The CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off June 5, with 25 games scheduled in 13 cities across the United States.
The regional championship is held every two years, and every fourth year – including this year – the winner earns a berth in the FIFA Confederations Cup. That tournament will next be held in 2013 in Brazil, site of the 2014 World Cup.
Mexico has won the Gold Cup a record five times, including the most recent tournament in 2009, while the U.S. has four titles and Canada one.
Two games will be played at Soldier Field in Chicago on June 12: El Salvador vs. Cuba at 5 p.m. and Mexico vs. Costa Rica at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through TicketMaster.
Here's a nifty chart U.S. Soccer produced for American fans to gear up for the Gold Cup. Click on the image for a larger version.
The U.S. Soccer Federation has asked fans to wear red to national team matches over the past few years.
But the team hasn't had a red jersey in recent times, save for the limited edition "Don't Tread on Me" shirt they wore before the 2006 World Cup.
That isn't the case anymore.
U.S. Soccer and Nike unveiled a third shirt for the national team, a red jersey with a blue sash that follows the patterns of the team's other two kits – blue with a white sash and white with a gray sash. The team will debut the shirts in Saturday's friendly against Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J. (6 p.m., ESPN2).
I missed this ESPN Deportes blog post from October, in which John Sutcliffe reported that he heard the U.S. national team could face Mexico in a friendly in February in Milwaukee or Green Bay. (Thanks to Wisconsin Soccer Central reader and Watertown boys soccer coach John Von Klopp for bringing it to my attention.)
Lambeau Field has been mentioned as a possible site for a national team match before, but the playing surface is too narrow – FIFA's regulations call for a minimum of 115 yards long by 75 yards wide; the maximum width at Lambeau is 66 yards, 2 feet.
The Milwaukee venue that came to mind was Miller Park, which has started to play host to more non-baseball events in recent years.
But, I checked with the media relations departments at the Packers and Brewers and both said they hadn't heard a thing about any potential match. The Brewers spokesman said Miller Park could play host to a friendly with a pitch slightly smaller than regulation size.
The U.S. men's national team has played in Wisconsin just once in its history, a 2-1 loss to East Germany on July 28, 1990, at the old Milwaukee County Stadium.
Could Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) be headed back to the Premier League?
The U.S. national team central defender reportedly has interest from Premier League clubs Everton, West Ham United and Stoke City along with Wolfsburg of Germany's Bundesliga.
The Daily Star, a London tabloid, had the original report today. English radio station talkSPORT then reported that Everton and Wolfsburg are DeMerit's top suitors.
DeMerit, 30, has been without a club since leaving Championship side Watford after six seasons by mutual consent at the end of the 2009-10 season. Watford played in the Premier League in the 2006-07 season – DeMerit scored the game-winning goal and was named Man of the Match when the Hornets won the promotion playoff final in May 2006.
As the U.S. men's national team bowed out of the World Cup in South Africa, ESPN commentator Ian Darke said, "The USA are dying here in the World Cup, but dying bravely."
That phrase has become the name of an excellent video montage put together by Nick Butler.
"Dying Bravely" captures the emotions, both highs and lows, for the U.S. teams at the World Cup in 2002, '06 and '10, and centers around the Americans' never-say-die attitude.
Any U.S. supporter will find it well worth the 11 minutes of viewing time.
The U.S. remained 18th in this month's FIFA world rankings, while regional rival Mexico fell three places to No. 28. The top five teams remained the same – Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Argentina, with Germany and Brazil swapping spots from last month.
Central defender Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) is among the U.S. national team players interviewed for Fox Soccer Channel's "Team USA: Journey for Glory."
The 30-minute program recapping the Americans' run to the second round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will debut at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 7.
In addition to DeMerit, the second Wisconsin player to appear in the World Cup, U.S. coach Bob Bradley, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey were interviewed for the show.
So where were you when Landon Donovan scored his stoppage-time goal to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory over Algeria on Wednesday morning?
Most likely, watching it somewhere.
The dramatic match was watched by nearly 6.2 million people on ESPN, making it the most-watched soccer game in the network's history, and another 2.2 million watched in Spanish on Univision.
Records also were set online, with 1.1 million viewers watching on ESPN3.com, the ESPNRadio.com stream hitting a peak of 180,000 listeners and the ESPN GameCast attracting 1.7 million viewers – breaking its previous high by 42 percent.
As we look ahead of Saturday's Round of 16 match against Ghana (1:30 p.m. on ABC), here's a great compilation of how U.S. fans across the world celebrated Wednesday's win:
Additionally, legendary Argentinian announcer Andres Cantor – known for his long-lasting "Gooooooooooooool" call – got a little fired up about the goal. Check out his radio call here.
U.S. Soccer released the second part of "The Jay DeMerit Story," in which the Green Bay native discusses his experiences playing in Europe.
It really is an amazing tale, how he and a friend went to club after club in Europe before getting a break with a non-league team in London that opened doors and led him to a stint in the Premier League and now the World Cup.
Central defender Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) is among the U.S. national team players interviewed for Fox Soccer Channel's "Team USA: Journey for Glory."