Cooper heads back to Europe

It's a good time to be an American striker abroad, and Kenny Cooper is joining Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore as Yanks forwards making transfer season moves. The former FC Dallas forward is now a member of 1860 Munich in Bundesliga 2, where he'll compete against Yank keeper Luis Robles, who plays for FC Kaiserslautern.

Cooper scored 40 times in 93 games for Dallas, but his professional career began abroad. His father was a Blackburn reserve before moving to the States for regular playing time, and Cooper had to do the same. The 6'3" younger Cooper spent time at Manchester United, Oldham Athletic and Academica Coimbra before moving to Dallas.

He's scored four times while being capped on nine occasions for the States. He notched two tallies for the US in the recently-completed Gold Cup. Americans Josh Wolff and Greg Berhalter have also suited up for 1860 Munich during their careers.

Gold Cup Roster - Midfielders

It's a crowded house in the middle of the field for the USMNT. With the Confederations Cup success of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark in the middle, flanked by Clint Dempsey and the conversion of Landon Donovan to the left side, the United States midfield appears to be set for the next World Cup.

Right?

Maybe?

Benny Feilhaber came off the bench and did well in the Confederations and Gold Cups as a creative spark. Feilhaber's excellent passing adds some composure to a US team that seems to over-rely on long passes coming out of the back. So Feilhaber's in. Jermaine Jones recently announced he'll be trading in his German kit for the US digs, and he's the sort of defensive midfielder that can make the US's back four look world class. Jones is a tough tackler, the type of player who sets the tone in the midfield, the type of player that can will lock up other team's best forwards and attacking mids and take a lot of pressure off of his defense. So Jones is in. There are a few more options in the middle including Jose Torres, Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, and Sacha Kljestan. Torres is a starter for Pachuca in Mexico, add some more experience to his international game and I believe he's in. Adu is still looking for playing time with Benfica, or anywhere for that matter. His two games in the group stage of the Gold Cup were marred with inconsistent play. This upcoming European season could be a make-it-or-break type of year for his 2010 chances. Adu's a 50-50. Beasley is in the same boat as Adu. His stint at Rangers looks to be heading towards its end and if he wants to figure in Bob Bradley's 2010 plans he needs to play regularly and stay healthy. Another 50-50 shot. Kljestan is one of Bradley's favorites, but he needs to perform more mistake-free football. That aside, Kljestan is in.

Let's recap: Donovan, Bradley, Dempsey, Clark, Jones, Feilhaber, Torres and Kljestan. That's seven midfielders. Bruce Arena carried eight on his 23-man roster at the 2006 World Cup. Beasley has a boatload of international experience but needs to regain his confidence. Adu is talented young player but needs to find a home where he plays regularly and rounds out the rough edges to his game.

So what does that mean to the midfielders that performed so well at the Gold Cup? That means Bob Bradley was exploring his depth options. In case of injury, catastrophe, suspension (his son has something of a temper), whatever else, it's good to have options.

Kyle Beckerman had an outstanding tournament. He was tough defensively, kickstarted the attack with his precise through-balls, and for the length of the tournament was box-to-box doing the little things to help the US succeed. To a lesser extent, Logan Pause played a similar role. His play was a scattered at times, but otherwise, with Beckerman created the catalyst for the US attack by winning 50-50 balls and distributing effectively.

The revelations in the US midfield were along the sidelines. Stuart Holden was cap-tied to the US during the Gold Cup and he made the most of it. One-v-one, passing, set pieces, in the air, long-range shooting, defense, Holden was all over it during the Gold Cup. His counterpart Robbie Rogers gives the US a natural left-footed player whose pace and skill lend him plenty of opportunities to serve from the flank. Rogers took advantage and besides some immature mistakes, made it clear that he will be getting more looks on the left side in the future.

Santion Quaranta, Brad Evans, Colin Clark, and Sam Cronin all got a look at some point during the Gold Cup, but I can't imagine any of them climbing up the chart too soon.

