Roma's Francisco Totti & Michael Bradley Star in VW Commercial

Volkswagen has recently started airing a commercial in Italy, as part of its Viva il Calcio campaign, featuring Roma's Francesco Totti and Michael Bradley playing of the language divide with each making attempts at speaking the other's language.

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Neymar & Brazil Beat USA 4-1

Last night a crowd of 67,619 was on hand at FedEx Field in suburban D.C. to watch the United States host Brazil in a friendly, the second friendly for the US as it prepares for CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. After a 5-1 drubbing of Scotland in Jacksonville on Saturday night, the US entered Wednesday's match with a little extra momentum, but Brazil is Brazil and they picked up two goals early in the first half, one of which was a penalty kick converted by Neymar in the 12th minute.

The US gained some ground at the end of the first half when Herculez Gomez, with some help from Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson, scored for the US.

The US played strong in the second half, with numerous shots barely missing goal or being heroically saved by Brazil's keeper Rafael, but the US was not able to pick up another goal, let alone enough goals to beat Brazil. Brazil, which was primarily fielding a U-23 Olympic squad, managed to add two more goals thanks to Marcelo in the 52nd minute and Pato in the 87th minute.

While last night's match against Brazil marked the 16th time that the US has lost to the South American powerhouse, the US side acquitted itself well. The 4-1 loss to Brazil is a small stumble in the Juergen Klinsmann era, but Wednesday's match evidenced both growth and the further need for growth by the US national team. The never die, never quit attitude of last night's US side was refreshing to see and definitely sets this squad apart from the Bruce Arena side that played in Germany in 2006. On the other hand, the US needs to learn how to defend better against sides like Brazil and needs to learn how to finish some of those excellent goal scoring opportunities that they had last night.

One thing seems clear after last night, Michael Bradly and Herculez Gomez have secured national team roster spots for the foreseeable future.

Up next for the US is a friendly against Canada on Sunday June 3rd. Meanwhile, Brazil faces Mexico at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Sunday June 3rd.

An American in Verona: Who's the Flying Ass Now?

This week it was announced that American midfielder Michael Bradley, who was on the outs with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach, managed to secure a transfer deal to Chievo Verona in Serie A, along with a multi-year contract. Bradley, son of former United States National Team Coach, Bob Bradley, will be the only American playing in Serie A this season. He's the first high-profile American to sign with an top flight Italian side since Oguchi Onyewu's recent, but doomed, signing at Milan. The last high profile American player to see serious playing time in Serie A was Alexi Lalas, who played for Padova for a couple seasons following the 1994 World Cup finals.

Bradley, who is coming off a lackluster loan at Aston Villa, has a bit of a reputation of being a red-ass, so it will be interesting if the 24 year old can keep his temper in check as he adjusts to a new team, a new league, and a new culture. Once criticized for a boring defensive style of play, in recent years Serie A has become known for a more aggressive and open attacking style that, along with financial issues, has created a level of parity not found in most top flight leagues in Europe. If he gets some serious playing time, expect to see growth in both Bradley's technical skills and soccer IQ, which will be a benefit to the U.S. National Team.

Not sure about you, but I'm looking forward to the first time Bradley and Gennaro Gattuso of Milan are on the pitch at the same time, which should be on November 27th, assuming the current player strike comes to a swift end. But before that date, we need to see how quickly Bradley gets playing time. If the player strike gets resolved in time, Chievo Verona is set to host newly promoted Novara on Sunday September 11th at 8:00 a.m. central time.

Here's video of Michael Bradley saying hello to the fans of Chievo Verona (note that the club's nickname is The Flying Donkeys):

Is AS Roma Targeting Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan This Summer?

This Sunday is the last match-week in the 2010-2011 Serie A season but the fates of most of the Italian sides are already known. At the top of the table, Milan has secured the Scudetto while Inter and Napoli are assured spots in the Champions League. At the bottom of the table, Sampdoria, Brescia, and Bari will be relegated to Serie B for the 2011-2012 season. In the eternal city, Lazio still has a shot at a Champions League spot, but Roma, after a rocky season, needs to beat Sampdoria to guarantee a Europa League spot.

It's been a disappointing season for Roma, but the sale of the club to American Thomas R. DiBenedetto does mean that Roma could be very busy during this summer's transfer window. DiBenedetto, who also owns a stake in the Boston Red Sox, has indicated an interest in expanding the Roma brand across the United States; therefore, it's not surprising that Soccer Italia is reporting the rumor that Roma will be targeting two high profile American players this summer, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley.

Landon Donovan currently plays for Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS, but is no stranger to European club football. While Donovan had some lackluster stints in Germany's Bundesliga, during the spring of 2010 he impressed on a short loan to Everton in the EPL. With rumors that Marco Borriello, Mirko Vucinic, and Daniele De Rossi could be leaving Roma this summer, Landon Donovan could easily find playing time in Serie A next season alongside Francesco Totti.

