The 2009 edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off today in Carson, California when Costa Rica plays El Salvador followed by Jamaica and Canada at the same venue.

It's not really a big deal, the Gold Cup, and that can be seen by looking at the weakened squads the top sides have sent to the tournement. Of course in Mexico's case they may simply be looking at new players to attempt to stop the slide of the disasterous World Cup qualifiying campaign.  This year the Gold Cup means even less since it's a "mid-term" edition where a spot in the Confederations Cup, which is very meaningful to CONCACAF teams, isn't on the line. The winner only gets the trophy.

As usual the United States and Mexico qualified automatically, for some reason Canada qualifies automatically as well. I'm not bashing Canada but on merit that should be Costa Rica's spot. I guess it has to do with the "mini-zones", Canada is in the NAFU which includes the two other automatic qualifiers since Bermuda plays in the CFU and Greenland isn't a CONCACAF member. Probably not though. It's all money based anyway.

In 2007 Guadeloupe, a CONCACAF member but not a FIFA member (ask Jack Warner, not me), surprised everyone and finished fourth in the tourement. They were lead by ex-French international (yes, Guadeloupe can use previously capped players) Jocelyn Angloma. He scored an amazing goal against Canada in the group stages and provided great senior leadership for his team. Currently he plays club football on the island for fun in his retirement. They haven't brought him along this time. This is important to note because they could well use Thierry Henry this way one day. This time they qualified by finishing as runners-up to Jamaica in the CFU zone.

Cuba withdrew from the tournement amid fears that players would leave again (that wasn't the official reason, but yea...) so Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago were placed into a draw (this is how CONCACAF works, people) and Haiti won, so Haiti gets to play in Cuba's place. Grenada also qualified for the cup, they join Nicaragua as debutants in this edition.

Panama, shock runners-up in 2005, will make their fourth apperence after they won the Central American zone qualifiers. They will be joined by Costa Rica, current leaders of the World Cup qualifying group, who will be making their ninth apperence, Honduras in their ninth, and El Salvador in their sixth.

Canada, Mexico and the United States were kept seperate for the "draw" which saw Canada get both Costa Rica and Jamaica in their group. The matches for this group will be played in Carson (LA), Miami, and Columbus. Nifty travel arrangment, Jack.

Group B features the United States against Grenada, Honduras and Haiti. Honduras aren't exactly creampuffs but I doubt the USA will be sweating bullets over the other two, but they can't afford to be cocky after bringing what is essentially a "B-minus team".

Mexico got Guadeloupe, Panama, and Nicaragua so that they can win the group and sell out the new Cowboys Stadium in the quarterfinals. On recent form Panama could take Mexico if they don't play scared.

I disagree with the choice of the Meadowlands for the final, particularly as they've picked Qwest Field and that thing Jerry Jones built to host earlier matches, why not put the final in one of those venues? Why put it in that piece of crap in a swamp? Sigh. I'll never understand how CONCACAF works. Not that I really want to.

For anyone who couldn't see the match last night. This will probably be remembered as the highlight of the evening. Simply amazing stuff from the Timbers Army, they're the cream of the crop in American sports. I'd honestly put their passion up against any team, from any league, in any sport in the United States.

Superb stuff.

Austin Aztex 0 : 2 Houston Dynamo. Not many got to see this match because of internet issues at Nelson Field in Austin. I thought Austinites were supposed to be handy with technology? The result isn't much of a surprise, the Dynamo are one of the top clubs in the United States and the Aztex are in their first professional season. Houston will face Charleston in their quarterfinal, Charleston and Houston have a history in the Open Cup and Charleston have gotten the better of the Texas side both times they've met.

The second match of the evening was a renewal of one of the most historic rivalries in American soccer as Portland and Seattle met at PGE Park. Before the match Portland displayed a brilliant tifo featuring a lumberjack and the space needle as well as a sign reading "a league below, a class above", we need to see more stuff like that here.

