All the adjectives you could apply to an inspirational performances apply to the USMNT's handling of Spain yesterday. The Yanks went end to end, side to side, non-stop for ninety minutes. The most telling play of the match for me wasn't either of the two goals, but it was Ricardo Clark's sliding block on a shot destined for goal from Sergio Ramos. Watch Minute 8:50 this clip. The team really showed what The American spirit was all about.

The team also told me and all the other supporters not to worry about the past few weeks of shoddy performances. We've been reaffirmed that our national team is competitive when we want to be. I think the players have realized that they can't coast when they put the jersey on and go out to play teams like Costa Rica and Honduras. National team's of old didn't take opponents lightly, and this next generation won't anymore.

Let's all laugh at these guys.

Then let's thank Brasil for getting the job done.

After my last post, I called Coach Bradley's coaching decisions into question. I was specifically concerned with his personnel choices. Shortly after that post, my point was validated with an absolutely sad performance against Brasil. Then somehow we turned it all around against Egypt. The player selection was a little better against Egypt, but the main difference was our heart. We finally brought it out onto the field for a match. The stats showed it too. Our players ran more and finally connected on a significant number of passes.

Our reward for a great escape out of our group is a match against the world's current best team, Spain. That means in a one week period, we'll have played 3 of the top 5 teams in the world. Not bad at all. We'll also get to play the host S. Africa, assuming Brasil beats them and Spain beats us. Seems like we'll get a lot of good competition out of this tournament.

June 3 - WCQ - USA gets worked 3-1 in Costa Rica. Costa Rica couldn't replicate that today. Most of our squad had only been together for 3 days and some had just flown in from Europe. Our team was comprised of players who play in Belgium, Mexico, France, England, Spain, Germany and of course the USA. That's at least seven styles of play and sets of tactics that have to be forgotten in three days. There was no reason to expect any team chemistry. There wasn't much of a reason to expect a win. Costa Rica is very good at home and just about all their players are domestic so they know how to play together all the time. While I thank SportsCenter and other mainstream media for covering the match, they're just not savvy enough to know that a win was going to be a very difficult task. The sky was not falling as they'd have you believe. I wasn't that upset with the result because I sort of expected it. I think some players showed how far they've fallen off the international level.

June 6 - WCQ - Three days after Costa Rica, the Yanks were in Chicago to play Honduras. Somehow we self-destructed after 10 minutes and gave up a silly goal, but we dominated the match and fought back to win 2-1. It was weird how we dominated the match with so many poor performances on the field but our system of hybreeding English Long Ball and Germany discipline out worked the Honduran system of pass pass pass run. This was the second match in a row where player selection was not as good as it could have been.

June 15 - Confederation Cup - USA fights hard but, loses 3-1 to World Champion Italy. Like my friend Dan Loney said, "Turns out the champions of the world are better than we are." Our tactics were right, but a lot went wrong. Ricardo Clark was stupid and got sent off (I'd have sent him off too). Bradley and Altidore missed clear chances. The ref missed a blatant second penalty. Italy dodged a few bullets, and capitalized like they always seem to do. Our Yanks played hard and better than I thought they could at times, but once again, I think some of the personnel let us down.

The common issue that I'm seeing is Coach Bob Bradley's player selection. A handful of players consistently under perform and are rewarded with more playing time. DaMarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, Sacha Klejstan, Benny Feilhaber and Clint Dempsey are the top candidates in this spot. They've all had absolute howlers and somehow always find time on the field.

Two players have impressed me a lot, only to stay on the bench. Jose Torres and Freddy Adu were both brilliant against Costa Rica but haven't seen much time on the field since. Somehow they're associated with that negative result despite being the bright spots.

