By IVES GALARCEP
The U.S. Men’s National Team takes on Ukraine in Cyprus today in the last match Jurgen Klinsmann will have to evaluate his European-based players ahead of the pre-World Cup training camp in May (2pm, ESPN2).
Several players who haven’t been with the national team in some time are with the team today, and Klinsmann will be taking a closer look at some of those players. Players like Oguchi Onyewu, Danny Williams and Juan Agudelo.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today’s live commentary is after the jump):
Pretty much just confirmed what everyone already suspected: no Sacha, no Brooks, no Castillo, no Gooch.
nailed it. bye bye to those guys for the 23 spots. biggest disappointment tonight though, as foooooo points out below, is Altidore and Dempsey. Especially Dempsey. Seems like he didn’t even want to be there. Stop being so graumpy dude, you’re a freaking millionaire for Christ’s sake!!!
Uninspired and piss poor technically. No one showed any quality. For the life of me I don’t see anything in Brooks so far. I haven’t seen him play in Germany, but in all his USA appearances he hasn’t looked like any kind of prospect. Gooch is done. Sacha is done. Altidore just pisses me off to watch. Dempsey starting to piss me off too.
did this guy just say brad evans is still our starting rb
Ugh. Some wasted opportunities to learn things, since we already know that:
1. Castillo isn’t a international quality left back – maybe wingback.
2. Jones and Kljestan don’t complement each other well – and neither are defensive/holding midfielders.
Dude, JJ is the def of central mid. Kljestan is the def of soft.
updated starting xi
———————–AJ——————————-
–Donavon——Mix—————Bedoya
———Bradley——Jones——————————–
Fabian——-Besler——Gonzo——— Cameron—
—————————Howard——————————
I wouldn’t be opposed to donovan partnering johannson up top.
Otherwise I like the line up
Replace Mix with Donovan, and put Zusi where Donovan was and that’s perfect. Mix would be an outstanding sub.
Just shows you how US players should aspire to Champions League caliber teams and not MLS teams (for awhile at least). MLS will get there baptism this World Cup.
uh? This whole squad minus Dempsey plays in Europe, not MLS.
You are confused. There was only one MLS player in the fold for this friendly.
The writer from Grantland who said the US shouldn’t bring Julian Green to Brasil even if he were willing to make the switch needs to re-think his analysis. We just don’t have the talent, period.
Bingo, +1
Johansson, Williams, Bedoya, Jones, Howard, Johnson, Cameron, and even Shea all played pretty well. Everyone else looked either bad (Jozy, Clint) or just awful (Onyewu, Brooks, Castillo, Kljestan) Thank God this isn’t our first team
Klinsmann needs to pull the trigger and start johannson. Play castillo in left mid or replace him with beasley. Dempsey is no longer a starter.
Williams doesnt look horrible… *shrugs*
Anyone else completely lose their espn2 feed?
Yes
Considering how the US played, this was one of the best parts of the game.
Johannson showed pretty well why he should be starting ahead of Altidore who could barely trap a ball.
No wonder he was dropped from Sunderland’s squad entirely.
silly comment on so many levels.
oh gerard d., you never disappoint. tell me again how many goals or assists johannsson got against ukraine?
goals and assists are your only way of rating a forward?
yikes.
no, but then, i’m not the one saying we should drop one unproductive (in this game) forward for another.
Fugly display from basically every American on the pitch, even Howard. If this is what we should expect from the European contingent going into Brazil… Yikes.
Howard? How so… The man doesnt have glue on his gloves….
He was caught off his line at least one, and had to parry it out for a corner. Not typically for Howard.
once*
Classy move by Clint. I think Klinsy should consider dropping this thug from the squad.
This team is above average when Jozy and Clint are on form. We’re staring 0 points in the face come June.
Yep.
I love Aron Johannson. That volley was a beaut
We have 8 shots. 0 on goal. Just wow
Dempsey should be booked. Thug play is above the Stars and Stripes, son.
Altidore’s first touch really is terrible.
In CO. ESPN2 out. Anyone else experiencing Sam thing?
Yep. In AZ and in CA
Not missing anything.
