Soccer Watch

Michael Bradley's midfield steal and 50-yard driven chip of the goalkeeper propelled the U.S. national team to a 1-1 draw with Mexico at the feared Estadio Azteca in World Cup qualifying Sunday; combined with a 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday and other favorable results, the U.S. sits in moderately comfortable third place (three of the six teams qualify), with four games left to play in the fall. They're unbeaten in four WCQ games since Bruce Arena took over as head coach… Elsewhere, there was some drama in Asia, where Iran became the first team to qualify for Russia 2018, and celebrations got mixed up with other tensions rising in the Mideast; meanwhile, the Saudi Arabia team set off a furor when they refused to honor a minute of silence in Australia for victims of the London terror attack… Speaking of which, "Fuck you, I'm Millwall" has become an anti-terror rallying cry in England – that's what Roy Larner told the three knife-wielding attackers as he advanced on them, and eventually drove them out of the restaurant they had run into.

"I was on my own against all three of them; that's why I got hurt so much," Larner later said from the hospital. Millwall is a South London club notorious for its rowdy fan base.

The Confederations Cup kicks off this Sat., June 17, in Russia, as a warm-up for next summer's World Cup, with the champions of all six continents, plus reigning champ Germany and host Russia. Here's the group schedule, with all games live on Fox Sports:

Sat., 10am: Russia-New Zealand. Sun., 10am: Portugal-Mexico; 1pm: Cameroon-Chile. Mon., 10am: Australia-Germany.

Wed., 10am: Russia-Portugal; 1pm: Mexico-New Zealand. Thu., 10am: Cameroon-Australia; 1pm: Germany-Chile.

Sat., 10am: Mexico-Russia, New Zealand-Portugal; 1pm: Cameroon-Germany, Chile-Australia.