The United States is headed to the 2010 World Cup next year after clinching qualification with a 3-2 win over Honduras on Saturday October 11th.

Conor Casey scored his first two international goals in the second half, Landon Donovan added another and the United States clinched its sixth straight World Cup berth with a game to spare.

In one of the most thrilling end-to-end matches the U.S. has played in many years, the Americans needed a late penalty miss by the hosts to get the win.

Following a handball in the penalty area by U.S. defender Jonathan Spector, Carlos Pavon blazed his penalty over the crossbar in the 87th minute, then the striker again fired high with an open header from in the 89th.

The United States is top of the CONCACAF qualifying group and assured of one of the three automatic berths.

Mexico also clinched a World Cup berth on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over visiting El Salvador. Costa Rica moved into third after winning at home against Trinidad and Tobago.

Honduras, seeking its second World Cup appearance and first since 1982, and dropped into fourth. If the Catrachos are still in that spot after the final match at El Salvador on Wednesday, they would meet the No. 5 nation from South America in a playoff.

“You don’t want to go into the last game leaving anything to chance,” Donovan said.

“We’re very proud,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “We understand the responsibility we have every time we step on the field for our fans, for our country.”

Honduras has been in turmoil since a June military coup, but the crowd was united behind its team.

“This isn’t an easy place to play,” Donovan said. “No one else has won here in qualifying and we just did.”

Torino midfielder Julio Cesar De Leon put Honduras ahead in the 47th minute when he curved a free kick over the wall and to the right of leaping U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard from just outside the penalty area.

That set off sustained boisterous cheering and jumping that made Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano shake, but the sellout crowd of about 40,000 was silenced when Casey equalized in the 55th.

Onyewu sent a long pass downfield, and Charlie Davies nodded it across the area to Casey, who outjumped a defender and outmuscled goalkeeper Noel Valladares for his first goal in 15 international appearances.

David Suazo nearly put Honduras ahead in the 65th, one minute after entering, but Howard made a leaping fingertip save. Casey then gave the U.S. the lead a minute later when he split two defenders, took a pass from Donovan and scored from 16 yards.

Donovan, who set an American record with his 10th assist of the year, extended his U.S. scoring record on a 21-yard free kick in the 71st minute.

De Leon added his second goal in the 78th minute and Maurcio Sabillion nearly tied it in the 82nd, putting a bicycle kick over the bar.

Honduras: Noel Valladares, Osman Chavez, Maynor Figueroa, Hendry Thomas (Ramon Nunez 74), Wilson Palacios, Carlos Pavon, Julio De Leon (Walter Martinez 79), Emilio Izaguirre, Carlos Costly, Mauricio Sabillon, Edgar Alvarez (David Suazo 63).

United States: Tim Howard, Jonathan Spector, Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley, Jonathan Bornstein, Ricardo Clark, Oguchi Onyewu, Stuart Holden (Steve Cherundolo 90), Conor Casey (Benny Feilhaber 84), Charlie Davies, Landon Donovan.

For years, if you were to ask the average Joe on the street to name the best soccer player in the world, those who do not follow soccer closely would probably say something to the effect of, “David Beckham.  He’s the only one I know.”

Times have changed, and it appears there’s a challenger for the world’s most famous soccer playboy.

Cristiano Ronaldo is quickly becoming the new Hollywood-style soccer pro who is stirring up the buzz on and off the field.  The 23-year-old is the first since Beckham to draw the attention of the world outside of futbol with a tabloid and paparazzi following that is starting to rival that of the decade-older Beckham.  He nabbed yet another individual award when he comfortably won the iconic Ballon d’Or trophy Tuesday and his sponsorship deal with Nike is making headlines of its own.

Another sign of the attention he is receiving can be seen in the way that the two compare on Google Trends:

While Beckham still holds the edge on the number of total search results for his name with 18.4 million versus 16.2 million for Ronaldo, a Google search for news about each stacks up differently:

• Google News Results for “Cristiano Ronaldo” - 22,839
• Google News Results for “David Beckham” - 12,211

Both are talented players.  One is rising to prominence on the field while the other is in the twighlight of his career.  Regardless of how Ronaldo fairs in the future and what Beckham does next, the pictures below say a lot about both… they’re in the spotlight, and they know it.  Whether they are in their soccer apparel or not, the pictures will keep on coming.

On the field, their personalities are as bright as they are off the field.

While Ronaldo is in the tabloids regularly with new relationships, Beckham has maintained a long-term marriage.

Any time the shirts come off, the flashbulbs start popping.

Even though they both have Hollywood glamour surrounding them, it's their skills on the field that have propelled them to stardom.

Read more about soccer stars on this soccer blog.

In February, during Madonna’s charity auction in New York City, Salma Hayek had the winning bid for a one-hour soccer lesson from David Beckham.  In the nine months since then, she has been unable to collect her winnings and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. (more…)

Here we have tried to bring out the variety of soccer moves, the style, the effort and implication of the move taken. Let us look at them one by one.
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Learning is a no-ending process. When you are committed to being a decent and good soccer player, you need to keep abreast of the new tactics and maneuvers to match up and be at par. You have to always be on the look out for newer ways to improve the game. Once you understand this, your development as any sports player is unbound. There will always be new drills, new techniques, and new strategies.
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Say soccer and you have the entire crowd staring at you! Such, is the phenomenal magic of one of the most craved international games. After all! The excitement and enthusiasm which is endowed by soccer cannot be attained by any other game. No other sports can compete with it, in terms of adventure, target audience and no doubt, thrill. The ninety minutes of soccer are truly irreversible. In addition to the piling tension, the next move and the wanted goals, soccer proves to me more enthralling than car races. The entire mounting tension revolves around just one item, i.e. the soccer ball.
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Soccer is not just like any other game, it is passionate, hair raising, hectic and frenetic game of 11 players on each side with a single goal in mind to push the ball in a goal and win. It seems quite Easy and comprehensible, isn’t it? But this is not scenario of the game. The soccer game is guarded by plenty of rules whose know how is to be obliged before becoming a player or standing amongst the passionate fan. Anyone can learn and know the tit bits of the game and have the real pleasure of the game. One can sit with his family and enjoy this hour’s play without getting drowned into the dunk of boredom. Or if you are amongst those who are not just a sitter but a go getter, and are very passionate about playing soccer, the following article can help you through.
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There is a certain level of passion that goes into being a sports fan.  Sports brings out certain parts of our nature - competition, pride, extreme emotional ups and downs - that we normally hold back in our daily lives.

No sports do this to the same level as American Football and International Futbol (or soccer, for those in the United States).  Here, we will take a look at the passions as they are best exemplified visually: how we dress up and who we fight.  It’s not a good thing that there are so many physical altercations at these sporting events, but it is a testament to the amazing level of fervor that each sport generates in its fans.

First, let’s take a “tame” look at the lengths to which fans go to demonstrate their support for their team.  The goal: there should be no question which team is getting the support, even from 50 years away.

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Soccer betting has been into numerous debates from time immemorial. For some, it might fit into the category of investment, while others regard it as serious form of gambling. But after, scrutinizing the pros and cons of soccer betting, it appears more as a form of investment. But, the kind of response that it has been receiving from investors and gamblers, on the whole, dilutes the debate.
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Soccer may be an English game, but the origin of soccer dates back to the American land. It is as American as it is Scottish or English. Association football or football experienced great levels of popularity towards late 19th century all over England. The industrial revolution has a big hand in giving boost to recreational sports. People felt the need to relax and play during weekends. The British sailors, tradesmen and worker sectors spread the fame of football all over Europe and the rest of the world.
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