2014 World Cup Cycle Begins!
On Friday 6/8 the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) begins their arduous trek to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Qualifying lasts 16 games and runs from 6/8/12 to 10/15/13. First up will be Antigua & Barbuda (144 SPI rank) in Tampa at 4 PM Pacific on ESPN followed by an away match against Guatemala (76) at 7 PM Pacific on pay-per-view ($29.95). Qualifying resumes on 9/7 at Jamaica (61) and 9/11 against Jamaica in Columbus at 5 PM Pacific on ESPN2. The final two matches of the third round (the USMNT gets to skip the first two rounds based on their ranking (32) within CONCACAF) will be at Antigua & Barbuda on 10/12 and 10/16 against Guatemala in Kansas City at 4 PM Pacific on ESPN2.
The USMNT just completed a series of three friendlies to warm up for qualifying and for the most part they looked pretty good (I watched every minute of play in all three). First up was Scotland (45) on 5/26 in Jacksonville where the USMNT rolled 5-1 behind a hat-trick from Landon Donovan. In this match Coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s boys flashed a fluid attacking style that was a big departure from former Coach Bob Bradley’s more measured style of play.
Next up was Brazil’s Under-23 side (they were preparing for the Olympics) on 5/30 in Landover where we lost 1-4. The score didn’t indicate our quality however as the referee did us no favors nor did our finishing as we missed several point blank chances.
The final tune up was a 0-0 draw on 6/3 in Toronto against a Canadian side that sat back, played defense and made it so we couldn’t string three passes together. Of course we were playing our third match in nine days as opposed to Canada (58) playing their first game since 2/29 so fatigue may have played a factor.
When it comes down to whom the starting 11 should be this Friday I first have to mention who isn’t on the roster. Timothy Chandler (22 years old) opted to skip these five matches to “rest” (read the link to see why I used quotes), Juan Agudelo (19) was cut from the final 23, Brek Shea (22) wasn’t even named due to several issues and Eric Lichaj (23) was left off as well. Obviously Tim Howard will be our goalie but the four in front of him is up for debate.
Captain Carlos Bocanegra will start in the middle and I think Clarence Goodson has to be beside him. Oguchi Onyewu has never been the same since he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee on 10/14/09 and I don’t see that changing any time soon since he’s now recovering from a torn ligament and meniscus in his right knee suffered on 2/19. On the left side Fabian Johnson has to start unless his right calf isn’t fully healed by first kick. On the right side Steve Cherundolo will probably be Klinsmann’s choice but I’d go with Edgar Castillo for a few reasons; he’s 7 years younger, has more pace and is far more dangerous coming forward. Whoever doesn’t start out of Cherundolo and Castillo should be the first defender off the bench followed by Michael Parkhurst and Onyewu.
Since I don’t know what type of formation Jürgen will deploy I’m going to combine the midfielders and forwards. I don’t think there’s much question that Donovan, Clint Dempsey (17 Premier League goals for Fulham this season, tied 4th overall) and Michael Bradley will start. After those three there can be some debate but I think Maurice Edu will join Bradley in the central midfield and Jermaine Jones will play out wide opposite of Donovan or Dempsey. I would give the final spot to Jozy Altidore (15 Eredivisie goals for AZ Alkmaar this season, tied 7th overall) but Klinsmann may prefer Jose Torres or Herculez Gomez. Another option would be to put Johnson in the midfield out wide and move Jones inside with Bradley benching Edu (to get Castillo on the field). Assuming Jürgen won’t be that bold my first midfielder/forward off the pine would be Torres followed by Gomez then Terrence Boyd.
I expect this version of the USMNT to beat Antigua & Barbuda handily, hopefully running up the score in the process to pad their goal differential (the first tie-breaker if points are equal). The Guatemala match will be the first “big” game of the Klinsmann era and I’m more than a little concerned about it. If we play like we did against Scotland and Brazil a draw (always the objective on the road in World Cup qualifying) is certainly possible. But if we play like we did against Canada an embarrassing loss to Los Chapines is not out of the question.
The top two from each group in the third round advance to the final round hexagonal where the top three advance to the World Cup. Fourth place in CONCACAF will then play first place in OFC (likely New Zealand) in the Inter-Confederation playoffs for the right to move on to Brazil.