The most puzzling player is Michael Bradley, coach Bradley's son. He has had great seasons in Europe (last year with Dutch side Herenveen he scored about 20 goals, and this year he lead Borussia Moenchengladbach away from relegation) but somehow can't figure out what to do with the USA. I think he's being told to do too much. Against Italy, he was seen going box to box and not really being too effective on either end. He missed his open chance on goal in the first half, and was absent on Italy's goals. The coach is his dad and can't figure out what to do with the kid. I'm getting the feeling that Bob Bradley is not the answer for the USA.

We can't expect to beat Brasil tomorrow in the 2nd group match of the Confederations Cup. No team since 1958 has expected to beat Brasil. However, I'm very curious as to what the player selections will be. I don't trust Coach Bob Bradley at the moment and if I'm not liking his picks for the Brasil match and Egypt match, I'm going to be part of the contingent calling for a change.

English Premier League

Bundesliga

Italy - Serie A

France - Ligue 1

Netherlands - Eredivisie

Champions League

There isn't a good La Liga compilation yet, but here are the top 10 Messi goals.

All I'm going to say is that FC Barcelona hadn't won a trophy since 2006. The Demastus family visited Camp Nou in 2008. Barcelona won the 2008-2009 treble, making them the first Spanish side to ever pull that off. Coincidence? no way.

With exception of the weird first 10 minutes, Barcelona was clearly the better team today. Their win wasn't just a win for themselves, but for the promotion of beautiful, attacking soccer. Their 2008-2009 season is one of the best in history. They dismantled everybody, and with a style that only a team like Brasil can compete with. I can't say I'm a official supporter, but I did what I could to catch all their matches on GolTV this year. Barca were special, and fully deserve to win La Liga, Copa Del Rey, and Champions League.

Barca, Barca, Barca!

...and I scored the Hand of God.

First, if you've never heard of it, The Hand of God is the most controversial goal in World Cup History. Diego Maradona cheated to beat England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final by using his hand to punch in a goal. Everyone in the world saw it except the one man who supposed to, the referee. Somehow this despicable act became beloved everywhere in the world except England. It helps that Maradona scored the greatest goal ever 5 minutes later. This single match turned Maradona from hero to legend.

On Thursday night, the Knife and Fork Engagement Party of the MOCA in downtown Los Angeles hosted a bit of performance art to recreate the goal. As a bonus, those attending the show got to participate. You won't be surprised to learn that I was first in line to be Maradona.

The event was really simple. One player is Maradona. The other is his Argentine team mate. There are 3 English defenders and the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The ref is there too, but of course he misses everything. There are lines drawn on the field and you just make one pass, the skilful guys on the field flick the ball up and you punch it in. I think I impressed everyone as I completed the move perfectly and scored on my first try. But then I had to do it again because I didn't celebrate enough. It was fun to be in that position for a moment and pretend to be Maradona. Even Univision announcer Enrique Gutierrez made the call for me and everyone else who recreated the play. As a bonus, participants got to keep the #10 Argentina away jersey too!

the field

me (as diego maradona)

There was some artistry to performance. As I watched mistake after mistake, it became apparent how many little things had to happen for this memorable goal to happen. Of course as a player for many years I realise all the little things that have to go right for a goal. Recreating a goal gives you a new appreciation for how natural the game is. If art is supposed to make you think about things like this, the projects goal was accomplished. pun intended.

Lionel Messi is the best footballer in the world. The only teams I support are the USA and LA Galaxy, but I make sure to see every Messi match I can.

Proof #1
He has the audacity to use his left foot to dangle the ball out for a defender coming from behind. He only does it for a split second but that's all he needs at full speed.

Proof #2
He misses...so what. No other player in the world could have made this run. His control at full speed is beyond anyone else I've ever seen. Diego Maradona, coach of Argentina and among the top 2 players of all time said, "If that last chance had gone in, we would all have had to leave the stadium, pay for another ticket and come back in again."

Messi dazzles like this every week. I watch him with Barcelona on GolTV and every time he gets the ball, you can expect something special. Even defenders who know what to expect can't stop him.