Notice nobody wants to comment on both cases there of Jozy turning the ball over with a bad pass and a really poor first touch.
Ok brooks, tv off
Wow…just wow…what in God’s name is Brooks doing
Take Altidore out. He killed both of those attacks.
So, we go to Brazil with an all MLS lineup, except for Johansen and Jones and Bedoya. Clint stays home, too.
Jozy can’t complete a simple lay off pass…
AJ did great to set that up.
he completed those passes most of the game. in the first half he was the one who could actually make a pass to get the team into the final third
he wasn;t great but not a train wreck
the backline’s inability to play simple football doomed the whole squad. Should have been 5-0 Ukraine
Besler would have prevented 1 if not both of those goals. Maybe even Gonzales or Goodson would have too. But Onyewu and his 70-year-old-man knees are killing us…
The captain’s band and the fat wallet seem to have slowed Dempsey down. Gone is that East Texas glare, replaced with the Rafa Marquez too cool for the pitch slow jog.
Anyone else loose the deuces signal?
This is more fuel for the fire of those who say the US couldn’t qualify from Europe. We look outclassed in every part of the field.
I’m not sure anyone could ever be taken seriously if they suggested the U.S. would qualify in UEFA.
half this team wont see the field in Brazil. You can’t take anything away from this match about the quality of our overall team. You can draw conclusions about our depth, sure. And I’m not sure who thought we”d get out of UEFA anyway.
Ukraine won’t be going to Brazil at all. Yet, they are playing like a team that is preparing to go, rather than the timid/disinterested/boneheaded BS we’ve seen from the yanks.
Regardless of how understrength this U.S. team is, it still represents the majority of the European-based American players — players who also happen to be fighting for a world cup spot. The fact that it looks like boys against men is telling, and yes, it shows that the U.S. has very little depth.
Meh.
It was a bad performance. Yes. But we wouldn’t be calling oursleves world beaters if we had won this game 10-0, so your bombastic tales of woe and sings of the end times on the other end of the spectrum may be a bit over the top. No?
We don’t have to qualify for Europe so that means jack squat. I can just as easily say that many Euro teams would have a tough go of it qualifying in CONCACAF – which means jack squat.
The game was a warm-up and a test of character and, though I didn’t watch it, it seems a great many guys didn’t do themselves any favors. Its a process and JK is doing his thing. I am quite certain we have’t been eliminated as of today.
Let’s chilax a bit, let the process play itself out and put things in perspective.
I personally think johnson and castillo should swap positions (in general)
I think Castillo should be sent to Bornstein land
thats the shea we need
Onyewu nowhere to be seen.
Brooks and Onyewu are basically asking to not go to Brazil
Begging, even
That was entirely on Gooch.
Brooks has looked bad, not yet ready for international play. Actually, not yet ready to play for his club, where he is been mainly bench warmer since October, yet he gets called in anyway. Why?
to see if he could replicate his fine play in the bosnia friendly. he could not.
Fine play against Bosnia is an exaggeration. Maybe adequate but certainly not convincing.
Adequate is usually how you would describe a fourth string centerback for the usmnt.
What do you know about lineup selections and approaches to the game?
Us has played well for 5 minutes
And that second goal proves me right.
Here comes the personal attacks in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1……
If altidorewould hustle…
eh, leave the board
What exactly did that goal prove right for you?
Slop goal.
WHAT THE *********************************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Defenders are leaving Howard out to dry…2-0
I just don’t see the Kevin Bacon comparison. I mean there is a slight resemblance, about as much as Klinsmann and Detlef Schrempf.
Shea has bulked up something serious..
YES Johannson is on
How is Brek Shea still getting a game for the USMNT?
because he has physical capability that might turn into something…
He actually attacks the opposition down the flanks…might be something…
RUN FAST SPEED GOOD
Release the Brekken!
Jozy horribly mistimes another jump ad Cameron wastes another cross.
ONYEWU with some solid defensive work on the right wing.
Our player of the match, JONES, is down.
Hope Jones isn’t hurt…
take dempsey off please
take the “Ives” off your handle so that when people search for IGs comments they find yours…. snooze…
huh…. ig’s comments?