casey-conorIt’s a few days late, but we want to recognize that Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey was named to the U.S. Men’s National Team and will compete with them in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Casey was also named the Major League Soccer player of the month in May, according to ColoradoRapids.com.

The U.S. team will take on defending World Cup champion Italy on June 15 at Loftus Versfeld in Tshwane/Pretoria (ESPN, 12:25 p.m. MT). Many people might remember the last time team Italy made headlines around the world, when Zinedine Zidane used his head in a very non-soccer-like play (via YouTube). Chances are it won’t happen again.