Why do I have a feeling I'm not the only person who will be taking off work to watch this game streamed off the internet. Well for one thing its USA-Mexico, and another is the fact that Telemundo is a bunch of *******. But alas, I'll be leaving work at noon to come home, shower, and dress myself accordingly for the match. But now down to brass tacks:
Plenty of bulletin board material from Mexico for this one, here's a couple players talking the trash that is US vs. Mexico:
- "Of course we will win, 3-0. We have players of high quality and you can see that the team has prepared well, now there is only the question of showing it on the field on Wednesday." - Guardado
- "We know that physically, and soccer-wise, we are better, so we just have to apply that on the field and do our talking on the field." - Ochoa
- According to the US Soccer twitter, Mexican fans are chanting "cinco a cero" as they walk through the airport...fueling the fire.
The United States late arrival to Mexico has sparked questions about the readiness of the players, who will quickly need to acclimate themselves to the altitude, air conditions and attitude of Estadio Azteca. Bob Bradley has reassured fans that careful time and research was taken, including with the US Olympic Committee, who stated that it takes usually ten days to get used to the altitude, ten days which the US doesn't have, and so the next best option is to get in the same day, play, and get out.
Some quick pressers from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and others:
As far as a starting 11 goes, I wouldn't be surprised to see the exact same starting 11 that we saw against Spain in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup. Here was the starting 11 from that day:
--------------------Howard
Spector-----DeMerit-----Onyewu-----Bocanegra
-------------Bradley------Clark
Dempsey------------------------------Donovan
-------------Altidore------Davies
Subs:
Guzan
Marshall
Cherundolo
Feilhaber
Holden
Torres
Ching
This is the line-up I would choose, Bradley should choose and needs to choose. All these players are game fit and highly motivated to go in and win one for the US of A. Though I could definitely see Ching starting over Davies because Ching is a BB favorite for some reason. But Davies needs to start and go for the full 90. His speed against Mexico, especially one that will be without Rafa Marquez, can be killer. Altidore and Davies played well together in the Confederations Cup and there's no reason to stray away from that road. Spector earned his stripes over the summer too and gets the nod over veteran Cherundolo, same with DeMerit who played above expectations in the Confederations Cup. Bocanegra slides over to the left like he did against Spain and Brazil. Bradley and Clark man the center while Dempsey and Donovan provide service and play-making ability from the flanks. Should one of the forwards need to be subbed, move Dempsey up top, which he did in the Confederations Cup with much success, and bring in Feilhaber to man the right flank.
Prediction: 2-1 United States...Dempsey and Donovan score, and Tim Howard is a MAN in the nets...you heard it here first.
THIS IS THE YEAR, THIS IS THE TEAM, DON'T TREAD ON ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The EPL kicked off action this past weekend and it saw several interesting results as Arsenal clocked Everton 6-1 and Liverpool was dropped by Tottenham. Here are the results from the first weekend of action:
