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I'm posting a little earlier than usual today, but all of the news I've been waiting for is in so here we go.

#1
It took all day, but news of Clint Dempsey's knee injury finally came in today from the Fulham website. The report says that Clint sustained "moderate damage to a ligament in his right knee" in the match against Blackburn over the weekend. The injury will not require surgery, and barring any setbacks Clint should feature again for Fulham before the end of the EPL season in May.

I was checking for an update on this story about every 15...

I’m just wondering, ‘cause these teams have played each other a lot in recent years. (Actually, to follow on this a little, Craig Waibel just tangled with a Pachuca player in the area and the ref butted in – this is about the 12th minute – and they seemed to be having some fun. I think these teams respect one another quite a bit…nice segue to the lead…)

Still, as far as international fixtures in the CONCACAF region go, this could very well be the crème of the cream (I actually like the image because it's the second hit...

Yes, getting through the final 10 minutes hurt like getting molested during a root canal. And, no, I haven’t seen a U.S. team stagger through a defeat like that….well, actually, it hasn’t been so long; think the 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Confederations’ Cup.

That bitter taste ain’t just the beer, obviously, but The Big Wheel Steve Perry sang about will turn once again and the U.S. will not look like oxygen-starved children on the pitch at some future date. Just...

After watching almost every minute of both teams in the Gold Cup, it is not much of a surprise to see them both in the finals. Neither team has been dominant. Both teams have holes. Neither team has consistently played its best soccer. Yet both teams have been the class of the competition.

Scouting Reports

Mexico: It is more than a little ironic that Mexico has become a nation of worker bees. The technical skill of every Mexican player ranges from average to excellent. Many players perform their tasks well....

Stewie's a winner all right

Winners:

• Stuart Holden - he scored one absolute scorcher against Haiti and came damn close to scoring a second. With him and Robbie Rogers looking scary good, Bob Bradley's head is going to be spinning from all the real competition for places on the midfield flanks. This can only be a good thing... unless for DaMarcus Beasley. Sorry, DaMarcus.
• Chad Marshall - Marshall looked unbelievably good against Honduras and seeing the corpse formerly

...

“The 2009 Gold Cup was always about testing young players and allowing some veterans to work their way back into the U.S. national team mix. It was supposed to be about helping coach Bob Bradley answer some questions about his team, and specifically, some of his more high-profile young players.”

- Ives Galarcep, 07.10.09, ESPN.com

That quote serves as a counter-point to some rant that will conclude this post. But putting it up high makes sense by way of acknowledging that, yes, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, at least in its current incarnation,...

A few years ago one of the people I respect most in the game told me to look for the guy other players look to when they aren't quite sure what to do - the team's safety valve.

That player was Stuart Holden, easily the classiest soccer player in Qwest Field today.

More thoughts tomorrow.

(Inspiration for the title comes from the album, at right, which all y'all should do your best to find. It’s good and this band got cut down years early and in the worst of circumstances. Still, a very good album and I regret like hell not having it at this very moment.)

Some games so totally lack in educational value that one has to wonder why they’re played at all. The answer: because it’s on the schedule….this is why a world soccer power like Germany occasionally beats the bejesus out of the...

On the eve of the Gold Cup, some US players have with everything to win. Others may only have something to lose.

For a good part of the competition, the US will face teams unwilling to take initiative. Its group includes Grenada, Haiti, and Honduras. On their best day, the first two are batting practice. With Shalrie Joseph out, Grenada just became tee ball. Honduras should be favored to advance to the knockout stages with the US, but is bringing a skeleton of its best team. Of the players we saw lose to the US in Chicago, only 2 starters - Costly and Chavez - have been called...

For fun:

1) US wins the Gold Cup
2) Stuart Holden, Santino Quaranta, and Chad Marshall make cases for the 2010 squad
3) Michael Bradley moves to England
4) Landon Donovan moves to Italy
5) Charlie Davies moves to France
6) Sacha Kljestan moves to Holland
7) Jay Demerit moves to Spain
8) Freddy Adu stays at Benfica
9) Portland stadium situation is resolved
10) US wins in Azteca