However, any energy Portland had from that display was pulled right out of them as Seattle scored after just 40 seconds of play. A Roger Levesque diving header found it's way passed Cronin who had a miserable night in goal. Seattle would go two goals up later on with a blast from Stephen King in the 26th minute. Despite this Portland tried to fight back and even clawed back a goal through Keita Mandjou just before half-time.

The second half featured close chances for both teams but neither could find the net again as the match ended 2-1 to Seattle. The Sounders will now face Kansas City at Starfire Stadium in the quarterfinals.

It was a bloody day for MLS in the third round of the US Open Cup as only two of the six teams in action came away with victories, and one needed penalties to do so.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the night came in Wilmington where the Hammerheads saw off the Chicago Fire 1-0 despite facing frantic pressure from the MLS side. Someone I know called it :).

Wilmington will travel to Rochester after the Rhinos pulled another upset after they took the defending MLS Champions Columbus to penalties and beat them. This isn't really a shock, the Rhinos tend to take the Open Cup very seriously having won it in 1999, the club's proudest moment.

Harrisburg joined their fellow USL Second Division team Wilmington in the fourth round after they beat New England 2-1 after extra time in a match played at New England's secondary home in New Britain, CT. It's an excellent result for Harrisburg as they will now face local rivals and holders DC United at United's secondary home in Maryland.

DC defeated Ocean City 2-0 to dash the hopes of the final PDL side in the cup at the SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland. The match was played in awful weather and the stadium had issues that messed with the broadcast of the match.

Somehow Kansas City needed penalties to beat the Minnesota Thunder at the National Sports Center in Blaine. The Thunder came back from 2-0 down to equalize in the 87th minute which forced extra time, where despite dominating play and scoring a third goal Kansas City couldn't prevent Melvin Tarley from making it 3-3 and forcing penalties. Kansas City saved two of them and advanced 4-2.

The biggest win of the match came in South Carolina where Charleston beat Chivas USA 3-1. Chivas have really turned into the whipping boys of the cup after they lost to Dallas Roma (a local league side) in 2006. Full credit has to go to the Battery though who are having an excellent season.

This is the part where some people would say "USL is better than MLS", but I won't. The USL teams do tend to take the cup much more seriously though and that tends to annoy me. MLS teams suffer from fixture congestion issues caused by executives grabbing money. The main excuse thrown up when an MLS team is felled by a USL team is that the MLS team fielded a reserve side, the problem is, so do Mexican teams in the SuperLiga.

Chicago Fire fans are upset tonight, and rightly so. While the Hammerheads are a decent team in their own rite, they're part-time. Chicago should beat them. Three years ago, Chicago would've taken this cup seriously, it was a mark of pride for the Fire fans to play and play well in the Open Cup, it was also a mark of pride for the likes of Peter Wilt. But for the new executives at Toyota Park the cup is a burden getting in the way of the contrived SuperLiga. It's shameful, and it insults the hardcore fans.

This is a night of celebration for some USL teams, especially Wilmington and Harrisburg, and they've earned it. The 2009 almanac won't care who played, only who won.

Tomorrow night sees the tie of the round, Portland vs. Seattle. It's an old rivalry as far as American soccer goes, and as heated as it gets in the US. But don't discount Austin v Houston, the Austin fans should turn out in force for that Texas derby.

The third round of the US Open Cup starts today and it features some interesting ties. The draw of the round has to be the renewal of the Cascadia derby between the Portland Timber and Seattle Sounders at PGE Park. Portland and Seattle are rivals in just about everything and soccer is certainly no exception, the Timbers and Sounders have been doing battle in one form or another since the 1970's. Stadium officials are expecting a sell out crowd in Portland, it should be an interesting match to say the least. As if the fire needed anymore fuel, Portland cast aside the Kitsap Pumas - who some Sounders fans hold a soft-spot for - to get to the third round. This match takes place on Wednesday.

