Who Should Be In the Starting 11 For the Confederations Cup?
Get ready U.S. Soccer fans because the Men's National Team is heading to South Africa!!! OK...so the World Cup is still a year away, BUT next week the U.S. is playing in the Confederations Cup in the Rainbow Nation. The tournament will serve as a perfect World Cup dry run for the Americans as they will face truly world class competition and get familiar with the environment for World Cup 2010. ...
The U.S. are in the group from hell featuring Italy (defending World Cup Champions), Brazil (currently ranked 5th in the world by FIFA), and Egypt (the champions of Africa). If the United States somehow musters itself out of the group stage.
U.S. head coach Bob Bradley redeemed himself after a woeful loss against Costa Rica last Saturday with a hard fought victory over Honduras in Chicago. The U.S. head coach is bringing most of the team from the past two qualifiers to South Africa, but it will be interesting to see who gets the start in the opening game against Italy on June 15 (All games will be aired on ESPN or ESPN2). Here is my starting 11.
Goalie - Tim Howard
No surprise there. Guzan makes me nervous.
Center Back - Oguchi Onyweu
Gooch is investing a lot in this tournament professionally as his play might dictate what kind of offers he gets from European clubs this summer. The former Best 11 defender in the Belgian league is currently a free agent. In the game against Honduras Gooch looked much better than he did during the chaotic match in Costa Rica.
Center Back - Carlos Bocanegra
Captain Carlos earned his stripes on that corner kick sacrificing his face for the game winning goal in Soldier Field where he use to suit up for the Chicago Fire. Hopefully Boca is recovering from the injury and will be fit to play in the Cup.
Left Back - Jonathan Borenstein
Borenstein is certainly not a sexy pick, but the kid did enough against Honduras to earn the next start. The Chivas USA standout combined well with Landon Donovan on the left and worked hard the entire match.
Right Back - Jonathan Spector
Though I may be bias because I grew up in the same town as the West Ham defender, but Spector played a great game on Saturday. He may not have the killer instinct nor the intangibles of a healthy Frankie Hedjuk, but he has great technique, gets forward, and knows how to cross a ball better than anyone we have at right fullback.
Left Mid - Landon Donovan
A lot of commentators said before the Honduras game that Donovan needed to show up and show up he did. As the game progressed he displayed that his skill set was a grade above the majority of the players on the pitch that night. Donovan tied the game up with a vicious penalty kick and delivered the corner kick that resulted in the second goal. That's the Landon Donovan we all want to see.
Right Mid - Clint Dempsey
Though "Deuce" had a few missteps in Chicago his header set up the winning goal and he was on the offensive all night with he ball. His backheel to Ricardo Clark was sick. The U.S. is going to need some more magic from Clint if they want to advance.
Center Mid - Michael Bradley
Coach Bob Bradley's son is a lock in the middle of the field for the national team with his consistent play and aggressiveness on the ball. Growing up around the sport Bradley has a really high soccer I.Q. and a leader on the field even though he isn't much more than a teenager.
Center Mid - Ricardo Clark
The Houston Dynamo midfielder was all over the field on Saturday night. He covers more ground than any holding midfielder in the U.S. player pool. Though not the most dangerous attacker we have Clark was robbed of a penalty in the box against Honduras.
Forward - Jozy Altidore
The 19-year old has already scored 6 goals for the U.S. in his international career. Altidore is the future of the U.S. attack, but his lack of fitness was evident in the qualifiers. I can't wait to see him when he's in form with both club and country simultaneously.
Forward - Connor Casey
The Colorado Rapid did a decent job filling for Brian Ching. Missed a couple of key opportunities, but I liked his pressure on the ball. I would prefer Kenny Cooper, but Bradley didn't call the FC Dallas forward in for the tournament. However, if Casey gets some quality service from the midfield he could light some defenders up.
Bench
DeMarcus Beasley
Jose Francisco Torres (or Freddy Adu)
Benny Feilhaber
Jay Demerit
Brad Guzan
Charlie Davies
June 12th, 2009 - 22:17
Great article Sean…I was glad to see that you put Spector in the starting lineup. I’ll be forwarding this website to make it huge!