Photo by ISIphotos.com

Every great journey starts with a first step and for the U.S. men's national team, which is about to embark on a exciting and challenge-filled 2009, that journey begins tonight at Home Depot Center against Sweden (8:30p.m., Fox Soccer Channel/Galavision).

Neither team will feature its top stars, but rater an assortment of standouts from their respective domestic leagues. For the U.S. team, the match is a chance to see how much some good young prospects are ready to contribute once the games do get tougher. Whether it is Charlie Davies, Robbie Rogers, Stuart Holden or Sacha Kljestan several members of last summer's Olympic team look ready to graduate fully to the senior team and contribute.

I will be providing a live commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here, and as always, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Commentary after the jump):

———————————–

FINAL– That's all from me tonight. Hope you all enjoyed the insight, the unexpected news, and the drinking games. Thanks to all of you who followed along tonight.

Please feel free to share your post-game thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Good night.

———————————–

FINAL– Kljestan with the star turn and yes, we'll take credit for setting him up for this game by using a Kljestan picture with this post.

———————————–

FINAL– USA 3, Sweden 2. Good performance from the USA in a match that was always going to be a bit sloppy and ugly. Kljestan was the star, Ching was the second best player today. Wynne impressed, as did Clark. Bob Bradley wanted to see some young players step up and I think some did.

———————————–

90th minute– Listen folks, Cooper is a very good young player but he still has growing to do to be an impact player on the international level.

———————————–

90th minute– Cooper with the breakaway chance but he gets closed down and doesn't make the most of it.

———————————–

90 minute– Is it me or did I just hear Bob Bradley yelling for Cooper to fight harder to challenge Sweden's defenders for possession? Yep, it was definitely Bradley.

———————————–

90th minute– It's 10pm, do you know where Kenny Cooper is?

———————————–

89th minute- GOAL SWEDEN!!! Great cross, great header. Wynne gives up way too much space for the cross and Ihemelu was caught in no-man's land on the header. USA 3 Sweden 2.

———————————–

88th minute– Not much going on in the closing minutes, though Sweden came close with a header cleared by Ihemelu.

———————————–

82nd minute– Ugo Ihemelu is in or Parkhurst, who was steady today and was never really tested.

———————————–

81st minute– Not sure if Cherundolo has done much to challenge Heath Pearce tonight but I'd say Wynne has looked good and wouldn't be a bad replacement if Cherundolo were injured for the Mexico match.

———————————–

79th minute– Chris Wingert comes in for Bornstein, who played well after overcoming a rough start, but faded late.

———————————–

76th minute– There goes Kljestan with a hat-trick, which has to have Celtic rushing to its checkbook. And there goes Ching, dropping a gallon of Shut-Up Juice for the haters. Listen folks, if you still can't figure out why Ching is the USMNT starting forward then I really don't know what to tell you.

———————————–

75th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!! Kljestan with BLAST after a BEAUTIFUL play by Ching, to collect a long pass, then laying off a perfect pass to Kljestan. USA 3, Sweden 1.

———————————–

74th minute- GOAL SWEDEN!! Daniel Nanngsong scores, beating Bornstein to a header. USA 2, Sweden 1.

———————————–

73rd minute– Kljestan's kick is saved easily. The Sweden keeper had no trouble.

———————————–

72nd minute– Ching draws a dangerous free kick. Again.

———————————–

70th minute– Carroll comes in for Rogers. I think we might see a 4-3-3 now that looks like this:

—–Cooper——Ching——Rolfe———

——————Kljestan——————-

———Carroll———-Clark—————

Bornstein—-Parkhurst—Califf—–Wynne

——————Perkins———————

———————————–

69th minute- Cooper with a shot attempt from 30 that is blocked. still waiting for him to get involved.

And here comes Wynne, who still runs like a cheetah, but has the touch of a fire hydrant.

Rolfe with some nice moves.

———————————–

65th minute– Sweden with a weak shot on goal. I must admit I'd like to see Perkins get tested.

