Landon Donovan

U.S. primed for revenge Grahame L. Jones Los Angeles Times Predictions are a perilous business, especially at this World Cup. Just ask Italy, Spain, Germany, France or England. The U.S. is unbeaten, has the momentum, is relaxed after achieving its stated goal of getting past the first round and has its key players in peak form. On top of all that, there is the not-so-small matter of avenging its first-round loss to Ghana in 2006. Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, DaMarcus Beasley, Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu all started in that 2-1 loss.

If the U.S. national soccer team is feeling the weight of the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal against Jamaica today at sold-out RFK Stadium, the players and coaches aren't showing it. Since their arrival in Washington on Thursday, the Americans have spoken coolly and confidently about recovering from a turbulent first round. "We came through group play feeling good that we were tested and certain things came to light," coach Bob Bradley said. "Now as a group we are excited and ready to go. " The reassuring vibe, however, belies the broad implications of defeat.

Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez went from long shots to the U.S. World Cup roster, joining veterans Landon Donovan , DaMarcus Beasley and Tim Howard on the American team for South Africa. U.S. coach Bob Bradley cut seven players from his preliminary roster Wednesday to reach the 23-man FIFA limit. The Americans will open against England on June 12. Midfielders Donovan and Beasley, and defender Steve Cherundolo earned their third World Cup trips. Beasley's selection capped a comeback from nine months of national team exile that ended in March.

USSF D-2 soccer Second-half deflection gives Palace Baltimore key 2-1 win A shot from Shaun Pejic deflected off Andrew Marshall and into the net midway through the second half, and Crystal Palace Baltimore picked up a 2-1 road win Sunday afternoon over the Montreal Impact in front of an announced sellout crowd of 13,034 at Saputo Stadium. The Impact took the lead when Leonardo Di Lorenzo blasted home a shot past goalkeeper Evan Bush just three minutes into the contest.

Manchester City, which plays Inter Milan at M&T Bank Stadium on July 31, might be looking to add Landon Donovan, the United States' star during the World Cup, to its star-studded roster, according to Yahoo! Sports. English Premier League team Manchester City, which sent a scout to watch Donovan during the World Cup, has "significant interest" in Donovan, Yahoo! Sports reported. Club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, has indicated that he's willing to spend millions to upgrade Manchester City.

• NBA: Former center Chris Dudley , 44, formally announced he is running as a Republican for Oregon governor. The 6-foot-11 Yale graduate, who said he wants to slow the growth of the state budget, played 16 years in the NBA, including two stints with Portland. ... Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov completed a partnership agreement to buy the Nets. The NBA Board of Governors is expected to rule on the sale early next year. ... Golden State coach Don Nelson returned after missing five games while recovering from pneumonia.

Pro soccer U.S. hero Donovan returns to MLS today with game at RFK Nearly a month after his rebound volley propelled the United States into the round of 16, Landon Donovan returns to the pitch today with the hope of carrying some momentum from a dramatic World Cup run into Major League Soccer. "I've always prided myself on the fact that I could stay here and help grow this sport here," he said Saturday as his Los Angeles Galaxy prepared to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium.

Bob Bradley did not get a good night's rest. The coach of the U.S. national team and his players did not get back to their rural base until the wee hours of Sunday morning, but it wasn't the roosters or the dogs or even the cows that kept Bradley awake. Instead, unable to drop off, he played and replayed the 2-1 loss to Ghana that knocked the U.S. out of the World Cup. "I never sleep well after games," he said. "Wins, losses, it's never easy after a game. I usually watch the game over and over a few times."

USSF D-2 soccer Second-half deflection gives Palace Baltimore key 2-1 win A shot from Shaun Pejic deflected off Andrew Marshall and into the net midway through the second half, and Crystal Palace Baltimore picked up a 2-1 road win Sunday afternoon over the Montreal Impact in front of an announced sellout crowd of 13,034 at Saputo Stadium. The Impact took the lead when Leonardo Di Lorenzo blasted home a shot past goalkeeper Evan Bush just three minutes into the contest.

It took England barely four minutes to pierce the U.S. defense before the back line stiffened. It took Slovenia all of 13 minutes to find a way through the U.S. rear guard before American resolve came to the fore. So, after salvaging a 1-1 tie in its first match and a 2-2 tie in its second, what sort of performance is U.S. coach Bob Bradley's team going to produce Wednesday morning, when Algeria is the opponent in Pretoria? Will it be another slow start, or have the lessons of the World Cup been learned?

