It isn’t 100% official yet but the Belgium FA is reporting that the US and Belgium will square off on September 6th in Brussels. This long-rumored friendly was confirmed by the USSF today as well.

Belgium is currently second in their group in Euro 2012 qualifying behind Germany, in a group that also has Austria and Turkey. They are currently ranked 35th in the world, if you believe in following the FIFA rankings (the US is currently 24th).

I always like these smaller European tests for the US as it will pit players in Europe and possibly some MLSers against a very talented and young Belgian side. They have guys like Thomas Vermaelen of Arsenal, Eden Hazard of French side Lille, and Romelu Lukaku of Anderlecht. My bet we’ll see some younger guys of our own in this game as well.

This will certainly be a good test for the Americans. What do you make of playing Belgium later this year?

Brek Shea gets a call up for the US National Team. (Getty Images)

If you’re looking for some fresh faces in camp for Bob Bradley for the next two friendlies coming up against Poland and Colombia then think again. Bradley called in a boat load of usuals from Europe probably due to the MLS playoffs that are about to get underway.

Either way there wasn’t too many shockers. I was happy to see Eric Lichaj on the list. He’s a guy who needs to be on your radar if he isn’t already. The rest of you will likely be happy to finally see Jermaine Jones on the list. Hopefully this time we’ll actually see him in uniform.

Only a couple MLSers were called up and both were FC Dallas players, Heath Pearce and Brek Shea. I’ve been saying for a while how bad Bradley needed to call up Shea. My bet neither of those two will report to camp until after the Colorado match on the 9th of October.

But the biggest shocker for me was Eddie Johnson. I get not seeing Robbie Findley or Brian Ching but Johnson? Really? I thought we were done using him.

Here’s the roster, what do ya think?

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)

FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

Inter Milan is bringing a full star-studded squad to Dallas tonight. (Getty Images)

Tonight is a pretty big deal for FC Dallas. They host the UEFA Champions League winners from Italy, Inter Milan at Pizza Hut Park. This is easily the biggest friendly in the club’s history and definitely the biggest match PHP has hosted (excluding two MLS Cups of course).

The match is only a friendly but as we’ve seen for other clubs around the league hosting friendlies this year the impact could be greater for the future if all goes well.

Take a look at some numbers Buzz Carrick posted earlier this week on this game. He is saying it costs the club close to a million dollars to host a club like Inter Milan. That’s a the club going for a high risk-high reward kind of game here. Something the Hunts and FC Dallas rarely do.

Carrick said most clubs the team has brought in the past were Mexican and South American clubs that typically cost a lot less to host. A team like Inter however requires a little more to do it.

Kansas City saw some success this summer after hosting Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium. The cost of hosting Manchester United was high but in the end it really helped the club moving forward in getting new fans and more importantly new season ticket holders for their new stadium next season.

Dallas is hoping to do a similar thing with tonight’s game. The thing is one has to wonder if a European club like Inter can actually sell out Pizza Hut Park. In theory they should but a weeknight game in Frisco is always a dangerous thing to play against. Should the club actually sell out the stadium (not just say they do and really have 10,000 there tonight) then we can expect more big games like this in Frisco.

There has been a question as to why the game isn’t at the new Cowboys Stadium. Its simple, it just wouldn’t draw and make enough money there. The stadium is too large for a MLS club to draw well against a team like Inter and down here I don’t believe Inter has enough pull to fill a stadium like Manchester United. Now had it been Inter against say Club America then it would have easily been there.

But on the flip side if the crowd doesn’t show up it will be back to the cheaper Mexican and South American sides for FCD at PHP.

So tonight its all about taking risks for FC Dallas. I know the club is pulling out all the stops for this game and are really treating it like a big event. Its good to see the club take a friendly like this serious (off the field speaking). I have my doubts about it being full tonight but this club has had a way of surprising me this season.

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?

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.