———————————–

62nd minute– And there was FSC's correction of their earlier remarks about the USMNT's rosters for Gold Cup and Confederations Cup. Yes, all of you who already bought tickets to South Africa can come off the roof now.

———————————–

61st minute– Rolfe for Thorrington. Good effort for Thorrington, who always gives his all. I'm very interested to see Rolfe on the right flank.

———————————–

 59th minute– Sullivan's Sweden musings= DRINK.

———————————–

56th minute– Rogers hasn't had the best game today. We should see Eddie Gaven soon. I also think it's time to see Chris Rolfe, perhaps in place of Fire teammate John Thorrington.

———————————–

51st minute– Only one sub at half for the USMNT, Cooper for Davies. Not the best night for Davies.

———————————–

50th minute– At halftime of this match I contacted Sunil Gulati about Max Bretos' comments regarding Confederations Cup and Gold Cup rosters (which I thought were wrong) and Gulati stated pretty emphatically that he hadn't made any such remarks about the USMNT sending its first team to the Gold Cup. If he were going to make any such declaration, it would be the other way around. U.S. Soccer hasn't come out and made a statement of their intentions but it is a very safe bet that the USMNT will be sending its full-strength squad to South Africa this summer.

———————————–

47th minute– Rogers hits a good corner that the Swedish keeper makes a meal of. It's cleared out of danger and the next corner is cleared.

———————————–

46th minute– We are back and there are subs. Cooper is in the match.

———————————–

HALFTIME– USA 2, Sweden 0. Not the prettiest first 45, but plenty of bright spots. Kljestan has been great, Ching has done well and Wynne has shown flashes.

———————————–

45th minute– I'll tell you what, Marvell Wynne's technical ability in the attack may still need plenty of work, but his speed is so amazing that he breaks up way more attacks than any other right back in the U.S. pool. Once his offensive game is adequate (and his crosses are slightly better than atrocious) I can't see him not being a first-choice right back.

———————————–

43rd minute– Sweden with their first good attacking sequence but a cross goes begging.

———————————–

43rd minute– I just want to illustrate the play that led to the penalty. Wynne hit a bad pass that Ching did well to save. Ching and Thorrington exchange passes before Thorrington slides a pass to Wynne, who makes a nice turn on his defender. The Ching haters need to relax because he's not the flashiest player, but he makes important plays, like saving that Wynne pass. So yes, he's played his part in both goals tonight.

———————————–

40th minute- GOAL USA!!! Kljestan slides it into the low right corner. USA 2, Sweden 0.

———————————–

39th minute– WYNNE Draws a penalty!! He slipped behind the Sweden defense and gets taken down just inside the area. And yes, that's a drink.

———————————–

38th minute– Thorrington isn't playing too badly. He's a great effort player, but does not have that second gear to get by people, or the crossing ability you want from a starter on the right flank for the national team.

———————————–

37th minute– Great sequence for the USA, with Ching setting up a nice pass, but Davies makes a bad layoff pass.

———————————–

36th minute– Yes, win just ran by somebody AND got a bad touch out of bounds. That's a double. Drink.

———————————–

34th minute– One player who has looked smooth so far is Michael Parkhurst. Some good early touches though he has really to be tested yet.

———————————–

33rd minute– Kick is deflected out for a corner. The corner is cleared.

———————————–

32nd minute– Rogers draws a fee kick with a nice touch. This is definitely in Kljestan's wheelhouse.

———————————–

31st minute– Okay, here's the best drinking game so far. Anytime Chris Sullivan gives us information about Sweden's team that we could care less about, you drink. Pass the cups.

———————————–

30th minute– Rogers with a nice corner, but it's cleared. Bornstein shows some good effort defensively and Wynne does very well to win a challenge.

———————————–

28th minute– Rogers with a really bad touch. You can tell this is his first senior national team cap.

———————————–

26th minute– "Some of these Swedish players, their English is better than our English"- Max Bretos.

Yes, you can laugh.

———————————–

25th minute– USA needs to play more centrally and try to find Davies more. They're trying to force things on the wings and the quality just hasn't been there.

———————————–

24th minute– Ricardo Clark with a great tackle. The kid can run all day.

