The U.S. Men’s National Team begins the 2016 calendar year with a friendly against Iceland at StubHub Center (4pm, ESPN2).
Jurgen Klinsmann will be trotting out some new faces as he looks to give chances to some fresh blood, with Kellyn Acosta and Ethan Finlay set to make their USMNT debuts today and Lee Nguyen making his first career national team start.
The Americans face an Iceland team made up of the nation’s domestic-based players, though there are some starters in the mix from the group that qualified for the European Championships.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s action so feel free to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Follow SBI Live Commentary right here):
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dang finally we have all technical midfielders at once instead of yedlin n zardes. I don’t care if nagbe wasn’t at cam he’s better than zardes n yedlin as a midfielder hands down. Lee was finally at cam n Bradley behind him with jones as a free roaming dmid looked really good at some points in 2nd half. Jerome looked dangerous every time he touched the ball instead of finley who looked like the moment was to big for him, kinda like mls cup
The shot of perry kitchen not getting to sub in makes me sad… lol
So who called Birnbaum with a goal and assist in this one?
Tchani doing everything jones was supposed to do this match …
Damn some scissor action on that tackle, a bit lucky wasn’t red
Is it just me or is Zardes bad today? He seems to have no ideas with ball. Off ball runs ok. But with the ball, he is killing every attack
It’s just not today, it seems like the norm lately every time he suits up for the nats.
Finley hasn’t done much his first chance to impress and he reminds of bedoya ton of hustle n running but not much production. Lee looks good. Altidore actually looks a lot better this new year than he did last year in terms of his fitness. But belser with the assist for Iceland n lee staring at the player not doing anything was pretty soft.
Yeah, Finlay seems a little more willing to take guys on but it’s really only ended in corners so far.
I just think he wasn’t comfortable. Got into good spots, but most of his balls were way off.
Eh, thought we were the better side for most it anyway, just needed to be sharper.
That’s a red card!!
IK Jozy has the goal but he also owns more turnovers than the next 3 guys and has feet of stone
I would love to see Jones anchored as he dmid in a 4-1-32. Right now picking his spots to advance and covering deep when needed.
Didn’t take long……………….
Zardes sure misses alot of point blank chances. He does seem to get himself in good places. Maybe he will relax and find the finishing touch .
Dissappointingly Zardes is continuing to look as though he needs his mentor Robbie Keane to boost his confidence. He’s looking lost ever since the WC actually. When he broke into the MNT his upside was astounding… don’t know what has happened to cause this regression.
USNT is really becoming below average team…maybe the mediocre coach.
Yikes…
Geez Besler with his typical soft play. He gives up so many soft goals.
Ahh… At least Klinsi is reliable for continuing with puzzling lineups. Why are we still playing Junior and JJ as the central mid pairing when we know they don’t complement each other and Mikey is best as the deep lying mid who can make maurading runs forward. On the plus side, glad Finlay and Nguyen are getting starts.
Agreed on both points.
The central midfield has been very good so far. Bradley sets up a goal because of, not in spite of Jones, who pushed him forward…
On the goal sequence, agree with you. As Byrdman states below, JJ in this lineup should anchor as the d-mid so Bradley can stay higher up the pitch. Hope they continue to play in sync.
What a horrible crowd.
Very small crowd at Stub Hub Center. I was there last year for the Panama game and it was a much larger crowd.
Nguyen starts but on the wing, and Bradley still a top the diamond in the #10 role. I won’t even say anything else, its been said too many times already.
Finally lee gets to start….