The U.S. under-21 national team defeated USC, 3-1, on Feb. 24 at its training camp at the ARCO Olympic Training Facility in Chula Vista, Calif. U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs and U.S. U-21 coach Jillian Ellis will choose 20 players from the 24-player camp for an upcoming trip to Europe. The camp ended on Feb. 25. California's Laura Schott converted a penalty kick in the 45th minute against the Trojans. Schott was the only U-21 to score in all three matches against Southern California colleges. Earlier in the week, the forward, who will be a junior next fall in …

Due to technical difficulties with the service providing the programming for our Rate the U.S. National Team Players poll scheduled for the U.S.A. vs. Mexico match, we have had to cancel the poll. We apologize for the inconvenience. We were excited about receiving our readers' responses and opinions and will bring you more polls when we can work out a more dependable source for programming.

Mexico trained at Crew Stadium Tuesday morning and based on the limited tactical drills they performed, it appears Mexico will be playing in a 5-3-2 alignment. Probable starters: Goalkeeper -- Jorge Campos. Defenders (r-l) -- Salvador Carmona, Rafael Marquez, Claudio Suarez, Alberto Macias, Marco Antonio "Chima" Ruiz. Midfielders (r-l) -- Pavel Pardo, German Villa, Braulio Luna. Forwards -- Luis Hernandez, Jared Borgetti. Expect Ruiz and Carmona to overlap and provide width on the flanks offensively while the trio of Marquez, Suarez and Macias will rotate in central defense. Several players donned goalkeeper gloves to keep their hands warm. Forward Luis …

Brian McBride has rebounded from his most serious injury setback and is eager to play against Mexico Feb. 28 in front of his own fans in Columbus. A year ago, Brian McBride had come off an ambiguous showing at the CONCACAF Gold Cup that once again cast into question his durability. He missed the U.S. opener against Haiti with a heart condition that puzzled doctors. They kept him out of action while trying to diagnose what had caused a rapid heartbeat. Nothing was detected. He returned to the lineup for a 1-0 win over Peru, then scored …

Notes: Midfielder Ben Olsen trained for the first time Monday since joining the team last week because of soreness in his ankles. Olsen said before training he may suit up if the ankles feel good, but that they caused him a lot of pain in his last match with Nottingham Forest. Forward Clint Mathis said that U.S. team doctors' testing revealed that there is no tear in the meniscus of his left knee, as previously diagnosed. Mathis will not undergo surgery and said the knee is free of pain and he is 100 percent ready to play. Tickets will be …

The following are results from MLS preseason games: Feb. 25 in Guapiles, Costa Rica Santos* 2 New England Revolution 1. Goals: Herron 22, Sanchez 53; Jackson (Ramirez) 51. *First Division Feb. 25 in Urawa, Japan Urawa Reds* 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 1. Goals: Tuto (Adoriano) 53, Tuto (Tatsuya Tanaka) 82; Mullan (Cienfuegos, Lalas) 55. Urawa -- Yohei Nishibe, Nobuhisa Yamada, Masami Ihara, Tsutomu Nishino, Masaki Tsuchihashi, Toshiya Ishii, Toshiya Abe, Tomonobu Hayakawa (Takamasa Watanbe 46), Adoriano (Tatsuya Tanaka 78), Masayuki Okano (Ichiei Muroi 86), Tuto. Los Angeles -- Kevin Hartman, Paul Caligiuri, Danny Califf, Alexi Lalas, Ezra Hendrickson, Peter Vagenas, …

The United States will host high-scoring Honduras on Sept. 1 at Washington D.C.'s RFK Stadium in a final round World Cup qualifying match. The game is the seventh in the USA's 10-game quest to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and is scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. ET (live on ESPN2 and Telemundo). "RFK Stadium is one of our country's best soccer venues," said U.S. head coach Bruce Arena. "We have had tremendous success there in the past and, obviously, this will be an important match as we try to qualify for the World Cup." The 10 a.m. …

The following are the 19 players Mexico coach Enrique Meza is bringing to Columbus: Goalies: Jorge Campos (Atlante), Oscar Perez (Cruz Azul). Defenders: Omar Blanco (Toluca), Claudio Suarez (Tigres), Salvador Carmona (Atlante), Alberto Macias (Cruz Azul), Pavel Pardo (Club America), Duilio Davino (Club America), Rafael Marquez (Monaco, France). Midfielders: Marco Antonio Ruiz (Guadalajara), German Villa (Club America), Miguel Zepeda (Atlas), Alberto Coyote (Guadalajara), Braulio Luna (Club America), Victor Ruiz (Toluca). Forwards: Jesus Arellano (Monterrey), Juan Francisco Palencia (Cruz Azul), Jared Borgetti (Santos), Luis Hernandez (Club America).

San Diego Spirit coach Carlos Juarez has added three players from local tryouts -- defender Rhiannon Tanaka, goalkeeper Melissa Moore and midfielder Michelle Maitland -- to his roster. Juarez chose the three from the 20 players who participated in the invitation-only tryout at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif, Feb. 9-12. The Spirit now has 27 players on the preseason roster for training camp that opens on March 1. Each team can carry up to 28 players in preseason until March 18, when teams have to cut their rosters down to at most 24 players each. Tanaka …

Defender Gregg Berhalter, who just signed a contract to play for Crystal Palace of the English First Division, was replaced on the U.S. roster by Frankie Hejduk. Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley suffered a strained quadriceps muscle in Fort Lauderdale and was replaced by another teenager, Bobby Convey. All 24 players on the roster flew into Columbus from Fort Lauderdale on Saturday except goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who joined the team here directly from England. The Mexican team is scheduled to arrive Monday. Sunday's practice in Columbus was closed, but Coach Bruce Arena worked on 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 formations in Florida last week …

The following are results from MLS preseason games: Feb. 24 in Soacha, Colombia Soacha* (Colombia) 3 Tampa Bay 0. Tampa Bay -- Nyman (Throop, 46), Beskovic (Addo, 46), Demmin, McCarty, Kotschau (Maessner, 30), Armas (Trittschuh, 46), Ralston (Kartes, 46), Valderrama (Munoz, 35), Navarrete, Diallo, Magee (Curtis, 46). Att.: 1,000. *Third Division. Feb. 24 in Zapopan, Mexico Dallas 4 San Jose 3. Goals: Rhine 17, Pareja 30, Najarro 53, own goal 84; Bower 53, DeRosario 60, Woolfolk (DeRosario) 90. Dallas -- Jordan (Zapala, 46), Suarez (Deering, 46), Farrer (Dade, 46), Broome, Mayard, Vaca, Eck, Alavanja (Rivillo, 46), Pareja (Saavedra, 46), …

Gregg Berhalter made his debut for English First Division club Crystal Palace, starting and playing the whole 90 in a 1-0 loss to Sheffield United. Berhalter was cautioned in the 20th minute. ENGLAND Gregg Berhalter, Crystal Palace (D1), started (90 min.) vs. Sheffield United (0-1). Brad Friedel, Blackburn (D1), started (90 min.) vs. Bolton (5-1). Ben Olsen, Nottingham Forest (D1), DNP vs. Grimsby Town (3-1) Marcus Hahnemann, Fulham (D1) DNP vs. vs. Gillingham (2-0) Eddie Lewis, Fulham (D1) DNP vs. vs. Gillingham (2-0) Joe-Max Moore, Everton (PL), DNP vs. Ipswich Town (0-2) Ian Feuer, Wimbledon (D1), DNP vs. Queens Park …

With many of the European-based Americans in national team camp, only Brad Friedel saw action in the weekendÆs games through Saturday evening. He played 90 in BlackburnÆs win before joining the USA in Columbus for its World Cup qualifier vs. Mexico Feb. 28. ENGLAND Brad Friedel, Blackburn (D1), started (90 min.) vs. Bolton (5-1). Ben Olsen, Nottingham Forest (D1), DNP vs. Grimsby Town (3-1) Marcus Hahnemann, Fulham (D1) DNP vs. vs. Gillingham (2-0) Eddie Lewis, Fulham (D1) DNP vs. vs. Gillingham (2-0) Joe-Max Moore, Everton (PL), DNP vs. Ipswich Town (0-2) Ian Feuer, Wimbledon (D1), DNP vs. Queens Park Rangers …

Fans of the Bay Area CyberRays will be able to see all of their teamÆs matches on television this season. Thanks to the club's local TV package, most of the games will be shown live. The CyberRays today announced an agreement with Fox Sports Net Bay Area and KICU Channel 36 in which the two television outlets will televise 15 matches between them. That package of games û- in addition to the six CyberRays matches included in the WUSA national TV package -û means all 21 CyberRays regular-season games will be shown. "It is critically important to the success of …

ôA qualification match against a Honduras is four times more difficult than playing Germany, Brazil or Argentina in a friendly.ö -- Steve Sampson. The first U.S. coach in history to pick up a point in Mexico, and the latest to qualify the USA for a World Cup, Steve Sampson shares his thoughts on the USAÆs Hexagonal quest with SoccerAmerica.com. In qualifying the USA for France æ98, Sampson chalked up home wins against Guatemala, Costa Rica (twice), Trinidad & Tobago, Canada and El Salvador. He swept T&T and Canada and tied Mexico and Jamaica at home and on the road. His …