ASN is headed to the World Cup in South Africa as a fully-credentialed member of the written press. Our primary purpose is to cover the U.S. Men’s National Team for this site in as much depth and breadth as humanly possible.

What this means for you, the reader:

• Wall-to-wall World Cup coverage in this space and on the ASN home page (in that order of priority) starting when the team is announced to its final game at the tournament. Perhaps even after that, depending on logistics.
• Up-to-the-second updates via Twitter. We are rolling out a separate account that will be used specifically for this purpose. Stay tuned for details.
• Exclusive interviews from the post match mixed zone, to be posted on our YouTube page (where available) as well as on this site.
• In depth match coverage, including dissemination of tactics and player ratings.
• More exclusive items to be announced

For advertisers, the possibilities for exposure are many and varied. Contact our ad support staff to discuss.

In addition, ASN’s Nathaniel Baker will be a regular contributor to the Marketwatch World Cup blog. Keep an eye out for his first story in the coming days.

The New York Red Bulls could build a training facility in Harrison, N.J., ASN has learned. Harrison mayor Raymond McDonough met with the team’s general manager Erik Stover earlier this week where the topic was discussed at some length, according to an individual familiar with the matter. The facility would be built inside Harrison city lines and not necessarily in the immediate vicinity of Red Bull Arena. No further details were available. A call to Stover was not immediately returned Friday.

The team announced plans to build a six-field facility in Hanover, N.J., in August 2007 with “an anticipated completion date of December 2008”. However little has been heard of the facility since the original announcement and Big Apple Soccer reported March 16 that other options, including one adjacent to Red Bull Arena, were being considered.

In the meantime, the team continues to train in Montclair, N.J., an arrangement that has reportedly irked their head coach. Hans Backe last week told the New York Post that a better training ground is vital if the team is to attract additional designated players, which it is now permitted to do under just-announced MLS rule changes.

Just the latest way in which ASN seeks to help out the community of U.S. soccer fans. Behold a full schedule of all USMNT matches this year. Game previews and match reports will be added to the calendar item once available. The calendar will be updated if there are changes, or as events are added. If you have any other ideas or features you want to see added, please suggest them in the comment area below.

Get the ical app here. The G-cal follows:

Have you been getting ready since the MLS Cup or earlier? You’ll need to get the schedule if we are going to break another attendance record Seattle! That’s OUR attendance record BTW.

Here’s the Google Calendar for the Seattle Sounders 2010 Season. Also available for download. 2010 Sounders Schedule .ics

The New York Red Bulls front office was slow in putting one of these together, so ASN took it on ourselves. Hopefully this will work properly. If not please be advised that a) I’ve never done this before and b) it was done in great haste before anybody else could. (Even so somebody else might have beaten us to the punch). Anyway here goes nothing:

Get the ical here. G-cal below.

Stuart Holden is not going to be a Bolton Wanderer. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be back with the Houston Dynamo in 2010. The latest reports indicate Holden is bound for Portugal’s Sporting Braga. Do you expect him to return to the Dynamo in time for the season? Or for that matter, at any point in 2010? Vote in the poll and defend your choice in the comment area below it.

[polldaddy poll=2519359]

2009 was another disappointing campaign for the Kansas City Wizards. Now it appears one of the few bright spots from last season, Kei Kamara, could move to France. There are question marks surrounding the new stadium and on a coach, though if nothing else Octavio Zambrano (hired in a not-precisely-determined capacity last month) can certainly take the reins.

A lot to discuss. Here is your place to do it.