Let's imagine Bob Bradley is thinking eight in the middle in 2010. Barring whatever circumstances we've got seven. I'd like to see Holden off the bench a few more times during qualifying before I give him the advantage. The spot is there, who's man enough to take it?

The Gold Cup Roster - Who's In, Who's Out

The 5-nil drubbing Mexico hung on the USMNT yesterday still fresh in our minds, I'm taking a look at the US Gold Cup Roster and trying to make sense of who's moving forward today, who put themselves on the map for the 2014 World Cup, and whose national team careers are over.

In net:

With Tim Howard entrenched as the first choice keeper and Brad Guzan his heir apparent, the number three spot is wide open. Troy Perkins started 5 of 6 matches and was solid in net. The third spot for 2010 is up for grabs between Perkins and Marcus Hahnemann. Luis Robles is still young and starting in the 2nd Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern. Robles should factor in a depth roll in the future as Howard and Guzan are 30, and 24 respectively. Jon Busch is a respectable MLS keeper, but should not factor again for the USMNT.

Defense:

The starting back four is set in the middle with Oguchi Onyewu and either Carlos Bocanegra or Jay DeMerit next to him. Chad Marshall and Clarence Goodson each performed well enough to move them up the depth chart. Michael Parkhurst is still an option at center back, but the depth at the position could find him hard-pressed to see more time with the MNT. Jimmy Conrad was playing very well before he suffered a concussion to end his tournament. Right back Jay Heaps finally got the call to represent his country at the international level and after receiving four caps won't get called back. Heaps is a likable player and a strong competitor (and he was absolutely wronged on the penalty call for Mexico's first goal) but he's on the wrong side of 30 and didn't do much to impress. Left back Heath Pearce had some up and down performances and hasn't done much to cement himself as the first choice left back. With Luis Castillo declaring his American allegiance and Carlos Bocanegra's capabilities at left back Pearce may find himself on the bench in a battle with Jonathan Bornstein for depth.

Next up: Midfielders and Forwards

States Embarassed by El Tri in Final

The United States fell on its own soil for the first time in ages, and "fell" is an understatement. The States were picked apart by Mexico, 5-0, at Giants Stadium in the Gold Cup final.

Thanks to head-scratching defense from the Yanks, and superlative performances by Premier League attackers Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela, the "C-plus" team ceded their trophy back to El Tri, who will certainly have a chant or two for the visiting Americans come Aug. 12's World Cup qualifier at Azteca.

Where to start with the back end? Jay Heaps was an abhorrent for the second time in two weeks, while Heath Pearce wasn't much better. The latter defender remains unsigned, and would be best suited to hit the Major League Soccer circuit and practice against less than world class talent.

It's a shame for goalkeeper Troy Perkins, whose defense played tentative. Strike that, they played scared, and that's the most embarassing label you can apply to any unit. After a scoreless first half, the four backs played all sorts of ugly. This was more like the 3-1 loss in Costa Rica than the first team's losses to Italy and Brazil in group okay of the Confederations Cup.

Other notes...

-- Watching the Mexicans dance all over the New York grass -- and rightfully so -- really puts some heat and fervor back in a rivalry that has been one-sided. The States real squad needs to get something special going for the trip to Azteca next month.

-- Dos Santos was stunning, and Vela's addition to the game really underlined what the States were missing. As Max Bretos pointed out during the broadcast, Charlie Davies up top would've helped a ton.

-- Sure, I'm bitter right now, but before I suit up for a mens league match, let me comment on the broadcasting. Fox Soccer Channel's Bretos picked his most inept moments for the States most embarassing game. Tell me, Max, do they keep a whipping post inside a woodshed? Mixing up his metaphors with a shocking lack of knowledge for an announcer on his stage, Bretos couldn't believe Heaps was whistled for his PK ("not in my books"?) and completely skipped over the clear offside on the Mexicans second goal.

