UPDATE: The Union have officially announced that Kyle Nakazawa has been traded to the Los Angeles Galaxy along with a 2013 natural second-round pick in exchange for an international slot. The Union are now permitted to have nine internationals on their roster.

No details have been released regarding how long the Union can retain the international spot.

The official deal differs from our initial report below that two second-round picks, as well as the international spot, would travel east in exchange for the Southern-California native, Nakazawa. The Galaxy release is here.

The Philadelphia Union are preparing to trade midfielder Kyle Nakazawa to the Los Angeles Galaxy for an international roster spot and two second round draft picks.

A source has confirmed to The Philly Soccer Page that Nakazawa, a UCLA product, is heading back to the west coast as the Union look to make room for their many internationals.

The Galaxy will add an experienced and versatile midfielder with fantastic dead ball skills to their ranks. While Nakazawa never solidified a spot in the Union’s rotating midfield, he was singled out for praise by head coach Peter Nowak on multiple occasions and proved a very capable spot starter.

An international roster spot was always going to be on the Union’s radar as offseason signings from Costa Rica, Panama and Tanzania joined the team.

Nakazawa played in 22 games (14 starts) for Philadelphia last season. He had a goal and three assists.

Before I get too far into discussing the decision of WPS to cancel the 2012 season, let me say that my initial reaction when the news first broke was that I was simply gutted. Gutted for every fantastic person I’ve met covering the Independence and women’s soccer in general. The players especially, but also the front office staff, the volunteers, and everyone who makes WPS possible. There are far more fantastic people than most people know behind this league and I’ve really enjoyed interacting with every single one. I hope to see you all in 2013, if not sooner.

The official statement from the league says, “[WPS] Board of Governors has voted to suspend the 2012 season to permit the League to focus on the resolution of certain pending legal issues and  the challenges that now face the League as a result of its ongoing dispute with a former owner.” For those not aware, the former owner mentioned here is none other than Philadelphia’s own Dan Borislow, owner of the now expelled South Florida franchise (I’m sure you either know the name or can figure it out without any free advertising from the PSP).

A Brief History of a True Madafaka

Borislow took over the ownerless Washington Freedom franchise ahead of the 2011 season and abruptly moved the team to Florida. In his first match in Florida, he broke a number of WPS rules including: failure to display sponsor sign boards, failure to upload video to the league’s site for scouting purposes, lack of an ambulance and EMS staff at the game, failure of the coaching staff to wear required Puma attire, an undersized field (league minimum is 66 yards wide), lack of seating for a minimum of 5,000 fans, lack of press accommodations, lack of player availability to the media, and a past-due balance of $53,166.67 owed to the league. You know, nothing major.

Meanwhile, he was friendly and cordial and willing to work with the league to correct his past mistakes. In May, he emailed WPS President Anne-Marie Eileraas after losing an appeal on a touchline suspension, “I expected nothing less from a bunch of blithering idiots. This will be judged by a higher authority one day. Your boss, Dan.” You can read more of his friendly communications with the league here, including a number of mentions of how he would sue the league out of business.

Oh, and he basically singlehandedly lost the league’s biggest sponsor, Puma, after a single contentious meeting.

He finally did make good on his promise to bring the league to court after his team was expelled in October. After the league lost a few key proceedings early on, the two sides seemed to reach a settlement earlier this month. The settlement allowed the Florida franchise to continue to play soccer in the shape of a series of exhibition matches against WPS teams, but the team would not actually participate in the league.

With last season’s Florida team stacked with USWNT players including Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Christie Rampone, and Shannon Boxx—and those same players still not employed with other WPS squads—it was interesting to see who would sign with the renegade Florida team. Wambach stood by Borislow and said she was willing to play for him again as recently as last week in an interview with Julie Foudy.

On Sunday, ahead of the league’s announcement, Big Soccer’s Dan Loney had some choice words for any player looking to play in Florida, calling out players for choosing to play for Borislow. As of this writing, there’s been no word from Wambach or any of the other former Florida players since the league’s announcement.

As for other players from across the league, there isn’t a lot being said, yet. Twitter was surprisingly quiet in terms of real substance, with a few players such as Nikki Krzysik and Alex Morgan cryptically posting about being saddened by the news. The Independence’s colorful striker Tasha Kai was less shy, tweeting, “Dear Dan Borislow. U are the true definition of a MADAFAKA. U can shove that magic jack up ur fat ass. U miserable bastard. Asshole.” Check her further tweets for some more quality barbs at Borislow.

