Now that we’re inside of the 48 hour mark before the first kickoff of this year’s World Cup and if you’re like us, you’re getting really twitchy, possibly irritable and having a really hard time concentrating at work or school. For those of you rooting for the US MNT or rooting against England (we’re looking at you Scotland) ESPN Classic is serving up a great line up of classic World Cup matches that should at least get you through today.

The theme today… great US victories and brutal England defeats. We likey! On to the lineup…

2:30 PM – 2002 USA vs. Mexico

Brian McBride and Landon Donovan each netted a goal as the US beat Mexico when it counted to advance to the quarter-finals in a gritty match that ended with 10 yellows and a red.

4:30 PM – 2002 USA vs. Portugal

The US surprise the soccer world with a massive 3-2 win over Portugal in their opening match of the 2002 World Cup.

6:30 PM – 1998 England vs. Argentina

England lose in penalty kicks in a match famous for the red card that Diego Simeone goaded David Beckham into and the disallowed goal in the dying minutes.

8:30 PM – 1994 USA vs. Columbia

Hosts US eliminate Colombia from the World Cup with a 2-1 victory that was aided by an Andres Escobar own-goal. Sadly Escobar was murdered not long after his return to Medellin.

10:30 PM – 1986 England vs. Argentina

Hand of God. Need we say more? Well we will… this is also the match when Diego Maradona scored the greatest goal in World Cup history marauding 60 meters to score having started from inside his own half.

(All times are US EDT)

The United States Mens National Team play their final match on home soil before shipping off to South Africa.  Fans are hoping for a better performance than they saw on Tuesday vs. the Czech Republic who dropped a 4-2 pounding on the Americans in Hartford.  Saturday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia promises to be an improvement now that Bob Bradley has set the final 23 man roster.

Over 48,000 tickets have already been sold and US Soccer is making a big last day push to sell more.  The weather is expected to be around 80 degrees and sunny which should be perfect conditions for fans looking to tailgate before and after the sendoff match

The American’s  first round opponent England play host Group E hopeful Japan at UPZ Arena in Graz, Austria on Sunday.  This is the final match before Fabio Capello announces his final 23 man roster.  It remains to be see if he will play a lineup close to what might feature in South Africa or if he will sit the players already assured of their ticket to SA and give more time to players on the fence.  There has also been a lot of talk on the internet that Capello might return to a 4-4-2 formation after England performed poorly playing a 3-5-2 in their 3-1 win over Mexico at Wembley earlier in the week.

International Friendlies On TV This Weekend:

SATURDAY 5/29

• USA vs. Turkey – 2pm on ESPN2 and Galavision

• Hungary vs. Germany – 3pm on ESPN3

• Spain vs. Saudi Arabia – 3pm on ESPN3

SUNDAY 5/30

• England vs Japan – 8am on FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Soccer Channel Espanol

• Paraguay vs. Ivory Coast – 2pm on ESPN3

• Chile vs. Northern Ireland – 4pm on ESPN3

• Chicago Fire vs AC Milan  – 8:30 pm on FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Soccer Channel Espanol

Well it’s finally here!  After three years of qualifying Bob Bradley has announced the 23 players who will be on the plane to South Africa for the World Cup.  Hopefully this means we’ll see more coherent performances from the boys in the next two warm up matches.  The first is this Saturday vs. Turkey in Philadelphia.  The second is against Australia in South Africa.  So now, without further Adu ado…

US MNT FINAL WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)

DEFENDERS

Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS

DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers),  Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton),  José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS

Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla)

Not too many surprises but no Eddie Johnson!

A lot will be on the line tonight as the U.S. takes on Czech Republic at 8 p.m. ET at Renstchler Field in East Hartford, CT. It could be the last match before USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley announces the 23 players who will represent the United States at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

This will be the first of three warm-up matches before the World Cup begins next month and is the first of two so-called “Send-Off Series” games in the United States. On Saturday, May 29th the US MNT will also face Turkey in Philadelphia and during the pre-tournament training camp in South Africa the will face off against Australia on June 5 at Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort.

USA ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)

DEFENDERS

Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS

DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS

Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

CZECH REPUBLIC ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS

Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobny (Hertha Berlin), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipropetrovsk)

DEFENDERS

Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), David Limbersky (Plzen), Ondrej Mazuch (Anderlecht), Ondrej Kusnir (Sparta Prague), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchy (Spartak Moscow)

MIDFIELDERS

Jaroslav Cerny (Slavia Prague), Milan Cerny (Slavia Prague), Mario Holek (Dnipropetrovsk), Jan Moravek (Schalke), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Jan Polak (Anderlecht), Daniel Pudil (Genk), Libor Sionko (Sparta Prague), Rudolf Skacel (Larissa)

FORWARDS

Martin Fenin (Frankfurt), David Lafata (Liberec), Lukas Magera (Timisoara), Tomas Necid (CSKA Moscow)

USA vs. Czech Republic will be live on TV at 8 pm EDT.