The U.S. Men's national team takes on Italy today in Genoa in what will arguably be the toughest test the United States has faced since Jurgen Klinsmann took over as head coach six months ago (2:30pm, ESPN2).
The Americans come into the match short-handed, but will still feature several top players, including Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley. They take on an Italy side led by Andrea Pirlo and Gigi Buffon, a side that will also feature some talented young standouts.
The USA lineup doesn't have any surprises. It is the same starting XI we projected on Monday, with Fabian johnson at left back and a Michael Bradley-Maurice Edu-Danny Williams trio in midfield.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today's match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
Nope. Friendlies are not FIFA tournaments.
YEAAAAHHH baby!!! Now I can go to Frisco as a happy man to watch the exciting young guns take on a wack team.
Damn that made my day!
Michael Bradley was absolute CLASS. He didn’t put a foot wrong all game. I seriously don’t think the kid misplaced a pass the whole game. Seriously. I was keeping track. I don’t think he was caught on the ball either. Moreover, he was involved in the goal, finding Fabian Johnson on the left flank. He’s starting. No matter what ANYONE says.
What? He was really active when he came on. I mean are you serious?
Wow, that’s a bit of a rush to judgement for a kid who just saw his first ever 10-15 minutes or so of first-team soccer.
To those who hate on Bradley, I say suck it. He was our best player today.
Wait We Won!?
2 things, the first one, I´m extremely proud of today´s performance, this is what makes me proud of the USMNT,a great victory, secondly, It´s my understanding that Boyd now is tied with the USA, cause it´s an official match, am I right?
completely agree. expected at least energy but all he did was jog and foul! absolutely garbage it this is his norm
WOOOOOOOO!!!!
Agreed. His progress has been absolutely impressive.
gonna disagree with you there. Whether he is ready or good enough is up for debate but he seemed like he was rarin for a fight, challenged every ball.
We’ll see where he goes in the future, I’m sure.
Cheers,
Bradley M.O.M.
Those jerseys actually don’t look too bad haha
senz’altro
he was fantastic tonight
I doubt anything at all. This was a friendly.
not pretty, but who cares
Congratulations Jurgen Klinnsman and USMNT
La primera vittoria contro Italia!!!
Forza Yankees!
hes tired!!!!
A 1-0 victory against Italy in Europe while missing a handful of starters…not too bad..
Man of the match is Michael Bradley. Huge win.
Terrance Boyd should never see the field again. Completely lazy and uninspired. Insulting to come in and play so lackluster in a game like this.
as soon as the whistle blew ESPN3 went straight to commercial! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA??? I need to see celebration!
Yes!!!!!!
We win!!!!!!!!!!!
Williams had a good second half.
I’ve been critical of Bradley, but he has had quite a game and his ball skills look like they’ve really sharpened.
“My knee still hurts”
Agree. He is having a terrific game.
I wonder what GRossi thinks…
Dempsey just doesn’t care enough to try and keep this lead. He is probably the best US player right now, but I almost never want him on while trying to keep a lead late.
Bradley haters can all be quiet for good now…He has been absolute class
sasha’s defense angles are really poor
With Kljestan on for Shea all 11 players on the field are European based. Has this ever happened before?
Yes! Boyd on!!!!
CARLOSSSS!!!!!
Handball?
Spector on for F.Johnson.
Good game son!
Except that he doesn’t even chase balls down. Looks like he’s jogging.
I hope he does well, but I don’t understand the hope some people have for Jozy. He finds his way to the bench at every club he goes to. Not impressed. At some point the ‘he’s young’ excuse has to go.
boca!
I’ve always been in the camp that MB was our best center mid. That said, this is one of his best performances ever. He has been nearly flawless.
jozy not fallen down this half, he is stromg and showing it now
Steve Davis put it best on Soccer Today this past Saturday-I don’t question how American the American-Germans are, there fathers risked their lives for the US, but in instances where there is little discernible difference between an AG and somebody who grew up in the US, JK should go with the one who grew up in the US. Danny Williams, I’m looking at you.
bradley found his game in ITaly
Much better, yes.
Jozy has stepped it up majorly this half
Hey! Why does the US still have 11 players at the 66th minute vs. Italy? Obviously the Turkish ref didn’t get the memo.
Wait so the U-23 game is on Telefutura, not on Univision?
What is the Telefutura channel number for DirecTV?
Timmy’s been good as usual, but is it just me or is he dropping then catching some balls he usually catches? New gloves with new kit?
I’m glad Alexi Lalas isn’t the USMNT coach. He is upset because we didn’t go into Italy, a place where we’ve never won, and just expose ourselves by attacking. Sometimes you need to weather the storm. Keep the ball a bit and pick and choose when you throw players forward. He wants to do it from the beginning even in Europe.
On a side note – Goodsen isn’t good enough to be playing at the international level against teams like Italy. I know they’re not available, but when they are I think Onyewu, John, Gonzalez, and perhaps even Whitbread should be ahead of him in the pecking order.
If it makes you feel better. Keep thinking that.
Fair enough. A LITTLE. 🙂