Landon Donovan Makes Official Bayern Debut in Bundesliga

Bayern Munich's head coach Jurgen Klinsmann gave Landon Donovan the nod to get in a high-pressure match with 15 minutes left in regulation. Bayern was down 0-1 and was not only putting the game at stake, but also the lead in the Bundesliga table. Maybe not the ideal situation for Landon to showcase his talent, but on the other hand, maybe he's mature enough to desire this type of adrenaline rush.

It appeared that Donovan was a bit nervous at first, letting a couple of balls slide through his feet. But he quickly got into the game, just as Bayern was applying high pressure on HSV's end and began distributing the ball well through the right side of the pitch. He even managed a shot with goal direction which was deflected by one of HSV's defenders. The only shame during Donovan's official Bayern Munich's Bundesliga debut was teammate's Tim Borowski's bitter recrimination towards the American for a slightly inaccurate pass which ended out of bounds.

In all accounts, given Donovan's mere 15 minutes of play, he had a decent game. Bayern was downed 1-0 by HSV in the start of the Bundesliga's second half of the season, and also was displaced from first place by Hamburg. Should Donovan continue to get minutes, he should prove to be a nice addition off he bench for head coach Klinsmann. The big question remains whether Landon will continue in the Bundesliga beyond his ten-week loan term, or ultimately make the trip back to Los Angeles for the start of the MLS season on March 19th.

Feel free to let us know your thoughts.

U.S. SOCCER PRESIDENT SUNIL GULATI TO ANNOUNCE 2018/2022 FIFA WORLD CUP BID INTENTIONS

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati will discuss the Federation’s intentions to submit a simultaneous bid to FIFA for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups on Monday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m. ET. Gulati will also introduce the Executive Director of the USA Bid Committee.

FIFA set Monday, Feb. 2, as the deadline for federations to submit the official paperwork expressing their interest to bid for either or both of the competitions. FIFA emphasized that at this initial stage in the bidding process, the only requirement is for countries to be able to demonstrate their ability to host a sporting event as large as the FIFA World Cup.

The first, and last time, the World Cup was played on American soil was in 1994 when Brazil claimed the trophy by beating Italy on penalty kicks, after regulation of 90 minutes ended in a scoreless tie. The USA 1994 World Cup has been to date the most successful in terms of attendance, which hopefully will play a positive role in the USSF's intentions to land either of the two bids. As we recall, the 2014 World Cup has been awarded to Brazil.

BRADLEY RECALLS 20 PLAYERS TO CARSON TO BEGIN PREPARATIONS

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has called 20 players back to U.S. Soccer's National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., to begin preparations for the USA’s first match of final round qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. will take on regional rivals Mexico on Feb. 11 in front of a sold-out crowd at Columbus Crew Stadium.

The 20-man group is made up almost entirely of players who participated in the previous camp from Jan. 4-24 at the HDC, with Columbus Crew defender and three-time World Cup veteran Frankie Hejduk the only new addition. The U.S. team will train in Carson for nine days before departing on Feb. 7 for Columbus.

Fourteen of the players on the roster appeared in the USA’s 3-2 win against Sweden on Jan. 24, including midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who became the second player in U.S. history to score his first three goals all in the same game. Both Robbie Rogers and Chris Wingert made their debut for the full team in the victory.

Tickets for the USA-Mexico clash sold out in 90 minutes following the beginning of the public sale. The match is the first of 10 in the final round hexagonal that will determine the three automatic entrants from CONCACAF into the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

U.S. Men’s National Team Training Camp Roster By Position
Carson, Calif.
Jan. 29 – Feb. 7, 2009
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jon Busch (Chicago Fire), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Matt Pickens (Colorado Rapids)
DEFENDERS (5): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Ugo Ihemelu (Colorado Rapids), Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City Wizards), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)

USA Gets First Win of 2009!!

With an outstanding performance by Sacha Kljestan who scores a hat-
trick, the US National Team beat Sweden 3-2.

Sweden Narrows the Gap

Mikael Dahlberg puts Sweden down on the 88th minute.

KLJESTAN GETS A HAT-TRICK

Less than one minute after Sweden's goal Brian Ching serves a
beautiful ball to Sacha, who sends the ball to the net to secure a hat-
trick. USA: 3 - Sweden: 1.

81' into the game now.

SCORE UPDATE

Sweden's Nannskog puts his side on the board with a nice diving header
on the 73rd. minute.

Halftime

It's USA 2- Sweden 0 at the end of the first 45'.

USA 2-0

On the 38th minute Wynne is brought down inside the penalty area. The
referee blows the whistle and Sacha Kljestan again puts the U.S. ahead
2-0.

GOAAALLLL!!

On the 16th minute of play it's USA up 1-0 on brilliantly executed
free-kick by midfielder Sacha Kljestan!!

STARTING LINEUPS

USA:
Perkins; Califf, Parkhurst, Bornstein, Wynne; Clark, Kljestan, Rogers,
Thorrington; Davies, Ching.

SWEDEN:
Dahlin; Johansson, Jonsson, Lindberg, von Schlebrügge; Andersson,
Dahl, Holmén, Svensson; Nannskog, Dahlberg.

USA vs. Sweden - January 24th, 2009

Please visit us tomorrow at 5:30PM PST as we will be bringing you live the match from the Home Depot.