- Keith Hickey

FIFA has become a parody of itself, a farce. By associating ourselves with these crooks and saying nothing, we are complicit in their crimes against the sport and against every fan who takes joy from it. Trusted with safeguarding the sport, they have instead turned it into their whore. I don't need to recount to you, dear readers, what they have done. We know. They know we know. And they know we can do nothing to stop them, so they barely attempt to hide their crimes. The only ones who can check FIFA's power in any way are the sponsors and the federations. Since we can hardly rely on a multi-national corporation (especially a credit card company) for an attack of conscience, the only way FIFA will change is if national federations refuse to give FIFA their support.

It's a major step. Leaving FIFA would mean no more Gold Cup, Confederations Cup, or World Cup until FIFA is reformed. No Friendlies against FIFA nations. No international club competitions. But are those worth selling our souls for? It is easy to be a soccer fan when all that requires is sitting in the sun with a beer and watching the World Cup. It's a far harder prospect when you have to stand for your principles.

Our country was founded on the idea that the strong should not trample the weak. Why should we be beholden to men with no loyalty to anything but their expense accounts, men with the audacity to spout bold lies with impunity and then laugh behind our backs about how well they've screwed us?

Would you be willing to make that sacrifice? Do you want the United States to withdraw from FIFA?

Chuck and Jack in happier times (from Chuck's blog)

- Jason Davis

This site has yet to address the USMNT roster for the Gold Cup, and Bob Bradley certainly gave us plenty to talk about. Freddy returns. Fascinating.


But Bradley for his picks and framing this as this all-guns-blazing-tournament (he'll either lay waste and win the title or go down giving us all the middle finger) will have to wait. FIFA news is breaking.

- Keith Hickey

There are times when this whole blogging kick seems like a lot of trouble for not a lot of reward, but then something comes along that makes the work seem so worth it. Match Fit USA was recently given the esteemed honor of sitting down and interviewing U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati.

Congratulations on being made the president of a World Cup qualified Football Association! As the proud caretaker of an international soccer team, you'll immediately be treated with respect even though you deserve none, get flown around the world on FIFA junkets, and have the opportunity to bribe Jack Warner in person!*

Here are a few things to keep in mind while guiding your nation:

A host nation has never failed to qualify for the second round of a World Cup. In twelve of the eighteen World Cups, the host nation has qualified for the semi-finals (I'm counting Korea in 2002, even though Japan went out in the round of 16). A full third of the time, the host nation wins. Not very considerate to the guests, now it it?

No nation has ever won when employing a foreign manager. Still, whoever employs Guus Hiddink will probably go further than North Korea.

Each World Cup ball manufactured by Adidas is rounder than any other ball in history. Be prepared for the ball reaching a singularity of roundness, causing the Universe to unravel. Also, for goalkeepers to whine and complain like they've never seen a football before.

When England's current golden boy gets kicked out of the tournament for physically assaulting one of your players, remember, it's entirely your country's fault. An English player is a "passionate lad," but he's "not that kind of player." So whether it's a petulant kick or a petulant stomp, or a player is made into a national hero for weeping like a child after being yellow carded into suspension, the blame lies entirely with your "dodgy foreigners," who dive because they "don't like it up 'em".

In twelve of the eighteen World Cups that have been played, the team with the best goalkeeper in the tournament has advanced to the final. And only once since 1938 has the team with the best keeper failed to make the semifinals. Even great teams make mistakes, but the best have a goalkeeper who can save their skins. So fire up that cloning machine, and get to digging up Lev Yashin's corpse.

If drawn with England, or better yet, the Netherlands, play for penalties. By the time any English or Dutch player makes the walk to the penalty spot in a major tournament, he's about as mentally composed as a chronically shy agoraphobe in Times Square. On New Year's Eve. 1999.

Try to avoid the Germans. It's not that they're a good team, they're just dreadfully boring.

If your country fought a war against England in the previous half-millennium, be prepared for references to that war. Even Especially if they started it.

If you want your country to be taken seriously, you have to fall in with the right crowd of FIFA administrators. One popular game is to suggest a new rule to Michel Platini. Whoever gets him to announce the most ludicrous new regulation wins.

Don't eat Chuck Blazer's tuna sandwich. Things will get ugly.

*Offer not valid in Scotland.

The city of Fort Mill, South Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, is considering whether or not to extend their lease with a minor league baseball team. Jerry Reese, Charlotte real estate lawyer, desperate to keep the team in Fort Mill so that they won't pursue a stadium in an uptown Charlotte location, is proposing to build a new facility in Fort Mill.

By this point, I'm sure you're wondering what any of this has to do with soccer, and so I'll explain; included in Reese's proposal for a new facility is a note that he hopes to convert the team's current home into a Major League Soccer stadium.

While I have no idea if Charlotte might ever get an MLS team, or if this Fort Mill plan actually has any chance of happening, I find the "news" interesting for a few reasons. First, it's an indication that professional soccer, and MLS in particular, are being thought of as worthwhile target for these type of proposals; Fort Mill isn't exactly, well, Charlotte itself, but there's something to be said for the thought even occurring to Reese. Second, MLS continues to attract interest from cities around the country (and Canada for that matter); this isn't an expansion bid, which would require an ownership group and significant investment, but it does show that soccer is on the minds of powerful people.

• Our good buddy Jack Warner is making waves again, this time bad-mouthing England's World Cup bid. Excuse me, and many others, for seeing Warner's outburst as a not-so-subtle call for "donations" to his personal bank account. Is that an unfair assessment? Not considering Warner's track record. Still, a small part of me would like to hope that Warner is tearing down England's bid because he wants to push the US one, something I can definitely get behind. Maybe the ends don't justify the means, but I just want the World Cup back in the US so badly...

• The NCAA site has a nice piece on the history of college soccer in St. Louis, usually viewed as the first and most significant American hotbeds of the sport. It's one of the reasons the city continues to gets mentioned as a place that MLS should expand to; whether or not that passion for youth and college soccer carries over to the professional game is the question. Conventional wisdom has St. Louis getting into MLS eventually, and the area may have a USL team in the near future (pending the resolution of the USL mess).

• Speaking of the USL mess, the drama continues, with the Team Owners Association members meeting with USL officials and US Soccer in New York; Dave Clark at Sounder at Heart has an excellent piece on the situation and how it might shake out. I've never been a proponent of the "farm system" model as it's usually been proposed (including in this space by guest poster Vnice), but I may be open to a second/third division setup that allows MLS teams to place their reserve squads in those leagues. Dave also mentions the X-factor in all of this, the business interest that is MLS/SUM. What role they have to play will be interesting to see.