In African World Cup Qualifying, there is a thin margin for error. With only six qualifying matches in the final stage (five groups, four teams each, only first place goes to the World Cup), you have room for one mistake. If you drop points unexpectedly, you will get a reverse fixture to try [...]

At times it looked like the 2009 Confederations Cup would just be a three-game trip to South Africa, a chance to test our best against the best.
But after two dismal results versus Italy and Brazil, something happened.
The U.S., with the odds stacked against them and nothing left to lose, began a dream run all the way to [...]

It was a tale of two halves.  Over the first 45 minutes, the U.S. continued to shock the world; leading Brazil 2-0 at halftime.  But during the second 45 minutes, Brazil stormed back with three goals to defeat the U.S., 3-2.
Less than a minute into the second-half, Luis Fabiono scored and then headed in another [...]

For the U.S., advancing out of Group B involved not only a win, but a multitude of goals and the reigning world champions falling in their final match as well.
But after an inspired performance against Egypt, coach Bob Bradley and his team completed the unthinkable. A 3-0 victory over Egypt, along with some help from [...]

Brazil was supposed to be a more defensive oriented team under new coach Dunga; they weren’t supposed to be the same Brazil that dazzled its way to win two of the last fourWorld Cups.

Not so much. Let it be known: this team can still dance.
Brazil outclassed and simply outplayed the U.S. in the second match [...]

It took Giuseppe Rossi all of two minutes to make his presence know against his former country.
Under the lights of a cool South African night, Rossi lead the Italians in a second-half comeback win over the U.S. Rossi tallied two goals, and Daniele De Rossi added one of his own in a 3-1 victory in [...]

This year’s Confederations Cup has kicked off and this is the schedule for the rest of the tournament. Every game will be shown on either ESPN2, ESPN360.com or ESPN, all live with the exception of the Iraq v New Zealand game which will be shown on delay. We will be providing live updates on twitter [...]

With World Cup qualification play set to resume in about a week, the U.S. men’s national team will enter into a month-long stretch that will prove to be a litmus test for how well coach Bob Bradley has prepared his team for South Africa 2010.