U.S. Soccer Wire: Aug. 3, 2009

Catch up on all the news and upcoming features from your favorite men's and women's national teams.

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER AGAINST EL SALVADOR,
NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2009

TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS WEEK FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER IN SANDY, UTAH: The U.S. Men’s National Team faces off against El Salvador at the new Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. MT. Tickets will be available to Visa cardholders on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. MT and will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Aug. 7. The match against El Salvador will be the second meeting between the two nations in the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying after their 2-2 draw in San Salvador on March 28. Prior to that encounter, the U.S. faces Mexico on Aug. 12 at the famed Estadio Azteca to begin the final five game phase of qualifying. The match will be televised live in Spanish on Telemundo and in English on mun2 at 3 p.m. CT. The U.S. currently sits second out of six teams in qualifying table, just two points behind Costa Rica. The top three teams advance automatically to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while the fourth place team plays a two-leg playoff against the fifth place finisher from CONMEBOL, the South American federation.

U.S. Men’s National Team 2009 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Time / Result	TV / U.S. Goal Scorer(s)	Venue; City
Jan. 24	Sweden	3-2 W	Kljestan (3)	The Home Depot Center; Carson, Calif.
Feb. 11	Mexico*	2-0 W	Bradley (2)	Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
March 28	El Salvador*	2-2 T	Altidore, Hejduk	Estadio Cuscatlán; San Salvador, El Salvador
April 1	Trinidad & Tobago*	3-0 W	Altidore (3)	LP Field; Nashville, Tenn.
June 3	Costa Rica*	1-3 L	Donovan	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa; San Jose, Costa Rica
June 6	Honduras*	2-1 W	Donovan, Bocanegra	Soldier Field; Chicago, Ill.
June 15	Italy #	1-3 L	Donovan	Loftus Versfeld; Tshwane/Pretoria
June 18	Brazil #	0-3 L	--	Loftus Versfeld; Tshwane/Pretoria
June 21	Egypt #	3-0 W	Davies, Bradley, Dempsey	Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace; Rustenburg
June 24	Spain #	2-0 W	Altidore, Dempsey	Free State Stadium; Mangaung/Bloemfontein
June 28	Brazil #	2-3 L	Dempsey, Donovan	Ellis Park; Johannesburg
July 4	Grenada ^	4-0 W	Adu, Holden, Rogers, Davies	Qwest Field; Seattle, Wash.
July 8	Honduras ^	2-0 W	Quaranta, Ching	RFK Stadium; Washingon, D.C.
July 11	Haiti ^	2-2 T	Arnaud, Holden	Gillette Stadium; Foxborough, Mass.
July 18	Panama ^	2-1 W (OT)	Beckerman, Cooper	Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia, Pa.
July 23	Honduras ^	2-0 W	Goodson, Cooper	Soldier Field; Chicago, Ill.
July 26	Mexico ^	0-5 L	--	Giants Stadium; East Rutherford, N.J.
Aug. 12	Mexico*	3 p.m. CT	mun2/Telemundo	Estadio Azteca; Mexico City, Mexico
Sept. 5	El Salvador*	5:30 p.m. MT	ESPN Classic/Galavision	Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Sept. 9	Trinidad & Tobago*	7 p.m. ET	ESPN Classic/Galavision	Hasely Crawford Stadium; Port of Spain, Trinidad
Oct. 10	Honduras*	TBD	TBD	Away (Venue TBD)
Oct. 14	Costa Rica*	TBD	ESPN2/Galavision	RFK Stadium; Washington, D.C.

* FIFA World Cup Qualifier
# FIFA Confederations Cup
^ CONCACAF Gold Cup

TELEVISION NETWORKS AGREE TO INCREASE AVAILABILITY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE BROADCAST OF USA-MEXICO MATCH: An increased number of U.S. Soccer fans around the country will have the opportunity to watch the U.S. Men's National Team's crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Aug. 12 in English after NBC Universal announced it is offering mun2 as a free preview that day to all distribution partners. DirecTV and Dish Network have agreed to unlock mun2 on Aug. 12, providing greater access to the channel to watch the English-language broadcast of the match. Mun2 is currently listed as channel 410 on DirecTV and channel 838 on Dish Network. Fans should check their local listing to confirm channel listings as the above information is subject to change.

AGOOS, FAWCETT INDUCTED IN NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME: Jeff Agoos and Joy Fawcett received their red jackets and joined the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the Induction 2009 Ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 1 in Oneonta, N.Y. Also honored was retired New York Times sports writer Alex Yannis who received the Colin Jose Media Award for career excellence in soccer communications. In addition, Burton Haimes and Cherie Tucker of the American Youth Soccer Organization, John Kennedy and Dave Boland of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association, and Gene Chyzowych and Cliff McCrath of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America were honored at the Hall of Fame for extraordinary services and achievements with their respective organizations.

D.C. UNITED SET TO FACE SEATTLE SOUNDERS ON SEPT. 2: Two MLS sides will meet to decide the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Sept. 2 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The Seattle Sounders will travel to the nation’s capital to meet D.C. United in the final of the oldest team tournament in the U.S. The match will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET.

