By Roderick MacNeil
(EDITOR’S NOTE: As of the publishing time of this article, the USA-Ukraine match once again appears in some doubt. A car bombing in Cyprus targeted at a soccer referee on Friday has resulted in the cancellation of all weekend matches in the Cypriot professional league. We’ll monitor how this story develops and any impact on the USMNT.)
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Could John Brooks earn a ticket to Brazil this summer?
USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named his much anticipated roster for the upcoming International Friendly vs. Ukraine. First, some finalized details on the relocation of the match. Still scheduled for Wednesday, March 5, the match will now take place in Larnaca, Cyprus with kickoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Eastern and will air on ESPN2. The game was relocated from Kharkiv, Ukraine due to escalating political tensions and violence within Ukraine. The team will first train for several days in Frankfurt, Germany before traveling to Cyprus.
Now, let’s dive into the roster. There’s lots to talk about, conclusions to be drawn, and new storylines to watch. As expected, it is a heavily European-based group, in contrast to the January camp roster, which was almost entirely MLS players. Here’s the list by position, followed by my thoughts on what it all means:
- Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley are the only MLS players in camp, but neither was part of the January group. Dempsey has been with Fulham on a two-month loan. Bradley signed with Toronto FC just a week before the January camp, and it was thought best to let him settle in with his new club. Klinsmann believes it important to have both players included here, as he has repeatedly referred to them as part of the essential central “spine” of the team, along with Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard.
- Edgar Castillo is the only other player called in who is not based in Europe, and the only one from Liga MX. What to make of this? It would seem to bode well for Castillo’s chances of making the World Cup roster. It also reveals a lack of depth at left back within Europe. Fabian Johnson has played there extensively with Hoffenheim, but Klinsmann has shown to prefer him in the midfield. Based on this roster, there’s a good chance Castillo starts vs. Ukraine. The absence of other Liga MX players (particularly DaMarcus Beasley, Herculez Gomez, Joe Corona, Michael Orozco and Jose Torres) probably doesn’t mean much here. There will be one more opportunity for those players in April vs. Mexico.
- Mix Diskerud is the sole holdover from January. It’s another sign that he’s very much in contention for a spot in Brazil, but it’s also partly a scheduling quirk. Diskerud’s club, Rosenborg BK of Norway’s Tippeligaen, plays a similar calendar to MLS with a season that runs from March to November. He was the only European-based player in contention that did not have a club conflict in January, so Klinsmann brought him in for an extended look.
- Julian Green will join the group for training in Frankfurt and accompany the team to Cyprus. He is ineligible to play vs. Ukraine, as he must first file for a FIFA one-time association switch. Green, who is American-born and German-raised, has previously represented Germany at the youth level. Once the 18-year-old Bayern Munich phenom completes the paperwork, he would be permanently tied to the United States.
- John Brooks returns after making his first USMNT appearance in November vs. Bosnia-Hercegovina. The 20-year-old German-born center back recently missed a few weeks due to injury with Hertha Berlin, but returned last week in a substitute appearance. He remains on the fringe of contention for Brazil.
- Will Packwood of Birmingham City earns his first senior team call-up. The 20-year-old has 18 previous appearances at the youth level and has impressed at center back in the English Championship this season. He is likely not in the hunt for a World Cup spot; his inclusion has more of an eye towards 2018.
- Alfredo Morales is a surprise inclusion. The 23-year-old German-born defender made his first USMNT appearance a year ago in a friendly vs. Canada, but is still not cap tied. He has reportedly drawn interest from the Peruvian national team, as his father was born in Peru. The call-up keeps Morales integrated with Klinsmann’s program and he’s also a player who could emerge in the next cycle.
- Danny Williams and Brek Shea, two English Championship midfielders who have both previously seen larger roles with the national team, both return in a last ditch push for Brazil, but under very different circumstances. Williams has flourished since his arrival at Reading FC, while Shea has struggled for playing time since being loaned to Barnsley from Stoke City.
- Oguchi Onyewu and Tim Ream, both English Championship defenders seeking to return to favor with the USMNT, seem extremely long shot candidates for Brazil, at best. But an opportunity is there to seize, and each will seek the make the most of it. Onyewu has impressed since his transfer to Sheffield Wednesday from Queens Park Rangers. Ream has been a steady fixture at left back for Bolton Wanderers, but has faded from Klinsmann’s favor.
- Juan Agudelo, fresh off his hot start at FC Utrecht of the Dutch Eredivisie, gets another shot to claim one of the last spots on the World Cup roster. It’s a critical opportunity for Agudelo, who would likely have to beat out Terrence Boyd to be included as the final forward on the depth chart.
- As for the European-based players not called in, it’s the end of the line as far as 2014 World Cup hopes. There remains strong factions of fan support for right backs Steven Cherundolo, Timothy Chandler and Eric Lichaj, but the reality is that each, for very different reasons, has been largely out of the national team picture for quite some time. Cherundolo is long on experience but hasn’t even been able to get on the field for his own club. Chandler is currently injured, but hasn’t been called in by Klinsmann for a year now, and Lichaj failed to get the call after returning to the USMNT last fall from a two year absence. Jonathan Spector, another past fixture on the back line, also did not make the cut. An erroneous early report that he had made the roster was later discredited by U.S. Soccer.
Projected Starting Lineup:
GK: Howard
D: Cameron, Ream, Brooks, Castillo
MF: Bedoya, Bradley, Jones, Johnson
F: Dempsey, Altidore
Given the unusual circumstances surrounding next Wednesday’s match, the actual result of the game may be of minimal consequence. It is, after all, only a friendly, but it’s also now one played on neutral soil against a team possibly preoccupied with greater concerns back home. Who knows what we’ll see from Ukraine? Herhaps a team distracted, perhaps a team motivated; in any case, Ukraine is a quality team that nearly reached the World Cup. It’ll be a stern test for the USMNT, but in the bigger picture, the individual performances in this game will tell us a lot more than the final score.
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