Some good news finally for the USA team as Landon Donovan will get experience against some of the best players in the world in one of the European leagues best clubs at Everton before the World games in South Africa.

One of the things that Euro teams have learned is that having a coach who makes judgements that are independent of the players' star power and dependent on his ability to contribute to the team will make the entire team better. Hence the tendency of clubs to look for the best management talent worldwide rather than insist on a national native as coach.

Both this kind of independent assessment of his talent and the high level of competition could make Donovan a better individual player.

But soccer is a team sport - more so than any of the big four (baseball, football, basketball and hockey) in this country IMO. It depends more on the physical cooperation of individuals than baseball. It can't have one individual who "holds" the ball as much as a quarterback in football. It has more people whose fate the game depends on than basketball. And you don't have a deadly weapon to weild against your opponent when you get upset like hockey. Sure the "striker" has to have confidence that borders on arrogance to be successful. But the best strikers in the sport have to have someone to get them the balls. Landon does that.

I'm sure the USSF is worried about a lot of our top MLS players making the switch to Europe 6 months before the World Cup. Just because Landon, Stuart Holden, and Ricardo Clark are or may be going to the EPL, it doesn't mean they will get any playing time. Landon will be on loan so he most likely will get playing time but it is not guaranteed... Last thing the US needs is some of our starting 11 to be warming european benches. I believe thats why the MLS was pushing hard for Stuart Holden to stay at least one more season here in Houston.

Any new news on the USA team???

The place to keep an eye on is the current player pool for the men's national team.

Those currently contracted with European teams are the cream-of-the-crop of USA players IMO. And even bench time there could be more valuable than actually playing in the MLS if they use the time properly.

They are learning the strengths and weaknesses of some of their strongest future competitors in the Cup firsthand.

I suspect close followers of the MLS will disagree, and I may be wrong since I don't see much MLS here in Philly with basic cable. But European games pop-up with regularity and the style of play if not the level of play compared to what I have seen of the MLS is still significantly different.

The world plays the European game and to play in Europe is the goal of virtually every young soccer-player in the world, mostly because of the money but also the prestige and the competition.

The thing I would like to see USA players improve on is their offense in or near the box. Watch the way the Spanish pass; the presence-of-mind of the Brits. These skills have to be almost subliminal to take advantage of the short space within which a scoring opportunity can occur. We need improvement at striker.

Can you please change the title of this thread? We are not going to the Olympics...

And I doubt the Guch sitting on the bench in Milan will help us very much (regardless of injury). Footballers want to play and aren't satisfied studying possible opponents, but I understand your viewpoint.

There's no arguing the level of play is higher in Europe.

Thanks simontexas. You're right about the title but hopefully wrong about the forecast.

I'm counting 15 World Cup rookies on Bradley's roster.

This is going to be interesting. Right now my sense is that this group will be tested severely.

FINAL: USA 2 TURKEY 1

We looked a lot better today and I liked the changes we made in the second half. I think this was a good send-off for Team USA to South Africa.

They were sharp in the second half, especially with Findley coming in.

The defense seems shaky, but all in all I think this is a very exciting team. Whether they can hang with the best in South Africa remains to be seen, but they have some scoring punch, a very strong midfield, and a great goalie.

I can't wait to see them go up against England on June 12, and am really looking forward to the other national teams and pairings as well.

Now that it's safe to use Google again after that marketing disaster with the autistic backgrounds, it's easy to see that there are absolutely no uninteresting matches this weekend by simply typing in World Cup 2010 schedule.

The opener should indicate right away whether Bafana Bafana will have a realistic chance of getting out of the first round; whether they win, lose or draw against a very good Mexican team.

The Uruguay-France match should tell us whether France has recovered it's national dignity after the Thierry Henry hand of Dieux goal.

Tomorrow's Greece-South Korea match pits two hard-nosed agressive teams in a match that is sure to have some fiery confrontations. Argentina-Nigeria may tell us if the Argentines are really worthy of being considered in the same league as Brazil and Spain as possible finalists.

And then there is USA-England; quickly taking geopolitical importance now with the Brits biting back at the unfair treatment BP is receiving in the USA press, as though they were - yeegads - a foreign company. Whether this will all be "decided" on the football pitch between 'friendlies' will be better than a tea party.

Dark moment: will USA and England wind up playing each other for their lives in the South Africa World Cup?

I wasn't the only one surprised with how quickly Bradley was released from the head coaching job with the team.

Now I think I know why. Surely they must have had some ides that Klinsmann would take the job now after demurring before, to have hired him so quickly.

Now the question is what kind of team will Klinsmann build: one like the old Germany which very much resembles the USA's powerful but cautious style, or something more akin to the new Germany which plays with such grace and skill that they have been accused of being gay.

Well they were not "gay" enough to defeat the masters of grace, Spain, yet no one is calling Spain gay.

I guess you only have to win.

Hey, I started another thread with the same name. How do we merge them?

Anyway, here's Klismann's picks for the match against Mexico:

Klinsmann Calls In 22 Players to Face Mexico on Aug. 10 in Philadelphia
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION - Detailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C.United), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Edgar Castillo (Club America), Timmy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), José Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (5): Freddy Adu (Benfica), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

He said he wants to bring in a mix of veterans and newer players to create competition for each position.

I think you have to contact one of the moderators or Jim or Cyd.

Looking forward to seeing how Klinsmann will handle future player selection. Seen a few MLS games recently and there are some good ballhandling individuals and teams out there.

I think "team" is the key word. Spain has 5 or 6 players, at least, on the field at one time who can score. And they spread it around like no other.

Scoring early is also important, but easier said than done.