players in the midst of an offseason, the U.S. managed a 3-2 win at The Home Depot Center over a Swedish team that featured a majority of players in the middle of their season. Sasha Kljestan provided all the offense, scoring a hattrick (one from the spot).

The U.S. held a commanding 2-0 lead at halftime and squashed the Swedes late hope, as Kljestan's third came just a minute after the Daniel Nannskog had gotten Sweden on the scoreboard in the 73rd. Mikael Dahlberg scored a late goal for the visitors to make the game appear closer than it was.

Kljestan's offensive output is a positive sign, but the failure of the U.S. frontrunners doesn't bode well. Kenny Cooper and Brian Ching played alongside one another for half of the second-half, suprising given the similarity of their styles. But Ching's assist on Special K's third goal was artful, while Cooper had a late chance that he missed badly. Charlie Davies was almost invisible in the first half.

TYH's Patriot of the Pitch©: Sacha Kljestan

MATCH REPORT

TEAM	1st half	2nd half	Final
USA	2	1	3
SWE	0	2	2

Scoring:
USA - Kljestan 17.
USA - Kljestan (PK) 40.

SWE - Daniel Nannskog 73.

USA - Kljestan (Ching) 74.

SWE - Mikael Dahlberg 89.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Troy Perkins; 12-Marvell Wynne, 2-Danny Califf (capt.), 4-Michael Parkhurst (3-Ugo Ihemelu, 82), 6-Jonathan Bornstein (15-Chris Wingert, 79); 17-John Thorrington (20-Chris Rolfe, 61), 13-Ricardo Clark, 16-Sacha Kljestan, 30-Robbie Rogers (22-Brian Carroll, 69); 10-Charlie Davies (27-Kenny Cooper, 46), 11-Brian Ching (29-Eddie Gaven, 77)

SWE: 12-Johan Dahlin, 7-Markus Jonsson, 8-Marcus Lindberg, 9-Max von Schlebrügge, 5-Adam Johansson; 10-Andreas Dahl (14-Rasmus Elm, 62), 6-Daniel Andersson (capt.) (13-Martin Ericsson, 71), 20-Gustav Svensson, 16-Samuel Holmén (15-Alexander Farnerud, 62); 11-Mikael Dahlberg, 19-Daniel Nannskog

Misconduct Summary:
SWE – Daniel Andersson (caution) 27.
USA – Danny Califf (caution) 59.

STATS	USA	SWE
Shots	13	9
Shots OG	6	6
Saves	3	3
Corners	7	1
Fouls	15	15
Offside	2	5

MLS Superdraft: The sound of one hand clapping

If a league holds a draft and no one is around to report on it, is it still Super?

MLS held its annual craptacular Superdraft. Click here for the results. If you've read my blog, you know that I don't put much stock in MLS's annual Superdraft.

But his year's draft was notable because it featured MLS newest franchise, Seattle Sounders FC. With the first overall pick of their first Superdraft as an MLS club, Seattle chose English striker Steve Zakuani of the University of Akron. He was Soccer America's Player of the Year and the pick by many MLS mock drafts (yes, they exist...some people have too much time on their hands I guess). Will he live up to the hype? Well, history's certainly against him (see Chris Carrieri et. al.). But recently the performances of the No.1 picks have been a bit more mixed (exhibit a: Nikolas Besagno-2006, exhibit b: Maurice Edu-2007 and exhibit c: Chance Myers-2008).

Other Seattle selections were Wake Forest defender Evan Brown, left back Jared Karkas from Azusa Pacific (a Christian college) and midfielder Michael Fucito from Harvard. Seattle did well to draft defensively in the later rounds, as most clubs have had more success in the Superdraft finding defense rather than offense.

U.S. camp: Picks and litter

Still U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley has named his first training camp of the New Year in preparation for the January 24 friendly against Sweden at the HDC. Who will remain on the squad when World Cup qualifying begins again is anyone's guess. It's a line-up dominated by MLS players, many of them second-tier substitutes.

GOALKEEPERS: Jon Busch (Chicago), Will Hesmer (Columbus), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Matt Pickens (out of contract).
Busch and Hesmer are solid keepers, but not world class. Tim Howard has this spot sewn up barring injury. So this is really a competition for No.2.

DEFENDERS: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles), Cory Gibbs (Colorado), Clarence Goodson (Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto).
Marshall's a poor man's Carlos Bocanegra, but still a decent reserve. Bornstein will likely make the 2010 squad. Gibbs is still trying to regain form from a few years ago. Wynne could potentially be the next great American right back if given the chance.

MIDFIELDERS: Geoff Cameron (Houston), Brian Carroll (Columbus), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Stuart Holden (Houston), Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), John Thorrington (Chicago).
With so many choices in the midfield, it's amazing the players that Sadley decides upon. Save Clark, Holden, Kljestan and Rogers, this lineup reads like an MLS waiver draft.

FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston), Kenny Cooper (Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Chris Rolfe (Chicago).
Let the Ching vs. Cooper war begin. My money's on Coop. Rolfe and Davies are streaky players and will probably not make the final 2010 roster.

MLS Hot Stove

Heading the list of recent trades and acquisition is Dwayne DeRosario who will leave the Houston Dynamo and return to his hometown Toronto. With both Nate Jaqua and DeRo gone, the Dynamo will be looking to acquire some offense this offseason. Here's a complete transaction/movment list by team as of Dec. 13:

Chicago Fire
OUT: Stephen King acquired by Seattle in expansion draft; Tomasz Frankowski and Andy Herron waived; Will Johnson traded to Real Salt Lake for conditional draft picks in 2009 and 2011.

Chivas USA
OUT: Alex Zotinca waived.

Colorado

OUT: Mike Petke and Tim Ward waived.

Columbus

OUT: Coach Sigi Schmid resigns; Brad Evans acquired by Seattle in expansion draft. IN: Stanley Nyazamba signed to developmental roster.

DC United

IN: Clyde Simms re-signed. OUT: Jeff Carroll waived.

FC Dallas

IN: Drew Moor and Dario Sala re-signed. OUT: Duilio Davino waived

Houston

OUT: Dwayne DeRosario traded to Toronto for Julius James and Allocation money; Nate Jaqua acquired by Seattle in expansion draft.

Kansas City

OUT: Tyson Wahl acquired by Seattle in expansion draft; Adam Cristman acquired from New England for allocation money and 3rd-round draft pick.

Los Angeles

OUT: Peter Vagenas acquired by Seattle in expansion draft. IN: Jovan Kirovski re-acquired from San Jose for 2010 supplemental draft pick; Tristan Bowen signed to developmental roster.

New England

OUT: Michael Parkhurst signed by Danish club FC Nordsjælland; Khano Smith acquired by Seattle in expansion draft; Doug Warren and Jose Angulo waived; Adam Cristman traded to Kansas City for allocation money and 3rd-round draft pick.

New York

OUT: Jeff Parke acquired by Seattle in expansion draft. IN: Mike Petke re-acquired in waiver draft.

Salt Lake

OUT: Nathan Sturgis acquired by Seattle in expansion draft. IN: Jamison Olave re-signed.

San Jose

OUT: James Riley acquired by Seattle in expansion draft; Jovan Kirovski traded to Los Angeles for 2010 supplemental draft pick.

Seattle

IN: Click here for updated roster for expansion Sounders.

Toronto

IN: Dwayne DeRosario acquired from Houston for player and allocation money. OUT: Julius James traded to Houston; Jarrod Smith acquired by Seattle in expansion draft.