CORNER KICKS
Five things happening around the world:
1_Coach Bob Bradley will have some interesting choices to make tonight when the United States plays Mexico at Reliant Stadium in Houston. For starters, who will he play up top?
Bradley opted to include only four forwards on his 22-man roster: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Pat Noonan and Jozy Altidore. What sort of pairing Bradley decides upon, or whether he goes with a single striker, could have a significant bearing on the game’s outcome.
Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for the U.S., has long been a thorn in Mexico’s side, and will be closely marked. Dempsey’s unpredictability and Noonan’s dribbling skill make each of them dangerous.
Most intriguing of all will be to see whether Altidore gets a crack at Mexico in what would be only his third international game. Another 18-year-old player on the roster, Freddy Adu, also will be hoping for a chance.
Mexico Coach Hugo Sanchez knows the U.S. strengths, having lost twice to the Americans last year. His cause was not helped by the withdrawal this week of winger Andres Guardado from the team after being injured in Spain over the weekend.
2_The U.S. will open its 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign against Barbados or Dominica at the Home Depot Center on June 15.
The last time the U.S. played a qualifier in Southern California was in 1989 against Trinidad and Tobago, the team it eventually beat out to qualify for Italy in 1990, its first World Cup appearance in 40 years.
Among those on the U.S. team that day were John Harkes, who will be an ESPN analyst for tonight’s Mexico game. Meanwhile, Dominica plays Barbados today in the first of a home-and-home series to determine who plays the U.S. in June. The second game is in Bridgetown, Barbados, on March 26.
If the U.S. gets past Barbados or Dominica, as expected, it could face Cuba later this year in Havana in what shapes up to be an intriguing visit. Cuba this week hired -- the term is used loosely -- Germany’s Reinhold Fanz as coach. Fanz will be paid no salary, only living and travel expenses.
3_Today is an international date on the FIFA calendar, meaning that national teams all over the globe will be playing. One of the 47 scheduled games, between England and Switzerland, is Fabio Capello’s debut as England’s coach. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said he wished Capello well, even though Capello did not select him for the game.
“I totally understand why I’ve not been included in the squad,” Beckham said at the Home Depot Center on Monday. “You’ve got players who have played 10 or 15 games in the Premiership in the last two months, and I haven’t played since December. I understood that, and I’m back here now and working hard and training.”
Capello has said he would keep an eye on Beckham during the MLS season and Beckham said England had made a wise choice in naming the Italian as coach.
“He’s the right manager, I think, for the job, because he’s experienced and the players all respect him.
“I wish them good luck and I wish him good luck for his first game.”
4_The German soccer federation has promised each player a bonus of $370,400 if Germany wins the European Championship this summer in Austria and Switzerland.
The move might not be that smart. Earlier this year, Real Madrid promised each of its 22 players a $1.3-million bonus if the team did the triple by winning the European Champions League, the Spanish league and the Spanish Cup.
Real Madrid, leading La Liga and in the last 16 of the Champions League, promptly was upset by Mallorca in the Spanish Cup, the easiest of the three competitions to win, and $29 million in potential bonuses vanished.
5_Defending champion Egypt, host Ghana and former champions Cameroon and the Ivory Coast have advanced to the semifinals of the African Nations Cup.
The Egyptians got there after a bizarre ritual. While training for their quarterfinal game against Angola, the players sacrificed a cow on the field. One former and one current MLS player have made their mark in the tournament. Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul of the Colorado Rapids made several spectacular saves for Senegal in its tie with South Africa that knocked the 2010 World Cup host out of the event.
Former Chicago, Colorado and San Jose forward Junior Agogo scored a very late winning goal for Ghana as it overcame Nigeria to reach the semifinals.
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STAT OF THE WEEK
If Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic, above, gets on the field today against France in Malaga, he would become the youngest player to represent Spain, breaking the record set by Angel Zubieta in 1936. Krkic is 17 years 5 months old.
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Landon Donovan, on the U.S.-Mexico rivalry:
‘There are psychological and mental and confidence advantages ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers if we beat them again. We want to keep pushing them down and keeping them down.’
MAKING THEIR PITCH