Sky Blue defender Carrie Drew also had some choice words for Borislow, tweeting, “Dan Borislow you are a life ruiner. Leave soccer alone and go invent something else useless…” Any search of the hashtag WPS will lead to plenty of Borislow bashing by upset fans of the league.

To blame the cancellation of the season simply on the legal proceedings seems short sided. Borislow himself claimed today that he thought the lawyer for WPS was working pro bono. What is clear is that the current group of WPS owners have no interest in working any further with Borislow or his team and, if the choice was to play another season with the man or not play at all, they choose not to play at all.

But even outside of the Borislow fiasco, there is more that has to be examined about WPS.

Is the loss of the 2012 season the end?

Before US Soccer sanctioned WPS with only five teams in December, former Chicago Red Stars owner Peter Wilt wrote an interesting article questioning whether WPS would benefit from taking a year off in 2012 to regroup. Wilt makes a number of important points about finances in WPS, noting that the current financial climate for the league and all of its teams is impossible to maintain.

His argument that everyone needs to be paid less and that administrative staff needs to be cut down is a little hard to swallow. Most of the players are, with a few exceptions, barely clearing $25k per season and most teams don’t have a front office staff of more than a few people. But with revenues and ticket sales being what they are, either a change has to be made to balance the books or teams will continue to lose money and drop out of the league.

Wilt outlines a tiered payment system:

• Base player salary budget of $100,000 to $150,000 per team. 18 players per team. $0k to $3k per month in season per player.
• 2-3 designated players per team. $4k to $10k per month in season per player. DP salaries are off budget.

Most players in the league would not be making more than $20k a season and some could be making close to $10k under this plan—painful totals for a “professional” league. But to put player salaries in line with the money actually coming in through ticket sales and sponsorships, those wages are likely the only way to sustain the league.

Where do we go from here?

I know MLS involvement in the women’s game popped up on both Twitter and in the press conference with current league president Jennifer O’Sullivan on Monday. This is not going to happen. Yet. The WPS model has been imperfect from the start and this is just further exacerbated with the loss of the 2012 season. MLS itself is just starting to get their feet under them and to try and take on an unsuccessful women’s league is not a fair task.

A Borislow return has to be out of the equation. It’s clear that no one wants to work with the man, and I don’t think we can blame them for this—we all deserve the right not to work with crazy people. There is a year to go through whatever has to be gone through to get the man out either via the court system or by any means necessary. (The PSP stands by our offer to posse up with pitchforks).

What needs to happen in the next year is a re-evaluation. The Peter Wilt tiered player payment structure is interesting. It would probably be a drastic change for a lot of WPS clubs, but it would allow more second tier women’s soccer teams to consider joining the league. With US Soccer requiring the league to have a minimum eight teams for sanctioning, joining the league must become easier financially.

There has to be investment in the league. Even after taking 2012 off, significant financial investment will be needed to make sure there is enough incentive for at least the biggest names in American soccer (and hopefully international players as well) to want to play in WPS. If they are designated players, if they just exist outside of a salary cap, whatever, there has to be the money to bring in top talent to be able to market the league.

When the league does resume play in 2013, one simple way for the league to raise money is for more people to go to the games. Yes, that means you, casual soccer fan. It was heartening to see the anger and frustration on Twitter all day from a wide range of soccer fans. But this is by far the most I’ve seen the league talked about in the two years or so that I’ve been covering it. It’s time to pony up, everybody, or this league is never going to work.

The decision was reached after a vote by team owners on Monday morning. Am email was subsequently sent to the players informing them of the decision.

The decision appears to be very much the result of the ongoing legal battles with Dan Borislow over his Florida-based franchise. “The litigation has diverted resources from investment in the league, ” the announcement said, “and has forced the Board to take action, suspending the 2012 season in order to address the legal issues head-on before moving forward with competition.”

‘“Everyone has been trying so hard to keep things going – considering settlement options, discussing union legal action to intervene in the lawsuit, etc.,” reads the email sent by the league, a copy of which was obtained by National Soccer Wire, “but we just couldn’t manage to make things work.”

The league announcement says, “Making the decision to suspend the 2012 season was a difficult and painful one, but it is necessary to take the time to address current issues and solidify our business in order to provide appropriate support needed to achieve the League’s long-term goals.”

NSW reports that, according to the email, league officials “currently plan to maintain league and team front offices in hopes of resolving outstanding litigation and holding a 2013 season, but details are still evolving.”