Michael Bradley has been on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Aston Villa, where he's seen very little playing time. Bradley could bring some physical play to Roma's midfield, which can use some talent upgrades, and be a potential replacement for the enforcer role once filled by French defender Philippe Mexes, who is apparently headed to Milan on a four year deal.

Keep in mind that Roma is looking to make some noise on the transfer market this summer, and that will include occasionally linking the club to certain high profile players for marketing reasons. Whether the rumor of Roma's interest in Donovan and Bradley is a marketing ploy or a serious attempt to bring a couple Americans to the Eternal City, we'll know the answer this summer.

UPDATE:

Tuesday evening, the official MLS website published Greg Seltzer's interview with Thomas DiBenedetto, in which DiBenedetto confirmed Roma's interest in Donovan and Bradley.

MORE UPDATES:

The Americanization of Roma -- New York Times

DiBenedetto confirms Sabatini for Roma -- Boston Globe

Roma Interested In Signing Landon Donovan & Michael Bradley -- The Big Lead

Group C, Round 2: The Day After

All four teams in Group C, which includes the United States, played on Friday in South Africa. The US battled Slovenia to a 2-2 draw while Algeria and England slogged it out for a 0-0 draw.

The US-Slovenia match was an emotional roller coaster ride for the fans of both teams. Slovenia was clearly the better team during the first half of the match. Once again, the US gave up an early goal when Valter Birsa scored in the 13th minute for Slovenia. The US seemed to sleep walk through the first half and were lucky that Slovenia only managed to pick up one more goal when Zlatan Ljubijankic scored in the 42nd minute.

As the second half kicked off, it was clear that the US side had finally woken up and realized they had a big hole to crawl out of in order to have any shot at advancing past the group stage. Landon Donovan set the tone for the second half when he scored a goal in the 48th minute. Meanwhile, Slovenia looked tired, as if they had used the majority of their energy during the first half, and, as a result, the second half became very chippy with three Slovenian players picking up yellow cards. Finally, Michael Bradley managed an incredible goal in the 82nd minute when Jozy Altidore used his head to cross a Donovan free kick to Bradley. Minutes later it appeared that the United States had done the unthinkable, picking up a third, and possibly winning goal, when Maurice Edu put the ball into the goal on a free kick. However, the goal was disallowed by match referee Koman Coulibaly.

It's not clear why Koman Coulibaly called a foul that disallowed Edu's goal, and it appears that we will never get an explanation for his call. While it's understandable that the US team and fans are angry with Coulibaly, had the US played better in the first half, the call might not have mattered as much.

After experiencing the emotions of the US-Slovenia match, it was hard to get focused on the England-Algeria match. My general impression was that England looked unfocused despite getting off 6 shots on goal. In the end, England was booed off the pitch by their own fans.

Coming into this World Cup, I was concerned that all the hype surrounding the England-US match would mean that both teams would be on an adrenaline high for that match and would have trouble focusing on the next match or matches. Both England and US did look unfocused on Friday, but the US managed to pull out of their funk while England did not.

The group stage for Group C wraps up on Wednesday when US plays Algeria and England plays Slovenia. Right now, the standings in Group C are as follows:

Slovenia 4 points
US 2 points
England 2 points
Algeria 1 point

The US controls its destiny going into Wednesday's match with Algeria. A win will ensure that the US advances to the knockout stage of the World Cup finals.

It should be noted that American striker Robbie Findley has picked up 2 yellow cards in the first two matches; therefore, he won't be available for Wednesday's match against Algeria. I suspect we will see Edson Buddle get his first World Cup finals start on Wednesday.

In past World Cup finals, had the US gone down 2 goals in the first half, the match would have been over. While it is nice to see that this US team has the ability to bounce back from goal deficits, it would be even nicer to see them take and hold a lead. That's what US needs to do against Algeria on Wednesday.

As for England, it is unclear how they'll look against Slovenia. Despite all the pronouncements in the English media that this World Cup was the one that England was going to win, England is now in a position where they might not even advance past the group stage. England are in need of a serious attitude adjustment if they hope to have a good result against Slovenia on Wednesday.

Here's a look at what the papers in the US and England are saying about Friday's Group C matches:

In Defense of Koman Coulibaly. Sort of. - New York Times

Stunning Rally. Shocking Goal. - New York Times

US Rallies for Tie - Washington Post

Analysis: Referee's call leaves Americans fit to be tied - Bergen County Record

US Rallies to Tie Slovenia - St. Petersburg Times

US players left stunned by referee call - Philadelphia Inquirer

England v. Algeria: fans boo one of their team's most inept performances - The Telegraph

Rooney blasts angry fans - The Telegraph

World Cup 2010 paper view: England Mess up. Blame the the Italian. - The Guardian

Martin Samuel: We were promised Rooney. We got his ghost. - The Daily Mail