– U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL TEAMS UPDATE –

U.S. U-20 MNT TAKES SECOND AT COPA CIUDAD DE ROSARIO: The U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team wrapped up its final training camp before the FIFA U-20 World Cup with a second-place finish at the Copa Cuidad de Rosario in Argentina. With a 3-1 loss to close out the round-robin tournament, Thomas Rongen’s side finished in second place behind local club CA Tiro Federal and ahead of third-place Australia and fourth-place finisher Uruguay. The U.S. returned to the United States with a 1-1-1 record in the four-team tournament after a win against Tiro Federal and a draw with Uruguay, which led to a shootout win for the Americans. The U.S. has been drawn into a difficult Group C of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and will match up against Germany on Sept. 26, Cameroon on Sept. 29 and Korea Republic on Oct. 2 in the first round. All three of the USA’s group matches will be played at the brand-new Mubarak Stadium in Suez, Egypt.

U.S. U-20 MNT Copa Cuidad de Rosario Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result	U.S. Goal Scorer(s)	Venue
July 25	CA Tiro Federal	2-0 W	Flores (2)	Rosario, Argentina
July 27	Uruguay	0-0 T	--	Rosario, Argentina
July 29	Australia	1-3 L	Ibrahim	Rosario, Argentina

U-18 MNT WINS SHOOTOUT TO TAKE FIFTH AT MILK CUP: The U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team took fifth place at the prestigious Milk Cup with an eight-round shootout win against Israel, after a 1-1 draw, in the placement match on July 31. The team left Northern Ireland with two draws, the other coming against Germany in group play, and one loss to Denmark in the opening match. Germany earned third place in the tournament with a 5-0 drubbing of Belgium in their placement match and host Northern Ireland took home the trophy with a 2-0 win against Denmark in the final.

U.S. U-18 MNT Milk Cup Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result	U.S. Goal Scorer(s)	Venue
July 27	Denmark	1-2 L	Bates	Coleraine Showgrounds; Coleraine, Northern Ireland
July 29	Germany	1-1 T	Finley	Ballymena Showgrounds; Ballymena, Northern Ireland
July 31	Israel	1-1 T	Okugo	Ballymena Showgrounds; Ballymena, Northern Ireland

U-14 BOYS NDP DESCENDS ON CONCORD, MASS. FOR ANNUAL IDENTIFICATION CAMP: The U.S. Under-14 Boys National Development Program, led by Manny Schellscheidt, is in the midst of its annual identification camp as 118 players have descended on Concord, Mass. for seven days of training and evaluation. The players for the I.D. camp are selected by U.S. Soccer’s National Staff coaches and a select group of scouts from throughout the United States. During the week, the players generally train in the morning with select National Staff coaches and then play matches in the afternoon. The evening consists of programming designed to introduce the athletes to the National Team environment and how to prepare themselves for potential call-ups to national teams in the future. The Under-14 program introduces young players to a level of soccer they would not otherwise see at such a young age and allows the country’s top youths the chance to experience soccer at its highest level and in an international setting. 

 – AROUND THE SOCCER NATION –

U.S. CLUB SOCCER CROWNS NINE GIRLS’ CHAMPIONS: Nine U-13 through U-17 girls’ teams have been crowned national champions at US Club Soccer’s 2009 National Cup VIII Finals, held July 31 through Aug. 3 at the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex in Virginia Beach, Va. The boys’ National Cup was held July 25-28 in conjunction with the National Collegiate Showcase. For a complete recap, visit www.usclubsoccer.org.

*** CENTER CIRCLE SPOTLIGHT ***

PEAK PERFORMER: Brad Guzan stopped two penalties to lead Aston Villa to the 2009 Peace Cup title in a penalty shootout against Juventus in Madrid, Spain. He stopped the first attempt from Vincenzo Iaquinta and another from Italy veteran Alessandro Del Pierro to give the Birmingham, England club first place in a tournament which featured other clubs such as Real Madrid and Al-Ittihad.

MARQUEE MATCHUP: Two Spanish giants take on MLS opponents this week on American soil. On Wednesday, Aug. 5, Barcelona take on the Seattle Sounders at 10:30 p.m. ET at Qwest Field in Seattle. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN360.com. Later in the week, Real Madrid begin their tour of the U.S. with a match against Toronto FC on Friday, August 7 at 7:30 p.m. ET, which will be shown on GOLTV. They then head down to face D.C. United at FedEx field on Sunday August 9 at 3 p.m. ET with the afternoon encounter being presented by Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura.

SOCCER SHOCKER: A crowd of 93,137 fans came to watch the L.A. Galaxy take on FC Barcelona at the Rose Bowl on August 1. The attendance is the second largest crowd to see a soccer game since the World Cup final in 1994 at the same venue.

QUOTABLE: "Brad was wonderful. He had a fantastic tournament. Saying that, I think even I could have saved Alessandro Del Pierro's penalty." 
--Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neil on Guzan's performance and Del Pierro's suspect penalty taking decision in the 2009 Peace Cup