The United States Men's national soccer team starts the final round of World Cup Qualifying against their biggest and most (more?) talented rivals a week from tomorrow. I think this article may go a little too far, but the competition between "my" country and Mexico is certainly fun to watch and very evenly matched.
I do believe that Brazil vs Argentina is the biggest rivalry in international soccer, but I cannot think of many more that would qualify as bigger than USA vs Mexico.
Mexico is coming in having played very poorly during the previous round of qualifying, going winless (1 draw, 2 losses) in their final 3 games. Sven Goran Erikson had always seemed like a strange hire to me; these latest results sure haven't changed that opinion. Some of their top players (or rather, most hyped players) haven't been playing for their European club teams. Carlos Vela, Giovanni Dos Santos, Guillermo Franco, and Nery Castillo have been, at best, occasional starters for their club sides. That isn't good for their confidence or skill sharpness.
That being said, the United States' players comes in with playing problems of their own:
Heath Pearce: rarely leaves the bench for a Bundesliga.2 side.
Damarcus Beasley: doesn't even make anymore the bench for Rangers
Maurice Edu: this guy seemed like the real deal six months ago, but since moving to Rangers, he too has disappeared.
Jozy Altidore: moving to Villareal was definitely a good career move, but having him sitting on the bench for 4 months doesn't help the USMNT.
Landon Donovan: has said many times that he doesn't travel well. He didn't impress me at all during his brief playing time against Hamburg. As he's a guy with fragile confidence, I hope he and Juergen Klinsmann saw more positives than I.
Steve Cherundolo: He's been out with injury for a month at least now. We have a capable backup in Frankie Hejduk (woot!!), so this loss isn't as big a deal.
I can't say that I follow the Mexican players close enough to give a starting lineup. Here is my best guess at the US lineup next Wednesday, barring further injuries in the training camp:
----------------Howard---------------
Hejduk--Bocanegra--Onyewu--Pearce
-----------Bradley----Clark-----------
Dempsey----------------------Beasley
---------Donovan----------------------
--------------------Ching--------------
Bradley has, historically, not thrown any surprise lineups in big games, despite club form. The US has owned Mexico in home WCQ qualifying matches recently, but our left side in particular is a big worry. We may not win....
Jose Fransisco Torres is too green to start for Beasley, I think. Bornstein was at fault for the two US goals conceded against Sweden, so I doubt he'll start over Pearce. Kljestan had a great match against Sweden, but he isn't as defensive minded as Clark. It wouldn't shock me if he started over Rico, though.
We're not the best soccer country in the world, but this is my team, so I'll still be watching, despite my fears.
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