The announcement from the league confirms the intention to resume play in 2013. “With our supporters and athletes in mind,” the announcement says, “we are committed to complete the hard work necessary to resume play in 2013 and reestablish WPS as the premiere women’s professional soccer league in the world.”

The news comes one day after the USWNT won the final of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers tournament.

For reaction from Philadelphia Independence owner David Halstead, please click here.

Pia Sundhage made a number of changes from the squad that beat Costa Rica on Friday. Meghan Rapinoe, Lori Lindsey, Amy Rodriguez, Becky Sauerbrunn, Heather Mitts, and Morgan all joined the starting line up and Lauren Cheney, Shannon Boxx, Heather O’Reilly, Tobin Heath, Amy LePelbeit, and Rachel Beuhler were all confined to the bench.

It took only four minutes for Morgan to open the scoring. A long ball from Carli Lloyd was flicked on by Abby Wambach near the edge of the center circle and Morgan was on her horse, beating, and then holding off two Canadian defenders before cooly finishing to the lower left corner with her left foot.

Canada quickly looked to bounce back from the early goal just a minute later when some good work on the edge of the US box saw Christine Sinclair find Christina Julien with a through ball, but Hope Solo was quick off her line to smother the chance.

Morgan would turn provider as the US doubled their lead in the 24th minute. Some good work through the midfield saw Meghan Rapinoe play a good ball to Morgan 20 yards from goal. Morgan pushed the ball to the end line to the right of the Canadian goal and used her pace to track it down to loft a cross to the near post. Wambach made a perfect run, flicking a header into the far post just ahead of Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod.

Wambach ensured the rout was on when she added a third US goal just four minutes later. Carli Lloyd latched onto a bouncing ball 30 yards from goal and launched a low, hard drive off the right post with McLeod beaten. The rebound came straight to Morgan, who cooly squared the ball to Wambach who could not miss from six yards.

Canada would look to look to pull a goal back just before half time when it was Julien again through on goal, one on one with Solo from 18 yards. Solo calmly waited out the striker who dribbled straight at the keeper and then fired a right footed shot that was saved, with the rebound bouncing back off Julien and out of play.

Lauren Cheney replaced Abby Wambach at half time and would provide the service for Morgan’s second goal of the night on 55 minutes. Cheney saw space behind the Canadian back line, who were surprisingly high with the speedy Morgan lurking and chipped the ball into the open area. Morgan raced onto the ball, pushed it past the onrushing McLeod, and finished into the empty net just as the Canadian defenders came close to recovering.

Sydney Leroux and Rachel Buehler both saw time before the match was over and the US methodically killed off the final half hour with a comfortable lead. With the home crowd behind them, the Canadians were confident coming into the match. But it was the American depth and fitness that were on full display for all 90 minutes.

With Morgan in the starting line up and Cheney out on the evening, it was the first time in the tournament that the US started in a 4-4-2. With Rapinoe and A-Rod on the wings, it was a very speed oriented line-up that tested the fitness of the Canadians from the outset. Perhaps it was the competitive match that Canada was forced to play against Mexico on Friday or just the shear depth of the Americans, but the Canadians just never seemed up to the task physically.

The Americans scored 34 goals in 5 games of Olympic qualifying, and did not concede once. A relatively easy tournament was probably welcomed by Sundhage after last year’s difficulty in qualifying for the World Cup. The US will go into summer games as one of the favorites and in good form in competitive matches.

US: Hope Solo, Heather Mitts (Rachel Buehler, 69), Becky Sauerbrunn, Christie Rampone (capt.), Kelley O’Hara; Amy Rodriguez (Sydney Leroux, 63), Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe; Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach (Lauren Cheney, 46)

Pia Sundhage made two changes from the team that faced Mexico on Tuesday, preferring Tobin Heath over Amy Rodriguez and giving converted striker Kelly O’Hara a start at right back. Becky Sauerbrunn was confined to the bench and Rachel Beuhler moved to the center to partner Christie Rampone.

After a bit of an uneven start, Heath was able to cash in on 16 minutes when the US continued their set piece domination in the tournament. A corner toward the far post was headed back across goal by Shannon Boxx and Heath was unmarked inside the six yard box for an easy header into an empty net. The US has been excellent on set pieces in the tournament and these smaller CONCACAF teams must learn to defend them better if they are to try and stay competitive.

