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Howard named captain for USMNT match vs. Jamaica

Tim Howard

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

With Clint Dempsey away from U.S. Men’s National Team squad due to injury, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann picked a popular choice to be the team’s captain in their next match.

U.S. Soccer’s Twitter account reported on Wednesday that Klinsmann has chosen veteran goalkeeper Tim Howard to wear the captain’s armband on Friday when the USMNT faces Jamaica at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. It’s the second time this summer that Howard has been named captain, after he captained the side in their 4-2 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in August.

When Howard takes the field on Friday, he’ll earn his 94th USMNT cap. If he also plays next Tuesday at Panama, he’ll tie Brian McBride in 16th place on the All-Time caps list for USMNT players.

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What do you think of this news? Glad to see Howard named captain for the game? Do you see him having a big game against Jamaica?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Does the armband give you some extra rights/room to talk to the referee about calls, etc.? If so, does it make more sense to give it to a field player? Or — given the fact aht the US has already qualified, thus reducing the importance of these games — is this a more symbolic gesture that acknowledges Howard’s stature?

    Reply
    • Yes. Not necessarily, many GKs wear the band. It’s always symbolic of a player’s standing with the coach and among the team. He deserves it, he already acts as a captain when the ball is in our half. Might as well add the attacking half to his bailiwick.

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  2. Is this really who we want speaking to the ref? I have actually heard him swearing from the middle of the supporters section.

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  3. Donovan isn’t captain material. A captain has to be at least 5’11 if not 6 feet tall

    but seriously Donovan isn’t an ideal captain. Neither is Dempsey. Guys like Howard or Bradley seem more fitting IMO

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    • Do you have a job description for USMNT captain? I’ve never seen one.

      My experience is that job of captain seems to be different with every team. Some teams have the players pick the captain in consultation with the manager. Here it seems JK picks the captain. Some team captains are glued to the bench. On other teams, the captain is the star player.

      Unless you know what the captain actually does you can’t say player X or player Y can’t do the job.

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      • Not sure where I saw it, but the job description for a USMNT captain included the following:
        – Minimum 40 caps (20 as a starter)
        – Minimum 6 WC games played
        – Position on next WC team must be reasonably secure (preferably as a starter)
        – Must have a reasonable amount of international regard (most preferably as a starter for a top-level European league team)
        – Must be considered a positive locker room presence
        – Bilingual is helpful but not required

      • That’s interesting. JJ was named captain for a few games after 2012 Camp Cupcake.

        He has 35 caps today and had a lot fewer caps then.

        The US beat Venezuela and Panama both by 1-0 scores.

    • You don’t think Donovan and Jones will be field captains?

      It’s just an armband. When their in a huddle do you think they’ll keep silent? the leaders, the veterans will be vocale, armband or not

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      • A number of these guys have already captained the US and several of them have captained their clubs.

        They are not lacking in leadership or in knowing how to talk to the officials.

      • yes, absolutely – not saying he is the only one! I just picked him because he captained a lot of games recently in the Gold Cup and seems to be the pick for LB. (though we don’t know what will happen with Fabian Johnson longterm)

  4. one day fans will look back at the period from 2002-2014 and wonder why LD was named captain all of 4-5 times in his USMNT career

    Reply
    • He shot himself in the foot recently on this one. Hard to make him captain after his sabbatical. He wasn’t going to take it from Boca. Had he not had his leave of absence, he may (likely, I think) have beat out duece for it.

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  5. Tim Howard should be able to play this game in a lawn chair. If he has a big game against Jamaica, something has gone wrong.

    (Unless he ends up scoring a goal or something).

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  6. i’m okay with Timmy as Captain (tell me again why we dont give Brad the start in at least one of these games) just hope does more leading than screaming. Our D-line may still be a little mentally fragile…

    Reply
    • I would say its because, like Klinsmanns said, he wants as many starters to get any many games as possible with each other. This is the perfect scenario for it too.

      In the WC Howard might not always be playing with the Bradleys and such, so it’s important that he gets games with the 2nd stringers so they get a feel for each other. This goes for Jones or Landon as well.

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  7. Deservedly so. The man is always pumped does his job and it vocal to others when they aren’t.

    He’s a beast and should be co-captain whenever until his retirement, wether it’s Donovan, Bradley or Demspey with the armband.

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  8. Vice-captain for LIFE

    after the World Cup or by start of 2015 give the captaincy to Bradley and keep Howard as VICE-CAPTAIN until Guzan replaces him

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