Left Back: It will either be Jonathan Bornstein or Heath Pearce come June in this spot. That I am certain of. Pearce had a nice game against El Salvador and really seems to be doing well in Dallas right now. Having quality playing time has certainly helped him out too. Depending how they look tomorrow will go a long way in determining who gets a roster spot in June. My money is on Pearce right now.

Center Back: I still have a guy feeling Oguchi Onyewu will be available come June but some how if he isn’t it will be between Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson and Carlos Bocanegra to pick up the slack. I think the bigger story will be if Goodson can continue to impress Bradley. I think should Onyewu return to full health and Goodson continue to impress it will make Bradley’s life tough but in a good way. I’m not saying that he’d take Goodson over Onyewu here but having an improving Goodson only helps our chances in the back.

Right back: I worry about the wings in the back but if Pearce can get up to speed on the left I think so can Jonathan Spector on the right. But let’s not sleep on Frank Simek here, this game could be his big chance to make it in June.

Defensive Mid: It will likely be a WVHooligan favorite Maurice Edu to go in the midfield along side Michael Bradley. I think at this point this is Edu’s spot to lose. With Ricardo Clark on the outside looking in for a roster spot at this point I think Edu is a good bet, which I am happy with here too.

Striker: Ok we know Jozy Altidore is set and if Charlie Davies doesn’t return in time it will come down to three guys: Jeff Cunningham, Robbie Findley or Eddie Johnson. If that is the case my money is on Findley here. I’m curious to see which gets the start tomorrow with Altidore though because both need a strong start to do well.

Again tomorrow is a big deal. We must find a way to stop the Dutch on the wings. I’m very worried that Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart will eat our boys alive on the wings. If we find a way to stay in front of them and keep them honest we’ll be fine. If not it could be a very long night in Amsterdam.

The Dutch also like to shoot from range, so guys in the midfield and in the center part of the pitch must be on guard. One slip up will put Tim Howard in some jeopardy. Protecting the ball in the midfield will be key for the US.

I expect a high tempo to this game from both sides but the US will be wise to slow it down at some points to keep the pressure off the defense. Our forwards will need to work together to get quality looks on goal. The Dutch defense is a savvy one, but isolating one of them at a time can help work wonders. A big game from Landon Donovan also wouldn’t hurt!

This won’t be an easy game by any stretch for the US. Holland is damn good and they are very tough to beat in Holland. Forcing mistakes early will boost our confidence if we can get them but giving up silly passes in the midfield and on the wings will doom us. I hate going against the US but until we show up on the road, particularly in Europe I have to go against us. It should be fun to watch…key word is should.

WVH Prediction: Holland 2, US 0

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)

That would be a shame too.

Anyways, here are some highlights and thoughts on the 2-1 win over El Salvador from ESPN. Crazy finish to the game but a nice showing by the MLS All-stars USMNT.

Steve Goff is reporting this afternoon that the US is set to finalize their World Cup tune ups on home soil against some strong competition. The first match is likely set for being at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., against the Czech Republic. Goff goes on to say that after a game in Hartford the US will likely head to Philadelphia to play either Turkey or Ireland at Lincoln Financial Field.

Even though nothing is set in stone the possibility of these matches already blow 2006 out of the water. Let’s not the US will also be playing in Holland soon too. Playing strong competition to tune up things before the World Cup is a smart way to go in my books. Already the thought of facing the Czechs who saw Slovenia in qualifying makes sense.

It will be interesting to see where the third location is and who the third opponent will be for the US. Hopefully the US is lined up with some African country for a tune up match. We’ll see.

Update: The game in Philly will be against Turkey on May 29.

No real major surprises for this camp as we figured it would be mostly all MLS based. This may be a first in a long time that the entire roster for a camp is all MLS based.

What do you make of this roster?

KEEPERS: Troy Perkins (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA).

DEFENDERS: Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Michael Orozco (Philadelphia Union), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC).

MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).

FORWARDS: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake).

Of the 30 players, 25 are from Major League Soccer with 13 of the 16 clubs represented. Good to see a few names on there like Kevin Alston from New England and Geoff Cameron from Houston.

Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS (8): Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (6): Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)