It's been a long off-season for Galaxy fans. We've been wanting to forget the last season (last 3 really) as quickly as possible and we can't do that until the new season begins. Tonight Seattle plays their first match ever, as they host New York in the season opener. My Galaxy will host DC United on Sunday at noon. I'm pretty sure if you turn your TV to Telefutura, you'll see me. I always get on Spanish TV.

The Galaxy are completely rebuilt now, so much so that I can't come up with a prediction on how they'll play. We've got a big mix of rookies and veterans with a smattering of guys in between. I'm thankful we got Landon Donovan back, but he's going to be gone so much for the US National team, I don't know how we'll get by. The roster is really thin. Any injuries or losses means we'll be inserting a player of unknown quality into the lineup. This is a really bad thing.

Goalkeepers -
We spent a lot of money to get Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. I can't believe that in a nation that prides itself on goalkeepers, we ended up with this guy. He won't be very good. He's already injury prone and that's really poor for a goalkeeper. I'd have no problem with his backup Josh Saunders taking over. I don't like to settle, but that's exactly what I'm doing here.

Defenders -
We have Rookie of the Year Sean Franklin returning to play right back. I hope he doesn't have a sophomore slump. It looks like he's going to be playing in the back with a new rookie, Omar Gonzalez. I don't know how I feel about that yet. Gonzalez is said to be very smart on the field but slow. Combining with the slowness factor is 38 year old Tony Sanneh. I loved the guy back in 2002, but he took last year off. I'm nervous about our center backs already. On the left, we got Todd Dunivant returning. I'm glad he's back playing for L.A. after Frank Yallop dumped him. Hopefully he's still fast and solid. Unfortunately he's injured right now.

Midfield - First things first. Beckham won't be here until July. We have Chris Klein on the right. That's good. In the middle we have young Tudela who has squandered around for the last three seasons. His great moments have been few and far between. We picked up old Jovan Kirovski, who will probably fizzle out and be worthless by June. That's too bad since he's supposed to be our attacking midfielder. On the Left we have Eddie Lewis. He's old too, but he should have enough unf in him to be good this season. Finally, we have Dema Kovalenko as the defensive mid. I'm actually excited about him. He's a guy you hate playing against but love to have. He'll break a few legs and be disciplined, but he'll also shut down the opponents attacking midfielder. We have two rookies who might make an impact in midfield, De La Garza and Kyle Patterson. They've both done alright in pre-season.

Forwards - Landon Donovan won the Golden Boot last year, and Edson Buddle finished third in scoring. If they can repeat, It'll be a miracle. As for depth at forward, we have none. Alan Gordon is awful, and Israel Sesay is 17. Mike Magee has never been consistent at New York.

Other - The Galaxy salary is back to a reasonable level. The older players on the way out aren't over paid. Our rookies won't be looking for jobs outside of soccer. We have room to pick up another solid player, and I hope it's a defensive one. We're really hurting in the back. Coach Bruce Arena and his assistant David Sarachan (who really should have a team of his own) know the league. They won't be lost or confused like Ruud Gullit was.

Predictions
West
1. LA Galaxy - duh ;)
2. Dallas - They didn't lose much and picked up Dave Van Der Bergh.
3. Houston - They lost their best player to Toronto.
4. Real Salt Lake - They'll be good, but don't have any stars.
5. Seattle - They'll impress for an expansion team.
6. San Jose - They've got nothing.
7. Colorado - I can't name a player on their team. Actually I can, I just don't want to.
8. Some other team.

East
1. Chicago - Were solid last year and have improved
2. Columbus - Were good last year because everyone else was bad
3. D.C. United - They got Christian Gomez back. This is huge for them.
4. Toronto FC - They'll have a good year with Dwayne De Rosario
5. New York - They've got nothing going for them.
6. New England - They will finally slump after years of success.
7. Kansas City - What a mess. I'd be surprised if they win 5 matches.