US National Team Roster for Cuba and T&T Qualifiers

September 6 at Cuba
September 10 vs. Trinidad and Tobago in Chicago
October 11 vs. Cuba in Washington DC
October 15 at Trinidad and Tobago

GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

D: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (FC Midjtylland), Steven Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (FC Toronto)

M: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles)

F: Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City)

Bob Bradley is mostly sticking with the squad that gritted out a victory over Guatemala two weeks ago.  Jay DeMerit and Pablo Mastroeni are gone with Ricardo Clark and uncapped Olympian Michael Orozco taking their places.  Clark has looked shaky at times, but mostly solid for Houston, while Orozco was exposed by Robbie Rogers’ lack of zeal for defense in Beijing, mostly up to the challenge.

Howard looked great against Guatemala, and Guzan is a quality second option.  The Aston Villa ‘keeper looked good in the Olympics.

Bocanegra and Onyewu are good enough for the backline, but I’m not sold on any of the other defensive options.  Wynne combines great pace with poor crossing and a tendency to gamble too much.  Orozco and Pearce can be solid or spotty, Hejduk and Cherundolo are on the decline.  Hejduk has not been tested as much as you would expect in Columbus with teams attacking the revolving door of players on the left side instead.  When he has been tested, he has a tendency to gamble on going to the ground instead of staying on his feet and staying in front of his man.  Cherundolo has been up and down in National Team duty recently and Califf has impressed at Midjtylland.

The midfield remains the team’s greatest outfield strength.  Beasley sparked the victory over Guatemala, Kljestan is at times an outstanding link player in the middle, at times invisible.  Lewis and Bradley are solid, with Lewis providing valuable experience and a long-range scoring threat, and Edu is one of the nation’s top rising all-around talents (when he isn’t too fatigued from traveling around the world).  It does, however, seem strange that Bradley would dislodge Edu from Rangers so soon after his arrival in Glasgow.

The front line is where things get worrisome.  Donovan is good enough in one forward spot, but who is going to pair with him?  Ching is a poor man’s Brian McBride and probably not good enough as a target man for serious international competition.  Neither Johnson nor Dempsey are in form right now, as Johnson was so far down the list at Fulham that he got loaned to Cardiff City and Dempsey has been dropped from the Cottagers’ starting lineup and hasn’t seen time as a sub.  Edson Buddle and Kenny Cooper are both in good form right now, and would benefit from International experience at an early stage in the qualifying game, but neither seems to be on Bradley’s radar.

World Cup Qualifier: USA 1-Guatemala 0

It should have been the kind of match that makes international football great: an exotic locale, a raucous venue, an inspired underdog, and the World Cup barely visible in the distance on the CONCACAF landscape.  Instead, violent play from both sides, though most notably from Guatemala, tainted an otherwise sloppy, but exciting contest.

The United States recorded their first World Cup Qualifying victory in Guatemala on the backs of a 69th minute Carlos Bocanegra header.  Bocanegra guided in a corner kick from DaMarcus Beasley to give the United States the lead just minutes after both a Steve Cherundolo red card (second yellow) and a straight red to Guatemala D Gustavo Cabrera for a vicious diving elbow to the head of Eddie Lewis.  Although Guatemala would pressure American keeper Tim Howard the rest of the match, the USA managed to hang on for the first-leg victory.  The American players looked impacted by the hostile environment and jetlag from their international travels, often displaying poor touch and questionable passing (even stellar Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard’s kicking was off).  Furthermore, the lack of a quality attacking option remains blatant.  Brian Ching holds up play well and is decent in the air, but Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey provided few threats to the Guatemala goal.

Overshadowing the actual soccer was the shamefully dirty play.  While most of the late shoving and desperate atttempts from the US were retaliatory, Guatemala did whatever they could to intimidate or flatout injure the American players.  Cabrera’s flying elbow was simply the nadir of a display that included Carlos Ruiz kicking Tim Howard in the head, plenty of body checks and takedowns, a Guatemalan defender kicking at Carlos Bocanegra during his goal celebration and defender Yony Flores attempting to attack a US coach after the match.

Though I had heard about the hostility of Central American opponents, I had never seen the United States in a football streetfight until their match with Guatemala.  Poor CONCACAF officiating only compounded the needless aggression that Guatemala apparently felt they needed to utilize in order to have a chance against one of the federation’s juggernauts.  While I had been thinking about how weak qualifying competition gave the United States a disadvantage once they reached large tournaments like the World Cup and Olympics, I now know that at the very least, the Red, White, and Blue are mentally prepared to take on all comers.

Premier League Preview: Fulham

Last Year-

Premier League: 8-12-18 (17th)

Founded: 1879 as Fulham St. Andrew’s Church Sunday School

Manager: Roy Hodgson (English)

Stadium: Craven Cottage (30,500)

Nicknames: The Cottagers

Top Players: GK Mark Schwarzer, F Andrew Johnson, M Jimmy Bullard, M Simon Davies, M Danny Murphy

Famous Fans: Hugh Grant, Michael Caine

Fulham have spent relatively little time in the top English Division and have never won a title there.  As a club, the only real success they’ve ever had was 2002-2003 UEFA Cup qualification through the Intertoto Cup (the Cottagers knocked out Croatia’s top two sides, Zagreb and Split, before falling to Hertha Berlin in the third round).  Last season, Fulham languished in the relegation zone for most of the year.  Interim Manager Lawrie Sanchez was relieved of his duties in December, and Roy Hodgson managed to save the team on goal difference after a tie in points with Reading.  After last season’s debacle, Hodgson brought in 9 new faces and sent 13 old ones packing.  Until recently, Fulham was infamous for having more Americans on their roster than any other English side (earning them the occasionally-used nickname “Fulhamerica”).  Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Kasey Keller, and Brian McBride have all recently been Cottagers, but only Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey remain for the 2008-2009 iteration of the team, and neither of them are projected starters.