A Day Late...
With the US Mens National Team being named there was little room to be disappointed. We have a mountain to climb in our group and Bruce Arena is leading the team of what the rest of the world would call sherpas. Title a day late because this post is a day late but also for Chris Albright was named to the team after Frankie H. was found with a torn ACL (he had played through it for 3 days before noticing pain, and they say soccer players are wimps).
Here is the list:
The Keepers as expected: Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard, and Kasey Keller*
Defenders: Bocanegra*, Cherundolo*, Conrad, Gibbs, Albright (for Hejduk), Lewis*, Onyewu*, Pope
Mids: Beasley*, Convey, Dempsey*, Donovan*, Mastroeni*, O'Brien, Olsen, Reyna*
Forwards: Ching, Johnson, McBride*, Wolff
* My choice for starters
I did not choose Pope as a starter because I dont think he will be able to go for 90 minutes against the Czechs or Italians. Another concern is that Ching got the pick over Twellman the MVP from the MLS last season. From what I am reading there was a concern for Twellman's size on the international level. If you ask what about small Bobby Convey? The reply is that Bobby will provide speed down the wing and will be taking the corner kicks rather than trying to be on the other end and get em in the goal, Ching can bring some ability in the air. I have put my full faith behind Arena, I wonder who would ever be able to fill his shoes?
1 comment:
OK, so I spoke too soon about Albright. My guess is that with the European talent on defense, with Pope in reserve, he won't get too much playing time.
As for the team generally, I was surprised that Gregg Berhalter didn't make the team, even as an alternate. I guess the final tune-up in Germany did him in, though truthfully, no one on the team did all that well in that game.
Ching's selection was also a bit surprising, given his lackluste performance in the final pre-selection tune-up. He is playing pretty well in MLS. Interestingly, only one non-MLS player, McBride, was selected in the forward position. The best non-MLS player out there was Casey, and maybe Arena wasn't sure he was match fit following an injury.
Another interesting note: the chart to which you provided a link in the last entry indicated that most observers thought Twellman was a lock and that Ching was less likely.
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