The United States booked its ticket to Brazil beating Mexico 2-0 in front of a raucous crowd in Columbus, Ohio.

Goals from Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan were the deciding factors, as well as some superb defending and goalkeeping.

The US team once again failed to win in Costa Rica. Here are the player ratings.

Starting Lineup

Stoke City will have four Americans starting January 1st when Juan Agudelo joins the Potters from New England.

Ordinarily, American soccer fans would cheer the fact that so many of our countrymen are playing Premier League soccer-the problem with Stoke is that only one American is actually seeing game time consistently.

Huddersfield's American teenager Duane Holmes has won the first ever Donald Bell Award.

The Donald Bell Award is awarded by the League Football Education board (LFE) to a player who "has overcome adversity in some form during their two-year Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (ASE) program managed by LFE."

Fabian Johnson is one of the best U.S national team players, but where should he play on the field?

The versatile Johnson has floated between left back and left midfield ever since he started playing for the United States in 2011. The bonus for U.S team is that he has excelled in both positions but it is becoming clearer that the midfield is where he is most valuable to the U.S team.

The United States national team has become a lot more competitive and it is a tough team to make

The September qualifiers will be where Jurgen Klinsmann finally puts his entire team together based on three very important and successful learning experiences this summer.

The United States national team overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit to defeat Bosnia 4-3 in Sarajevo.

The highlight of the match was certainly the performance of Jozy Altidore, who provided a second half hat trick on top of an assist in one of the best performances by a United States forward in recent memory.

The USMNT is in the midst of an 11 game winning streak but lost in the accolades is the growing murkiness of the team's right back situation.

For the past decade this hasn't been much of an issue since Steve Cherundolo has owned the position and has been one of the most reliable players in U.S history. But right now Cherundolo is 34 years old and has had two knee surgeries in 2013.

John Anthony Brooks is not on the new German U-21 roster and will play for the USMNT next week instead.

German U-21 head coach Horst Hrubesch told the media this week that he was very interested in Brooks and called him up for the August 13 friendly against France. Meanwhile U.S national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann also called up Brooks for the national team friendly against Bosnia in Sarajevo.

According to a report Ouest France, USMNT midfielder Alejandro Bedoya will sign a three year deal with FC Nantes in Ligue 1.

Bedoya, 26, has been with Helsingborg in Sweden for the past year and that move rejuvenated his career after a difficult season with Rangers in 2011/12. His strong play with Helsingborg has also brought him back into the U.S national team picture where he was part of the Gold Cup winning team this summer.