Pro soccer U.S. hero Donovan returns to MLS today with game at RFK Nearly a month after his rebound volley propelled the United States into the round of 16, Landon Donovan returns to the pitch today with the hope of carrying some momentum from a dramatic World Cup run into Major League Soccer. "I've always prided myself on the fact that I could stay here and help grow this sport here," he said Saturday as his Los Angeles Galaxy prepared to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium.

Bob Bradley did not get a good night's rest. The coach of the U.S. national team and his players did not get back to their rural base until the wee hours of Sunday morning, but it wasn't the roosters or the dogs or even the cows that kept Bradley awake. Instead, unable to drop off, he played and replayed the 2-1 loss to Ghana that knocked the U.S. out of the World Cup. "I never sleep well after games," he said. "Wins, losses, it's never easy after a game. I usually watch the game over and over a few times."

Manchester City, which plays Inter Milan at M&T Bank Stadium on July 31, might be looking to add Landon Donovan, the United States' star during the World Cup, to its star-studded roster, according to Yahoo! Sports. English Premier League team Manchester City, which sent a scout to watch Donovan during the World Cup, has "significant interest" in Donovan, Yahoo! Sports reported. Club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, has indicated that he's willing to spend millions to upgrade Manchester City.

U.S. primed for revenge Grahame L. Jones Los Angeles Times Predictions are a perilous business, especially at this World Cup. Just ask Italy, Spain, Germany, France or England. The U.S. is unbeaten, has the momentum, is relaxed after achieving its stated goal of getting past the first round and has its key players in peak form. On top of all that, there is the not-so-small matter of avenging its first-round loss to Ghana in 2006. Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, DaMarcus Beasley, Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu all started in that 2-1 loss.

Landon Donovan got the goal. Jozy Altidore got the cuts and bruises. On Thursday, the day after the most memorable victory in decades for U.S. soccer, both players were holding court near the American team's rural base in Irene. For obvious reasons, the larger media crowd was gathered around three-time World Cup veteran Donovan. The argument could easily be made, however, that Altidore was just as responsible for beating Algeria. Certainly, Algeria was responsible for beating him. As the main U.S. target man up front, Altidore was constantly hacked, kicked, tripped, shoved and generally roughed up during the 1-0 win — as much as anyone can rough up a player of his size and strength.

It took England barely four minutes to pierce the U.S. defense before the back line stiffened. It took Slovenia all of 13 minutes to find a way through the U.S. rear guard before American resolve came to the fore. So, after salvaging a 1-1 tie in its first match and a 2-2 tie in its second, what sort of performance is U.S. coach Bob Bradley's team going to produce Wednesday morning, when Algeria is the opponent in Pretoria? Will it be another slow start, or have the lessons of the World Cup been learned?

If the U.S. national soccer team is feeling the weight of the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal against Jamaica today at sold-out RFK Stadium, the players and coaches aren't showing it. Since their arrival in Washington on Thursday, the Americans have spoken coolly and confidently about recovering from a turbulent first round. "We came through group play feeling good that we were tested and certain things came to light," coach Bob Bradley said. "Now as a group we are excited and ready to go. " The reassuring vibe, however, belies the broad implications of defeat.

Was it a goal or wasn't it? Did the U.S. get robbed in Friday's World Cup tie with Slovenia? Or did referee Koman Coulibaly get the call – whatever the call was – right? "I didn't see anything," midfielder Benny Feilhaber said, Considering the fact Feilhaber was on the field when Maurice Edu scored the goal that was disallowed, Feilhaber's confession is almost as hard to believe as Coulibaly's call. But Feilhaber wasn't really pleading ignorance.

Was it a goal or wasn't it? Did the U.S. get robbed in Friday's World Cup tie with Slovenia? Or did referee Koman Coulibaly get the call – whatever the call was – right? "I didn't see anything," midfielder Benny Feilhaber said, Considering the fact Feilhaber was on the field when Maurice Edu scored the goal that was disallowed, Feilhaber's confession is almost as hard to believe as Coulibaly's call. But Feilhaber wasn't really pleading ignorance.

It is probably fair to say that Slovenia knows as much about Clint Dempsey as Clint Dempsey knows about Slovenia. A lot of Americans were sent scrambling for maps in December when the U.S. was drawn to play the Eastern European country in the World Cup. Many had never heard of it. Similarly, there weren't many people in Ljubljana, Maribor or Kranj who had any knowledge about the man from Nacogdoches, Texas. On Friday afternoon, at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, they could find out. It used to be that Landon Donovan was the player that everyone counted on to carry the load for the U.S. Then it was Donovan and goalkeeper Tim Howard.