Throw all of that together with his first half disbelief that anyone could call this US team "less than a B-team." Hey, Max, B-teams are commonly referred to as reserve teams. Besides Ching, who else on that field is going to be there on Aug. 12? Maybe Stu Holden. Also, when Bretos is doing a better job, it's a heck of a lot easier to brush over his horrible pronounciation of every player with any sort of different name. You don't have to sound like a Mexican to properly announced a last name.

As a last note, the FSC crew might want to put the microphone a little closer to color man Christoph Sullivan's mouth.

Final set, rivalry renewed: States and Mexico on Sunday

Well, this will not be pleasing to my wife at all -- our first anniversary will feature something I have no desire to watch on DVR.

The Mexicans defeated Costa Rica 5-3 in kicks after the game ended at 1-1, clinching a berth in the Gold Cup final and setting up another USA/Mexico match-up.

The States and El Tri for hardware deserves live viewing.

Thursday night's semifinal found the Mexicans thrived in a thrilling setting, and showed great gumption in not quitting after a stunning injury time equalizer from Costa Rica helped send the game to kicks.

El Tri scored the game's first goal in the 88th minute, as Guillermo Franco followed up what appeared to be a goal with a no-doubter rebound, but the 93rd minute found Froylan Ledezma alone and ready to equalize.

Ledezma went from hero to goat minutes later when Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa guessed right before the Costa Rican had taken his first step. Couple that miss with all five Mexicans converting their attempts, including a nasty guessing game goal from Giovani dos Santos, and we're set for -- hopefully -- another "Dos a Cero" at Giants Stadium. It's a 3 p.m. kick-off on Sunday, and will be aired on Fox Soccer Channel and Univision.

An early guess at the outcome? 2-1, States, though this is where my prediction skills generally deteorate into patriotic fandom. The Americans need a strong showing, with their next WC2010 qualifier coming up in August down in Mexico.

First-half goal, second-half excitement: US to Final, 2-0 over Honduras

Unlike a great many of the Gold Cup games, I genuinely enjoyed the soccer on display during Thursday's semifinal between the States and Honduras. The Hondurans play with such passion -- and dirtiness -- that they have skipped the stairs and taken the escalator to 1a to Mexico's 1 on the list of CONCACAF teams I despise.

While the first half was almost entirely the teams feeling each other out -- odd for squads that have met several times in recent months -- it ended with a spectacular corner kick goal that set the tone for a dynamic second half.

Clarence Goodson headed home a picture-perfect corner service from Stuart Holden in the 45th minute to give the US its first of two goals on the night, but the second 45-plus minutes were a sales pitch for soccer in America.

Holden was phenomenal for this cliched rag-tag group of misfits (and by "misfits," I mean "mostly second-choice players" in the nicest of fashions). His speed was fantasic, his creativity necessary and his services were first-class. With apologies to goalkeeper Troy Perkins, Holden was unquestionably the man of the match. He played a game very similar to that of Robbie Rogers during his brilliant group play, only -- maybe -- more disciplined.

Kenny Cooper's goal was another piece of great football. Brian Ching continues to impress, holding up his man and touching the ball to Holden who found the barely onside Cooper for his second goal in two matches. It looked a little funny from the camera angle, but Cooper's finish was very nice, perhaps even understated.

There was great pace and guts to the second half, with both teams providing a great contest. It's an absolute shame the Mexico/Costa Rica semifinal isn't be aired on FSC. The venue will be Giants Stadium on Sunday for the 2009 Gold Cup Final, and I've got absolutely zero love for it being scheduled on my first anniversary. I'll wait to see how the other semi plays out before I go predicting "Dos a Cero, v5.0"

Also important to point out that Bob Bradley has been pretty solid with his line-ups and substitues. Kudos.