The Costa Ricans responded well to going behind though, pressuring high up the pitch and keeping the Americans pinned back in their own end. Hope Solo, showing no effects of her injured quad, was forced into a good save on a ball over the top and then Fabiola Sanchez’s shot from distance rang the crossbar with Solo beaten. The first half finished with the ball pinballing around the midfield and a belief growing for the Costa Rican players.

There were no changes at half time, but the US took control of the game to start the second half. The fitness of the Costa Ricans seemed to fade and they were unable to maintain their high pressure style from the first half. Carli Lloyd had a chance from a free kick just outside the box after Abby Wambach was thrown to the ground, but the midfielder went for power and failed to hit the frame.

Alex Morgan was introduced for Tobin Heath and Amy Rodriguez for Heather O’Reilly with about 20 minutes to go in the game. Both subs used their fresh legs to run at an already tiring Costa Rican back line with Morgan looking to get in behind the defense and Rodriguez motoring down the wing.

A frantic sequence in the Costa Rican box on 72 minutes that included the ball being cleared off the line after some good work from Abby Wambach was finished when Carli Lloyd latched onto a bouncing ball and lashed a left footed shot into the lower right corner from 14 yards. It was a good finish from the hat trick hero of Tuesday night’s game after some frustrating set piece misses earlier in the half.

The impressive Alex Morgan secured the win when she scored with a great individual goal on 89 minutes. After a positive burst in the box to the end line, Morgan tried to cut back through two defenders when the ball bounced off a defenders thigh and landed perfectly for the striker to flick past the stranded Costa Rican keeper.

The Costa Ricans can go home with their heads held high after giving the Americans their toughest match of the tournament. Their high pressure frustrated the US team for the final 20 minutes of the first half and they were unlucky not to convert on either of their two big chances. The natural skill is there for many of the Costa Rican players, and given a little more time together with some additional fitness training, the Central American team should grow into a competitive squad in the region.

The US will go face Canada on Sunday night (8pm; universalsports.com, concacaf.com) in the championship game after the tournament hosts defeated Mexico 3–1 in the semifinal match following the US win. Both teams will have already qualified for the Olympics and the US squad could be altered to rest some key players, particularly in light of the injury to Ali Kreiger in the first game of the tournament. It should be a fairly hostile environment in Vancouver, even for a meaningless match.

US: Hope Solo, Kelley O’Hara, Rachel Buehler, Christie Rampone (capt.), Amy LePeilbet, Heather O’Reilly (Amy Rodriguez, 70), Carli Lloyd, Shannon Boxx (Megan Rapinoe, 79), Lauren Cheney, Tobin Heath (Alex Morgan, 72), Abby Wambach

Jurgen Klinsmann, the US manager, was equally complicit in his side’s slothful display as he elected to employ the toothless 4–4–2 formation that earned his predecessor the sack. Without a creative midfielder to run the offense, the addition of a second striker was entirely negated as the central midfield pairing of Jermaine Jones and Ricardo Clark simply lack the quality to set the table for their front line. Out wide, Brek Shea looked beyond exhausted, while Graham Zusi proved that, despite his goal, he is not yet capable of playing out wide at the international level.

The defense was barely better. Though a harsh decision, Geoff Cameron didn’t exactly cover himself in glory before being sent off in the 52nd minute for a foul on Blas Perez. Michael Parkhurst, who was hailed by commentators Taylor Twellman and Ricardo Ortiz as having a world-beating positional sense, was ruthlessly exposed by a strike tandem that would be unlikely to crack most MLS lineups.

What are you doing ESPN?

If Ricardo Ortiz is allowed back in the booth for another US fixture, someone back in Bristol, CT is clearly asleep at the wheel. As the play-by-play man alongside Twellman, Ortiz simply lacks an adequate grasp of the English language. His vocabulary is limited and his cadence can at best be described as erratic. After spoiling the American public with a healthy dose of Ian Darke over the past two years, slipping the bumbling Ortiz into the broadcast was an overwhelming failure. Not that his partner did anything to bail him out. As Ortiz ended sentences with hopeful up-talk, Twellman never took the hint that his colleague needed help.

Couple their performances with at least 5 minutes of blurry footage from a blimp floating through the Panama City night, and this match was one of the worst soccer broadcasts in recent memory. (I’m aware they used Panamanian feeds, but come on.)

Player ratings

In the end though, these games don’t matter outside of how individual players performed in their quest to crack the senior national team roster. How did they do?

Nick Rimando – 7

Came up huge for the US when he was put in some tough spots through blown coverage and letdowns in the back four tasked to protect him. Wandered a little too far at times for my liking and had some near catastrophes with the ball at his feet, but whenever Panama looked dangerous, Rimando shut the door. Can’t ask for a whole lot more than that.

