U.S.

The fallout from the away legs of the MLS playoffs over the weekend continues, with Landon Donovan not shy about calling out Rafa Marquez and the Red Bulls.

After a 2-1 upset on the road in which Philly threatened to equalize at any moment, Houston says they’ll be ready to receive the Union at home, no matter what formation Peter Nowal opts for.

The Sounders’ chances of overturning Real Salt Lake’s 3-0 cushion took a boost from injuries to RSL’s central defenders, and a hit from the news about Mauro Rosales.

Finally, the USSF has a huge roster announcement coming up this week, and not the one you might think. The U-23 pool will reveal a ton about who’s in and who’s out of the future plans of U.S. soccer.

10 Kit Originals

Take a peak at our playoff picks. Interestingly enough, Brent, Travis and Maura are in total agreement – and probably about 50% wrong, so far.

And don’t miss this 10Kit interview by Travis with CJ Sapong of the red hot KC Wizards, ahem, Sporting KC.

Club Tijuana winger and Mexican-Salvadoran-American Joe Corona may be in the American Olympic plans, despite suiting up for Mexico last month. The player has had initial contact from the USSF about the upcoming camp in Germany.

Details haven’t been ironed out, and no commitment has yet been made on either side. But after playing for El Tri’s U-22s in a tour of Chile in September, Corona indicated he would be interested in testing the waters with the U.S. He then was not called for the PanAm Games for a Tri U-22 team with a depth of talent on the wings.

The contact shows that the U.S. has at least not given up on the winger, who has cooled off considerably after a hot start to the Mexican Apertura. (more…)

US Soccer

The big game tonight features Colorado hosting Columbus in snowy Denver in the second play-in game. After Dallas was eliminated Wednesday night at home, Colorado could be the second of last year’s finalists to be put out of its misery early. The game will be streamed live, and free, on MLSsoccer.com.

Speaking of that, here’s a story on Marvell Wynne and why he didn’t play baseball. You can really tell there’s a lot of interest/familiarity with the team when the local paper is running this kind of story on the eve of a playoff match. But good for the rest of us.

Our boy Travis wants you to know about college soccer.

Global

And while we’re plugging ourselves, check out my take on which Mexican U-23s have upped their stock at the Pan-Am games. Top of the list is proud American Miguel Ponce.

10Kit Originals

Travis looks at tonight’s MLS play-in game.

Anthony has some suggestions for Der Klinsmann, though he uses the term “super-sub” a little too much for some of our liking.

The first few games for Jurgen Klinsmann have been tough. The utopian change that some thought would suddenly happen with Klinsmann at the helm has yet to happen. Not surprising if you ask me, but the current US manager has called in a few new faces that have helped the USMNT. The impact of Germany-American players wanting to wear the stars and stripes is intriguing, and it will be interesting to see how Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams, and Timothy Chandler fair for the US. However, there are a few players that Klinsmann has been calling up who need to be replaced. (more…)