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02 June 2010
Well, the USA Mens National team headed to the World Cup has finally been named. There were no huge surprises, just a couple small ones. It's a team with a range of styles and backgrounds, and it occurs to me that not everyone is a soccer fanboy like me. So, here's everything you need to know about all 23 guys headed to South Africa. And remember, they have a friendly against Austrailia this Saturday (6/5) and then the first World Cup game vs England is Saturday (6/12). Schedule your lives accordingly.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you your US Mens National Team 2010. (Ordered by their jersey numbers, click on each name for a picture of the player in question)
1- Tim Howard (Goal Keeper) - The undisputed best player on the team. Is it odd to have your best player be the goalie? Not for the US. Howard has been playing for Everton in the EPL for years now and is consistently considered one of the better keepers in England. He's big and athletic, could have played college basketball and has a commanding presence. Oh, and he has a mild form of Tourette syndrome which makes him even more bad ass. There's every reason to believe Timmy will have a massive World Cup, but if he doesn't the US team might have some long American faces at the end of the tournament.
2 - Jonathan Spector (Defender) - One of the other Americans playing in England, Spector plays for West Ham United in London. They're a Premier League club, but they seem to be barely avoiding relegation almost every year. He originally signed with Manchester United, but didn't quite develop into a Man U caliber player. Got a lot of starts this season against top-quality opponents, but it felt like a lot of those were by default. He's still young (24) so he could develop, but this round at the World Cup might just be a little over his head. Also, I've chosen him as "most likely to play Dungeons & Dragons."
(Click Read More. Go ahead. Do it.)
3- Carlos Bocanegra (D) (Captain) - As much as the British press want to say it's Landon Donovan, Carlos is the captain. 'Los (as he lets me call him) plies his trade in France currently but he played a few years in the EPL as well. He's got a lot of experience and is fearless. He's probably more of a central defender but will most likely play left fullback for the USA due to a lack of alternatives at that position. Also, he scored this awesome goal against Honduras during qualifying that could easily have earned him some cleat marks on his face, but somehow didn't. I've linked to a picture of Bocanegra playing for the USA but just a warning: if you google image search him, beware there's an excess of him mugging for the camera dreamboat-style.
4- Michael Bradley (Midfielder) - If you follow US soccer at all, you know Bradley is the coach Bob Bradley's son. But there's a whole lot more than that. Bradley is only 22 and has been playing in Europe for four years now (currently in Germany). It's a safe bet to say Bradley will be the best field player and the captain by the time World Cup 2014 rolls around. Not really a bold prediction by me though, since he's one of the five best players on the team already. MB does all the dirty work in the center of the field, making tackles controlling the flow of the game, and occasionally playing the hockey "enforcer" role. Hasn't mastered the Tim Duncan "Who, me?" face but give him time. Plus, he chips in the occasional goal of his own. Personally, I can't wait to see how his career goes.
5- Oguchi Onyewu (D) - Easily the the most frightening player in terms of size and stature on the roster at 6-4 and built like a tight end, Gooch signed a deal with one of the most popular clubs in the world last fall, AC Milan, only to rupture his Patella tendon in a World Cup qualifier not long after. After missing the rest of the season, he extended his contract this spring and agreed to play the last year for free. Good dude. He's still knocking the rust off after his surgery which will be an ongoing story. Also, he gave Mexico's Jared Borgetti one of my favorite "don't mess with me" looks of all time in this video (25 second mark). His tournament could go either way. Size is his strength but speed, um, isn't.
6- Steve Cherundolo (D) - The Matt Saracen (from Friday Night Lights) look-alike is one of the few grizzled veterans on this squad. Cherundolo has spent his entire career playing in Germany. Last summer/fall, SaracenCherundolo looked like he was out of the picture with injuries, and didn't have much chance to contribute to the qualifying campaign. But, he got healthy and looks like the clear best choice at right fullback. His decision making, coupled with a few just shockingly poor plays by Spector in the warm-up friendlies have made him the likely starter. Also, don't forget about his boyish good looks.
7- DaMarcus Beasley (M) - Aka "Da Beez" or "Run DMB", the pride of Gary, IN is a natural left footed player, which is a rare trait and has really helped to extend his career. It's not quite to the point of being a leftie specialist pitcher, but it's close. Beasley barely played for his club team Glasgow Rangers this season, so it's somewhat surprising he's here. He's a veteran and Bob Bradley must be looking for depth at left midfield. Who knows if Da Beez will even play.
8- Clint Dempsey (M) - There's so much to say about Dempsey it's hard to know where to start. The best place has to be the "Don't Tread" music video (which really deserves a post of its own). All I can say is "What a'do?" Clint is a different kind of USA player. He came from working-class background in west Texas and has always had that particular type of work ethic that's accompanied by a chip on his shoulder. Dempsey plays at Fulham in the EPL and has had, then lost the won his starting job through a number of manager changes. He just keeps busting his ass. The other thing to look out for with Dempsey, is his particular ability to rise to the occasion and score the sort of magical goals that the USA has really missed in the past. (See this goal against Italian powerhouse Juventis).
9- Herculez Gomez (Forward) - The first forward on the list is also probably the most unlikely story to make this squad. Honestly, I don't know much about Gomez, but both of his names end in 'z' which is awesome. What I do know: Gomez played in MLS, but was a flop (1 goal in 34 games). Then, he went and played in Mexico where he miraculously led the league in scoring (10 goals in 14 games). I guess that's how you win a place on the squad.
10- Landon Donovan (M) - Donovan is easily the most polarizing American player around. People who hate him think he's a Nancy and call him Landycakes. People who watch the games can see that Landon is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) American soccer player of all time. He has more goals and more assists in a USA
jersey than any player in US Soccer history. More than any player, this World Cup will be an incitment on Donovan's career. The USA had a poor cup in 2006 and Donovan took a lot of the credit for that. This is his time to prove the doubters wrong.
