Freddy Adu played well against Switzerland, his second cap for the U.S. national team. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Judging by the last 15 minutes of the U.S.-Swiss game, it seems as though Adu put up a strong argument for a chance to play the entire game against South Africa. In the spirit of experimental lineups before World Cup qualifying do you think Bradley is going to take an extremely young lineup to South Africa?
-- Tyler Gillespie, Columbus, Ohio

Sports Illustrated scribe George Dohrmann (a big soccer fan) and I actually made a list of all the positive things Adu did in his short time on the field against Switzerland, and it was a long list for a guy who didn't play very long. Adu was active and dangerous, and it was a good step toward earning more time in the near-future.

I know that the U.S. coaching staff was also looking closely at how Adu would perform in training every day, hoping that he wouldn't bring any of the attitude that's sometimes a drag on his game. (Let's just say it's probably time that Adu stops calling out Peter Nowak for "overcoaching" him during his D.C. United days, considering that Nowak is an assistant coach for the U.S. senior team and the head coach of the Olympic team Adu wants to play for next year.)

Take out your crystal ball and tell us: Who will be the starting XI when the national team begins World Cup qualifying next year?
-- Paul Hauge, Westfield, N.J.

This is just me trying to read the oft-impenetrable mind of Bradley, but here goes:

Goalkeeper: Tim Howard.

Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein.

Midfielders: Donovan, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, DaMarcus Beasley.

Forwards: Dempsey, Altidore.

None of those are really going out on a limb, but Bradley's not one of those guys who's big on surprises anyway.

Which big-name signings do you see coming to MLS in the next year? Conversely, who do you see leaving MLS for Europe in the off-season?
-- Jim, Sunnyvale, Calif.

The name that seems most likely is Juan Sebastián Verón to D.C. United. Other than that I'm not hearing anything that's worth taking seriously. As for departures, Johnson looks like a solid candidate to move to Europe, but I doubt we'll see as big a migration as the one made by the U.S. U-20 guys (Adu, Szetela, Sal Zizzo) during the summer.

Do you think Giuseppe Rossi will ever play for the U.S.?
-- Luis Escalante, Pasadena, Calif.

If I was a betting man, I'd say no. Rossi clearly wants to play for Italy, and his performances with Villarreal suggest he'll get that opportunity with the Azzurri's senior team before long. Don't think the USSF hasn't been trying to persuade Rossi to go with his New Jersey-born roots instead. Bradley admitted recently that he's spoken with Rossi about it, and I was told last year that Sunil Gulati had been working on Rossi through his former assistant coach at Manchester United, Carlos Queiroz (a Gulati chum).

Why am I not hearing rumors of every MLS team that has not used its DP spot bidding on Juan Román Riquelme?
-- Mike, Seattle

Riquelme certainly seems like an ideal DP target, but there's one big complication: a transfer fee. Villarreal is likely to sell Riquelme (who's clearly not in the Yellow Submarine's plans) for well more than a $10 million fee, and one thing you'll notice about MLS's DP signings this season (including David Beckham) was that they came on free transfers.

In fact, the Galaxy had no desire to pay Real Madrid even the limited sum that would have sent Becks to L.A. for the start of the season. MLS teams' unwillingness to pay big transfer fees on the world market is only one of several reasons why we haven't seen that many DPs this season (and may see even fewer in 2008).

(All this Riquelme talk reminds me, make sure to check out this excellent blog featuring the genius stylings of Ray Hudson, one of JRR's biggest admirers. There's a reason why Hudson is my favorite TV commentator working today, the Dick Vitale of American soccer.)

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