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I'm a diehard fan of the United States Men's National Team. However, I'm nervous for tonight. The USMNT are facing Honduras in their third match of the Hex. The Hex is a stage of FIFA World Cup Qualifying. The United States haven't started off the Hex well; the team lost to Mexico and Costa Rica back in November, which put them in a difficult position to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. They're in dead last in their group to qualify. Things aren't looking good right now. Against Honduras tonight and Panama on Tuesday, the USMNT have a big task. However, they're doing it with an army of 24 players. Some of the best players are missing though. Fabian Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin and Bobby Wood all picked up injuries with their club teams, and will missing the qualifiers. That's a huge blow for the USMNT, especially with the recent successes of Johnson and Wood in the Bundesliga. However, the team got back a major piece to the puzzle in Clint Dempsey. Dempsey, a striker for the Seattle Sounders, had not appeared for the USMNT since the Copa America Centenario in June 2016. Dempsey, who was dealing with a heart problem, is now back with the group after head coach Bruce Arena deemed him able to return. The team also got back Geoff Cameron, who was out with injury and missed the November qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica. Cameron is fit, and he's expected to be in the starting lineup for Arena. Arena did a great job in mixing the domestic players with the international players. All of his goalkeepers are MLS players, due to the absence of Brad Guzan (who plays club in England). Tim Howard makes his return from injury, and is expected to be the starting goalkeeper. Nick Rimando of Real Salt Lake and David Bingham of the San Jose Earthquakes are his backups. On defense, Arena brought back DaMarcus Beasley, a longtime veteran of the national team. With the left back spot needing some attention, Arena (who had coached Beasley before back in 2002-06) turned to a familiar face. Joining Beasley on defense is Cameron, Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, John Brooks, Omar Gonzalez, Tim Ream, Michael Orozco, Jorge Villafana and Walker Zimmerman. The midfield is equally as stacked as the defense, with Sacha Kljestan and Michael Bradley leading the way in a veteran presence. Jermaine Jones is also on the roster, despite being suspended for the Honduras match. He'll be available again for the Panama match. They're joined by Kellyn Acosta, who is red-hot for FC Dallas right now, Christian Pulisic, Darlington Nagbe, Dax McCarthy, Sebastian Lletget and Alejandro Bedoya. The forwards is where the concern is at, due to Dempsey's lack of time with the national team and Jordan Morris' potential injury. Morris hasn't practiced much with the national team since his arrival. He went limping off the pitch against the New York Red Bulls (Kljestan's team) last Sunday. However, Chris Wondolowski was called in as a reinforcement, and Jozy Altidore makes yet another roster appearance. So does the team have a chance? Really, it all depends on who Arena picks for the starting lineup. I predict a diamond midfield, which will have the set up stand at a 1-4-4-2 position. Howard in goal, with his defenders being Zusi, Cameron, Brooks and Beasley. In the midfield, Bradley should drop to a diamond defender, with Bedoya on the right and Pulisic on the left. Kljestan or Lletget should star in the attacking midfield role. As for the forwards, I predict that Dempsey will get the start, and Altidore will be right next to him. I predict that against Honduras, in their own home stadium, the USMNT will win 2-0. Panama might be a different story, but I predict the USMNT will win on a 1-0 close win.
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20-year-old football enthusiast living in the United States. I try to get Americans to say "football" and not "soccer." Archives
May 2017
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