Zach Loyd – 4

He’s still only 24, so there is time yet for Loyd to become a National Team contributor, but until he actually learns how to defend at the international level, his strong offensive service will matter very little. The left back did very well to cut onto his right and serve teasing balls into the Panamanian area, one resulting in Zusi’s sole tally, but ultimately he had to be sacrificed after he was repeatedly beaten with ease on his wing.

Michael Parkhurst – 4.5

After receiving many plaudits for his largely unpressured performance against Venezuela, Parkhurst was found wanting at nearly every turn against Perez and Renteria. One of the enduring images of the match is Perez rising to direct a header goalward with Parkhurst stranded in no man’s land in front of him. If these two games represented Parkhurst’s shot with the National Team under Klinsmann, then we are unlikely to see him again anytime soon.

Geoff Cameron – 3.5

Cameron’s red card will be debated for a while. My stance is that it was not a foul. After getting in behind the US defense, Blas Perez butchers his first touch so badly that Cameron was able to catch up to the play. Yes there was contact, but at the moment of incident, Cameron had established himself between Perez and the ball. Of course we all know the rest: Perez rolls around like he was caught in a bear trap, and Cameron sees red. Disappointing stuff from Cameron, who despite this setback deserves more chances with the US. Unlike Michael Parkhurst, we still don’t know what Cameron’s ceiling is, and he must get more playing time to uncover it.

A.J. DeLaGarza – 4

Not the best showing for the new fullback. Much of the fault, though, lies with Graham Zusi, who consistently failed to provide his right-sided partner with any support whatsoever. Still, DeLaGarza needs to be quicker at getting rid of the ball, whether Klinsmann asks his defense to possess out of the back or not.

Brek Shea – 3

I’m predicted a very slow, poor 2012 for the American prodigy. And if it comes true, FC Dallas and the US fans will have Jurgen Klinsmann to thank. Just because a player is young does not mean his body doesn’t need rest. After featuring in almost every match for Klinsmann in 2011, Shea has continued to play through the winter, beginning first with a month training in spell with Arsenal, before joining up with the US camp. Shea looked lethargic and exhausted against Panama, and he had none of his usually pace or guile, with or without the ball. The result was by far his worst performance in a US shirt. Not to jinx the player, but if he continues at this breakneck pace, I fear an injury or massive dip in form for the enormously talented youngster.

Jermaine Jones – 6.5

The best player for the US for the second time this week, though his performance left much to be desired. With no proper playmaker in front of him, Jones powered forward on long (often ill-advised) dribbling forays. He lacks the touch in his passing game to be a true creator and proved on the day just how necessary it is for the US to anoint a creative, attacking central midfielder, and fast.

Ricardo Clark – 4

Fairly anonymous, jittery in his passing, and lacking in confidence, Clark joined Jones in allowing Panama entirely too much space in the center of the park. He also did his defenders no favors by allowing Gabriel Gomez to dink chips into the box without a lick of defensive pressure to speak of. With so much depth at the defensive center midfield role, Clark deserves to be very low on the totem pole.

Graham Zusi – 6

Earns an extra two points for scoring the only goal. It was a cool finish and ultimately secured the victory for the US. But, as in the Venezuelan friendly, Zusi showed that he is far, far away from being prepared to play at the international level. His failure to play defense and support his fullback, DeLaGarza, put the converted Galaxy center back under pressure throughout. When in possession, Zusi took too many touches and was dispossessed with ease while never really being a factor in the build-up on those rare occasion that the red, white and blue strung a few passes together.

Teal Bunbury – 2

Teal Bunbury is an exciting young talent with a definite future with US soccer. That said, he did not do a single thing right in Panama City. His first touch was brutally heavy, his hold-up play was non-existent, his passing was wayward, and when he finally got a look at goal, he couldn’t hit the target. His sole moment of influence was on Zusi’s goal, where the US were fortunate that he wildly miskicked Zach Loyd’s cross, allowing it to rebound off the back of his non-shooting leg.

Chris Wondolowski – 2

The always witty Adam Cann texted me during the game, “Bunbury + Wondolowski = Bunbury”. How many more times are we going to have to endure Wondolowski in an American shirt? Against a spirited, quick Panama, Wondo’s lack of world class pace was exposed as, outside of forcing a miraculous save by Luis Mejia on a header to follow Jermaine Jones’ piledriver, it is hard to remember a single moment of influence the American No. 7 had on proceedings.

