Robbie Findley is challenged by South Africa's Anele Ngcongca (l) and Siphiwe Tshabalala (r) during their Nelson Mandela Challenge soccer match. (Mike Hutchings/REUTERS)

From The Associated Press
Juan Agudelo became the youngest U.S. player to score in the modern era, giving the Americans a 1-0 victory over South Africa on Wednesday that allowed them to avoid finishing the year with a losing record.

Agudelo, who turns 18 next Tuesday, scored in the 85th minute of his debut after coming on as a substitute midway through the second half.

Agudelo fed fellow newcomer Mikkel Diskerud, who maintained control despite being smothered by three defenders and played the ball back to Agudelo. He took one touch and banged the ball in off the crossbar from 7 yards out.

The teenager, who just made his first two starts for the New York Red Bulls in the MLS playoffs against San Jose because of a knee injury to Thierry Henry, dropped to his knees and thrust both index fingers in the air.

Click here for more video from ESPN.
Notes:
• Agudelo Becomes the Youngest Player to Score for the United States in the Modern Era
• Agbossoumonde, Agudelo Becomes first U.S. Soccer Development Academy Alumni to Earn a Cap
• Five Players Make U.S. MNT Debut

Scoring:
USA – Juan Agudelo (Mikkel Diskerud) 85th minute

Lineups:
USA: 18-Brad Guzan (capt.);13-Eric Lichaj, 21-Clarence Goodson (22-Gale Agbossoumonde, 87), 5-Tim Ream (6-Nat Borchers, 67), 12-Jonathan Bornstein (2-Jonathan Spector, 46); 15-Logan Pause, 16-Brian Carroll; 8-Robbie Rogers (17-Juan Agudelo, 61), 11-Eddie Gaven, 7-Alejandro Bedoya (14-Mikkel Diskerud, 79); 20-Robbie Findley (9-Teal Bunbury, 46)
Subs not used: 23-Dominic Cervi
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

RSA: 16-Itumeleng Khune; 5-Anele Ngongca (2-Siboniso Gaxa, 79), 3-Tsepo Mansilela, 23-Morgan Gould, 21-Siyabonga Sangweni, 13-Kagisho Dikgacoi (15-Andile Jali, 60), 18-Thanduyise Khuboni (9-Matthew Pattison, 88), 10-Stephen Pienaar (capt.) (7-Daylon Claasen, 79), 8-Siphiwe Tshabalala, 19-Davide Somma (20-Sthembiso Ngcobo, 60), 17-Bernard Parker
Subs not used: 1-Moeneeb Josephs, 4-Keegan Ritchie, 12-Reneilwe Letsholonyane, 24-Kermit Erasmus, 14-Bevan Fransman, 11-Teko Modise
Head Coach: Pitso Mosimane

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Eric Lichaj (caution) 33rd minute

Officials:
Referee: Sylvester Kirwa (KEN)
First Asst.: John Ngururi (KEN)
Second Asst.: Peter Kieveini (KEN)
Fourth Official: Faiek Daniels (RSA)

Match-up: USA vs. South Africa
Date: November 17, 2010
Competition: Nelson Mandela Challenge
Venue: Green Point Stadium – Cape Town, South Africa
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 52,000
Weather: 68 degrees, clear

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe

From the AP
U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden scored his first Bolton goal Saturday to clinch a 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Saturday, while compatriot Brad Friedel conceded twice in four minutes as Aston Villa threw away a two-goal lead for a 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

Bolton is turning out to be this season’s surprise, closing the gap on fourth-place Manchester City in the final Champions League qualification spot to three points with a third of the season gone.

Bolton went ahead at Wolves after just 45 seconds, with defender Richard Stearman heading into his own net.
Holden setup Johan Elmander for Bolton’s second in the 62nd minute, with the Sweden striker dribbling through four defenders before slotting into the bottom corner.

Holden, who joined Bolton in January from the Houston Dynamo, finally got his name on the scoresheet five minutes later, slotting Lee Chung-yong’s pass into the net.

“What a great feeling to get first goal and even better feeling for the win and 3 pts,” Holden tweeted after the match.

