The American scored a stoppage-time goal against Glasgow Celtic to give his Rangers a 1-0 victory. The American is in tip top shape coming off of knee surgery and should making Bob Bradley’s shortlist for South Africa. Edu and Rangers teammate DaMarcus Beasely have already been selected to play in the upcoming Netherlands friendly.
American International Edu get’s game-winner at Ibrox – photo credit: David Moir/Reuters
Glasgow Rangers are now 10 points ahead of second place Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. Keep it up fellas! Also, props to Rangers goalie Allan McGregor for brushing off the bar-room attack and jumping back into the game unscathed.
Great goalkeepers are like fine wines in that they only improve with age. No goalkeeper fits that bill better than the U.S.’s own Tim Howard. The 30-year-old keeper from New Jersey got his start in the game when former U-17 assistant coach Tim Mulqueen began to mentor him in his early teens. After successful highs school campaigns, Howard transitioned into the now defunct United Soccer Leagues playing for the New Jersey Imperials. Howard’s relationship with Mulqueen then came into play and his mentor brought the young keeper to the MLS MetroStars in 1998.
By 2001, Howard had won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award and attracted the attention of the Senior U.S. International Team. After playing for the youth team in 1999, Howard earned his first official cap in 2002 in a friendly against Ecuador. However, it was a transfer in 2003 that made Howard a household name around the world.
English football giants Manchester United signed Howard and promptly placed him in the starting position. He had an impressive first season, but later struggled to meet the demands of the highly competitive English Premiership. After 45 appearances with Manchester United, Howard transferred to Everton in 2006. Since his debut he become Everton’s starting keeper and has even captained for the English club.
Howard has had a successful career abroad, but his recent performances with the U.S. National Team have made him the respected athlete he is today. In 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Howard helped lift hits team to a 2-1 victory over region rivals, Mexico. Under the leadership of coach Bob Bradley, Howard and the U.S. squad toppled number one-ranked Spain at the 2009 Confederations Cup. Eight saves led to a shutout against Spanish favorites, marking the first time Spain has been shutout since 2007. Howard’s talents were recognized by FIFA, who awarded him the Golden Glove Award for best goalkeeper.
The U.S. will have a tough first match in South Africa this year as the team gears up to face England. After a disappointing campaign in 2006, the U.S. is sure to want to leave a strong impression upon the international scene more in line with last year’s Confederations Cup. Will the U.S. make it into the knockout stages? Can they perhaps reach the final? Whatever the outcome, Howard is sure to play an integral part in it.
First off, THANK YOU to everyone for contributing to our first poll! With a couple hundred (now at ~400) more votes/suggestions on our poll, we’ve made further changes.
As we said before, the US Men’s team is without a nickname and we are working to find one that sticks. In order to keep up with our growing community, we’ve introduced a system of relegation/promotion for votable names. The latest names to be relegated were “New Boots” and “Independence”. Newly added are “The United” and “Stars”. Since I made the changes this morning, there have already been several votes for each of the new names.
If you have another name in mind, please submit. We can make history! Feel free to get creative. Just know that we’ve already dismissed the following…
The Pussycat Dolls
The Hamburgers
The Ponzies
The Nukes
The Bald Eagles
The Clan
PS: There has been some discussion about the pre-existence of “The Yanks” as a team nickname. This is not entirely true. The name was popularized by the English a while back and it may, if we so chose, be adopted by actual USMNT supporters as the official name. Some people have argued that the name is self-deprecating, while others see it as a perfect fit. You may notice that votes are fairly even at this point. We will tally all votes at the end of January, followed by one final set of changes. Two will be voted off, and two will be added. Our hope is to have a name chosen by the end of February so that we can get official shirts printed as we head into spring.
Thank you for your votes, suggestions, and comments!
At a Liverpool Press conference, the Spanish striker expressed a bit of frustration with Spain’s loss to the US this past summer.
“They beat us in the Confederations Cup and it was, I think, not the real thing…we had 27 shots on target but we couldn’t score.”
NOT THE REAL THING!? Them’s fightin words.
