Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By IVES GALARCEP
The first U.S. Men’s National Team match of the year will feature plenty of first-choice players for Jurgen Klinsmann, but the friendly against South Korea will be of much more importance to fringe options hoping to impress the German coach.
This January camp squad is more experienced than your usual January roster, but there are still some new faces who will be hoping to earn some minutes and play well enough to merit more looks in the future. Players such as Mike Magee, Luis Gil, DeAndre Yedlin and Michael Harrington will be hoping to get on the field and make a statement.
There aren’t likely to be too many true newcomers in the starting lineup on Saturday, but there should be plenty of opportunity to impress in the second half.
So what will the USMNT starting lineup look like on Saturday? Here is SBI’s projected starting lineup:
PROJECTED USMNT LINEUP vs. SOUTH KOREA
————-Chris Wondolowski——–Eddie Johnson—————
Landon Donovan————-Mix Diskerud————–Graham Zusi
———————————Kyle Beckerman————————–
Michael Parkhurst——————————————–Brad Evans
———————-Omar Gonzalez—–Matt Besler———————-
———————————-Nick Rimando——————————
Some thoughts:
Player most likely to break into this group? Brad Davis could slot in on the left wing, with Donovan playing at forward for Johnson.
Parkhurst isn’t normally a left back, but he has played there in the past and has more experience than Michael Harrington. Look for Harrington to get some substitute’s minutes if he doesn’t get the starting nod.
Luis Gil and DeAndre Yedlin make sense as second-half substitutes, as does Mike Magee.
What do you think of this lineup? Who would you like to see placed in this starting lineup that we left out? Which player are you most looking forward to seeing on Saturday?
Share your thoughts below.