But it was a nervy end to the match, with Kevin Foley pulling one back for the home side two minutes after Holden’s strike and Stephen Fletcher finding time for a Wolves second.

Bolton is fifth in the standings, one place behind Man City, which was held to a 0-0 draw by Birmingham, and a spot ahead of Tottenham on goal difference.

Bob Bradley named his roster for the Nelson Mandela Challenge match to be played on November 17th. I love that Colombian born youngster, Juan Agudelo had a good game against the Earthquakes in the playoffs and exactly a week later he’s called into the USMNT camp. At least Bob is looking to cap guys and get them committed to the US before other eligible countries come calling. You’ll also notice Canadian born, Teal Bunbury, Togo born, Gale Agbossoumonde and Norwegian born, Mikkel Diskerud are also on the roster. It’s too bad Andy Najar isn’t on the roster and that Steve Zakuani isn’t a US citizen yet. Keep in mind that any MLS player still in the playoffs was not available for selection. Here’s the squad:

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): Dominic Cervi (Celtic), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (Estoril Praia), Nat Borchers (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Logan Pause (Chicago Fire), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

Here what some of the MLS based players have to say about their call up.

MICHAEL URBAN/AFP/Getty Images

Not a whole lot is being leaked out to the press, but word is US and AC Milan Defender Oguchi Onyewu got into a brawl with teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Friday training.   As for comments,  AC Milan VP  only said that it was “Very Lively.”  No word on what started the altercation.  I think this would be a great opportunity for Dana White to set something up. A little UFC, Zlatan getting his face pounded in and me being extremely happy, it would be great!  I’m interested in seeing who/what started the fight, but in my mind I can certainly see Ibrahimovic instigating it, since he has a history of being a punk.  I have to give credit to Gooch though, he’s got some incredible brass on him for mixing it up with the Swede. Seeing how Ibra has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I can’t see very many people wanting to mess with him.  So, Oguchi.. this is for you, U-S-A U-S-A!

Sounders Lineup (Photo by Daniel Tuesta/TheEndline.com)

I headed to the Sounders practice today to see what the mood was like after their playoff loss to the LA Galaxy. Sigi and the first team spent the majority of the time doing walk throughs. I’m assuming he was showing the squad how he wants them to break down the Galaxy defense since the Sounders were largely ineffective against the Galaxy backline. The reserves played small sided (6v6 with conversion I think) with full goals and goalkeepers. Alvaro Fernandez and Mike Fucito seemed to stand out to me. Jeff Parke did not train due to his ankle.

Here’s the post practice interview with head coach, Sigi Schmid. All the following interviews were with multiple media members so you’ll hear questions from a number of different reporters. Fredy Montero’s green card seemed to be the talk of the day… which then turned into what national team will Steve Zakuani play for.

Sigi – 11-2-10 – Questions about the confidence of the team, how to approach the 2nd leg against the Galaxy, etc… and for the record. the green card does not change how he would file taxes. Income earned in the U.S. is income earned in the U.S., we all pay taxes.

Keller 11-2-10 – Questions about the Galaxy game including Blaise N’Kufo’s yellow card for kicking the ball away from Donovan Ricketts

Zakuani 11-2-10 – More questions about the upcoming game against the Galaxy, Steve’s green card application status and the big story seemed to be what national team Steve Zakuani will play for. I say he’s going to play for the country of his birth, DR Congo. Why? Because he said so in August when I heard him speaking to the Northwest University Men’s and Women’s soccer teams (go to the 1 hour and 16 minute mark for the evidence).

I was doing some post World Cup research on the effect the World Cup had on the US public in general and I ran across the above piece from The Sag Harbor Express in Sag Harbor, NY. The paper asked individuals the following question, “Has the 2010 World Cup caused you to become more interested in the sport of soccer, or has it had no affect at all?

Check out the response from the guy in the middle, Chris Hulbert,

“I believe all sports are part of the Republican regime, and I avoid them as much as possible. I play softball, but I will not watch sports or patronize their businesses… it’s an absolute Republican machine. If you can’t realize that, then you’re missing something in the world.”

