After a terrible stretch of matches the United States Men’s National Team are hoping a Caribbean tour will change their luck. On Friday USMNT coach and Technical Director Jurgen Klinsmann announced his twenty three man roster for their first set of World Cup Qualification matches,
The United States will play Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday November the 13th in St. Louis, Missouri (830PM Fox Sports 1, Univision). They will then travel to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago to take on the Soca Warriors (7pm ESPN). The United States is in Group B with both sides and Guatemala. The top two sides will move on to the hexagonal round of qualifying.
Despite calls for Klinsmann to completely blow up the roster many of the same names from the CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico remain on this roster. Of the 23 man roster brought in only Darlington Nagbe, Miguel Ibarra, Jordan Morris (who was part of the under-23 Olympic qualifying roster,) and Matt Miazga (also on the Olympic roster) were not included on the 30 man roster for that match.
Nonetheless there are some interesting names added to this mix. Of all the new additions Nagbe is perhaps the one who will have the greatest impact. After being in the process of gaining his U.S. Citizenship for years he was finally cleared in September to join the USMNT. Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter has been using him lately as more of a center attacking midfielder so it will be interesting to see if Klinsmann puts him in a similar position or as an outside midfielder.
Miazga is also an interesting name to watch during these matches. After having standout campaigns with the under-20 National Team and his club the New York Red Bulls Miazga will be making his senior national team debut. Center-back has been a major issue for the United States over the past year. Whether it is by design or because of a lack of quality is up for debate. However, it is apparent that both positions are still open and with qualifying just getting underway the time may be right for Miazga to stake his claim in the starting eleven.
The goalkeeper situation will also be fascinating to watch over the course of the next two games. Brad Guzan will still likely have the starting spot come next Friday but his hold on the position is tenuous at best. Tim Howard looked rusty in his first appearance with the National Team last month, a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica, but his play with Everton thus far has been spectacular. At some point Bill Hamid will also get a look given his outstanding form with D.C. United. Given the quality of competition over the course of this round an appearance is not out of the question.
Full roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Club Leon), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
