Watch it today on ESPN360.com & ESPN Classic at 2:30pm. ESPN2 will join in progress after showing the Ukraine vs Greece World Cup Qualifier.
USSoccer.com USMNT Blog has the 18 available for selection.
U.S. Roster vs. Denmark
2 – Jonathan Spector
3 – Carlos Bocanegra
4 – Michael Bradley
5 – Benny Feilhaber
7 – Stuart Holden
12 – Jonathan Bornstein
13 – Ricardo Clark
15 – Jimmy Conrad
17 – Jozy Altidore
18 – Brad Guzan
19 – Robbie Rogers
22 – Frankie Hejduk
25 – Clarence Goodson
28 – Dax McCarty
32 – Jeff Cunningham
33 – Edgar Castillo
35 – Marcus Hahnemann
36 – Eddie Johnson
I’m eager to see what Edgar Castillo brings to the table. I haven’t ever seen him play before (he plays in Mexico).
Presumably Hahneman gets the nod to start, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Guzan get the start or if they swap at some point (how many subs are there for this friendly?). The number one USA goalie is definitely Tim Howard. But the battle for #2 is going to be real stiff for sure. Hahnemann has the experience, but Perkins (former DC United keeper) and Guzan (backup to Brad Freidel at Aston Villa) are right there too.
Eddie Johnson. Really? Why? He hasn’t done anything IN FOUR YEARS. Of course, having a combo of Altidore and Johnson, both big strong and fast is intriguing. But Johnson’s head is just not there. Altidore passed him over about 2 years ago and hasn’t looked back. I think coach Bob Bradley’s biggest task right now is to see who Altidore best pairs up with. Kenny Cooper would be interesting, but he’s hurt. Charlie Davies if he recovers from his car accident in time for the World Cup. Maybe Conor Casey. Maybe Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey, unless they’re going to be in midfield. Heck maybe even Freddy Adu is worth a shot (if he ever gets any first team minutes at his club). How about a young MLS stud like Chris Pontius (DC United). Really, anybody but Johnson.
I’ll update later with the starters…
Update – The starters are:
Guzan;
Hejduk, Spector, Bocanegra (c), Bornstein;
Holden, Bradley, Clark, Feilhaber;
Altidore, Cunningham
Assuming they lineup as they are listed, and assuming a 442… This looks a pretty good lineup. The typical “empty bucket” that Bradley likes to play. Bradley and Clark will sit back a little bit and protect the defensive line. Holden and Feilhaber will push a little further and support the forwards. I’m not too much a fan of Feilhaber on the wing… He needs to play centrally and touch the ball more often. We’ll see how he does.
I’m a big fan of a Bradley/Clark duo in the middle.
Altidore and Cunningham is an interesting combo. Speed kills. Those guys have tons of speed and skill. Cunningham is a bit of a ball-hog though… I suspect they will cause Denmark’s backline a ton of trouble though.