By the way, Freddy Adu "tweets" that there are some interesting developments going on... full-time to Monaco? Actual time on Benfica? A transfer elsewhere? Getting back together with JoJo? What an American moment for soccer this music video was...

Look at this joker

"I just thought I'd support Brazil and Honduras, bro, cause like Brazil isn't playing. I know this guy from Brazil though, and I got this flag so, put two and together, bro... I'll take off these glasses, but I'm not saying sorry."

1-0 States at the half. Clarence Goodson gets up and over on a Stuart Holden corner. That's how you get some looks.

Two more Yanks to Serie A?

<-- Sometimes photos look remarkably awkward. I like to think they were trying to get their chests as close as possible without touching.

So, multiple reports have recently-promoted Livorno getting on the red, white and blue bandwagon. Yes, after a decade of shutting out the States*, Serie A may acquire three Americans in a month.

On the heels of Oguchi Onyewu's three-year deal with AC Milan comes the news that the Amaranto want both Ricardo Clark and Landon Donovan to join their Italian side.

Clark is out of contract at the end of this MLS season, so he could be a reasonable January transfer target for Livorno, but reports say their boss questions whether the smaller side could afford the transfee fee Donovan would command from Major League Soccer. Both moves would appear to be January moves.

Clark plays for the Houston Dynamo, while Donovan is a member of the L.A. Galaxy.

By the way, Onyewu's AC Milan debut didn't go too well Wednesday night, a 2-1 loss to Club America in which he was beaten for a goal

*I'm not ignoring Giuseppe Rossi. Does he qualify as an American playing in Italy when he's pledged allegiance to Italy?

Yanks have just enough to move on, 2-1

I'm not a big Van Halen fan, but there's extra time for Panama (or "extra hot shoes, burning down the avenue,").

Extra time: One of the principal rules of soccer is not kicking anyone in the stomach, especially in the 18, in particular in extra time. Roman Torres' decision to go boot-to-gut with Kenny Cooper is one of my favorites in recent memory, mostly because the Yanks deserved a break.

Cooper did the silly stutter-step run-up that looks so cheesy, but the guy finished and more power to him. 2-1, United States of America.

Regulation: Extra time between a States side that cannot even be described as the country's C-plus unit, and a Panama side that's playing about as clean as Redman's MTV Cribs episode. It's the Gold Cup quarterfinal, and the score is knotted at 1-1 right now.

There have been some nice moments of soccer in between bouts of laughter at Max Bretos' play-by-play. Honestly, I hate to dog on fellow commentators, but this crew has been especially brutal during Gold Cup.

Perhaps it's best to first note the goals. Panama struck first, just before half, as Pachuca's Blas Perez made no mistake off a series of awkward looking defensive decisions and touches by the Americans. Super slow-motion makes Stuart Holden's zero-touch non-clearance look extra awful, but you'd love to see Chad Marshall rise to the occasion and follow Perez, who buried the ball.

Dreadlocks brought the deadlock, as Kyle Beckerman's equalizer was straight out the cannon. Kansas City's Davy Arnaud set down a moonshot of a cross from Robbie Rogers, and he set it bouncing but on a line for Beckerman, who ripped it upper 90. I finally saw what some of my friends like about Beckerman tonight, and it came before, during and after the goal.

Quick thoughts on individuals:

-- Jimmy Conrad's post-concussion camera moments were among the scariest I've ever seen in head injury aftermath.

-- Manuel Torres' mullet/linebeard combo was straight out of the SNL "D*** in a Box" video. The bronzed bottom of the mullet for extra sheen was a legitimate touch. Bravo.

-- Heath Pearce was fine, but I did not understand the notion from the booth that he had re-asserted himself in the mix to play left back in 2010. It's not impossible, and is nitpicking, but not much he had done to that point in the game made me think any more than I had already thought of him.

-- Panama's Felipe Baloy reminds me of Oguchi Onyewu before Gooch learned how to control his physical aggression. Problem for Baloy -- you're a 1981 birthday, not a 1991.