Jurgen Klinsmann – 2

Whether it was playing Bob Bradley’s awful 4-4-2, waiting until FAR too late to get Sapong in the game, failing to recognize that Brek Shea was dead on his feet or starting Rico Clark, the US manager had himself a stinker on par with the performance of his players. Yuck.

Substitutes

Heath Pearce – 5

No glaring errors from Pearce, who came on to sure up the left side of the Union defense. As usual with Pearce, he was alright. Nothing great, nothing terrible. The definition of a stopgap.

Sean Johnson – 6

Wasn’t called on to be stellar, but did his work well. Showed his youth by too quickly serving balls out of the back when the US was looking to kill the game. But, at age 22, the 6’4″ Johnson did nothing to hurt his reputation and kept pace with Bill Hamid in the chase to be the next great, young American goalkeeper.

Jeff Parke – 5

Came in cold when Cameron was sent off and helped the US retain the clean sheet. Lots of scrambling in defense combined with a bit of luck ultimately got the job done, but it sure wasn’t pretty.

Brad Evans – 5

He played. Good for him.

Jeff Larentowicz – 5.5

Slightly more active than Clark, Larentowicz at least had the common sense to play some defense and win some physical confrontations. Still shouldn’t be in Klinsmann’s top five at his position.

C.J. Sapong – 6.5

Following Bunbury’s clunker, Sapong looked like Lionel Messi as he was actually able to run with the ball at his feet. While he wasn’t given enough time to stretch his legs adequately, Sapong’s strength, technical savvy and speed were all on display for a player whose star is rapidly on the rise. It would not be surprising if he soon overtakes his Sporting KC teammate Bunbury on the depth chart.

Mexico’s World Cup qualifying victory clearly shook the US Women’s National Team to their core. On Tuesday night, the US settled the score, reminding Mexico, and the world, that there is still an enormous gap in class between the two sides. Were at not for some shoddy finishing and a whole lot of five-alarm defending, the score line could easily have been doubled as the US controlled the match from the opening whistle and were rarely troubled throughout the 90 minutes.

A true 10 emerging

While it means less time for players like Alex Morgan, what coach Pia Sundhage’s new formation allows for is Lauren Cheney to operate in her ideal position as a creative playmaker for the US attack. Protected by Shannon Boxx and Carli Lloyd, Cheney was free to run the show, spreading the ball to the wings, and working off of Abby Wambach to make the US offense tick. Compared to past formations where Lloyd and Boxx were required to provide chances, the new look US is markedly improved. This was easily seen based on not only the chances created but also the numbers the US got forward.

Domination on the wings

Carli Lloyd may win the headlines with her Johnny-on-the-spot three goal performance, but when it came to setting the table, and the tempo, Heather O’Reilly was without peer. Her speed and aggression were more than Mexico could handle and she spent 90 minutes carving them into pieces as she single-handedly commanded the right side of the pitch. On the world stage there are few who can match O’Reilly’s combination of pure pace and technical superiority, but it is her intensity that make her so special. Never throttling down, O’Reilly came out guns blazing and didn’t put them away until the game was well and truly secured.

Despite her unceremonious halftime substitution, Amy Rodriguez, who operates opposite O’Reilly on the right, was in top form as well. One of the fastest, most direct players in the US set up, Rodriguez has been allowed to drop deeper in the new formation, allowing her to face goal and run at defenders. Which she did, with aplomb. It was Rodriguez’s driving run that created O’Reilly’s goal, the second of the match, and the Mexican defense pushed numbers to cover her, leaving Wambach with more room to operate. Halftime subs are primarily used to reshape a team that is struggling. With the US in full-flight, Sundhage’s removal of Rodriguez was at the least confusing and quite unfair to a player who had been strong through the first stanza.

Confusing changes

Despite the United States’ first half superiority, Sundhage chose to make a halftime substitution and completely alter the team’s formation. Sydney LeRoux replaced Amy Rodriguez, pushing the red, white and blue into a 4–4–2 and taking much of the wind out of the American sails. With Cheney moved out to the wing, the service to the front line slowed markedly and Mexico began to come into the game as they gained more possession in the midfield. Universal Sports commentator Brandi Chastain said that this was a faster formation for the US, but that was patently untrue, not least of which for the fact that Rodriguez could easily best LeRoux in a foot race. The real issue, however, stems from the fact that with LeRoux up front, the US became markedly slower in midfield and the American buildup play suffered. Sundhage had a chance to rectify the situation when Megan Rapinoe replaced Abby Wambach, but the US coach pushed Cheney up top to partner with LeRoux, again depriving the US No.12 of her best position on the field.

