Hey did poorly on the second goal, drifting way behind his line to keep the man onside. And he wasn't great on the fourth goal, either - he and the other defender couldn't seem to decide who should take Rossi, and in the end neither did.

Jeff Male 30 Vienna, VA USMNT, DC United, Fulham SBI reader since the beginning

He's listed at 5'7", and having seen him play in person, that seems about right.

Well, my bracket had France going to the semi-final, so the psychic cephalopod system has to be at least as reliable as whatever logic compelled me to make that pick.

Good point.

Paul's right: he didn't fail his trail. Celtic wanted to buy, but MLS wouldn't sell.

I like that this isn't crest-shaped. If you're founding a team in 1904, then sure: crest, lion, sword, etc. But in 2010, sometimes trying for a "classic" look can be a kind of lame attempt to create the illusion of history where there is none. Better to do something original.

Your move, Edson Buddle. Either saw a woman in half or spend the Cup at home on your couch.

He should also watch the Champions League final and realize that they don't give out trophies for ball possession.

I still like Take it to the Next Level better, but this one is pretty bada**, too. The music in Take it to the Next Level is better.

We soccer fans need to stop being such indignant whiners. We can never be pleased. When there's not enough soccer on Sportcenter, we complain about it (rightfully so). But, when ESPN makes a funny and clever soccer commercial, we complain about that, too. Enough whining. ESPN is doing something for soccer. This is a good ad. Embrace it.

Score one for internet rumors - this is the shirt that's been circulating on various sites for a few months now. I like the shirt okay...I don't love it. Maybe it'll grow on me; I hated the old shirt the first time I saw it, but now I kind of like it.

Good for Gomez, but I still hope we have better options for the World Cup. A few good months in Mexico (actually, how good were those months? Those goals were fine, but not spectacular. How did he play in the rest of the game?) doesn't make me forget seven years of mediocrity in MLS. That being said, if Ching and Davies can't go, then maybe we should take him. I mean, he's competing against Findley, Cunningham, Casey, and Buddle. None of those options have shown consistent quality.

The voting options should really be: - Charlie Davies in a wheelchair - 4-6-0 - Any Brazilians want a green card real fast? - Hey, I'm 1/16 Dutch...go orange! I wonder how many of the people voting for Herculez Gomez have watched him play a full game for Puebla. I would wager it's less than 10%.

I don't really see how his skill set - athletic player vs. technical player - makes any difference. I'm also not judging the teams around him. I'm judging a player whom I've seen play 25 or 30 times, whom is 27 years old, and whom never at any point struck me as national team caliber. If Steve Lenhart scores six goals in the next four games - many of them unimpressive tap-ins - are we all going to start clamoring for him to get a national team call up? Sample size, people. Sample size.

He scored a goal in one appearance and sucked in a few others.

I wouldn't say he "doesn't fit", I'd just say that he's not good enough. I mean, we saw him play for years and years in MLS and he never struck me as someone who was good enough to play for the national team. I hope that two good months in Mexico aren't enough to trick Bob into taking him. Jeff Cunningham scored a ton of goals at the end of last season, and when he was called in to the national team...not so good. Sometimes goals just come in bunches - it doesn't always mean that the player has stepped up his game or that he can replicate that success on the national team level. I'm a Mariners fan. One year Willie Bloomquist hit .455 in the last two weeks of the season and then we stuck with the guy for the next three years.

I think he meant it, because he didn't try to wrap his foot around it. If it's a cross, you'd want to lift your toe up and put a little swerve on it, but he hit it flat. So I think it's a chip.

Well put. Badassery in its purest form.

What do you make of the fact that Bradley often lines up the national team with Donovan on the left and Dempsey on the right? I mean - why those sides? Donovan is the better crosser of the ball, and Dempsey is better cutting inside and shooting. Dempsey almost always plays on the left for Fulham and says that he likes it there. Assuming these are our two wingers, isn't putting Dempsey on the left and Donovan on the right a no-brainer?

I disagree. When healthy and in form, Jones is the best central midfielder in our pool, and significantly better than Clark, Edu, Torres, or Feilhaber. I think all this talk of chemistry is a little ridiculous - Torres, Holden, Rodgers, Goodson, and all of the fourth striker candidates (Johnson, Cunningham, Findley) were barely involved in qualifying, and yet nobody worries about taking them along. Donovan and Beasley played huge roles with the 2002 team in spite of the fact that they had barely been involved prior to the WC. Three players - Onyewu, Cherundolo, and possibly Davies - might make the roster in spite of having not played with the team for roughly 8 months when camp begins. The full roster will play exactly one game in 2010 (the Netherlands game last week) prior to camp being called in May. Chemistry is nice, but always difficult to achieve on a national team. As long as Jones can prove that he's 1) Healthy and in form, 2) Not clubhouse poison, he should go. Regis didn't poison the clubhouse in 1998; Harkes did. And Sampson didn't help. And Lalas has never been known to shy away from an argument. For God's sake: we were playing a 3-6-1 with Brian Maisonneuve starting in central midfield. David Regis was the least of our problems. And to all of you debating not taking a third 'keeper: three 'keepers is a FIFA requirement. You cannot replace the third 'keeper with a field player.

I'm not too high on Beasley. Sure, he was an excellent player in 2005, but he hasn't shown much since then, aside from one good month for Rangers. I actually thought he was pretty poor in this game - bad touch, dispossessed too easilty, all the same things that have dogged his game for years. His work rate was good and his service on the goal was nice, but that's about it. If we do have to put Beasley on the field, for the love of God please put him on the left. I cannot imagine why Bradley (or Arena before him) would ever put him on the right. He is one of the most one-footed players I've ever seen, and you don't want him trying to cut inside and shoot - his shot from distance is terrible.

No, they're not. Van Nistlerooy has punched probably a dozen balls into the net over the course of his career, and he never gets more than a yellow for it.

Agreed - this is a stupid, stupid, stupid proposal. Get ready to see a lot more intentional hand balls on the goal line (aka the "Torsten Frings") if this goes through.

Yes - the Karl Pilkington head. It's like a little orange.