-- Cooper needs more international polish. He reminds me of Jozy Altidore in that he's often in the right spot, but then what? Those who follow MLS know he can finish.

-- Bob Bradley has now capped 85 players during his tenure, according to Bretos. Great stat pull, and, well, great stat.

-- Panama was not very happy with the way the game ended, so they decided to pick up a couple of red cards by trying to fight officials and security guards. Stay classy, boys. Those actions always get the results you're looking for, right?

What now?

-- Eight years since the States have lost on US soil, but you have a feeling that could end before the finish of the tournament. Honduras is a talented and physical squad who has faced the Yanks twice in the last couple months, including a 2-1 US win in Chicago, where the two teams will meet on Thursday (July 23). The 2-0 US win in the group play wasn't what the score indicates, but luckily the Hondurans are also without stars like Tottenham's Wilson Palacios, Toronto FC's Armando Guevara and deadly striker Carlos Pavon.

-- Sunday will be Funday for the other quarterfinals. Guadeloupe and Costa Rica should be a fun matchup, while Mexico should top Haiti, but this Mexican group is so unpredictable.

"Beckham Experiment" author Grant Wahl on my radio show

As promised, a link to my interview with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, author of "The Beckham Experiment." He was a fantastic guest, and his Posh Spice impression is worth the price of admission.

Here it is: Enjoy.

Review: "The Beckham Experiment"

Our first proper book review provides an interesting query -- do we summarize and do the American thing by saving you the reading of the book, or do we tell you why you should read it?

In terms of Grant Wahl's "The Beckham Experiment," the answer most certainly should be the latter, though to be fair he may give a little more of the former when he joins my radio show Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EST. Major League Soccer sits on the periphery of the American sports landscape which allowed Wahl a terrific amount of access to the behind the scenes workings of the league, the LA Galaxy and -- somewhat -- David Beckham's camp.

To the league's credit, it didn't shut down Wahl when things were clear the "experiment" was a mess. The author gets almost unrivaled access to the Galaxy, and somehow maintains an unbiased feel while reporting on some actions that are -- at least from a sporting standpoint -- quite despicable.

Here's what it comes down to -- what the MLS has done to ensure competitive balance makes a player's life pretty tough. For example, the bottom five players on the Galaxy's 2007 roster made $12,700 per year. The hotels are barely a C-plus, the schedule is near impossible at times and the league gets in its way a lot. But you get the sense that Beckham could've handled all that if the team won, and the Galaxy squad was mis- and micro-managed in what read like a cruel, slow death.

For a guy who had never lost more than five consecutive matches, Beckham endured much worse with the Galaxy, and didn't react well. He was almost forceably installed as captain, and didn't really provide much leadership, eventually spiralling into a passenger on a garbage soccer team... that was still filling stadia.

Sadly, if you're in this book just for the incindiery Landon Donovan quotes about Beckham, every single controversial one has been leaked, but reading about Donovan himself is a pivotal point of interest in the work, and Alexi Lalas is a terrific personality as well.

The book is absolutely worth reading, if only because it feels like Wahl picked the exact parts of the brain needed to make something intriguing. The inner workings of the entertainment business are splayed about like open-heart surgery, and the guts are a beautiful and ugly wonder.

For a full conversation with Wahl, tune into WGR550 AM in Buffalo at 11:30 a.m. EST this Saturday (July 18). You can listen online here.

2 goals for, 2 goals against, 2 transfers

So, we learned something very valuable in the 2-2 tie against Haiti in Game Three of the States' 2009 Gold Cup campaign: the United States' "C-plus" team isn't better than Haiti's "A" squad.

On a day when two young American strikers found new overseas homes -- more on that later -- the US rolled out a starting line-up of players extremely unlikely to make a dent in the 2010 World Cup's XI, and still played alright.

The States first goal was nice, but poorly defended by Haiti. Stuart Holden sent a swell low pass in to Davy Arnaud who used a calm, left-footed finish to put the States up 1-0.