New drinking game. Any time Marvell Wynne runs past somebody OR sends a bad touch out of bounds. I would include bad crosses but I'm thinking about your health people.

———————————–

22nd minute– Good touch from Perkins. This is an important game for him as well as he tries to grab the No. 3 goalkeeper role on the USA depth chart behind Howard and Guzan.

———————————–

21st minute– Kljestan tracks all the way back to break up a Sweden sequence. He is playing very well tonight.

———————————–

20th minute– Still waiting for Rogers and Bornstein to get involved tonight.

———————————–

18th minute– While I doubt that free kick seals the Celtic deal for Kljestan, it definitely boosts his chances of being a starter for the USA against Mexico. I think the Kljestan-Bradley combo in central midfield is the choice right now.

———————————–

18th minute– "Hello Celtic? Yeah, this is MLS. Hi, yeah, the price just went up."

———————————–

17th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's Kljestan with a BEAUTIFUL long free kick. WOW.

———————————–

16th minute– Ching draws a foul for a long free kick. The guy is a handful.

———————————–

15th minute– If you are following the live commentary, let me know in the comments section.

———————————–

13th minute– Bornstein shanks his first long pass attempt. Somewhere Heath Pearce is smiling.

———————————–

12th minute– Wynne shows his speed but his hit-and-hope cross was weak. The U.S. is definitely trying to get service in, but no good crosses yet.

———————————–

10th minute– Swedes with a corner that Kljestan clears well.

———————————–

8th minute– In fairness to the fans in Carson, there's a decent-sized crowd in attendance. Maybe 12K to 14K?

———————————–

8th minute– Thorrington's cross is a bit weak. Nobody has done much for the US yet.

———————————–

7th minute– If you are in the Carson area there are good seats still available. Which ones? Try almost all of them.

———————————–

5th minute– We will want to see how Wynne and Bornstein hold up today. Wynne is seen as a potential replacement for Cherundolo while Bornstein is looking to regain the starting left back spot he lost to Heath Pearce last year.

———————————–

4th minute– Galavision is starting to sound like the better option, unless you care about Sweden's fullbacks that much.

Clark and Kljestan in central midfield. I'm sure a few Red Bulls fans will point out that if a few things had gone differently that could have been the Red Bulls tandem.

———————————–

1st minute– And we're off.

———————————–

PRE-GAME– Here is Sweden's lineup:

——————Dahlberg——Nannskog——————

Holmen———-Svensson—Andersson———-Dahl

Johannson—von Schlebrugge—Lindberg——Jonsson

—————————–Dahlin————————–

SBI Mafia members in Sweden are more than welcome to give us the lowdown on these guys.

———————————–

PRE-GAME– If you are wondering which channel I'm watching the game on, I haven't decided yet but FSC is on right now.

———————————–

PRE-GAME– Thorrington is the one surprise starter in this group and I'm very interested to see what he brings to the table. He's coming off a great year for the Fire and definitely brings the two-way effort that Bob Bradley wants from his midfielders.

———————————–

PRE-GAME– Good evening folks. We're getting closer to kick-off and I have to say U.S. fans have a reason to feel excited. No, not about tonight specifically, but about what 2009 is shaping up to be. With World Cup qualifying, Confederations Cup, Gold Cup and some key youth world championships, this year is going to be filled with great action and important matches for U.S. Soccer.

———————————–

PRE-GAME– I know plenty of fans are complaining about Ching getting the nod over Kenny Cooper, but the fact remains that Ching is just a better player in the U.S. system and also more likely to be starting for the USA against Mexico, which just three weeks away.

———————————

PRE-GAME– Here is the USA lineup, which looks very familiar to the lineup we projected earlier this week:

———–Ching————Davies—————

Rogers——————————-Thorrington

—————Clark——–Kljestan————-

Bornstein—-Parkhurst—-Califf——–Wynne

———————-Perkins——————–

Yes, this lineup includes 10 of the 11 starters from the projected lineup SBI suggested on Wednesday. The only difference? John Thorrington starting for Stuart Holden, who was a late scratch today with a hip injury.

———————————