Updates From the Past Week.

Alright. Slow week news wise, besides the unveiling of the USL Pro Playoff format so here's some updates on some players that any SC Soccer fan should care about:

• Ricardo Clark out for 4 Weeks- The former Furman player, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, fractured his cheekbone in a training session. He will undergo surgery.
• Oguchi Onyewu to FC Twente, Hurt in Cup Game- Onyewu is on loan to FC Twente from Milan. In a KNVB Cup win over PSV Eindhoven, the former Clemson defender sustained a back injury. The US International left in the 26th minute. 
• Clint Dempsey is On Fire- Dempsey, who played with Clark for Furman, has been a star lately for Fulham. He scored two goals against Stoke, and was the only real threat to score in the club's game against Liverpool on Tuesday.
• Brad Guzan Extends Loan- Brad Guzan, who formerly played at South Carolina, extended his loan from Aston Villa to Hull City for another month. Guzan is 2-1-1 at Hull City.
• Stuart Holden and Bolton Annihilated by Chelsea- Former Clemson player, Holden, has not scored in a while, and Bolton is suffering. They sit eleventh in the table and only eight points out of the relegation zone. They lost 4-0 to Chelsea on the 24th.

Just a quick recap of the weeks events. Any questions? E-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Preview: US-Chile

The United States and Chile will face off at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles this Saturday, January 22nd. This is the wrap up for the January Camp for the USMNT, and is against a Chile squad that didn't advance out of the group stage in South Africa.

First off, probably the most important part of this game for the casual fan, is that it isn't on a major network (ESPN, FSC, etc.) The game is going to be broadcast on ESPN3.com and for those who are willing to listening to the game in Spanish (and get the channel for that matter) it will be on Telefutura. So this poses a bit of problem, but for the ones who are committed, its viewable. Also there's only been a bit over 9,000 tickets sold for this game. In a stadium that seats 27,000 it might end up looking like a ghost town, but hopefully we'll get a look at the future of the US team.

This will be an interesting match as the teams are not bringing out the veteran players. This is not a recognised FIFA date, which doesn't allow players such as Dempsey, Howard, etc. to play, due to commitments to their clubs, but the same will go for Chile. The US will bring out a lineup similar to the match against South Africa on 11/17/10 (without Guzan.)  Chile is bringing a team that is highly inexperienced, somewhat like what the US is bringing. Chile's team for this match has a couple of players from their World Cup team, including forward Esteban Parades. But for the most part, this is basically Chile's B-team. Chile is currently ranked 15th in the FIFA World Rankings.

Since Chile is also bringing their "second team", the US should be competitive, and there's no reason that they shouldn't pull out a win in the match. Nick Rimando will most likely get the nod for the start in goal. Juan Agudelo also should get the start up top for the US. Agudelo scored the only goal for the US in the match against South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge. He scored the goal at age 17, becoming the youngest player to score in a game for the senior team. But there is some talk of Teal Bunbury starting the game over Agudelo. Breakout possibilities are endless for the US team, with Brek Shea being my favorite for a man of the match like performance, for the sole reason of his hair. On a serious note he should play well. He was called up for the friendly with Colombia in October.

The match is set for a 7:00 p.m. PST, and 10:00 p.m. for us here on the East Coast. US Soccer has been posting videos of training on their Youtube page and the 18-man match day roster is set for release on Saturday.

Guzan Gets First Win for Hull City

Well that didn't take long. After a 1-0 loss to Leicester City on January 1st, Brad Guzan and Hull City got a road win at Portsmouth 3-2. The Tigers now sit at 15th in the table of the Championship and six points off of the playoff to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Hull City struck first in the 21st minute with a converted penalty from Jimmy Bullard. Portsmouth equalized in the 57th minute from a penalty by Liam Lawrence. Then two of Hull City's subs, Matt Fryatt scored on a break away goal in the 69th minute, followed by a Nick Barnby goal in the 72nd minute. Portsmouth would get a goal back off a Greg Halford header, but Pompey couldn't equalize in the final minutes.

Guzan played a solid game with many saves and brilliant distribution that would gain Hull City multiple advantages and in one case a free kick. Maybe the most important save of the match was in stoppage time when a Joel Ward shot was denied by the American International. Hull City's next match is on Saturday January 8 against Wigan in FA Cup play.