Soccer Notebook: U.S.-Mexico set for opener

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The United States men will open and close the final round of qualifying for South Africa 2010 at home, hosting regional nemesis Mexico in the opener Feb. 11 and Costa Rica on Oct. 14 to end the round.

The Americans are one of six teams — Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago are the others — vying for one of three automatic spots to soccer’s showcase tournament.

The top three teams at round’s end go through, while the fourth-placed team will face off against a South American foe for a chance at another berth.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley had to be pleased when the draw for the final round for the CONCACAF region was held in Johannesburg over the weekend.

That’s because his team came out with a well-balanced schedule that has the Americans hosting three of their first four matches (venues for home matches have yet to be determined).

Still, the final round will hardly be a picnic for the Americans, who, at No. 24, are the highest-ranked team in the region but nonetheless realize the competition will be tough.

“The expectation is always that the last round will be very competitive,” Bradley told the Associated Press in Johannesburg. “Certainly when you look at this schedule, opening at home with Mexico and finishing at home with Costa Rica, it’s a good test.”

Another cup beckons

The United States will take a break from qualifiers in June to represent the region in the Confederations Cup, where it was drawn in a tough Group B that includes No. 3 Italy, No. 5 Brazil and No. 21 Egypt.

Group A boasts European champion and top-ranked Spain, Oceania representative New Zealand (No. 60), Asian champ Iraq (No. 75) and host South Africa (No. 80).

Talk about uneven groups. The Cup will run June 14-28 at venues throughout the African nation.

The Americans kick off that competition June 15 versus 2006 World Cup champion Italy, face South American champion Brazil on June 18 and close out group play June 21 against African champ Egypt.

The U.S. men earned a berth by winning the 2007 Gold Cup, which crowns CONCACAF’s best team.

Expansion draft looms

The Dynamo take on Luis Angel Firpo on Wednesday evening in a crucial CONCACAF Champions League match, but just a few hours earlier they will likely lose a player to the expansion draft and the Seattle Sounders.

Teams may protect up to 11 players and lose no more than one unprotected player to the draft. The Dynamo on Monday protected defenders Bobby Boswell and Eddie Robinson; midfielders Brad Davis, Geoff Cameron, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Stuart Holden and Brian Mullan; and forwards Brian Ching, Guy-Roland Kpene and Kei Kamara.

As expected, among the starters left unprotected is Nate Jaqua, the Oregon native who, prior to re-signing with the Dynamo over the summer after a stint in Austria, expressed a desire to be sent to Seattle at year's end.

Whomever Seattle picks, he will still be eligible to play for the Dynamo against Firpo later in the day.

Champions berth

Speaking of Champions League, the Dynamo were one of four MLS teams to earn berths to the 2009-10 competition by virtue of finishing the regular season with the second-best record in the league.

The Columbus Crew (MLS Cup winners), New York Red Bull (MLS Cup runners-up) and D.C. United (U.S. Open Cup winner) are also in.

Usually the team with the best regular-season record earns a berth, but because this year that happened to be Columbus, which also won the MLS Cup, the Dynamo enter the picture.

The Crew and the Dynamo will start in the group stage of the regional competition; D.C. and New York will play preliminary series against opponents to be determined.

Pick your tournament

MLS announced that beginning next year teams may participate in either the Champions League or SuperLiga – but not both.

That means the Dynamo, who were runners-up to New England in this year’s SuperLiga, will forego the tourney as they are set to compete in Champions League 2009-10.

Based on regular-season records, MLS teams slated to play in SuperLiga 2009 are Chicago, New England, Kansas City and Chivas USA.

Reserve league ends

Other changes instituted for next season include eliminating the reserve league, which the Dynamo won this season. Instead of a 28-man roster, teams will be allowed up to 20 senior roster players and up to four developmental players.

Also, the top two teams per conference at season’s end will secure berths to the eight-team playoffs (as opposed to top three this year). The other four teams will be decided based on placing in the overall standings, regardless of conference.

Dynamo host Firpo

Eddie Robinson and the Dynamo close out the year by hosting Salvadoran team Luis Angel Firpo in a must-win Champions League match Wednesday at Robertson Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. The winner advances to the quarterfinals of the regional club tourney. The teams tied 1-1 last month.

The match was originally set for September but was rescheduled because of Hurricane Ike.

Match to watch

Arsenal at Chelsea

The Gunners have named Cesc Fabregas, 21, team captain. That’s tough timing for the Spaniard, whose team is 10 points off the English Premier League lead as they ready to take on the Blues.

When/where: 10 a.m. Sunday; London.

TV; Fox Soccer Channel.

That’s a lot of hardware

Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto had his hands full over the weekend — literally. The talented Argentine was named to the MLS Best XI and was presented the league’s MVP award days before leading his team to an MLS Cup victory over New York on Sunday with three assists. On his way out of the stadium, he also picked up MLS Cup final MVP honors. Not bad for a player who didn’t make the All-Star team.

Comeback kid

Also announced last week was Comeback Player of the Year honors, which went to FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, who started all of his team’s 30 regular season games this year after suffering a broken right tibia eight games into the 2007 season. He tallied 18 goals, second only to Landon Donovan’s 20.

Like Columbus maestro Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Cooper was also named to the MLS Best XI.

The team:

Goalkeeper Jon Busch (Chicago); defenders Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Bakary Soumare (Chicago) and Chad Marshall (Columbus); midfielders Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago), Barros Schelotto, Robbie Rogers (Columbus), Shalrie Joseph (New England) and Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA); and forwards Cooper and Landon Donovan (Los Angeles).

Office winners

Dynamo players and coaches may have been shut out of MLS awards, but their front office wasn’t.

Winners included COO Chris Canetti (executive of the year), Paul Byrne (operations director of the year), Lindsay Daywalt, (marketing director of the year), Theron Enns, (trainer of the year) and Nick Kowba, who won his second consecutive Team Administrator of the Year award.

U.S. women roll

Back-to-back 3-0 wins over France and Argentina have the United States women through to the knockout stages of the U-20 World Cup in Chile with a match to spare in Group B.

The Americans face China on Wednesday to close out first-round play.

U.S. SCHEDULE

The American men will take a break from World Cup qualifying in June to play in the Confederations Cup in South Africa:

Jan. 24: vs. Sweden at Carson, Calif. (friendly).

Feb. 11: vs. Mexico at venue TBD.

March 28: at El Salvador.

April 1: vs. Trinidad and Tobago at venue TBD.

June 3: at Costa Rica.

June 6: vs. Honduras at venue TBD.

June 15: vs. Italy at Tshwane/Pretoria (Confederations Cup).

June 18: vs. Brazil at Tshwane/Pretoria (Confederations Cup).

June 21: vs. Egypt at Rustenburg (Confederations Cup).

Aug. 12: at Mexico.

Sept. 5: vs. El Salvador at venue TBD.

Sept. 9: at Trinidad and Tobago.

Oct. 10: at Honduras.