Defensive certainty

The injury to Ali Krieger was terrible news for a US defense that was already short on options, but the back four took to their task against Mexico with great energy and put in a masterful performance. Credit goes to Becky Sauerbrunn, who stepped off the bench to again prove her immense quality in the heart of the US defense alongside the ageless Christie Rampone, who remains one of the world’s quickest defenders at 36 years of age. Rachel Buehler slid seamlessly to right back where she did not put a foot out of bounds in a sterling performance that also saw her directly involved in two of the US goals. Amy LePeilbet rounded out a unit that was never beaten on either wing and was able to limit Mexico to a few speculative shots from distance.

Solo insanity

Around the 60th minute, Hope Solo came up gimpy following an up-field clearance. Earlier in the first half, she was also seen stepping gingerly following a similar long ball. With the game thoroughly wrapped up, and an enormously experienced backup in Nicole Barnhart sitting on the bench, Sundhage did her team a disservice by not withdrawing Solo. It does not matter that Mexico didn’t look to be troubling the US goal; that’s even more reason to remove Solo and treat her injury. With a must-win match against Costa Rica on the horizon, and then hopefully a final against Canada or this same Mexico team to follow, the US coach took an extremely unnecessary risk. If Solo is unavailable for either match, US fans should look directly to the manager when assigning blame.

Top of the Match

Heather O’Reilly. See above. Put the US on the front foot and then kept them there the entire night. She was a class above. Carli Lloyd also deserves a share of the glory as her three goals but the game out of reach.

Struggler

Shannon Boxx turned in another stale performance for the US midfield Tuesday night. Her lack of pace is easily exploited by any midfielder who chooses to target her, but what is really concerning is her passing. She turned the ball over with nearly every attempted forward pass. Against a team whose best option was the counterattack, giving the ball away so cheaply in the center of the pitch presented Mexico with their best attacking opportunities and a better side would have made the US pay for many of her mistakes. There are a great number of potential replacements in the US system. Sadly, not a single one is on the Olympic qualifying roster.

Outlook

The only thing that can stop this team from claiming their place in the Olympics against Costa Rica is the kind of complacency that Mexico took advantage of to snatch their first win over the US before the 2011 World Cup. But that won’t happen this time around. Costa Rica is a far inferior opponent to Mexico and with no back door into the Olympic tournament, the US women will be looking to settle the matter quickly. If Costa Rica isn’t at the peak of their game, they could become the third team to suffer a double digit defeat to a US Women’s National Team that enters the semifinals in rampaging form.

Philadelphia Union got the MLS All-Star game for PPL Park.

So why aren’t you excited?

Why was there a collective yawn in response to Tuesday’s announcement when there could have been rapturous joy?

Was it because word had leaked out early and killed the surprise factor?

Or was it because you think the All-Star game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things?

Have you gotten so wound up about the Sebastien Le Toux situation that other soccer news pales in comparison to word on his fate?

Are you skeptical MLS will get a good opponent after two years of Manchester United? Even worse, are you jaded after two straight blowouts by United?

Do you prefer a different format than the current MLS All-Stars versus European club model? Did Simon Borg’s killer suggestion of playing the Mexican league’s all-stars grab your attention? Or would you like the American MLS all-stars to play the foreign MLS all-stars?

Did you scratch your head about the July 25 date because the men’s Olympic soccer tournament starts the next day, which will keep some MLS stars (cough, Beckham) out of the game? Or did you grudgingly concede there was no way to avoid that with a July match?

Maybe your problem was where they made the announcement: Philadelphia city hall. Did that strike you as a slap in the face to Chester, where the game and many supporting events are likely to occur?

Or did you worry about the national spotlight shining down on the struggling former industrial city that has a beautiful soccer stadium and casino but not a single supermarket?

Did you hear the chatter about PPL being the smallest stadium to ever host the game? Do you wish they’d waited until after PPL’s eventual expansion to 25,000?

Is it that you’d rather hook up with Berta from Two and a Half Men than hear the latest sycophantic ode to the Sons of Ben while the national media don’t realize the Union have other fans and supporter groups too?

Or is it none of that?

Are you sneaky-quiet-excited after all?

Is it simply that there isn’t  much to say about the All-Star game besides a quiet “good for the Union,” and then you move along and look into getting tickets?

