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USMNT offered new beginning with start of World Cup qualifying

Photo by Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports

Entering World Cup qualifying, the struggles of the U.S. Men’s National Team have been highly publicized. Friday night presents Jurgen Klinsmann and co. with an opportunity to start putting those struggles behind them.

The USMNT is set to open up World Cup qualifying on Friday in St. Louis with a clash against CONCACAF minnows St. Vincent and the Grenadines (7 p.m., ESPN 2). Opening up qualifying, the U.S. now faces a pair of games where they will be considered favorites, a dangerous proposition given the team’s current rut.

Klinsmann admitted as much, citing Friday’s opposition as a bit of an “unknown.” Klinsmann says that, despite the odds being heavily in their favor, the U.S. will not be taking anyone lightly, as yet another failure would be deemed unacceptable.

“I agree with the fact that that the results weren’t the ones that we wanted,” Klinsmann said in a  press conference on Thursday, “but I don’t agree with the fact that our performances were not ones that we wanted to see. I think we had a very, very good game against Mexico. We discussed that in length after the game, but we came out on the short end and we lost it. That’s part of life. If you have negative results, there are critics out there.

“The expectations are always the highest because it’s pretty simple to qualify for the World Cup. There are no excuses absolutely for that. Whenever the games come up that really matter and count, like World Cup qualifying or when you play in a World Cup or when you play a CONCACAF Cup final, you want to get the higher end of it. You want to win those games. We want to start well into this long run of qualifying games.”

That run will feature at least two fresh faces to the program.

Kickstarting a new campaign, Klinsmann has opted to call in newcomers Matt Miazga and Darlington Nagbe, both of whom will be seeking their first international caps. Klinsmann stated that games like Friday’s are the perfect time to give players like Miazga and Nagbe a chance, rather than throwing them into the deep end several months before a World Cup tournament.

However, the duo’s statuses for Friday remains uncertain for the time being, as Miazga revealed that he was yet to be made aware of whether or not he would see his first senior game action.

Even if Miazga and Nagbe are given the green light, Klinsmann says that the expectations will be modest. The USMNT head coach says he doesn’t expect the two to go out and score a hat-trick on their debut. Rather, he expects to see energy and a foundation to build upon as they become more and more comfortable with the national team program.

One player certain to appear in Friday’s game is Brad Guzan, who will split time with Tim Howard in the pair of qualifiers. Set to lead the U.S. in the club’s crucial first qualifier, Guzan cited the importance of starting on the right foot through what will prove to be a long, grueling cycle.

“Everything in the past is everything in the past,” Guzan said. “With qualifying, it’s a new cycle. It’s a chance to put things right, and at the end of the day, it’s about winning games to put yourself into the Hex. If we do that, then everything is fine.

“It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a difficult game. We know that. We know that they’re going to be up for it and give us everything they have, and it’s going to be important that we get off to a good start. ”

That good start will have to come at the expense of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a country with a population of just 109,000. Featuring just a handful of players that ply their trade outside of the tiny island nation, St. Vincent enters Friday overmatched against even the worst iteration of the USMNT.

For months, it could be argued that the worst iteration of the USMNT has been exactly the one that has taken the field. With a Gold Cup disaster and CONCACAF Cup defeat behind them, the USMNT’s all-too-disappointing 2015 is nearly at its end.

Friday presents a chance to end a disastrous year on a high note, while kickstarting what will surely be a tricky World Cup qualifying process. But, perhaps just as importantly, Friday gives the U.S. the chance to find a bit of mojo and recover a bit of goodwill as it starts the pursuit of reaching the ultimate goal: Russia 2018.

“Come Friday night, we win and if we win on Tuesday, all of a sudden everyone is talking a different game and everyone is saying how great we are,” Guzan said. “…We’ve developed thick enough skin to know this is part of being a part of the national team. It’s part of being in professional sports. We’re not naive in thinking that our performances haven’t been great. We now have the opportunity tomorrow night to turn things around.”

“It’s a marathon,” Klinsmann added, “a marathon of 16 games that will hopefully qualify us for Russia 2018 and obviously we want to start on the right foot there and get the first three points. We’re all excited about it. We’re full of energy.”

Comments

  1. Liberia lost 1-0 at home to Cote d’Ivoire today so they would need a result on the road on Tuesday to even make it to the group stage, before the home and away playoff for a birth in the World Cup. I don’t think you need to worry about playing Nagbe just to cap tie him. I think he’s earned the shot on his own.

