There’s your marquee transfer. And we’re not even into the silly season yet. AC Milan’s Brazilian talisman Kaka is off to Real Madrid as Florentino Perez brings his game with a view to bring in Galacticos 2.0. The previous version was Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo, and Luis Figo – this time around could we see, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Villa, and hmm…say Franck Ribery? Who knows but one piece of the puzzle is in but it seems a very steep price. $115 million. Along with that figure, evaluating Perez’s ambitions, it’ll cost at least $150 million to bring in CR7, at least $70 million to bring in Ribery. Will it happen?

Other reported big moves – FC Twente’s trusty left back and Dutch international Edson Braafheid will head to Bayern Munich for $5 million. Birmingham City is busy and ready for EPL survival after picking up 32-year old Ecuadorian Giovany Espinoza (Gooch’s agent, former DC United man Lyle Yorks, is saying that him and the Blues are still deep in discussion). Last but not least, former Manchester City dud Bernardo Corradi was snapped up by Udinese from relegated Reggina.

But forget the transfers for now. With the recent World Cup qualifier results, I can’t tell you how excited and unbelievably nervous I am for the fast approaching Confederations Cup. If you haven’t seen the roster selected, see below:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland ), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

The USMNT arrived in South Africa yesterday as they set up home base in Pretoria until at least June 19th before they leave for Rustenberg to take on Egypt on June 21st. Brazil and Italy’s form as of late speaks for itself – the Brazilians pounced on Uruguay 4-0 in CONMEBOL qualifying while the World Champions brushed Northern Ireland aside, 3-0, in a friendly (with Rossi tallying his first senior international goal).  Egypt is the only squad faltering, especially if they have a view to qualification for South Africa. The African Champions fell 3-1 to Algeria and it wasn’t pretty. The normally potent duo of Amr Zaki and Mohamed Zidan looked exactly the opposite but it could give them good reason to show the world they’re still a team to be feared. Their qualifying campaign, however, will have to sit on hold until July when they face Rwanda and many believe the Confederations Cup only really holds interest if the Egyptians are actually on pace to qualify. With Zambia playing better than they ever have before, Egypt’s early deficit might prove too costly.

Just like the Egyptians, could the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup in July actually prove to be a hindrance to the USMNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign? Probably not considering we sit in a little better position than the Pharaohs but the concern is a real one. With a young squad, there are big expectations to live up to as well. The presence and consistent play of Altidore, Adu, Feilhaber, and Bradley at this level is key to developing a successful team by next summer as well as the same from established veterans like Dempsey (Mr. Invisible at times) and Donovan. Add in Bob Bradley making the right decisions and that’s a lot to live up to on a worldwide stage. As of right now, the consensus is that a lot is left to be desired. What kind of results do you expect or hope for next week? What does Bob Bradley need to do to ensure something comes out of the trip to South Africa? Tinker with the lineup? Change in the longball tactic? Fire himself? (Kidding.)