Olympic Qualifying - Freddy Adu's and team US's are going to Beijing

US 3-0 Canada

This was the game US fans had been waiting for. Finally the play on the field reflected the talent in the roster as Canada was no match for the U23 US men. And although Freddy Adu will deservingly get the headlines, that second goal was pure art, but he was far from alone out there. Altidore, Edu, Holden, McCarty, Spector, Orozco, Wynne, Kljestan, Sturgiz and Seitz all provided key plays that resulted in this victory

Yes, there were little missteps that could still use some tightening, but in the end, last night was as close to a perfect match as anyone can expect to come on the international level. Makes me wonder if all the folks who bashed Peter Nowak after the US's sad sack routine against Cuba last Tuesday are ready to apologize.

As far as Canada is concerned, they have talent, but they were no match for the US on the night. Combine this result with their failure to get out of their group at last summer's U20 World Cup and it points to a youth system that needs some work.

So the US is returning to the Olympics and as of this point, they look like a team that has a chance at a medal.

Goals:
US - Adu 27', 47', Kljestan 78'


Guatemala 0(5)-(6)0 Honduras

And the other Concacaf spot goes to Honduras. Although the game was not as pleasing to watch as the later match, there was plenty of good soccer on display. Both teams would have deserved the win, so it is only fitting that it went to pk.

The question I want to know is what was Honduran goalie Kevin Hernandez yelling before every Guatemalan shot? Something tells me it wasn't words of encouragement.

Olympic Qualifying - Mexico fails to reach the Olympics

Mexico 5-1 Haiti

Even with a win, Mexico fails to make it out of their group. In a match where they played up a man for an hour, had a penalty kick (which was stopped) and had at least three open shots on goal, there is no reason for Mexico to have failed to get the needed six goals, but they did.

Haiti just collapsed in the final 15-minutes giving Mexico numerous three or four on none breaks, but Mexico could not make the most of them.

Overall, this was one of the strangest soccer matches I've ever seen as even when Haiti was getting stomped in the back, they still seemed to place the majority of their team up top. Add to it a red card for a Haitian player on the bench and another for some odd flight call and you've got a heck of a way to finish up group play.

This means Mexico will fail to make the Olympics for the first time since 1984 and that the US will face Canada on Thursday night in Nashville.

One last thing, I'm guessing Leonel Saint Preux is every Canadian's best friend tonight (he got Haiti's lone goal).

Update: One more last think, Haiti's goalkeeper Johnny Placide was fantastic on the night. I know that seems strange with 5 goals getting past him but he basically played the entire Mexican team by himself for the second half. He stopped shots that he had no right to stop and is the biggest reason Mexico is not going to Beijing. Okay, the biggest reason was Mexico's failure to make anything of their huge number of chances, but you get the point. So when will Hugo Sánchez get the boat for this one?

Olympic Qualifying - Can the US pull it together?

US - Panama
8pm ET
TV - Fox Soccer Channel

The US U-23s return to the pitch tonight looking to improve on their poor form from Tuesday. Although the team does not have to win to make it into the next round, anything short of a full three points will make it very difficult to sneak by.

With group mates Honduras and Panama all but assured of three points from their remaining games with Cuba, the US is looking at a -2 point weight around their necks (this is because the US only earned 1 point from their Cuba experience. Add to this the goal difference both Honduras and Panama are likely to run up against Cuba and the US has an even bigger mess on their hands).

To make up these points, the team must figure out a way to control the midfield and finish the chances that appear in front of them. My personal suggestion, don't let Freddy Adu be the only quality player on the pitch.

Panama didn't show much in their match against Honduras other then a great ability to lose the ball in the final third (to be fair, Honduras showed much the same), so Nowak and his squad should have time to settle and make some dangerous plays.

Still there is the question of the wing play. With both Davis and Findley having bad nights in the opening match (and with just 48 hours off since their last game), Nowak will need to find a way to seal these gaps.

With Panama likely to play a very defensive game, Altidore is going to need a lot of help up top. If the US can use their speed and overall better stock of players to sneak balls into the box, a full three points will be their reward. However, if they continue to turn the ball over and fail to show a good center, don't be surprised to see the team end the night tied with Cuba on points.

Concerning the other game on the night, I wonder if Cuba will be able to keep Honduras under 7 goals. With most of their starting 11 now calling the US home, it's going to be a crap night for the team.

Olympic Qualifying: Seven Cuban players defect

In the last 24-hours, seven Cuban U-23 players have defected. The seven include goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defenders Erlys Garcia Baro, Yendry Diaz, Eder Roldan and Yenier Bermudez and midfielders Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto.

Cuba only brought 18 players with them to the tournament so all they have left is 11. But it is worse then it seems as Roberto Linares, who is one of those 11, received a red card on Tuesday night so he is not available for today's game against Honduras. That means the team will have to play the whole match with just 10 players.

This has become a routine occurrence whenever Cuban teams come to America to play tournaments. Divorcing the politics from this, it is a shame as their U-23 team looked strong against the US and probably could have made it out of the group. Now they will be lucky to get even one more point.

But you can never really take the politics out of things, so to the new Americans, welcome home. As Yenier Bermudez put it, "Of course, my heart will be in Cuba with my family, but I want to have the freedom to better my life, to play professional soccer, to be the best I can be, and for that we had to make this sacrifice."

And it might not take long for this to happen as USL side Miami FC has already said they plan on hosting a tryout for the seven next week. I think Miami's GM Luiz Muzzi summed up what a number of US teams are think right now, "I watched their game against the U.S. on TV, and I thought the Cuban team played very well ... We were kind of scouting that game because anytime a Cuban team comes to the United States, there's a chance someone might defect."

After his performance on Tuesday, goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda is probably on the short list of a number of MLS squads.