    Obafemi Martins came on as a sub (71 for Jon Obi Mikel) for Nigeria in a 0-0 draw. They will need a result at home to advance that would be a huge shock.

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  2. Yeah, well JK has to actually play these other strikers, and not play Altidore (no score) until like the 80th minute, when it is too little to late. We have other strikers but hey have to be given sufficient playing time, instead of just 10 minutes. Altidore is a complete waste. USMNT is beating a dead horse with this guy! Time to move on!

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    • No Score. he’s fifth all-time on the US scoring list (could be 4th by Tuesday) and he scored 13 times for Toronto this season, that’s more than Morris has scored for Stanford. Jozy has scored 16 goals in his last 33 USMNT games that’s one every two games, that’s as good of stretch as LD or Clint have ever had over three seasons. And by the way Jozy and Landon almost identical goals per game in MLS as well, both better than Clint. Don’t like him fine, want to see the new guys get some time fine again, but saying he can’t or doesn’t score is complete fabrication.

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  3. Jozy will be around until someone can show enough to replace him. Maybe Wood and Morris will have a strong showing and will make it harder for JK to keep starting jozy. He is only 26 so he’s gonna be in the picture till younger strikers show the quality to replace him.

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    • Maybe it is that some people don’t want to face up to the fact that outside of Dempsey we don’t have any striker with a better record than Altidore. Guys like Wood and Morris have potential, but they haven’t yet done it for club and country on a sustained basis. AJ may be the solution, but he has been injured so often that who knows? People forget that Jozy scored more for Alkmaar than AJ did.

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  4. –Zardes————Wood————Morris

    –Johnson———-Bradley———-Nagbe

    Ream——Miazga——Cameron—Yedlin

    ——————-Howard———————-

    Attack…..Attack…….Attack……Lets just try to dominate from the start of the whistle

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  5. So let’s take Klinsmann out of the picture here.

    This may be presumptive, but I would venture to say that every player on our roster tonight would be the best player on the opposing team, if not the best player to ever step on the field for their nation. A population of just over 100 thousand? There were about as many people in the Rosebowl for the Mexico game.

    Do I want a flat four in the midfield with Nagbe and Bradley in the middle? Yes. Do I want Johnson on the left flank and everybody else at their natural positions? Yes. Do I want Jozy to start over Wood? No. But it shouldn’t matter.

    We could go in with no game plan or a back a**wards game plan and still expect to dominate and win. I am not worried about tactics or Klinsmann or any of that tonight. I want to see our players play and take the game into their hands. Crisp passing, dominate physically, create chances, and then finish those chances. Bury them and don’t stop until you are worried about embarrassing them.

    Too much Klinsmann talk, tactics talk and whining for me lately. I could be out there in my XXL tracksuit coaching these guys and we would all expect to win these next two games.

    Come on boys!

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    • Totally agree except that Antigua has an even smaller population and we needed a last minute goal to win there last cycle. Can’t take any team for granted.

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      • Agree on not taking it for granted. You saying last time that our poor play was due to tactics and the manager making poor decisions or should we blame the players for once? I just think we talk too much about the manager and post too many formation suggestions when in situations like this the players should be expected to perform.

        If Jozy starts tonight and walks around that is on Jozy and not Klinsmann. Yes the German should notice and not play him but the real problem is with the players. At least in games against teams at this level.

      • I’m all for blaming the players although when they’re not put in positions to succeed (i.e. Bedoya at DM for the first time in his life against Brazil or Danny Williams on the wing etc.), that’s on the manager. When the wrong players are on the roster, that’s also on the manager (particularly when it’s due to his holding a grudge). There’s no excuse for not winning this game easily and if we don’t I’d say that’s probably on the players.

    • Probably going to watch rescheduled Brazil-Argentina tonight instead. There are a few new US players I might like to see, but I’m tired of/bored with watching Klinsmann’s teams right now. I’ve lost interest. Maybe next time.

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  6. Let’s see Miazga and Nagbe out there please. Would prefer to see them play a 4-2-3-1 but if they play with a diamond how about MB at the base and Nagbe at the tip?

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    • That would be playing Nagbe out of his natural position, he plays that spot maybe once every 10 games for Portland. He is a CM not a CAM, of course other than Bradley no one in the current pool plays that position for his club.

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      • CAM or CM or whatever you want to call it, Portlands hot run of form over the last six games has coincided with Nagbe being moved to the center. Until that move, he was relatively ineffective all year. Klinsmann will once again prove is stupidity if he plays Nagbe wide.

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