On Wednesday the United States soccer team faced a powerful foe in Spain in the Confedertions Cup semi-final in South Africa.  The United States could have been in awe of Spains 35 game winning streak.  During that period the Spanish team only allowed 11 goals to be scored against them.  On Wednesday the United States soccer team managed to get 2 and that was 1 more than they needed as they ended Spains winning streak with a 2-0 victory.  Now the United States is in the final against another soccer giant in the Brazilian team.  Can they pull 2 major upsets off in a row?

In NBA news Hedo Turkoglu has opted out of his conract with the Orlando Magic.  Turkoglu was due 7.3 million dollars next year but his hoping for a long term contract that would pay him 10 million per year.  Orlando will find it hard to pay that amount since they acquired Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets the day before.  Turkoglu averaged almost 17 points per game this season and was a major factor in the Magics run to the NBA Finals.  Cleveland fans got something to cheer about as Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Cavaliers on Thursday.  Shaq has made a pretty good career by teaming with superstars.  He won 3 NBA titles with Kobe Bryant and one with Dwayne Wade.  Now he has the opportunity to play with LeBron James.  Is another NBA title in his future?

At Wimbledon Roger Federer managed to lose a set to 27th ranked Philipp Kohlschreiber but hung on to win and move on to face Roger Soderling on Monday.  Federer is chasing his record breaking 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.  The chase will get just a little tougher on Monday.  On the ladies side Serena Williams was late for her match against Roberta Vinci of Italy.  The American won fairly easily to move on to play Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

The issue of steroid use in Major League Baseball has been heavily covered for the past few years.  Today the Chicago Sports Writers Association voted to not allow any new guidelines when it comes to voting players to the Hall Of Fame if they have used steroids.  Some of the bigger names who have been in the steroid using limelight is Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire.  One of the categories for determining your vote is on character.  This issue has been highly debated.  If performance enhancing drugs made you better than you would have normally been should you get elected to the Hall?  It is my personal opinion that it still takes a very special core of athletic ability to be a superstar.  If you gave any player in the Major Leagues steroids could they break Hank Aarons home run record?  I don’t think so.  The ability has to be there or not.  Would Pete Rose have gotten twice as many hits had he of used steriods? I don’t think so.  These are great baseball players who were great long before they took performance enhancing drugs.  To error is human, to forgive is devine.  These players deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.  Until we meet again good betting and remember to always be a good sport.

The United States men’s soccer team will play Argentina at Giants Stadium in June 8th in the last friendly before the Soccer Betting 2010 World Cup qualifying begins.  The United States will also play against England in a May 28th friendly that will be televised live on ESPN Classic and Univision. They will also play a friendly against Spain on June 4th.

The match against the top ranked Argentina team will be an excellent test for the United States.  The match will be televised live on ESPN Classic and Galavision. “Argentina is clearly one of the best teams in the world and playing against an opponent of that caliber is a great opportunity for our team,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley.  “Combined with the matches against England and Spain, we have put together a very good schedule to help us prepare for World Cup qualifying.  We expect it will be a fantastic crowd at Giants Stadium, and we are looking forward to an exciting atmosphere.” The United States team won 3-0 against Poland and 1-0 versus Switzerland in another friendly.

The U.S. has played Argentina eight times in their history and is 2-6 against them.  Only three of those eight have been played in the United States. The U.S. has played at Giants Stadium seven times in their history, holding a 4-1-2 record.  The last meeting between the United States and Argentina was in the 2007 Copa America and the Argentine team routed the U.S. team by a score of 4-1.

World Cup qualifying for the USA team begins on June 15th as they face Barbados at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The second leg of the home-and-away series will be played either June 21 or 22 in Barbados.  The United States will have played six teams that have been ranked in the top 15 in the world, Argentina, Brazil, England, Mexico, Sweden and Spain before World Cup qualifying begins.