While the northwest has grabbed the headlines it shouldn't shift any attention away from the mid-Atlantic region where tiny Ocean City will look to continue their storybook run against holders DC United at the Maryland SoccerPlex, DC United's secondary home. The Barons have beaten two professional Maryland clubs, Crystal Palace Baltimore and Real Maryland - the latter of whom call the SoccerPlex home - to get this far. I hate the phrase "David v Goliath" (Because I'm 205 cm and I'm a puppy dog, apperently) but I guess this could be described as one. Ocean City sit third out of nine in their PDL Northeastern Division table, while DC United currently top the Eastern table in MLS (but sit fourth overall).

Another match of note includes a Texas derby on Wednesday between Austin and Houston at Nelson Field. With FC Dallas' recent crowd issues, this may be a match between the best supported sides in Texas. The Dynamo have been powerful as usual this season as they've stormed to the top of the MLS table, fate has not been as kind to Austin who rank near the bottom of the USL First Division in their maiden season. Texas, like California and if you want, North (and South) Carolina is a bit of an interesting case. A state cup competition could be viable there (ten sides in the top four divisions call Texas home), but at the moment that's just a pipe dream.

The biggest potential for an upset could be on the Carolina coast when Chicago travels down east to take on Wilmington at Legion Field. The Hammerheads are having an impressive season while the Fire have looked flat at times.

The other matches in round three are: Tuesday - New England (MLS) v Harrisburg (USL2) [at New Britain, CT],  Rochester (USL1) v Columbus (MLS), Charleston (USL1) v Chivas USA (MLS), Minnesota (USL1) v Kansas City (MLS)

I tried to go the entire Confederations Cup without writing about it, and I managed to. Tons of people outside of Africa are complaining about the noise produced by the now infamous vuvuzela horns in South Africa. I'm not going to, it doesn't bother me.

It may be because I'm an American, maybe I'm used to artificial stadium noise. Be it fake crowd noise pumped in by the stadium's PA system (I'm looking at you, Indianapolis Colts), those God forsaken thundersticks, or any number of other things. I guess the fake noise makers are almost a neccesity at American sporting events given that you have to have a hedge fund to attend many of them and people with hedge funds tend to not be as loud at sporting events as people without hedge funds, but ticket pricing is another argument for another day. Back on topic, the vuvuzela doesn't bother me.

In fact the vuvuzela hasn't always been a problem in Europe either as this clip from Espana '82 demostrates... 

Yes, I know, that was 1982 and times change, but the vuvuzela is actually a big part of South African football, they didn't just break it out for this cup, they're often present at PSL matches.

I know, it's noisy, and most of you aren't used to it, but it's part of their culture and this is their World Cup. It's Africa's first major sporting event, and people should allow them to be themselves at the event. Thus far South Africa has done a good job, the Confederations Cup came off very well and I expect the World Cup will go smoothly. South Africa is a country with many problems, but they're doing the best they can.

Remember, the South Africans never complained about your culture.

I'm very proud of our team. Our players showed incredible heart and passion, they played with a pride and intensity we rarely see from American male national teams. Last summer the basketball team showed it as they swept to victory in Beijing but usually players look at national duty as a waste of time. That isn't the case with our soccer team, maybe because of soccer's international standing. But I was particularly impressed with the players and their level of passion throughout the Confederations Cup.

I wasn't impressed with Bob Bradley's tactics. He seemed scared and overly cautious. He waited until Brazil equalised to make a change and did the wrong things when he made them. Again, I can't fault the players he brought on, they did what they were asked, but I have to ask why he picked them.

Our most dangerous players were Landon Donovan and Charlie Davies, both looked especially dangerous when they got the ball out wide exposing Brazil's weakness on the wings by getting the ball away from Brazil's strong spine. Bradley's change was to bring on Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein. Bornstein made since, he's a pacy wide player with an ability to get into the box, Kljestan did not. In certain situations I like Sascha Kljenstan, he provides a nice option at times, but today wasn't the time for him. Many question Bradley's reliance on players he coached at club level, and their questions may have merit.

