Friday, December 4, 2009


USA fans the world over have a wonderful reason to celebrate.  As just revealed live on ESPN2 the United States have been drawn with England, Algeria, and Slovenia.  This is a wonderful bit of luck for the stars and stripes and the US will want to look forward to the World Cup this time around.  Something else important to note is of the US' arch-rivals Mexico, who looked to be put into a relatively simple group as the first two draw were with hosts South Africa and the final South American qualifier Uruguay, but then they drew silver bullet France from Pot D and it all became much harder for "El Tri".  Uruguay is always a tough opponent and South Africa showed just how much they've improved.  But the draw for the US is what I want to talk about and enjoy and breakdown.  We really couldn't have asked for a better draw.  I will continue coverage of the World Cup Draw day following the conclusion of their coverage.  Until then, enjoy this day.  

Thursday, December 3, 2009

NP's 2010 World Cup Mock Draw


So I got peer pressured into this one.  I don't see much point in doing your own mock draw because in this case there are more than 4 million possibilities.  But alas I've been suckered in.  So I printed out a list of the qualified teams and set them in the four pots as designated by FIFA.  Here is the draw (from a hat I might add) that I got, first chance:

Group A: South Africa, Japan, Paraguay, France
Group B: England, Honduras, Nigeria, Denmark
Group C: Spain, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group D: Brazil, New Zealand, Ghana, Slovakia
Group E: Germany, Australia, Cameroon, Greece
Group F: Argentina, United States, Algeria, Switzerland
Group G: Netherlands, Korea Republic, Chile, Slovenia
Group H: Italy, Korea DPR, Uruguay, Serbia

Not a bad draw at all, in fact, the only thing I'm loving more than our draw is Mexico's draw.

But just to show you how completely random the draw can be, I did another:

Group A: South Africa, Korea Republic, Chile, Switzerland
Group B: Germany, Honduras, Paraguay, Denmark
Group C: Brazil, New Zealand, Algeria, Serbia
Group D: Argentina, Australia, Nigeria, Slovenia
Group E: Netherlands, Korea DPR, Cameroon, France
Group F: Italy, United States, Uruguay, Portugal
Group G: England, Mexico, Ghana, Slovakia
Group H: Spain, Japan, Ivory Coast, Greece

So yea, it can vary quite a bit, from a relatively simple group in the first one to a group of death in the second one.  But hey, I guess we all can dream for this group: South Africa, United States, Uruguay, Slovenia.  The draw will be shown live tomorrow on ESPN2 at 12pm EST.  Let the soccer gods favor us with a good draw.  Until then, many a sleepless night will be spent around the world, including myself, analyzing any possible match-up possible.  So, until tomorrow I bid thee a good night. 

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

NP's 23 for 2010


If you don't recognize the player in the photo, the soccer gods will forgive you.  It's Frank Simek of Sheffield Wednesday and with his resurrection at the club he could very well fight his way onto the plane.  Without further adieu here are the 23 lucky lads:

Tim Howard - Goalkeeper - Everton FC - Everton's defense may be conceding goals this season, but through no fault of Howard.  He is and will remain the unquestioned No. 1 in the nets for the Yanks. 

Brad Guzan - Goalkeeper - Aston Villa FC - Guzan continues to shine brightly in every start he's granted by Martin O'Neill, he is arguably the best back-up GK on the planet.

Marcus Hahnemann - Goalkeeper - Wolverhampton - After recently taking control of the starting job at Wolves, his experience in the Premier League makes him an easy pick over Troy Perkins.

Steve Cherundolo - Defender - Hannover 96 - The Hannover vice-captain has impressed in his recent appearances with the US and continues his strong play in the Bundesliga. 

Jonathan Spector - Defender - West Ham United - Continues to see solid minutes for the struggling Hammers and his backline versatility makes him an easy choice.

Frank Simek - Defender - Sheffield Wednesday - His revival at Sheffield Wednesday is worth noting and brings youth and solid experience into the squad.

Oguchi Onyewu - Defender - AC Milan - Should he be healthy and 100% by June there's no way he misses the plane.  We've seen how porous our backline can be without him in the last two friendlies.

Jay DeMerit - Defender - Watford FC - The Watford captain is close to returning to play after scratching his cornea last month.  Really increased his stock with solid play in the Confederations Cup.

Chad Marshall - Defender - Columbus Crew - The two-time MLS Defender of the Year is just too good to be left off the list, but his continued injuries are a bit of a worry.

Carlos Bocanegra - Defender - Stade Rennais - Captain American wouldn't be left at home would he?  Another versatile player who can play on the left as well as in the middle.

Edgar Castillo - Defender - Tigres UANL - The youngster wasn't really given an opportunity against Denmark so a nice long look in January will give Bob Bradley all he needs.

Clint Dempsey - Midfielder - Fulham FC - Dempsey is enjoying his best season yet with Fulham and leads the team in scoring.  His versatility could see him play up top as well as on the right flank.

