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| Current USMNT Manager Jurgen Klinsmann |
Amateur Analysis is a new piece where we'll be breaking down teams/clubs/players, and give our opinions on them. We are in no way professional writers, so it's obviously going to be our thoughts which have little credibility. Just pure opinion and feeling. Off we go!
Yesterday at around 12:00 pm, we finally were given the much anticipated USMNT roster for the upcoming 2014 World Cup Qualifying games vs. Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala. Manager Jurgen Klinsmann called up his 24 man squad with a few notable and shocking decisions. But before we get into those choices, here is the list of the squad currently going through training, per US Soccer:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Michael Bradley (AS Roma), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Alan Gordon (San Jose Earthquakes), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos)
And there you have it. This is the team that will be facing A&B on October 12, then turnaround and play Guatemala Oct. 16 and see where they stack up in their CONCACAF group.
A few comments and notes that I’d like to share about this roster:
- GOALKEEPERS: Pretty standard. Tim Howard has always been the man, and just in case something happens to him, the reserves are good enough to get by.
- DEFENDERS: Also pretty standard. Glad to see Captain Bocanegra with us, and hopefully they won’t allow any goals in this WCQ run.
- MIDFIELDERS: I’m really excited to get Michael Bradley back. He’s definitely been missed, and I know that an in-form Bradley can really help the team. Kind of surprised Brek Shea is in this squad though. Isn’t he hurt?
- FORWARDS: Here is where I’m confused. Landon Donovan legitimately got hurt in his last match and has to get medical tests, yet he’s still picked? I really hope his injury is as serious as it first seemed. I’m also surprised as to the omission of Jozy Altidore. Yeah, his calendar year in a USMNT kit hasn’t been great, but he’s been fantastic in the Dutch League this season. He’s full of confidence, why not give him one last shot? And finally, GORDON OVER WONDO? I haven’t really been impressed by Wondolowski on an international level at all, but still, when the second best forward on your club team gets the selection over you, something seems fishy about it.
Well, those are my opinions of the current selection of USMNT guys for this WCQ. What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments.
Photo via ussoccer
