Altidore dedicates his goal to the people of Haiti

I am really glad to see Jozy Altidore get regular minutes and so must Bob Bradley.

He seems to have worked his way back into Phil Brown's good books after being benched for tardiness.

This comes in the wake of the terrible devastation and loss of life inflicted on Haiti by the earthquake. Altidore was especially affected as his parents come from that country. He still has relatives who proved difficult to locate because communications were cut off. Phil Brown, showing a softer side to his hard nosed image granted him leave on compassionate grounds if Altidore decided to go back and aid in the search.

Altidore maintained his connection with the island nation even before this tragedy, traveling back with singer Wyclef Jean in 2006 on a charity mission with Jean's organization Yele Haiti.

"Without Haiti, I wouldn't even be here and I'm very grateful," Altidore said. "I remember going and seeing the youngest children roaming the streets with nothing to eat, but they still had smiles on their faces, running after footballs, dancing to music.

"To see what I see on TV of devastation is very heartbreaking."

So it is heart warming to see Altidore dedicate his goal to the people of Haiti. He wears an armband that has the flag of Haiti and the USA every time he steps on the pitch.

"I wear it [the wristband] every game, it has the Haitian flag on it and the American flag," he told BBC Sport. "It was really emotional for me because of what's going on in Haiti."

"I dedicate the goal to them and hope they can smile to see one of their own doing well."

if you have not yet contributed and would like to contribute for the first time or like to contribute further- here is Soccerblog's link to the organizations that are helping in the Haitian relief work. They still need help on a massive scale.