United States Men’s National Team will play Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, one week before playing its first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This match will be shortly after the Send-Off series between Czech Republic on May 25 and Turkey on May 29.

This will be the first meeting between the two countries in 12 years. The Aussies hold a slim overall lead in the series over the US, going 0-1-1 in just two prior meetings.

I really like how the US is positioning itself before the World Cup. Between the two Send-Off matches and this one I really believe they are testing themselves better for the World Cup than in previous ones. Plus playing this game in South Africa gets the team accustom to the area once again over there. As much as I would have liked this game to be over here in the US, placing a game in South Africa right before the tournament has to have some good advantages.

What do you think of the US playing Australia a week before the World Cup? Wish the game were over here instead of in South Africa?

Herculez Gomez is back...but will it be good enough to get on the National team? (Getty Images)

Okay, you’ve scored scored six goals in his past seven matches for Mexican first division side Puebla there Herculez Gomez, now what did you do with the real Herculez Gomez?

No really, tell us!

This isn’t your normal Gomez that scored just 23 goals in Major League Soccer between 2003 and 2009. So far his six goals for Puebla have nearly matched his production from his last three years in the league with the Kansas City Wizards and Colorado Rapids.

It comes to show if you put the right player in the right system things can happen. Gomez is obviously in the right system at Puebla for him. His time with the Rapids and Wizards was down right awful, then again both of those teams over the last couple years have been painful to watch at times so its no wonder why he didn’t flourish in either system.

But is this recent outburst down south National team worthy? If there were more friendlies other than the two big World Cup tune-ups in May I’d say yes but for now sadly its almost too little too late for Gomez to get on Bob Bradley’s good side. Then again if he continues to score goals like no other in the Mexican first division between now and the time Bradley picks his roster he may be a good backup choice.

What do you think? Should Bradley give Gomez a look over say a Jeff Cunningham or a Robbie Findley? All three can go from hot to cold real quick.

Ah yes, it was 1998 and the US just stunk up the place all over France. Shortly after a dismal World Cup effort by the US Men’s National team the USSF decided to take action and form a new initiative to get the US on the world’s soccer map for good. It was at that time they formed what was known as Project 2010.

ESPN’s Outside the Lines did an excellent look at the project yesterday morning with interviews from some key folks in the project. Interesting numbers come from this video including the fact that out of the 43 players that played for the US during this World Cup qualifying, 58% of them came from the IMG academy or Generation adidas/Project-40.

Robbie Findley struggled yesterday in Holland. (Getty Images)

Do we chalk this loss yesterday to Holland as a bad thing. Uh, yes and no. Yes because its a loss and one that showed us exactly where we stand. No because it did help US manager Bob Bradley out in figuring out who exactly he needs to take with him to South Africa.

I felt like going into the classic good, bad and ugly theme for this recap. I gave it a day to mull things over and see where I think things stand. We did see some good, things we can take from the game and move forward with a positive attitude about. But on the flip side there were some negatives in this one and then some down right ugly items I hate even bringing up today. Continue Reading…

Not a bad showing by the US against Holland. (Getty Images)

I won’t go too into the match just yet, I have a plan on re-watching some of it later on today but I did want to give my initial player ratings from this afternoon’s 2-1 loss to the Dutch in Amsterdam.

WVH USMNT Player Ratings:

Tim Howard – 7
Jonathan Spector – 5
Carlos Bocanegra – 7
Jay DeMerit – 5
Jonathan Bornstein – 2
Stuart Holden – 5
Michael Bradley – 5
Jose Francisco Torres – 5
Landon Donovan – 4
Jozy Altidore – 6
Robbie Findley – 4

Subs:
Maurice Edu – 4
DeMarcus Beasley – 7
Alejandro Bedoya – 6
Heath Pearce – 4
Eddie Johnson – 4
Clarence Goodson – 5

Top Three Players for US:

1. DeMarcus Beasley – Off the bench he was very good today, probably much better than he’s been in recent games that I’ve seen him in. I like the idea of him still coming off the bench though instead of starting for the US.
2. Tim Howard – He made his usual few big saves but got unlucky with the PK and the other goal. Still can’t blame this loss at all on Timmy, he worked his ass off as usual.
3. Carlos Bocanegra – Got the lone goal on a great free kick by Beasley. He was so freakin’ open on that play it was ridiculous. He also did well in the back today for the US.

Overall it wasn’t a terrible game by the US. I thought Donovan was a ghost most of the game but that could be due to poor service from out of the back for him. Early on the US was too predictable in the midfield and in the final third. Robbie Findley was okay but really showed he has no shot at a roster spot in South Africa after getting over powered in this game by the Dutch defense. He has the speed to beat them but never really took people on like we would have liked.

Bad day for Bornstein though. First the penalty late in the first half and then the deflection for the second Dutch goal in the second half. I thought Bob Bradley should have subbed him at half for someone like Pearce but he’s got too much of a love fest for Bornstein.

Again, I hope to have more later on this game.

Bob Bradley has some tough choices to make for tomorrow's friendly against Holland (Getty Images)

Honestly I need to amp up my USMNT cover on here. I’ll admit I don’t get to see every game like I would like and I honestly nearly forgot the El Salvador game last week. In fact I didn’t even get to watch all of it but what I did see what the final 20 minutes or so which were fun to view since it was a nice comeback for the US.

What we know is this Holland game tomorrow is a biggie. Its in Holland and the Dutch are easily one of the best squads in the World right now. But this is more than a high profile friendly for Bob Bradley it is a chance to really finish filling out his roster for June at the World Cup in South Africa.

A good chunk of the roster is probably set but for those bubble players this is a big test. The two friendlies so far this year were definitely for the MLS talent to show their stuff and while they did a decent job only a couple of that B or C bunch will make an sort of dent in this roster come June.

Bradley has a couple areas to hammer out before June. The nearly all his defense needs to be figured out, his defensive midfield spot, and a striker. Continue Reading…

It’s nearly time for my favorite World Cup tune-up this year. The match in Holland against the Dutch. Today Bob Bradley announced his 20-man roster for the March 3rd game.

There’s only four MLS players on this roster, so this may be a slight glimpse of what we’ll see in South Africa this summer. Too bad there is on Brian Ching, I really expected him to be on here after his performance last night.

So what do ya think?

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS (7): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (7): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Everton), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)