Stuart Holden - Midfielder - Free Agent - Where he signs will have a huge impact on his chances but assuming he continues to get playing time he'll be on the plane.

Jermaine Jones - Midfielder - FC Schalke 04 - After returning to training recently, Bradley has no excuse to not call him up.  He will be the best central midfielder in the pool.

Michael Bradley - Midfielder - Borussia Monchengladbach - Bradley Jr. finished second in 2009 as far as minutes played and will continue to get those minutes in 2010.

Benny Feilhaber - Midfielder - AGF Aarhus - His continued exploits in Denmark have seen his transfer prospects rise.  His unique ability on the ball brings another dimension to the US attack and Bob Bradley would be dumb to leave him at home.

Maurice Edu - Midfielder - Glasgow Rangers - Another player who just returned to training from a prolonged injury but his versatility in central midfield and on the backline puts him in a seat.

Ricardo Clark - Midfielder - Free Agent - His prospects heavily depend on where he signs and how much time he gets there, but I have faith that he'll continue to grow as a player wherever he moves.

Jose Francisco Torres - Midfielder - Pachuca - Doesn't get nearly enough time as he deserves, but provides solid depth on the left flank and in central midfield.

Landon Donovan - Forward - LA Galaxy - Rumored to be moving to Europe and really needs to.  But wherever he lands, he'll be on the plane.

Jozy Altidore - Forward - Hull City FC - He continues to get starts in England and once he gets his first goal I think the floodgates will open for the youngster.

CHARLIE DAVIES - Forward - FC Sochaux - Wishful thinking? Maybe.  But when he and his doctors say he'll be good to go for the World Cup, I'll trust the experts.

Kenny Cooper - Forward - 1860 Munich - His knee injury was much less worse than early suspected and if he continues to play and score in Germany he will be hard to ignore. 

Who else could make it?
Jonathan Bornstein
Eddie Johnson
Brian Ching
Conor Casey
Troy Perkins
Jimmy Conrad
Clarence Goodson
DaMarcus Beasley
Marcus Tracy

FIFA World Cup Pots Set for Friday Draw


The pots for the draw of the 2010 World Cup were revealed today, here are the four pots, of which one team from each will be drawn to form the groups for the World Cup:

POT 1- Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Netherlands, England, Italy, Germany, South Africa
POT 2- USA, Mexico, Honduras, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand
POT 3- Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria
POT 4- France, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, Greece, Slovakia, Serbia, Switzerland

The draw will be Friday afternoon and broadcast live on ESPN2.  Lets hope we continue to be blessed and grab a manageable draw.

Jermaine Jones Returns to Training and Danny Califf on the Move


Truly this shows that God isn't cheering for Mexico anymore as Jermaine Jones has returned to training for Schalke.  With three games remaining before the Bundesliga winter break Bob Bradley should get a good opportunity to take a good look at him.  In fact, Bradley could invite Jones to the January camp so as to take a good long look.  My intuition tells me that he will start instantly once fully healthy and integrated into the team.  This is very exciting and I'm looking forward to a 100% healthy pool by the time May rolls around. 

In other news, USA international Danny Califf has been bought out of the rest of his contract with FC Midtjylland in Denmark and will sign with Philadelphia Union by Monday according to Califf in an interview with Greg Seltzer of noshortcorners.com.  Califf is a solid centerback and will push for a starting position from the moment he arrives.  Anyone else think the Union won't be a solid contender this season? 

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Tiss the season...

With the holiday season fast approaching, we look back on all that we can be thankful for as US fans, and in larger part, soccer fans as a whole. 

  • We now have more top American players not just playing, but starting and significantly helping their clubs in Europe.
  • MLS is flourishing (even with the economic downturn).  Seattle was an EPIC success and Philadelphia, Vancouver, and Portland will add to to the fire.
  • We qualified for the World Cup by beating Honduras in their house (something that everyone else failed to do).
  • We made it to the final of the Confederations Cup and gave Brazil all they wanted and more.  
  • Forget the disappointment of the Gold Cup and losing in Mexico City.  Our time will come in Mexico, we know we're the better team now and the victory there is coming soon enough. 
  • We've actually acquired players who want to play for the US (Torres, Castillo, Jones) as opposed to abandoning it (Rossi, Subotic).
  • The injury chaos of recent seems has finally turned as Maurice Edu has returned to full training with Rangers, Jay DeMerit is eying a quicker return than first thought (you liked that pun, admit it), Kenny Cooper DID NOT tear his ACL, only sprained it and will only be out 3 weeks, Gooch has said he will be ready to go in four months tops and Charlie Davies' doctors are saying that he is making a fantastic recovery and could be ready to go by June (just awesome).  The final piece of the puzzle seems to be Jermaine Jones, who is eying a January return timetable.  
All in all it has been a wonderful year and while there were certainly results we would've liked to have come out differently, we can all be proud American fans this time.  So, it is with hungry hearts and full voice that we march on to South Africa.  In three days we learn our opponents victims.  With that, I post this in an effort to get you pumped for games that are only seven months away.  Disclaimer:  Foul language warning.