Watch out for the up and coming 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer trophy to be hosted for the first time in South Africa. This 19th tournament will take place between June 11 to July 11th with the US opening the tournament on June 12th against England in Rustenburg and following against Slovenia in Johhanesburg on the 18th and wrapping it up against Algeria in Tshwane/ Pretoria on the 23rd. However, before heading off for the World Cup in SA, the US Men’s National Team will have to face Turkey and the Czech Republic for the Send Off Series. The game against Czech Republic will be at a site yet to be determined while the tournament against Turkey will take place on May 29th in Philadelphia. According to U.S. head coach, Bob Bradley, the Send Off Series games provides a ‘great opportunity to fine tune US plans and test against some of the better teams in Europe before the matches in South Africa’.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona were the definite winners of World Soccer's 2009 Awards, triumphing in three out of four categories: World Player, Team and Manager of the Year awards. Messi is the first Argentinian to win World Soccer's World Player award since Diego Maradona in 1986. And Barcelona dominated this year's soccer awards -- he Spanish team not only played winning soccer they also played one of the most entertaining brands ever seen. The fast paced game was played by some of the best players in the modern day game as Barcelona returned to the side of glory after many years of failure in both Spain and Europe.