Wait a second. When a Spanish striker (possibly the best in the world) can’t get over a loss, something is up. We got under their skin. If we make it out of our group in South Africa, there’s a good chance that we’ll have an early shot at Spain. We’ll be ready.
photo credit: Getty Images/linked from Yahoo Soccer
Looking toward his June 12th opener against the US Men’s team, Wayne Rooney regards US internationals Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan as two world-class competitors who will give England a run for their money.
In 1950, the US squad became the first team ever to beat England in World Cup competition. A win for the US in June would be an equally massive upset. We’re dealing with the most gifted (and cohesive) English squad in decades. While critics accuse the Brits of always expecting to win the World Cup, they seem to be making a fairly convincing argument this time around. Rooney is scary. Defoe is scary. Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, etc etc…
To USMNT’s credit, the world watched us take a fully-stacked Spain to pieces in the Confederations Cup. We have finally achieved wild card status. If we can beat Algeria and Slovenia and lose to England, we face Germany in the round of 16. If we beat all three teams, we have the pleasure of facing a second place finisher in the round of 16. I digress. Our primary goal at the moment is getting Onyewu and Davies (and Jermaine Jones, perhaps?) back to 100% fitness.
Rooney is being a gentleman. He may not be doing any nut-stomping in South Africa, but he is a scrapper for life. Check out this vid from March.
Charlie Davies was catapulted onto the global football scene in ‘08 with critical goals scored throughout international competition. A stellar qualifying run was cut short on October 13th, 2009, when a car crash left Davies in critical condition. Another passenger lost her life.
Since being released from the hospital in November, Davies has been at a rehab facility in Delaware, working to regain his strength. A badly broken leg, a broken elbow, and a lacerated bladder could have easily taken him out of the game for life, though Charlie is hell-bent on getting back in the game. In an interview with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, scheduled to air on December 4th, Davies makes clear that he intends to play in South Africa.
We also learned that Davies has been training with teammate Oguchi Onyewu (also injured) at the same Delaware facility. If these guys can get fit, the US squad will have a fighting chance.
ONELOVE salutes Charlie Davies on making a remarkable recovery. Keep up the hard work!
The US Men’s National Team needs a real nickname. Aside from Slovenia (who may still have one – we’re doing our homework), every other team has a proud, bold name that represents a distinct football culture. If we want American soccer culture to flourish, we need to settle on something before June, 2010. At the moment, we are the “USMNT” which sounds like a dyslexic Ninja Turtles acronym. We can do better. Below is a list of names for next year’s World Cup finalists.
In an effort to get people talking, ONELOVE FC will be polling readers to find the perfect name. Once a clear winner comes to light, we’ll make that baby stick. Comment with your suggestions or check out the poll, coming soon…
With 2 international friendlies coming up before South Africa, Bob Bradly has an opportunity to test his squad out against world class competitors. The US coach couldn’t ask for a better training scenario than what he’s got in these matches. Both Slovakia, who we face on Saturday, and Denmark finished at the top of their respective qualifying tables.
Big names are off the list for Saturday (Donovan, Onyewu, Davies, to name a few) which will clear the way for a few deserving prospects. Jeff Cunningham, whose record goal scoring has been the talk of the MLS this season, got his first call up since 2005. Dax McCarty, Eddie Johnson, and Marcus Hahnemann will also have a chance to play alongside Bocanegra, Dempsey, Altidore, and Casey in this second-to-last dress rehearsal. The roster set to face Denmark has not yet been announced, but we expect some more new faces.
Here’s the breakdown for Saturday:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)
The ‘08 and ‘09 Visa MLS Defender of the Year has done incredible things for Columbus in 18 games this season. Should knee troubles persist for Onyewu in South Africa, we believe that Chad Marshall will make a worthy substitute. (more…)
Onyewu ruptured his patellar tendon in the World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica and is expected to be fully recovered from surgery sometime in April 2010. He’ll be able to train with AC Milan for a couple months before training camp begins for the USMNT. Many believe that Onyewu is the perfect complement to Bocanegra’s style of defense. His height and athleticism are huge factors in overpowering and otherwise foiling two and three man attacks. (more…)
American International Edu get’s game-winner at Ibrox – photo credit: David Moir/Reuters