Maybe it’s just so obvious what’s good about this that you didn’t have much to say. You know it’s another pay day at the gate for the Union, which is good on the revenue side. It’s another spot in the national spotlight for soccer in the Philadelphia area, which is always good.

Perhaps you always knew it was just a matter of time before the Union hosted the All-Star game, because the Union are a well-run club and PPL Park is just that great a place to watch soccer. This was a given, sooner or later. It was no surprise.

Sometimes things are just that simple.

Or are they not?

After demolishing the Dominican Republic (14-0) and Guatemala (13-0), the US women exacted a little revenge on their southern neighbors. The US fell to Mexico in 2011 World Cup qualifying and were forced to win a play-in match against Italy to qualify for the tournament. Tuesday’s match was never in doubt with Lloyd opening the scoring on 7 minutes and O’Reilly adding the second just two minutes later.

The Mexican back-line was under siege early and the game looked like it might be another blowout after the goals in quick succession. Lloyd was the quickest to react to a loose ball in the box after a US corner and headed into an empty net to open the scoring. O’Reilly would add a second just two minutes later, poking home from close range after some good work by Amy Rodriguez down the left wing.

With the news that starting right back Ali Kreiger will be out 6-8 months with an ACL/MCL tear after being on the receiving end of a reckless challenge in the match against the Dominican Republic, Rachel Buehler started on the right side with Becky Saurbrunn stepping into the center to partner Christine Rampone. The defense looked solid throughout the match, leaving Mexico with little chance to get in behind and limiting them to potshots from distance for most of the match.

Sydney Leroux surprisingly replaced Amy Rodriguez at half time and had two great chances to put the game beyond doubt before Lloyd finally did just that,  scoring her second of the match on 65 minutes. Lauren Cheney’s free kick from 40 yards drifted toward the back post where Lloyd rose highest and was able to put her header on target.

Lloyd completed her hat trick from another set piece on 88 minutes. A driven ball to the near post found Buehler cutting through the box and the defender was able to square a pass back to the six yard box from the end line for Lloyd to finish easily.

The US will face Costa Rica on Friday for the chance at Olympic qualification, as the top two teams from CONCACAF advance to the tournament, making the final somewhat irrelevant. The Americans will be glad to not have to face Canada in the semi-final, as the host nation easily won their group as well and look to be the only other decent side in the tournament. The final will take place on Sunday, January 29 at 8pm.

I tried to tune in to watch the USWNT take on the Dominican Republic at the appointed 10:30 pm start time last night. In the 10 or so minutes it took me to update the stupid Silverlight player and get the game to load, I missed the opening 3 goals, which all happened inside the first 7 minutes of the game.

Amy Rodriguez had 5 (and she only came on at half time), Heather O’Reilly had 3, Abby Wambach had 2, and Rachel Buehler, Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, and Lauren Cheney all scored 1 in a 14-0 demolishing of the small Caribbean nation in the first match of Olympic qualifying. The result was never in doubt after Wambach scored in the 1st minute and the score was 7-0 at halftime.

The story for Philadelphia fans was the flowing interplay between Amy Rodriguez and Lauren Cheney in the second half. Rodriguez has not officially re-signed with the Independence but it is generally assumed that she will. And All White Kit reported this week that Cheney was close to signing with the team, staying consistent with the news that Paul Riley gave me last week that Philadelphia had two huge signings in the works (midfielder Lori Chalupny was announced Wednesday).

Rodriguez was subbed on at half time for Tobin Heath and scored an amazing 5 second half goals, 3 of which were assisted by Cheney. The two looked on the same page from the start of the half, finding good space and moving off each other with ease. If the chemistry transfers to the club level, Independence fans will have plenty to cheer about in 2012.

The lone negative that came out of the match was what appeared to be a severe injury to starting right-back Ali Kreiger. Kreiger was stretchered off with what looked like a knee injury in the latter stages of the first half after a reckless challenge from Leonela Mojica. Former Independence defender Heather Mitts replaced Kreiger for the remainder of the match. Outside-back is not the deepest position on the US roster, with Mitts being the only other natural outside player on the roster. Becky Sauerbrunn has seen time in the outside positions, but is more comfortable in central defense. Kreiger was to have an MRI today.

Olympic qualifying continues tomorrow when the US takes on Guatemala (who lost 7-0 to Mexico yesterday) before finishing group play against Mexico on Tuesday evening. The top two teams advance from the group stage to take on the top two teams from the other qualifying group which includes Canada, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Cuba.