Haiti's first goal was a comedy of errors. First, defender Jay Heaps was turned inside out. Then, goalkeeper Luis Robles can't get a finger on the big cross. Finally, no back post defender marks the goal scorer, and we're tied at one.

Hard to fault Robles on the second goal. Mones Chery -- pronounced like the French mon cherie -- hit a sick and somewhat lucky 20-plus-foot yard strike into the far-upper-90. It was essentially unstoppable. 2-1 Haiti, all in the span of four minutes.

But Holden would equalize with a strike just as nifty. To go near post from the angle he had was incredible, almost breathtaking when you consider it came in the second minute of stoppage time. 2-2 tie, and clinching the B1 seed for the rest of the tournament, which means the US will draw a much easier match-up the rest of the way. If Guadeloupe can upend Mexico on Sunday, the States may finish with only the second-best record in the tournament's group play.

The States will likely take on Panama or Jamaica on July 18 in Philadelphia, though there's an extremely outside shot they'd face Nicaragua. It would take a miracle, but after the Confed Cup, we know better than to assume anything.

If the States wins that matchup, they'll take on the winner of Canada vs. Honduras for the right to go to the Gold Cup final.

--- As for the transfer market, Jozy Altidore's Spanish adventure is over for now. After forgettable campaigns with Villarreal and Xerez, the Yellow Submarine has agreed to loan the 19-year-old to reigning Greek champion Olympiacos, so it'll be Champions League football for Jozy after all. Altidore will have to work for playing time over former EPL player Matt Derbyshire and young Brazilian striker Diogo.

Charlie Davies has moved spots on the continent as well, eschewing Hammarby in the Swedish Allsvenskan for Sochaux in France. A Ligue 1 squad, Sochaux finished 14th last season. Davies will get to take on his Yank teammate Carlos Bocanegra when his new team matches up against Rennes, and the most notable of his new teammates are Slovenia defender Bojan Jokic and Ivory Coast international Kandia Traore -- at least to me.

-- Good looks to Heaps, even if he looked awkward once or twice. The 32-year-old defender earned his first cap the hard way. Heaps played 299 MLS games before getting his first look with the national team. Congratulations, Jay.

-- My computer's out of juice and it's late. Good evening, and apologies for the shorter post. And if I missed some completely obvious things, forgive me... I've been awake for far too long. Went to the Taste of Buffalo, then helped some friends move before doing play-by-play for the Buffalo Flash and going to a wedding reception. Wow.

Santino's homefield advantage lifts US over Honduras

It's unreal how a boring contest such as the the States' second game of the 2009 Gold Cup can be lifted into grace by a spell of beautiful soccer. That's exactly what happened in the 75th minute of Wednesday's 2-0 win over Honduras at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Sixty-fourth minute substitute Benny Feilhaber showed some real class by sliding a pass to the top of the 18, where fellow 64th minute add-on Charlie Davies alertly found Baltimore native and DC United vet Santino Quaranta. Quaranta finished hard and low past Honduran keeper Donis Escobar, popping the US into the lead in a game in which they had been of better class, admittedly by a narrow margin.

As for the second goal... well, by now, we shouldn't be surprised when Charlie Davies asserts himself as a force in a game, but for the second-straight game, he helped open up the 18 for a fellow forward. Steve Cherundolo gets a deserved assist on a Brian Ching-headed goal, and the Yanks go up 2-0 with two goals in five minutes.

Other notes:

-- Honduras is certainly mounting an effort to be as hated as Mexico. They are a filthy, whiny team that dives as much as any in CONCACAF.

-- The most fun from the first 74 minutes of Wednesday night was the following texted observations about Kyle Beckerman:

*"His jazz ensemble is playing the Tralf next week," Scott
*"He was great in 'Encino Man,'."
*"Beckerman's hair - Bob Marley tribute band."

-- Robbie Rogers has silly skills, and would have to lose a foot to not be included in the 2010 WC squad.

-- Freddy Adu is still extremely green, but his raw talent shows up in undeniable flashes. Still, he needs to do work to make the 2010 squad.

-- Two clean sheets for Troy Perkins. Good on him.

-- 23-0-1 in the group stages of the Gold Cup. For a moment, let's ignore that most have been home games.

-- As a fellow soccer broadcaster, I try to be kind to announcers, but Max Bretos was as brutal an example as you can find. I could almost swear he wasn't watching the same game as us, and his idea of play-by-play as screaming an attacker's name before waiting a good 10 seconds after the shot goes in or wide to announce what happened was laughable. He did have dry toast for a color man, but life goes on. Both fellas are better than they showed Wednesday.

-- I'm glad the Haiti game won't be a "be-all/end-all" event, because I'll be watching it several hours later after the Flash game and my buddy Brad's wedding.

Gooch's Italian stunner

Oguchi Onyewu is now a Rossoneri, and must certainly be kissing the crest on his American kit for the Confederations Cup run.

The States' center back has signed with AC Milan, and if you think the US won't benefit from Gooch getting -- presumably -- first team touches with Gennaro Gattuso in front of Dida. Practicing against Pirlo, Inzaghi, Ronaldinho and more? A priceless opportunity.

Now, if he ends up keeping the bench seats warm for Zambrotta, Kaladze and Nesta, then it's not-so-good, but Milan is quite an upgrade from Standard Liege.

Gooch to Holland or Madrid?

Since Yahoo! is reporting as "exclusive" the same thing we've been reading internationally for days, I suppose it's time to inform those who don't know that Oguchi Onyewu is talking with Ajax.

*EDIT: El Mundo Deportivo adds that Real Madrid may be in for the American defender.

Of course, Fenerbache, Fulham and Wolverhampton have also had their names mentioned in connection for the center back, whose contract with Standard Liege in Belgium has expired. As much as I'd love to see him a Cottager, an Ajax kit bearing his name would be pretty slick.

His agent told Yahoo! a decision is expected next week.

Come on, C-Ron...

Surprisingly, there aren't an overwhelming amount of still frames from Gerardo's "Rico Suave" video available via the old Google image search, so I had to screen capture the scene of the video I was thinking of when I saw the third -- and clearly recent -- photo of the "stunning" Cristiano Ronaldo.

One thing's for sure, C-Ron loves dickshorts.

Rogers a Revelation in four-nil start to Gold Cup

Great image from Getty.

A few hours later, some first-watch running commentary.

First off, thanks so much to Fox Soccer Channel for providing two commentators who didn't take the time to think about what they were going to talk about in the introduction segment. Max Bretos and Christopher Sullivan seem to think the Gold Cup is imperative for the States to maintain their momentum. Yep, either that, or the whole Egypt/Spain thing did that, and the world will notice that America's B+ side set up for this tourney. One or the other, boys.

Goals:

States 1, Grenada 0 -- It's hard not to love Robbie Rogers, who plays with such energy for the Columbus Crew, and Grenada gives him far too much time to operate on the States' first goal of the Gold Cup. Rogers takes a miscue down the left wing and into the 18, having three options: shoot, find Charlie Davies on a terrific full run or lay off to Freddy Adu. He chooses the latter, and Adu releases the frustration of seeing precious little playing time in South Africa last month with a low kick past Grenada keeper Noel.

States 2, Grenada 0 -- Fault porous Grenada marking, but Rogers sends another filthy cross into the box that Stuart Holden powers into the net with his forehead. Rogers has the opportunity to really open some eyes with the way DaMarcus Beasley has underperformed in recent matches.

States 3, Grenada 0 -- Logan Pause's first cap leads to a well-placed long ground ball to Rogers, who had a look at assist No. 3 should he have played it to Davies, but instead he places a spinning far-post finish as pretty as any you've seen this summer. The Yanks are toying with poor Grenada. Let's hope this doesn't lead to cockiness in the rest of Group B's play.

