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)

You really have to like what the USSF is doing to try and get the USMNT ready for next summer’s World Cup. After being rumored for months, the USSF announced today the US will play third-ranked Netherlands on March 3 in Amsterdam.

The Americans will face the Dutch at Amsterdam ArenA on March 3 (2:30pm, ESPN2/Galavision). The game will also be on an international fixture date meaning we’ll probably see a big mix of European and MLS players from Bob Bradley.

This friendly along with the Honduras one in January and a possible match with Mexico in February is starting to shape some things up nicely for World Cup tune-ups for the US. Hopefully this trip to Europe will be a little better than the one last month that saw the US go down to Denmark and Slovakia.

What should be a good tune-up for next year’s World Cup (should the US qualify), the US national team possibly has a friendly lined up to play Holland on March 3 in Eindhoven.

The LA Times is reporting this evening that the US would be playing Holland next March while their rivals to the south would be hosting Spain. Yes, a Mexico-Spain match from Mexico City sounds pretty good to me.

Back to playing Holland though. I love the idea that the US is actually going to schedule good tune-ups for the World Cup this time around. I felt one big reason the US stunk up the place in 2006 was due to their lack of quality tune-ups for the big event in Germany. Playing countries like Latvia and Venezuela don’t get you ready for games against Ghana and Italy.

Hopefully Holland will be one of a couple good tune-ups the US has before the World Cup next summer.

What do you think of possibly playing Holland next year?

Yeah, I’m not gonna pretend to know everything there is about international football/soccer/futbol. But with the Euro 2008 tournament kicking off tomorrow, I thought I would post a video or two to hype everyone else up. Consider this my preview of the tournament if you will.

Its not that I’m not jazzed up for it (because I totally am), its I don’t have enough time or energy right now to preview it like Ives or someone else out there.

As for who I’m rooting for…well seeing how I am a Swede, the boys in yellow will be the ones I will follow closely but once they exit the tournament (which they will probably after group play) I will probably lean towards Portugal or Italy winning it all. Everyone is high on someone like Croatia or Spain, but I’m still hoping Sweden can be that dark horse if their defense holds up.

Who are you all rooting for? Let’s hear it.