Soccer International 1

Carlos Queiroz has always been an interesting character. Heck, anyone that coached the New York/New Jersey Metrostars and lived to tell about it deserves a special place in the history of world soccer.

Saturday, the now coach of the Portugal national team, made a move that will certainly make headlines one way or the other as he plans to call in injured superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for the upcoming two-leg UEFA World Cup playoffs against Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Portugal will announce its full lineup on Sunday.)

The official U.S. roster hasn't been released yet for the U.S. National Team's upcoming European friendlies against World Cup qualifiers Slovakia and Denmark, but Goal.com is reporting that Edgar Castillo will be selected for the squad by coach Bob Bradley.

Castillo, who has played his entire career in Mexico, originally declared his intentions to play for El Tri despite the fact he was born in New Mexico. A new tweak in the FIFA rules allowed Castillo to switch allegiances since he never appeared for Mexico in an "official match."

Most of the intrigue that could have resulted from Monday's draw for the second-place playoffs for the final four 2010 World Cup berths from Europe was eliminated when it was decided the eight remaining nations would be broken up and seeded via their FIFA ranks near the end of the qualification process.

So instead of creating some possible Cinderella scenarios from smaller nations like Slovenia or Bosnia-Herzegovina would have a good chance to qualify for their first World Cup, the underdogs now face an uphill battle. This is no more the case than for the Republic of Ireland, which must played a wounded, yet still very dangerous France team next month.

In a very unsurprising development, AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani declared that the club is "95 percent" finished on bringing back David Beckham to the club in January on loan. Galliani went as far as to call it a "done deal."

Unlike last year when there was a lot of alarm and acrimony when Beckham announced his intentions to play somewhere else during the break in the MLS season, this time there doesn't seem to be too much problem that he'll be away from the Los Angeles Galaxy for a period of time after the 2009 season wraps in November.

For one day, at least, Diego Maradona can silence his critics and get the last laugh.

Lampooned, mocked and second-guessed throughout Argentina's nearly disastrous 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, Maradona can let out a massive sigh of relief after Wednesday's 1-0 win against Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay. Argentina gains the fourth and final automatic CONMEBOL qualifying spot, while Uruguay moves into the playoff against either Costa Rica or Honduras.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where the date Oct. 14, 2009 doesn't become the stuff of lore in the European country of Slovakia as it turned out to be the day the nation booked its place in its first FIFA World Cup finals.

And the Slovaks achieved history in perhaps the most adverse conditions possible in a soccer match, downing Poland 1-0 at the Silesian Stadium during a driving snowstorm that would seem more at home for an NFL playoff match than a World Cup qualifier.

The puzzle pieces for the 2010 FIFA World Cup became a lot clearer on Saturday on the penultimate day of UEFA qualification. Longtime stalwarts Germany and Italy both punched their tickets, while Denmark and Serbia also booked passage to South Africa next June.

Germany was the first European country to qualify on Saturday, defeating Russia 1-0 in what was essentially a first-place Group 4 playoff game in Moscow. The Germans held on with 10-men after a first-half goal from Miroslav Klose. Meanwhile, Guus Hiddink's Russia must now await its fate in the second-place playoffs. For the Germans, it's the country's 15th-straight World Cup finals berth and 17th overall placing it second to Brazil. (These streaks include time as West Germany.)

This much is simple for the U.S. national team's Saturday night 2010 World Cup qualifier at Honduras. If the U.S. leaves San Pedro Sula with three points, then it automatically qualifies for next June's World Cup in South Africa. Anything else? Well it's so confusing that the U.S. Soccer site has established a scenario generator to run through all the possible outcomes.

It's also known that a) the U.S. is stepping into a tricky road environment in a country in the midst of a political crisis, b) the U.S. won't have midfielder Clint Dempsey and c) the game will not be seen in America except for select closed circuit establishments.

For fans of the U.S. national team clamoring for midfielder Clint Dempsey to move from the right side of midfield to the right side of the bench, well, they've gotten their wish, though the circumstances aren't exactly ideal.

Dempsey has been ruled out for Saturday's 2010 World Cup qualifier at Honduras due to a shoulder sprain. Dempsey picked up the injury in the closing minutes of Fulham's 2-2 draw Sunday vs. West Ham United. His status for next Wednesday's final qualifier vs. Costa Rica in Washington is still unknown.

Much like an American sports columnist needing a punchline and relying on old standbys like, say, the Detroit Lions, their British equivalents can always fall back on some good old fashioned bashing on American soccer when needed. Lately, though, as America has improved across the board both internationally and with MLS, this old cliche doesn't ring as true.

Yet Friday afternoon the stodgy old Brit working the English language feed of the U-20 World Cup in Egypt wasn't far off with his relentless bashing and tweaking of the U.S. performance. Needing a result vs. South Korea to guarantee advancement to the knockout stages, the U.S. was instead thoroughly defeated 3-0 in Suez.

The U.S. now must wait for the final group stage matches Saturday to see if it's one of the top four third place finishers.