We stand just eight days away from the most anticipated match in U.S. national team history and the United States will have one more chance to test things out before the World Cup opener vs. England with its friendly on Saturday vs. Australia.
The tinkering should be done by now, with U.S. coach Bob Bradley ready to give his preferred starting XI against England a run-out against the Aussies. Bradley may have to settle for a bit less than his preferred XI since starting striker Jozy Altidore is a question mark due to an ankle sprain.
Will Bradley go with Steve Cherundolo or Jonathan Spector? Maurice Edu or Jose Torres? Stuart Holden or DaMarcus Beasley? So many questions remain unanswered about the U.S. lineup that Saturday's match should shed plenty of light on.
Who do we see starting vs. Australia? Here's a lineup we could see getting the nod:
PROJECTED USA LINEUP vs. AUSTRALIA
————–Dempsey————Gomez———————
Beasley———————————————–Donovan
—————–Bradley———–Edu————————
Bocanegra——Onyewu——–DeMerit———–Cherundolo
————————–Howard——————————–
This lineup would be contingent on Jozy Altidore not passing his fitness test ahead of Saturday's match. We give Herculez Gomez the nod in his place, but Buddle or Robbie Findley are also more than capable of getting the call.
Cherundolo looks to be in better form than Spector and gets the nod, while I can see Edu getting the call over Torres against England. The real toss-up for me is in midfield, where both Beasley and Holden stand a good chance of getting the call. Beasley gets the call at this point because I see his two-way ability being key against England, and Holden being a better potential second-half option.
What lineup would you like to see Bradley trot out against Australia?
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