Wow! Where do I even begin? I guess I’m missing something in the world because I literally laughed out loud when I read this and wanted to send it to Jay Leno for Headlines. Then I realized I should save it for TheEndline.com when the time was right to unveil this guy to the world. So today is election day here in the United States of America and I can think of no better time than notify the voters out there that sports are part of the Republican regime. I know the media is telling you that the GOP is going to take over the House but watch out, their taking over sports too… except softball because that’s apparently not a sport to Chris Hulbert.

* No political party endorses this message, but we here at TheEndline.com do endorse Andy Hill for Washington State Senate because the guy is a good goalkeeper that has saved more breakaway opportunities than our porous defense should have allowed on him.

ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Check ESPN3.com for more footy matches online!

SATURDAY, September 4

FOX SOCCER CHANNEL
Major League Soccer: D.C. UNITED vs COLUMBUS (live) 7 pm.

FOX SPORTS EN ESPANOL
Major League Soccer: D.C. UNITED vs COLUMBUS (live) 7 pm.

TELEFUTURA
Major League Soccer: CHICAGO vs LOS ANGELES (live) 4 pm.

UNIVISION
International Friendly: MEXICO vs ECUADOR (live) 8:30 pm.

GOLTV
Primera División de Uruguay: EL TANQUE SISELY vs NACIONAL (live) 2:30 pm.
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: CORINTHIANS vs GOIAS (live) 5:30 pm.
Fútbol Profesional Colombiano: TOLIMA vs SANTA FE (live) 7:30 pm.
Fútbol Profesional Colombiano: NACIONAL vs CHICO (live) 9:30 pm.

MLS DIRECT KICK
Major League Soccer: PHILADELPHIA vs KANSAS CITY (live) 3:30 pm.
Major League Soccer: NEW ENGLAND vs SEATTLE (live) 7:30 pm.
Major League Soccer: DALLAS vs TORONTO (live) 8:30 pm.
Major League Soccer: COLORADO vs CHIVAS (live) 9 pm.
Major League Soccer: SALT LAKE vs NEW YORK (live) 9 pm.

SUNDAY, September 5

FOX SOCCER CHANNEL
Hyundai A-League: NEWCASTLE vs BRISBANE (live) 1 am.

Womens Professional Soccer: CHICAGO vs WASHINGTON (live) 6 pm.

TELEMUNDO
FMF: GUADALAJARA vs ESTUDIANTES TECOS (live) 7 pm.

GOLTV
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: ATLETICO MINEIRO vs SAO PAOLO (live) 3 pm.
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: FLAMENGO vs SANTOS (live) 5:30 pm.

MLS DIRECT KICK
Major League Soccer: HOUSTON vs SAN JOSE (live) 8:30 pm.

FoxSoccer.TV
Hyundai A-League: NEWCASTLE vs BRISBANE (On Demand) 1 am.

Apparently Sunil Gulati couldn’t get Jürgen Klinsmann to become the next US coach so we’re stuck with Bob Bradley for another 4 years. I’m really hoping that we schedule a ton of tough competition so that his record goes down the tube and we can fire him. Why didn’t you offer him the head coaching job DC United?

I’ll write a statement to defend my position at a later date when I’m not so upset.

On a related note, The US team is set to play Colombia on October 12th at PPL Park in Chester, PA.

There are rumors running rampant that Bob Bradley has quit as the Head Coach for the US Mens National Team to join Aston Villa.

Here are the articles stating that he’s quit:

From Talk Sport, the one that started it all.

Birmingham Mail

Goal.com

And here are the articles with the US Soccer Federation stating that the rumors are untrue:

The Guardian

Huffington Post

Even Bloomberg news is getting in on the footy news.

My take on it? I think Bob Bradley needs to go. Just look at Tuesday night’s game against Brasil. What would  make you think he should be the guy in charge for the next cycle? The center midfield was a black hole, Buddle was left by himself for the half he was in, Bornstein got beat for a goal as usual, Feilhaber is not a winger, Bedoya was worthless and he played Gomez on the wing. The only bright spot was the play of Brad Guzan (that pains me to admit). Besides, winning your group doesn’t make up for not getting your guys ready to play (all the early goals we give up). The US team has no style of play other than defend and hope to counter… which doesn’t work well against good teams (those outside of CONCACAF). You could argue that his subs came in and made an impact on the games in the World Cup, but I would argue that his subs were to correct the mistakes he makes in his starting lineups.

