Good afternoon folks. I'm coming to you from Mexico City, where we are a day away from the big USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier and the buzz is starting to fill the city.

While I get settled and start working on some posts for the afternoon, here is Part 1 of the July Q&A. There are plenty of national team questions, but also a broad range of topics covered.

Let's get started. Here is Part 1 of Your July Questions Answered:

HOPPER– Love the site. I check it three times a day. My big question: Why is the Gold Cup played every two years instead of every four like all the other major continental championships? It didn't make any sense to me why it needed to be played this summer, with the Confederations Cup going on, and the Gold Cup winner not even playing for a spot in the next Confederations Cup. It was also a major distraction from the MLS regular season. Is there a movement to change the Gold Cup to every four years?

IVES– It boils down to money and CONCACAF wanting to make more of it. The TV contracts tied to the tournament make it financially successful even with all those empty seats in the group stages. It really is a joke that it’s played every two years, but it does provide the region with some good international competition.

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JOE K– ives, two related questions:
1) have you given any thought on providing more opinions on transfers? specifically easy ones, like when the red bulls got khano smith.
2) was khano smith metrostars/red bulls worst signing ever? i know there have been alot, pick your top 3.

IVES– 1. I do plan on providing more opinion on transfers and trades going forward. I wasn’t a fan of the Khano Smith signing from the word go and even told Juan Carlos Osorio as much at thetime.

2. Khano Smith worst signing? Not even close. Sasa Curcic, Sergio Galvan Rey, Pedro Alvarez, Peter Canero and Juan Pietravallo were all worse.

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ADAM THE RED– Looking into your crystal ball, what will be the biggest shock inclusion and omission in the WC 2010 roster???

IVES– Shock inclusion? How about Mikkel Diskerud? Shock omission? I have no idea. Why Diskerud? I could see him having a great U-20 World Cup and then getting a call to the January camp. I'll give this one more thought. As for shock omission, I'm not sure we should expect any non-injury shocks.

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MickND– Ives, Pepsi or Coke?

IVES– Pepsi by itself but Coke with his buddy Jack.

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USA– Ives what's your top XI of all time?

IVES– If we’re talking about players I have seen play and who I’ve enjoyed watching, here goes:

Lionel Messi—————-Ronaldo—————Thierry Henry

——————Zinedine Zidane———-Xavi——————-

——————————–Roy Keane————————–

Paolo Maldini—Rio Ferdinand——Carles Puyol———Cafu

——————————Iker Casillas—————————

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PABLO CHICAGO– Any truth to the rumor that Conde and Soumare will book one-way tickets to Europe come January?

IVES– As far as I know this is Wilman Conde’s last season in MLS and Bakary Soumare is itching to leave MLS for Europe but the question is whether MLS will actually consider selling the young standout defender.

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BRANDINHO– Ives, How much further would United States soccer be (all things considered) if we would have received the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which perhaps could haved saved NASL, rather than the 1994 World Cup?

IVES– The NASL was a broken business model that even an 86 World Cup would not have salvaged for long. Yes, American soccer fans wound up with several years without pro soccer, but the way things are turning out don’t look so bad.

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DANNYC58– Blackberry or iPhone?

Who stays for RBNY next year?

IVES– Blackberry Storm. Best phone ever. Yes, I know, the Iphone has an insane number of bells and whistles, but the Storm gets the job done for me.

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DYCSOCCER17– Biggest fall from grace:

Bobby Convey or Eddie Johnson?

Does either of these players have any sort of chance to earn any more caps? If so, who stands a better chance?

IVES– I’d say Bobby Convey. Why? Well, truth be told, Eddie Johnson never really peaked. He’s never done much in Europe, and while he had that insane hot streak for the U.S. national team, he was never a truly dominant force in MLS.

Convey on the other hand was at one point a bona fide star for Reading, someone making very real and important contributions to a European club. Now he’s in MLS and he’s not really making anywhere near the impact you might have expected from him. Meanwhile, Johnson has fought through a rough start in Europe, found some confidence and made some contributions to Cardiff, and is now on Fulham’s squad.

Johnson clearly has a chance to earn more caps. Convey’s future is much tougher to project positively.

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TONY IN QUAKELAND– You are President of the USA for one week – enough time to invade and annex a small country and add it's top player to the US Men's National team. Which country do you invade and for what player?

PS- Before the 2006 WC I would have invaded Grenda for Joseph and maybe Canada for DeRosario. Not so sure now…

IVES– Okay, Tony, you said small country right? Canada’s not exactly small, eh?

I’ll play along. Now, we won’t bother with the actual probabilities of mounting a successful war and taking over a country, or the likely backlash from the UN and the world as a whole. Let’s just consider the soccer (and the logistics of countries that would be a reasonable distance away).

You’ve got Honduras, with David Suazo and Wilson Palacios, Trinidad & Tobago with Kenwyne Jones, Grenada with Shalrie Joseph, Costa Rica for Bryan Ruiz (or a kid I really like in Celso Borges), Ghana for Michael Essien,

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CARL– Every time my friends and I watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall, we always argue over the same question which I will now pose to you: who is hotter, kristen bell or mila kunis?

IVES– Mila Kunis every day and twice on Sunday.

