Jurgen Klinsmann's worst nightmare might be coming true. According to Fox Soccer, Fabian Johnson is questionable for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier at Guatemala and his back up Edgar Castillo is out, possibly leaving the United States without a healthy left back for the match.
Guatemala Vs. USA, 2014 World Cup Qualifying: Fabian Johnson Questionable, Edgar Castillo Out
Johnson emerged as the undisputed top left back for the U.S. after moving to the position for his club Hoffenheim in the second half of the season then playing excellent in the Americans' friendlies against Scotland and Brazil. He picked up a calf injury before last Sunday's friendly against Canada, though, and missed that match and the Americans' first qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda on Friday. Now his status for Tuesday is in doubt too.
If Johnson cannot play, Klinsmann would have turned to Castillo to play left back, but he is out. He injured his hamstring in training before the Antigua and Barbuda match an will not play against Guatemala.
Klinsmann was without both Johnson and Castillo against Antigua and Barbuda and tapped Jose Francisco to Torres to play left back, but after a forgettable start to the match, he was also injured and will not play in Guatemala. That leaves Klinsmann in a bind.
Carlos Bocanegra is an option to play left back, as he has done many times in the past, but Klinsmann may hesitate to move his captain out of the center of defense, where he is the back line's leader. Putting Bocanegra wide would mean that either Oguchi Onyewu or Geoff Cameron has to play centrally with Clarence Goodson, but Onyewu has been an unmitigated disaster of late and Cameron has minimal experience.
The other option for Klinsmann would be to put Cameron or Michael Parkhurst out on the left. Cameron has zero experience on the left and while Parhurst has played there on occasion at the club level, he hasn't done so at the international level.
The U.S. will be praying that Johnson is ready to go on Tuesday because if he can’t then there is not a good option out there. And against Jairo Arreola, the U.S. will need someone assured on the left or the Guatemala winger can do some real damage.
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