States 4, Grenada 0 -- I'm also a big fan of Heath Pearce, and his lay-off to Davies for the fourth goal was the stuff of fantasy. Nice to see Chad Marshall get a moment, using great vision to send the long ball 2/3 of the way down the field to Pearce. Davies deserved a goal after a solid day.

Thoughts:

I've got a lot of love for Stuart Holden, the Scottish-born, Dallas-raised 23-year old. He showed a lot of gumption in his performance, letting fly with some nice rips from gutty distance and angles.

The Gold Cup made it easy to forget what Steve Cherundolo brings to the fold. His runs from the back are generally well-timed and often dangerous.

Robbie Rogers is so exciting to watch, even if he plays a little too excited himself on occasion.

I continue to fall in love with the physical and speedy play of Davies. He is, as our British friends would say, a joy to watch. The rocket he unleashed wide of the Grenada goal just before the start of stoppage time served as further awakening for American supporters.

Brad Evans of the Sounders hometown ovation upon entering in the 62nd minute was tempered by his getting a yellow card for coming on before Steve Cherundolo was off.

Adu hit a chip in the 71st minute that is the stuff legends are made of, even if it was off a keeper's mistake. The ball was as close to upper 90 as you can get without fitting it in the window. Adu shows the flair that earned him the hype every now and then, even if he continue to struggle to make club and country impact.

Game Two of the US' Gold Cup journey is 9 p.m. EST Wednesday in Washington, D.C., against Honduras. It will be televised on FSC again. Game Three is July 11 (Sat.) at 7 p.m. EST in Foxboro against Haiti.

Updating a previous story... Jermaine Jones should be eligible for a US roster as early as Sept. 5 against El Salvador. Left defender Edgar Castillo, who recently renegged on a commitment to Mexico to play for his native US, does not have a set date, but it may be the same.

Gold Cup, match 1 tonight: States v. Grenada

It's been a busy week, so I'm a day or so late to report that the States have been granted a special provision allowing them seven more players for the Gold Cup selection. From here-on-in, any Gold Cup featuring a team competing in the Confederations Cup will be allowed to select 30 players instead of 23, meaning Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan, Jonathan Bornstein and Brad Guzan will be available for the tournament, though the US is not announcing who will be in each match's 18.

If all are available, I expect to see Jozy and Brian Ching up top, with Freddy Adu and Robbie Rogers behind. Then, Clark and Feilhaber holding above Steve Cherundolo, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce and Bornstein. I'm not sure who would play inside, and I'm trying to get to the gym before Fourth festivities kick off, so forgive me if I'm missing something, like Guzan between the pipes.

Grenada vs. United States, 9 p.m. EST (yes, during fireworks) on Fox Soccer Channel.

States rise to No. 12 in latest FIFA Rankings

The United States unlikely run in the Confederations Cup has lifted its star to No. 12 in July's FIFA rankings, their highest showing since dropping from No. 5 to 16 between June and July of 2006, due to an abysmal showing in the World Cup.

The world rankings show a lot of volatility. The biggest winner is the Ivory Coast, which rose 20 spots up to No. 18 in the world. Denmark, Serbia and Australia made notable runs into the Top 20 as well.

The biggest loser? Turkey dropped from No. 12 to No. 28 after a loss to France and a win over Azerbaijan. Iraq and New Zealand also lost a lot of ground after bowing out in the first round of the Confederations Cup.

Brazil is the new No. 1, with Spain and Holland each dropping a spot, to 2 and 3, respectively.

More analysis after work, but here's a nice nugget from FIFA: Australia (16), Gabon (30), Grenada (88), Montenegro (98) and Antigua and Barbuda (105) have ascended to their highest spots since FIFA starting the ranking system in 1993.