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EVAN– Which players from the Gold Cup roster do you see (if any) making an impact in the qualifiers? the World Cup?

IVES– If not for the depth at center back I would say Chad Marshall but I think Stuart Holden has the best chance of making an impact in qualifying. The U.S. team needs a wing midfield option off the bench and Holden is the best bet right now to fill that role, at least until Robbie Rogers can grow more as a player.

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RYAN– If you took the USA's likely 23 man roster for next summer and Mexico's, which would you consider stronger? Assume everyone is healthy and you're just looking at which roster is better on paper, not which side would play better together, chemistry, etc.

IVES– I’d say let’s look at the different positions:

Forwards- Mexico has Carlos Vela, a budding star in Europe, and that’s really it in terms of appealing prospects. The United States doesn’t have anyone on Vela’s level but I think the combo of Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore is pretty promising

Midfielders- The United States runs away with this area of the field in my opinion. Giovani Dos Santos is a dangerous player, and Gerardo Torrado has enjoyed a renaissance but they don’t match up with the likes of Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley.

Defenders- Once again, the Americans own this one. Mexico has decent group, led by Rafael Marquez, as well Ricardo Osorio, Carlos Salcido, Aaron Galindo and Hector Moreno, but the potential back four of Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Jonathan Spector is better than any foursome Mexico can trot out.

Goalkeepers- Tim Howard. Enough said.

I’m sure Mexican fans will argue vehemently that Mexico’s forwards are better, midfielders more dangerous and defenders a deeper and more established group, but we’ll just have to disagree.

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WERNER– 1. Who is the cutest WPS player?
2. Which active MLS player would make a great coach?

IVES– 1. Come on Werner, there’s more to female soccer players than looks.

2. I think it’s easy to see Ben Olsen as a coach. He’s a natural-born leader, someone with a personality that would make players gravitate toward him. I’d say he’ll be an MLS head coach in five years.

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GREGG- Are you moving to the PAC NW in 2011?

IVES- I’ve thought about it and it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility. I really loved Seattle, not just the impact the Sounders are having, but the city itself and laid-back vibe there. Plus you have the prospect of living so close to three MLS teams by then in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver.

Truth is I can run SBI from anywhere in the country, but obviously I want to be near the soccer action. Los Angeles is another possibility to move to. I feel like I could do a good job out there covering their teams and people may not realize but California has pulled away from the rest of the country in terms of SBI readership.

All that said, I have a feeling I’ll say in New Jersey. With Red Bull Arena set to open, and the Philadelphia Union also set to open, it will be tough to least where I am. I am an East Coast guy after all.

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MATT- ninjas or pirates

IVES- Ninjas.

LUIS- 1.) Why does bob bradley wait until the last minute to announce rosters?

2.) What would be your letter grade for Bob Bradley (A,B,C,D,or F) and why?

Thanks, and great website!

IVES- As much as fans and media would love to have the rosters earlier in order to dissect and analyze them, it serves the U.S. team no real practical purpose for releasing it earlier. I’m pretty sure players know if they’re going to be called up a few days beforehand because travel arrangements have to be made. I think Bradley waits as long as he possibly can in order to know who’s healthy and definitely available.

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ALEX G- If we win at the Azteca, we are almost in South AFRICA??

IVES- A win in Azteca would probably leave the United States one more win away from qualifying with four matches remaining.

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JJFAD-In your opinion who is the better player right now Mo Edu or Rico Clark? Higher ceiling? Do they both go to South Africa?

IVES- I’d say Clark is better right now but Edu has the higher ceiling. I’m sure some folks will say that Edu is starting for Rangers so he must be better. I would disagree right now, and think Clark will do well in Italy.

That said, Edu is younger and is being exposed to the European game at an earlier age so that will only help him realize his potential that much sooner.

Do both go to the World Cup? Very tough call. If Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones are there, then that leaves, in my opinion, three players for two spots between Clark, Edu and Benny Feilhaber. Clark and Feilhaber have the edge now, but something tells me Edu is in for a big season with Rangers.

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JOHN O’BRIEN- what about John O'Brien!
how long will we have to wait for the John O'Brien interview???

IVES- The Howard Hughes of soccer isn’t an easy guy to get a hold of, but I’ll say this, if I move to Cali I will make it my mission to do a proper full-length interview with him.

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SEISCO- 1)Which US WC squad is stronger, the one from 2006, or the one we will see in 2010?

2)Will Toronto FC ever convert BMO Field to grass? If Columbus' climate can sustain grass I'm pretty sure Toronto's could as well.

3) Will Americans ever call soccer, "football"?

IVES- 1) 2010, deeper and more talented, though not as experienced as 2006.

2. Considering the money TFC is trying to make by raising ticket prices in the future I’d say MLSE is running out of excuses as to why they can’t have grass.

3. No.

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NICK- What do you think the odds are for an MLS team in San Diego?

IVES- Not great, but if Chivas USA’s owners ever got tired of being in MLS I think the chances of San Diego coming aboard would grow. That said, I don’t hear much about prospective ownership groups in San Dliego so I’m not sure who would buy a team there.

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What do you think of these answers? Starting to get pumped up about the match now that it's just one day away?

Share your thoughts below.