11- Stuart Holden (M) - Holden is another young player with a ton of promise. Just this spring, he moved from the MLS to Bolton in the EPL and immediately got some playing time. Holden was born in Scotland, but grew up in the states, so he had the option of playing for either country, but chose the USA. Also, he went to play in England once a few years ago but he got beat up and his eye socket fractured while waiting for a cab, which resulted in his putting off the European adventure for a few years.
12- Jonathan Bornstein (D) - Remember what I said about left sided players with DaMarcus Beasley? Well, Bornstein is the same story except at left fullback. His last three games have been friendlies (exhibitions) against the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Turkey. He started the first two and was directly responsible for giving up goals. In the third, he came on for a half an hour and looked panicked the whole time. Bornstein is the epitome of an outstanding MLS player who is just not at the caliber to compete at the level of the World Cup. Let's just hope he doesn't have to play any meaningful minutes. (Side note: Johnny B scored the goal in qualifying that put Honduras into the Cup. If I were him I'd already be vacation home shopping.)
13- Ricardo Clark (M) -I'm completely bipolar on Rico Clark. On the one hand, he's put in some good, if unspectacular, performances for the national team and scored a big goal against Trinidad & Tobago in qualifying. On the other hand, he has a tendency to let his temper get away from him and make some really F-ing stupid mistakes. Take for example this clip from his days with the Houston Dynamo when he decided to try to dropkick Carlos Ruiz. That one got him a nine game suspension. Last summer he got a red card in a Confederations Cup game against Italy on a boneheaded tackle. In other words: I'm not sure I trust him.
14- Edson Buddle (F) - Buddle got off to a hot start and leads the MLS in scoring. Plus, he plays for the LA Galaxy with Landon Donovan. Those two facts combined the USA's complete lack of depth at forward got him invited to training camp. Oh, and according to his Wikipedia page, Edson was named after Pelé whose given name is Edison Arantes do Nascimento.
15- Jay DeMerit (D) -DeMerit just seems like a great guy. He easily took one of the most unconventional path to this world cup. Check out this New York Times Goal Blog post about him from last summer. From undrafted to captain of his club in England. It's really an incredible story. As for his role on the team, he's almost assured to start whether that's because Onyewu is still recovering from his injury or Bocanegra is playing left back. (Plus, I've named him most likely to show up to the stadium in a leisure suit).
16- Jose Torres (M) -Jose plays in Mexico for one of the traditional Mexican powerhouse teams Pachuca. They call him "El Gringo" which I'm sure is a bit strange for a Mexican-American. Torres is another young talent on the team. That he was able to go to Mexico and get minutes for a team like Pachuca in his early 20's is a huge accomplishment. He could have played for Mexico, but chose the USA, which is great. Anytime we can stick it to our biggest rivals, I'm excited. Torres played the second half in the Turkey friendly game on Saturday and was one of the key players in the 2-1 comeback win. It will be very interesting to see what Bob Bradley chooses to do with him.
17- Jozy Altidore (F) -Here is our potentially winning lottery ticket. The US has never produced a top quality striker with the talent that Jozy has. He's only 20 years old, but you'd never guess it to look at him. He shows flashes of the sort of creativity and skill that could make him something truly special. He moved to Europe two years ago and has already played in Spain and England. If Jozy gets loose this tournament, it could mean big, big things for him and the US squad. (And I would get to yell "Jozy got loooooose!!")
18- Brad Guzan (GK) - One of the backup keepers. Plays at Aston Villa in the EPL. Won't play unless there's an injury or a group game that doesn't matter. Not much else to see here, moving on...
19- Maurice Edu (M) - I wonder how often people get Edu confused with Freddy Adu? Does that get annoying? I bet it does since Maurice is a far superior player. He plays for Glasgow Rangers, but played a lot more than Da Beez this year. In fact, he scored the winning goal in one of the games against their hated intra-city rivals Celtic in the 93rd minute this season. Massive stuff. Watch it here.
20- Robbie Findley (F) - Every squad has that one guy who nobody expected to make the team. This go-round, Findley is that guy. What do I know about him? Ummm... he plays for Real Salt Lake in MLS, and I don't think he's a Mormon. He's fast and apparently Bob Bradley likes him.
21- Clarence Goodson (D) - Tall, skinny, lanky guy who plays central defense in Norway. Clarence has established himself in Europe, but well it's Norway. Not exactly a power league. He's a serviceable backup and has a tendency to get his head on the ball on free kicks and corner kicks, but he probably won't see the pitch much barring a drastic change of plans.
22- Benny Feilhaber (M) - Get this, sports fans: Feilhaber was actually born in Brazil. That's right, we've got a Brazilian! Well, not really, Benny moved to the states as a kid, but he does occasionally have a little touch of Brazilian in him. He has the occasional flare for the dramatic. See: Gold Cup 2007 goal that gave USA the victory over Mexico in the final. Note the Spanish language announcer's use of the term "goalazo" which roughly translates to "goal that just gave me a funny feeling in my pants."
23- Marcus Hahnemann (GK) - The elder statesman of the group (and it's not even close), Hahnemann didn't start getting caps until late in his career. He has played in England for over a decade and this past season at Wolverhampton was easily one of his best, despite being 37. I'm sure Hahnemann and Guzan will have a heated battle in practice for backup GK, but here's hoping we never have to learn the outcome.
After all that, my starting lineup prediction: Howard, Cherundelo, Onyewu, DeMerit, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Bradley, Edu, Donovan, Altidore, Findley, with the only question marks being Edu and Findley.
(If you made it to the end of this one, congratulations. Leave a comment. Do it.)
