General

USA Goes Into The Smoggy Maw Of Azteca

Aug 11, 2009, 8:31 PM UTC

â†µâ†µThe last game. Ended 5-0 Mexico, breaking an ancient non-losing streak for the U.S. on home soil. It also does not matter, as at most one member of that USA team will start tomorrow and at most three will even play. Yes, Mexico also sent something of a B team, but that’s something to be worried about in 2014, not tomorrow. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe roster. The U.S. has called in a roster virtually identical to the one that got to the Confederations Cup final, with only a few insertions and deletions: DaMarcus Beasley, Freddie Adu, Heath Pearce and Sacha Kljestan are out. Chad Marshall, Stuart Holden, Brian Ching and Steve Cherundolo are in. That’s a roster in line with recent performances except for the inclusion of Conor Casey over Kenny Cooper, who scored 17 minutes into his Munich 1860 career, but either one would be the fourth- or fifth-choice forward, depending on what you consider Clint Dempsey, and it doesn’t make much sense to pull a guy in from Europe if he’s not going to play, especially when he’s just finding his footing at a new club. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe lineup. The universal assumption going in is that the USA will deploy the same backline it did late in the Confederations Cup: Carlos Bocanegra and Jonathan Spector on the outside, Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu in the center. In the midfield, Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley are locks with new Livorno player Rico Clark and Benny Feilhaber battling for the last spot. On the road at smoggy altitude in a situation in which the USA would be happy enough to bunker for a tie, you have to think Clark will get the nod with Feilhaber entering in the second half if the U.S. needs a goal. â†µ

â†µ

â†µFeilhaber, by the way, has been tearing it up in the Danish league. His team is top of the table and he was named to the team of the month recently. â†µ

â†µâ†µUp front, it’s between Ching, Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore. Many Internet observers have cited coach Bob Bradley’s addiction to the Hawaiian, sighing heavily, and inserting Ching next to Davies and leaving Altidore on the bench, but there has been no official indication that Bradley is leaning that way. On the one hand, it would be tough to go with a guy who was pretty ineffectual against second-class competition in the Gold Cup over rising star Altidore. On the other, Ching fits in with the bunker theory, as he’s much more likely to keep the U.S. in possession when it chucks the ball upfield, and has great chemistry with Donovan. Either could get the nod; whichever player doesn’t start is going to come in around the 60th minute. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Mexicans. National team captain and all-around terrible person Rafa Marquez won’t be around to pick up a red card since he’s injured. That adds to the disarray the Mexicans have undergone in World Cup qualifying, where they sit fourth in the six-team hex. The Gold Cup isn’t much of a test, as Costa Rica wasn’t even there and the other teams in the hex treated it much as the USA and Mexico did, leaving their best players at home and preferring to gun for a World Cup spot. â†µ

â†µâ†µAs for the rest of the lineup… who knows? Bradley on El Tri: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“It’s not easy to pinpoint their lineup, but we expect some changes,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “I think we have a pretty good idea of certain guys being on the field. As far as pinpointing the 11. That is probably not so easy.” â†µâ†µâ†µThey’ve resurrected Cuauhtemoc Blanco and are (probably) planning on starting both Carlos Vela and Gio Dos Santos, the hyped kids who had been on the same disappointing track as Freddy Adu before they tore apart the second-string U.S. defense in the Gold Cup final. Maybe only one or two players who started the February qualifier in Columbus will start for Mexico tomorrow. â†µ

â†µâ†µWe do know that Mexico will be small. It has no target forwards and without Marquez its size in central defense will be lacking. The U.S. can err on the side of hacking down the wings and should be looking for as many set pieces as the Mexicans will offer. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe time and place. Mexico put this baby at 4 p.m. ET on a Wednesday so the smog and heat and general intolerability of Azteca would be at its maximum. This is where the USA’s 0-18-1 record at Azteca gets mentioned. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe prediction. Predictions are stupid. I’d be happy with a draw. â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: