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Germany and Belgium rosters unveiled for upcoming USMNT friendlies

FellainiBelgium (ISIPhotos.com)

By IVES GALARCEP

The U.S. Men’s National Team’s first match of a busy summer will be a tough test, with the Belgian National Team preparing to bring a strong squad to Cleveland for the friendly on May 29th.

As for the USMNT’s second friendly? It won’t be a cakewalk, but it also won’t be as tough as some would have expected when the match was first announced.

The rosters for Belgium and Germany were announced on Wednesday, giving us a glimpse of the competition the U.S. will face in friendlies in the week before the national team returns to CONCACAF World Cup qualifying action.

Belgium’s roster is loaded, with Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke among the standouts on the squad that will play the United States in Cleveland on May 29th.

Germany’s squad is missing several marquee players due to the fact Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are taking part in the UEFA Champions League Final. A pair of Borussia Dortmund players, Sven Bender and Kevin Grosskreutz will travel to the USA for the friendly vs. the USMNT on June 2nd in Washington D.C., as will Miroslav Klose, who will be playing in the Coppa Italia Final earlier that week.

Here are the Belgium and Germany rosters for their upcoming friendlies vs. the U.S.:

BELGIUM

GOALKEEPERS– Koen Casteels (TSG Hoffenheim), Thibaut Courtois (Atletico de Madrid), Jean-François Gillet (FC Torino), Simon Mignolet (Sunderland AFC)

DEFENDERS- Toby Alderweireld (Ajax Amsterdam), Laurent Ciman (R. Standard CL), Guillaume Gillet (RSC Anderlecht), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit St-Petersburg), Sébastien Pocognoli (Hannover), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal FC), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern München), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)

MIDFIELDERS- Nacer Chadli (FC Twente), Steven Defour (FC Porto), Moussa Dembélé (Tottenham), Marouane Fellaini (Everton FC), Thorgan Hazard (SV Zulte-Waregem), Timmy Simons (FC Nürnberg), Axel Witsel (Zenit St-Petersburg)

FORWARDS- Christian Benteke (Aston Villa FC), Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen), Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC), Maxime Lestienne (Club Brugge KV), Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion), Dries Mertens (PSV Eindhoven), Kevin Mirallas (Everton FC), Jelle Vossen (KRC Genk)

GERMANY

GOALKEEPER: Rene Adler (Hamburger SV), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96), Marc Andre ter-Stegen (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

DEFENDERS: Dennis Aogo, Marcell Jansen, Heiko Westermann(all Hamburger SV), Andreas Beck (1899 Hoffenheim), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 04), Per Mertesacker (FC Arsenal), Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen)

MIDFIELDERS: Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler, Roman Neustädter (both Schalke 04), Kevin Großkreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen), Nicolai Müller (Mainz 05), Lukas Podolski (FC Arsenal), Stefan Reinartz, Sidney Sam, Andre Schürrle, Lars Bender (all Bayer Leverkusen), Max Kruse (SC Freiburg)

FORWARD: Miroslav Klose (Lazio)

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What do you think of the squads? Think Belgium will offer a tougher test than Germany?

Share your thoughts below.
 

Comments

  1. When I look at that Belgium squad I’m reminded of the Portuguese golden generation that didn’t get anything done at the 2002 World Cup. You know, the ones that the USMNT beat. Great on paper, but the jury is out on how good they can be. As for the German second team, virtually everyone on that squad would be in our best 23. I could care less that it’s their B team–that’s a stern test for the Nats.

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  2. Hoffenheim represented on USA, Belgium and Germany rosters. Would think they could have withstood being second from the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga.

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  3. really strong Belgium squad. the Germany squad is still solid, but it is not even close to their A team. like others have said, this is their equelevent of a January camp in terms of talent. C team for sure.

    either way, two great tests to get us warmed up for our WCQs. really looking forward to it. i wish Klinsmann would announce the squad though

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  4. Why is Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern München) available for the Belgian squad, while the German players for Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund are not able to join?

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    • I noticed that a couple of guys from both those teams are available, but none of the 1st choice players.

      He must not be in the Gameday 18. Since the CL final is a one-off match, it’s a certainty that he won’t be playing.

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      • You’re forgetting about the DFB Cup final. He won’t be playing against the US. The roster that was announced was for the US game as well as the WCQ against Serbia and I assume he will joing the Red Devils for the second match after they return from their US trip.

      • Dortmund’s last game is the UCL final. The two Dortmund players will be joining the German national team later, after the UCL match. These are players that have not been starting (partially due to injuries) or getting a ton of PT this season.

    • Because Daniel van Buyten is old and generally doesn’t start for Bayern. I’m sure there are a few Bayern players that might’ve gotten calls (Toni Kroos in particular comes to mind because he doesn’t get many chances to play for the National team because of all their young midfield talent), but they wouldn’t leave their club because they still have the German Cup and UCL finals to play. Dortmund players also have the excuse of the UCL final (jawol, eine ganze deutsche Final!). But more than anything, Joachim Löw wants to give some of his reserves a chance, and all the German Bayern and Dortmund players are well established in the National team.

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      • Wrong. Given the injuries to Bayern’s defenders he’ll be part of the CL and DFB Cup roster. As far as Kroos, he has been a part of the NT but is currently out with an injury. Your German is terrible.

  5. It’s been a while for Belgium, but please remember, this is a team that has gotten to the final in Europe, gotten to the semis in a World Cup (Mexico 1986), and has appeared in 12 World Cups.

    Their pedigree isn’t top 10 (Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain, France, England, Uruguay, Netherlands, Czech) but it is top 20 (Sweden, Hungary, Yugoslavia/Serbia, USSR/Russia, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Mexico, USA, Belgium).

    Good to see them back.

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    • USSR? Yugoslavia? Really dude. they don’t exist. Not for 20 years

      BTW poor Kiessling. Being a top scorer for the past 2 years counts for nothing. Dude got garbage minutes in the last WC

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      • I don’t think Kiessling really fits into Loew’s system but given the lack of options up front, it is a bit surprising and would suggest personal issues.

  6. I don’t know what I expected from these two rosters as European seasons are winding down but I am definitely wowed that both are essential bringing their first choice players. These two friendlies will provide an excellent test before our WCQ’s.

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    • That is not Germany’s top squad by any means. I’d say it’s their equivalent of our January camp squad.

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    • Well, a lot of Germany’s first choice players are with Bayern and Dortmund who will play the UCL final just days before this friendly.

      Still, it’s obvious that Germany’s stacked based on the strength of their B-team.

      When your B-team features guys like Podolski, Mertesacker, and Draxler, you’re not in bad shape.

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    • He entertained the idea. If you google Sam you’ll see that Nigeria has some sour grapes are kind of taking a few swipes at him saying Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations without him; he’s hardly a big miss; he doesn’t speak good English and wouldn’t fit in with the group, and that he will end up like Patrick Owomoyela who opted for Germany but never panned out.

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      • Interesting choice on his part. He already is in his mid-late twenties and clearly has never been part of Loew’s first-team plans. He and Owomoyela both could have started on the Nigerian NT for years.

      • Yeah…not sure they would or could have started on that NT for years, they’d have been in the mix for call-ups but I’m pretty sure that nation isn’t that desperate for players to call up.

    • No, he will announce that the roster will be released on May 28th at 9 pm PST and then push it back until midnight PST because of last-minute changes.

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    • @2tone: I know where you are coming from and, yeah, these guys are good players, but in Germany this team is seen as a joke. The roster includes several guys who got shots years ago and were jettisoned because they simply weren’t good enough for Germany. Most of them will never get a call-up again. Some players who felt they had unjustifiably been off Jogi Low’s radar for years even removed themselves beforehand from consideration, including Stefan Kiessling, who is Bundesliga leader this season with 24 goals and who Low has famously ignored for what some think are German football political reasons. Kiessling was not going to allow himself to be called up one time just because Bayern and Dortmund players as well as Ozil and Khedira have club commitments and announced that his vacation was already booked.

      The funny thing, this would have been the one time probably that Timothy Chandler’s would have had a snowball’s chance in heck for a chance to get called up by Low.

      In any case, the USMNT should be able to beat this Germany team.

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      • Really? They will have been in the US for a few days, and they have Klose, Kreus, Podolski, Mertesacker, Draxler, Neustadter. That is still a loaded national team even with the world class guys out.

      • This is definitely the German equivalent of the Jan. USMNT camp. Obviously Germany has more depth than the US and there are still quality players, but this is a B/C team roster for them.

      • yep. There have been stories in the German press the past week on Jogi Low’s roster dilemma, plus the big announcement by Kiessling saying he would be on vacation.

  7. I’d like to see us go 5-0 during this stretch, its definitely time to have a solid run like that. We would be set up very well for the last stretch of qualifying later this year.

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    • honestly Belgium and Honduras will be two the most difficult teams here. Germany is obviously the best of them but i like the US’ chances in that game.

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      • Germany is definitely the best of them, but they aren’t as strong as they could be without the UCL final seeming to hold some of the Bayern/Dortmund players back

    • i agree. its crazy that such a small country has started to produce such great talent. . I suppose its similar to the dutch situation.

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      • Agreed. They were excellent in the 90s, but inner turmoil and a classic case of poor coaching, has turned them into the new Spain. However, they have excelled this campaign and they have such depth now that it’s hard to imagine they don’t get into the World Cup.

        More so than Germany, Belgium will give us a taste of where we stand in terms of nationally.

        Disappointed with Germany’s squad, but it’s understandable.

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