Aside from his sub there is the question of Bradley's tactics. After taking the lead he again seemed content to go into his now infamous bunker. We don't have the players for this. Our defenders play their best when pressure isn't being heaped on them, and in particular Brazilian pressure. You could tell the defenders were tired. While Tim Howard is one of the world's top goalkeepers he remains human, he is not superman, there is no superman. Howard was heroic today, and while you may look at the scoreline and say he let in three, you don't see the saves he had to make thanks in large part to the bunker tactics.

Our team has changed, this new generation of American players has brought good attacking promise, and it must be used. Bradley isn't tapping it correctly with his tactics, and if the Brazil game wasn't proof enough, look at Costa Rica and El Salvador. Or Italy. That tactic doesn't work for us, that tactic doesn't work for anyone. It's antiquated and exposed.

I am no manager, I never claimed to be, but I'd have brought on Freddy Adu. Freddy would've provided the same thing Donovan, Dempsey and Davies did, he would've provided what was working.

Again, I'm proud of our players. They deserve us to be proud of them, we should all be proud of them. I just feel upset that Bradley's current tactical scheme may be doing our players a grave disservice.

Hats off to Landon Donovan. You're a hell of a player, it's time everyone admits that.

Congratulations to Brazil. What is this? Trophy number 84? Heh.

It's not like the US has never won anything before, they've lifted the regional Gold Cup on several occasions and each time it means something, but it doesn't mean what this does.

This isn't the World Cup, not by a long shot. It's a dress rehersal for the big show next summer, but it does mean something, it's a serious competition. Quietly the Confederations Cup means a lot, particularly to those outside of Europe but even that didn't stop the Europeans from sending strong squads this year, they weren't ordered to, but they came to win.

Today marks the first time an American men's team has reached a FIFA final. This has generated somewhat of a buzz in the United States. The sport struggles for positive publicity here - indeed, many will take any small opportunity to ridicule it - but this team, and this performance has managed to produce it. The Americans were hammered twice, once by the team they face today, to start the tournement, after two matches it looked like a lost cause. Needing a five goal swing in the final group matches the American side put in a brave performance to beat Italy's impressive conquerers Egypt in the third group match and got a massive favor from Brazil as the Samba Boys completely put Italy to the sword in the other fixture. 3-0, 3-0. A six goal swing, they had done it.

2-0. It is the most famous scoreline in American soccer. Known mostly for it's symbolence against heated rivals Mexico, it has taken on new meaning following the Confederations Cup semi-final against world number 1 Spain. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey provided the goals and Tim Howard the heroics as they pulled off a victory many saw as impossible at kickoff.

This is a proud moment for fans of the United States national team, they follow the team through thick and thin and though often critical, they're also very proud and very protective. Today, whether they win or lose, their boys have made them extremely proud.

TV - 2:25 EDT ESPN (En) & Univision (Es).

South Africa did everything they could to make the 2009 Confederations Cup a story of underdogs. Up against seemingly impossible odds against the superpower of superpowers Bafana Bafana fought bravely and lost by the most narrow of margins.

It was a superbly taken, razor accurate free kick from substitute Dani Alves that crushed South Africa's dreams of reaching their first final and doing it on home soil. For 88 minutes the crowd at Ellis Park were energetic and hopeful as they watched their heroes look Brazil directly in the eyes and not back down. Lead by the inspired play of Everton's Steven Pienaar the hosts frustrated Brazil time after time. Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was nearly cast into the role of hero as he made some big saves to keep the Brazilians at bay.

Indeed at times luck played a role for South Africa but their heart and bravery cannot be denied. it was a harsh ending for South Africa but their adventure will provide them a much needed boost as the prepare to host the big show next summer. For now they will look to Rustenburg where Spain await at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, to the South Africans, this match means a lot.

Meanwhile the United States will partake in their first ever FIFA men's final as Spain's conquerers will take on the same Brazil team that beat them by three goals in the group stage.  Brazil have won the trophy twice in the past in addition to their five World Cups.

Before the match FIFA will take time to honor the late Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe prior to the match.