Third Round CONCACAF (SPI)
Group A
USA 32
Jamaica 61
Guatemala 76
Antigua & Barbuda 144
Group B
Mexico 8
Costa Rica 39
El Salvador 93
Guyana 123
Group C (Death)
Honduras 46
Panama 52
Canada 58
Cuba 115
My picks to advance are in red.
The USMNT just completed a series of three friendlies to warm up for qualifying and for the most part they looked pretty good (I watched every minute of play in all three). First up was Scotland (45) on 5/26 in Jacksonville where the USMNT rolled 5-1 behind a hat-trick from Landon Donovan. In this match Coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s boys flashed a fluid attacking style that was a big departure from former Coach Bob Bradley’s more measured style of play.
Next up was Brazil’s Under-23 side (they were preparing for the Olympics) on 5/30 in Landover where we lost 1-4. The score didn’t indicate our quality however as the referee did us no favors nor did our finishing as we missed several point blank chances.
The final tune up was a 0-0 draw on 6/3 in Toronto against a Canadian side that sat back, played defense and made it so we couldn’t string three passes together. Of course we were playing our third match in nine days as opposed to Canada (58) playing their first game since 2/29 so fatigue may have played a factor.
When it comes down to whom the starting 11 should be this Friday I first have to mention who isn’t on the roster. Timothy Chandler (22 years old) opted to skip these five matches to “rest” (read the link to see why I used quotes), Juan Agudelo (19) was cut from the final 23, Brek Shea (22) wasn’t even named due to several issues and Eric Lichaj (23) was left off as well. Obviously Tim Howard will be our goalie but the four in front of him is up for debate.
Captain Carlos Bocanegra will start in the middle and I think Clarence Goodson has to be beside him. Oguchi Onyewu has never been the same since he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee on 10/14/09 and I don’t see that changing any time soon since he’s now recovering from a torn ligament and meniscus in his right knee suffered on 2/19. On the left side Fabian Johnson has to start unless his right calf isn’t fully healed by first kick. On the right side Steve Cherundolo will probably be Klinsmann’s choice but I’d go with Edgar Castillo for a few reasons; he’s 7 years younger, has more pace and is far more dangerous coming forward. Whoever doesn’t start out of Cherundolo and Castillo should be the first defender off the bench followed by Michael Parkhurst and Onyewu.
Since I don’t know what type of formation Jürgen will deploy I’m going to combine the midfielders and forwards. I don’t think there’s much question that Donovan, Clint Dempsey (17 Premier League goals for Fulham this season, tied 4th overall) and Michael Bradley will start. After those three there can be some debate but I think Maurice Edu will join Bradley in the central midfield and Jermaine Jones will play out wide opposite of Donovan or Dempsey. I would give the final spot to Jozy Altidore (15 Eredivisie goals for AZ Alkmaar this season, tied 7th overall) but Klinsmann may prefer Jose Torres or Herculez Gomez. Another option would be to put Johnson in the midfield out wide and move Jones inside with Bradley benching Edu (to get Castillo on the field). Assuming Jürgen won’t be that bold my first midfielder/forward off the pine would be Torres followed by Gomez then Terrence Boyd.
I expect this version of the USMNT to beat Antigua & Barbuda handily, hopefully running up the score in the process to pad their goal differential (the first tie-breaker if points are equal). The Guatemala match will be the first “big” game of the Klinsmann era and I’m more than a little concerned about it. If we play like we did against Scotland and Brazil a draw (always the objective on the road in World Cup qualifying) is certainly possible. But if we play like we did against Canada an embarrassing loss to Los Chapines is not out of the question.
The top two from each group in the third round advance to the final round hexagonal where the top three advance to the World Cup. Fourth place in CONCACAF will then play first place in OFC (likely New Zealand) in the Inter-Confederation playoffs for the right to move on to Brazil.
Third Round CONCACAF (SPI)
Group A
USA 32
Jamaica 61
Guatemala 76
Antigua & Barbuda 144
Group B
Mexico 8
Costa Rica 39
El Salvador 93
Guyana 123
Group C (Death)
Honduras 46
Panama 52
Canada 58
Cuba 115
My picks to advance are in red.
posted by D$ at 4:01 PM
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