I'm not going to lie, I was excited when I heard that the US National Team was going to play a World Cup Qualifying match in RFK Stadium...and I was even more excited when I got tickets. I think the excitment just escalated to a new level today when the roster was announced for the game:
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock).
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca).
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Hammarby) Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy).
A win on the 11th for the US in this group maintains momentum and will allow Bradley to bring in some younger players if he wants for the last two games because the US will have clinched a spot for the fourth round. Looking at this roster I get the impression that Bradley wants to keep the pressure on and isn't going to take anything for granted even in later rounds of the CONCACAF WC qualifiers.
Point being, the 2006 FIFA World Cup was disappointing for the US (or at least it was for me as a fan). Maybe our ranking was a bit over the top, but we did only score one goal on our own in three games (OG v Italy - though it was a great game). USA Soccer is moving past the point where it's great to qualify, now momentum is building behind the next generation of expectations - to make it consistently out of the group stages and that outings like South Korea are commonplace and not a surprise. The road to South Africa continues next Saturday as the United States will trounce Cuba with its democratic ideologies and allows 4 Cubans to defect.
1 comment:
This will be a fun game, I think we will get to see the starters in the same lineups that we've seen, which I was surprised about, I mean it is cuba and we are pretty much assured at getting to the next round. The only knock on Bruce Arena was that he stuck to his guns and the guys he was comfortable with (which, I mean, is another discussion in itself) and its pretty apparent Coach Bradley has found a clear group of guys that he's comfortable with and continues to use... now I don't think this is a problem, because he needs to get them to be completely comfortable playing his style together as a unit.
The keeper choices are solid and it will be a homecoming for Troy Perkins, not sure if he will get an playing time. Would like to see Guzan get some minutes if they could get him there as he hasn't really gotten minutes under brad friedel.
Then you've got the central pairing of Boca and Gooch, with Dolo and I'm gonna guess Heath Pearce as the wing back positions. I would like to see Orozco get some senior minutes.
Midfielders - really have a bunch of options here that i like. Beasley is really getting back to form every game that he plays in, and they really need him there on the team. though dempsey is listed as forward, I think he will be playing on the right flank (beasley on the left flank). That would put the central midfield with coach's son (mike bradley) and I would say Sacha Kljestan, which I really like. It is interesting to always see Mike Bradley on the field, granted he is a really solid ball winner that we need behind a sacha and landon, and I think yeah he's shown that it could definitely be his spot, but he has shown a knack for giving the ball away. I think Mauric Edu deserves a start at some point to show how he coudl take on that role.
This leaves Landycakes to roam free (between the central midfielders and behind the target striker) which is what the US needs, let him be the playmaker. The target striker is the issue, right now its Brian Ching, but I am doubtful this is the solution up top. If Jozy could be that, it would be great. Davies would be a great sub off the bench, and having played against him personally, his athletic ability match up really well with his foot skills. he's not as big as altidore, but he's definitely strong and compact. I think Jozy needs to get as many minutes as possible because he could be the guy. Now with the regular starters getting healthy at Villareal, it is going to be harder for him to crack the lineup.
Adu is probably more suited for the landon role than he is for the role to replace sacha, but this is another story. He's definitely growing.
I see the United States winning 4 nothing, 2 goals for landon, 1 for dempsey, and 1 for boca or Sacha I haven't decided.
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