Bob needs to step down and either take the job at Aston Villa or DC United. I think he should go to United, the team can’t get any worse so the only way to go is up.

P.S. – Plus I’m jaded from when I lived in NY and he was in charge of the Metrostars

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Europe

As we have seen so many times with Liverpool, Steven Gerrard carried England this time to score 2 goals, 5 minutes from each other to spare the 3 Lions of any extra humiliation. I can only imagine what the tabloids would have been if England lost, still England barely got the win against a team, considered to be an inferior European squad. Regardless of what the score was and by what margin Capello’s men should’ve won, one things for certain… Stevie G is a BEAST. What do you all think of England’s performance? Think there are still more questions than answers? What’s it going to take for England to finally prosper in a major competition?

Associated Press:
Jeering England fans showed more emotion than coach Fabio Capello as the team returned to the field for the first time since a woeful World Cup campaign.

So while World Cup flops Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole were showered with jeers, cheers were reserved for Gerrard.

“It is always the same. When you score you are good. When you win you are good. When you lose, you are nothing,” Capello said. “I think it is not only about my reputation. but we win together and lose together.”

There were fewer than 20,000 empty seats in the 90,000-capacity stadium, where attendance was 72,024. Fans were encouraged by Capello to come to boo the England players who went out in the second round in South Africa, but they also got to see four players make their debuts.

“A lot of criticism had been directed at us saying that we don’t care and it doesn’t mean anything for us to play for England,” Gerrard said. “So I think from my reaction for the first goal, you can see how much it means to myself and the players to be part of this group.

“On the back of the disappointment of the World Cup, there was a lot of pressure on the players to get a win tonight and put a performance in.”

England’s hopes of rebuilding before qualifying for the 2012 European Championship starts next month looked like they would be derailed in the 63rd minute, when Phil Jagielka sent the ball into his own net. Replays, however, showed the ball didn’t completely cross the goal line, reviving memories of Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal in the 4-1 loss to Germany in June.

“We showed good character after going a goal down and we stuck in there,” Gerrard said.

And the Liverpool midfielder equalized six minutes later from 25 yards, then went around three defenders for his second goal in the 73rd minute. He left to a standing ovation in the 83rd minute when he was replaced by 18-year-old Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who made his England debut despite being in hospital until 5 a.m. with stomach pains.

“I am happy with the performance. We played well in the first 30 minutes, but the last 10 minutes of the first half were not so good,” Capello said. “They were really compact and it was difficult to find space.”

Goalkeeper Joe Hart made his first start for England. Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott—two wingers cut from the 30-man preliminary World Cup squad, were in the starting lineup and showed the pace that was missing when England was ripped apart by a young German side.

Their inclusion also enabled Capello to end his rigid adherence to a 4-4-2 formation in the first half, deploying Rooney as the lone front man in a 4-5-1.

Rooney, who failed to score at the World Cup after a standout season for Manchester United, was ruled offside when he found the net in the third minute after racing onto Gerrard’s pass.

Rooney, who has not scored for England since September lacked sharpness and was given support in attack in the second half when Fulham’s Bobby Zamora made his debut.

The other new players were center back Michael Dawson, who replaced John Terry, and 20-year-old left back Kieran Gibbs, who came on for the much-booed Cole.

“The young lads that came on tonight were fantastic,” Gerrard said. “They got thrown right in at the deep end and I think they can be really proud of themselves.”

Capello, who has faced as much criticism as his players since South Africa, was devoid of any passion at Wembley Stadium, remaining impassively lodged to his seat even as Steven Gerrard spared him from embarrassment against Hungary.

The captain responded to Hungary’s disputed opening goal by scoring twice in a five-minute span of the second half to salvage a 2-1 victory in the friendly.