It would be easy for Zak Whitbread to look back at the last nine months and think about what could have been.With better-timed good health, the 27-year-old Norwich City center back may already be on his way to the international career that has yet to materialize.
The upset bug made its way around Europe over the weekend, with Mainz beating German power Bayern Munich and Getafe taming the all-mighty Barcelona, but for a few U.S. national team starters, their teams couldn't quite come up with the efforts necessary to stake claims to landmark Thanksgiving weekend victories against top competition.
The last time Herculez Gomez was on this kind of a run, he ended up with a scoring title and a ticket to South Africa.
The UEFA Europa League is seen by some as a schedule-congesting, second-rate competition.
It all seemed so simple for U.S. soccer supporters in the 90s and into the next decade: the national team was marching inexorably forward. The boys in red, white and blue weren't "there" yet, but they were en route, speeding down the highway toward a bigger place in the global order.
Maybe the big discussion from Saturday's clinic inside Gillette Stadium shouldn't be about starting lineups and the wisdom of U.S. coach Bob Bradley deploying a "B team" in a match that bumps up against an important tournament -- although there is certainly a hardy debate there.
Maurice Edu's up-and-down season ended with him standing on the winner's podium yet again.
LONDON -- At a time when player conduct seems constantly to be under scrutiny, only the most eagle-eyed drivers would have spotted Jonathan Spector's SUV pulling up at West Ham's community facility beside the A13 flyover in east London on a gray Tuesday. The club hosted a coaching clinic for adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues, and the event rounded off with a kickabout with Spector and his manager, Avram Grant, before a Q&A in the clubhouse. Afterward Spector posed for photos and signed mementos for a queue that backed out the door. It only took an hour or so out of his afternoon, but he made the guests' day.
Frank Simek is buried on the United States depth chart at right back. The emergence of Eric Lichaj and Timmy Chandler combined with the presence of veterans Steve Cherundolo and Jonathan Spector mean that Simek's chances of another call-up to the national team, for which he has appeared five times, are pretty slim.
Rating the U.S. team's performance against Argentina:
In a banner week for Americans in England, the one player who scored two goals might have turned in the third-most notable performance.
The winter transfer season is in full swing, and plenty of Americans have had their names tossed around in the daily rumor mill in one form or another, for better or for worse.
Jonathan Spector had watched from the sideline for more than three months, unable to crack West Ham's lineup in any competition.
With the opening of the European transfer window less than two months away, the United States' friendly against South Africa on Wednesday will be an excellent time for a few Americans stationed abroad to receive some much-needed exposure.
The U.S. national team depth chart is clearly in transition. It certainly is a tricky time to assign order as the value of "potential" is elevated slightly for the time being.
After all the hype and speculation surrounding a major transfer for Michael Bradley in the aftermath of the World Cup, the 23-year-old New Jersey native stayed put at Borussia Monchengladbach, and the Bundesliga club couldn't be happier to have him.
In sharp contrast to their Bundesliga counterparts where Ricardo Clark went the full 90 in his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt (a 3-3 draw with Mainz) and Michael Bradley helped M'Gladbach surprisingly tie Bayern, it was a rough day for CONCACAF alum in English Premiership action Saturday. Here's some quick thoughts on the day's action.
AMSTERDAM -- On a U.S. soccer team that has several versatile players, Jonathan Spector might be the most extreme example. The 24-year-old Chicago-area native is a natural right back, but he has played on the left side for England's West Ham United this season, while for the Yanks he has split time between the right side and (in the team's last two European friendlies) the center.
TAMPA, Fla. -- The 'Bag is back, folks. During my days covering college basketball I would do a regular mailbag column in which I answered reader questions, shared nuggets that didn't make my magazine stories, engaged in various parlor games, tracked down "Where Are They Now" figures and even recommended a movie or two. Now that I'm covering soccer full-time, the 'Bag (that's me) is back on the case. I'll be happy to answer your questions on just about anything in the soccer world -- the smarter and/or funnier the better -- so send 'em in and let's get after it.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- It's tough to feel a sense of urgency when you're sitting in a luxury hotel overlooking the Caribbean Sea on a glorious late-summer afternoon. But it's still possible, especially if you're Tim Howard, the goalkeeper whose U.S. national team needs a victory in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago (7 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic, TeleFutura) to feel good about its chances of reaching South Africa 2010.
Jonathan Spector laughs when asked about the father of one of his close friends, who also happens to coach the U.S. national team.
Not for declaration and certainly not for vindication, here's a rundown on the status of certain MLS players as they vie for spots on the 2010 World Cup squad of 23.
He went with his veterans against two of the best teams in the world and they let him, and the country, down with a crashing thud.
The men's national team embarks on a very busy 2009 with a lot of players in contention for spots on the 2010 World Cup roster. There's a full slate of games on tap, but something less than a full plate of players.
U.S. national-team coach Bob Bradley, in the wake of his team's 2-0 loss to England, has named a 24-man roster for the June 4 friendly in Spain that includes all 17 European-based players who were on the roster for the England game.
Canada isn't Mexico, and probably never the twain shall meet. Yet overconfidence in the American camp won't be brimming prior to the U.S.' semifinal showdown Thursday to determine who goes to the Beijing Olympics this summer (Fox Soccer Channel, 9 p.m. ET).
For David Richardson, coach of the Sockers FC Chicago youth club, Michael Bradley serves as a perfect example for his current players.
Hamdi Ismail is one and a half years old, but weighs only 12 pounds.
Dr. Jonathan Spector is at war with malnutrition -- Darfur's biggest killer.
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