Landon Donovan

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Soccer came of age in the United States in 1989 when the national team qualified for its first World Cup finals in 40 years, thanks to a gritty victory on the road over Trinidad and Tobago. Since that time, the team has transformed itself from a plucky group of collegiate players to a regional power, now poised to join a few select countries that have qualified for five straight finals. The final round of qualifying for a spot in Germany in 2006 begins today in the heat, humidity and emotionally charged atmosphere of Carnival season in Trinidad (2:30 ET, ESPN2)

MEXICO CITY - The healing process has finally begun for Mexico's national soccer team, and for that they owe a great deal of thanks to their fiercest rival. While the U.S. has lately enjoyed the better of what is considered one of international soccer's most heated rivalries, the once untouchable Mexicans not only earned a deserved 2-1 victory before 100,000 at Azteca Stadium in a World Cup qualifier yesterday, but also gained a modicum of the invincibility they enjoyed for decades until the U.S. emerged as a team to be taken seriously on the world's stage.

Pittsburgh men reach top ranking for first time col. basketball Pittsburgh made it to the top of the Associated Press men's basketball poll for the first time, and it wasn't even close. The Panthers (14-0) took advantage of losses by season-long unanimous No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Connecticut to make the jump from third to first yesterday, receiving all but two of the first-place votes from the national media panel. Pitt had been ranked second nine times since 1987-88 but had not reached No. 1 until this week.

The scene Tuesday was a South African dairy farm an hour or so outside Johannesburg — about as incongruous a place as possible to be talking about the World Cup. But Jay DeMerit was undeterred. Neither the distinct aroma of cows nor the fact that there were chickens milling about outside the media tent would sway the U.S. defender from his appointed remarks. "I think, being Americans, we always have something to prove as far as far as soccer is concerned," he said. "We understand who we are, and we understand that there's still a long road.

FOXBORO, Mass. - In a dramatic turn for the positive, the U.S. national soccer team was able to restore order with a dominating second half that earned a 2-1 win over Jamaica yesterday afternoon in the friendly confines of Foxboro Stadium. The biggest news was yet to come: The U.S. team qualified for its fourth straight World Cup appearance next year in Japan and South Korea with some unexpected help from abroad. Shortly after forward Joe-Max Moore's second goal of the game, on a penalty kick, broke a 1-1 tie in the 81st minute, word spread of developments in two other qualifying games.

If you're one of those people who thinks the game industry's gotten away from its maverick roots and now exists simply as a tool to funnel gabillions of dollars into the vaults of megalithic corporations -- and we do -- here's a chance to make a difference. Microsoft plans to make its just-announced XNA Game Studio Express available to all comers by the holidays. The company says the GSE is "a revolutionary new set of tools" that will "democratize game development" and allow hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to compete on level ground in the game-making field.

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany -- For a decade or more, the United States has been preaching that it is ready to play the world's game with the world's elite. A surprising quarterfinal finish by the U.S. soccer team at the 2002 World Cup boosted that notion. So did the growing flow of top American players to European club teams. But yesterday's 2006 World Cup opener for the U.S. - in front of a sellout crowd of more than 52,000 - burst that bubble as the Czech Republic routed the Americans, 3-0. The loss left the United States on the brink of elimination after only one game.

YOKOHAMA, Japan - It is the classic matchup in sports. When Brazil and Germany play for the World Cup today, the world's greatest forward, Ronaldo, will face the world's finest goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn. "It will be a very hard game," said Ronaldo, who has come almost all the way back from three knee surgeries to repair ligament damage that has plagued his career since 1998. "Germany is a powerful, interesting side. You cannot pick out one player because their strength is as a team." Kahn, however, is the man Ronaldo will have to solve if he is to continue his remarkable comeback.

Soccer Donovan departing from MLS to rejoin Bayer Leverkusen Landon Donovan is leaving the San Jose Earthquakes to rejoin Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, a move that costs Major League Soccer its most successful player. The 22-year-old forward, voted the No. 1 player on the U.S. national team for three straight years, will rejoin the Bundesliga team in January after the end of a sharing arrangement that lasted four years. "They have assured me that it's not prison I'm going back to," Donovan said yesterday.