Well it's finally here. The game that we all circled the day the Hexagonal schedule came out way back in November. A game that's been 10 months in the making has been made even bigger by this year's US success and Mexico's gigantic "slump." It is getting more hype than any non World Cup game I've ever seen. There are so many story lines heading into this game that it makes it all the more fun. Preview, thoughts, lineup, and prediction after the jump.
The biggest and most important story line is obviously the fact that the United States can seal a trip to Brazil next summer with a win and a Panama loss or tie. For any fan of US soccer, celebrating qualifying for the World Cup right in front of our bitter rivals is about as close to a dream come true as it can get. Although it has nothing to do with US soccer, the next biggest story of tonights game is the Mexican national team. El Tri is in a nosedive. They lost in the semifinals of the Gold Cup, watched the United States win it, were quickly eliminated from the Confederations Cup, and sit in 4th place of the Hexagonal. Worst of all (or best in our view), they are coming off a shocking home loss on Friday to Honduras at Azteca, which was ultimately the last straw in coach Chepo De La Torre's tenure. Mexico is coming into this game desperate for a win and with a brand new coach.
Friday night was no picnic for the United States either. Minutes before the game kicked off, their best player sprained his ankle and was lost for the match. Losing Bradley set the tone for the night and it seemed like the US never was able to overcome the loss of their field general. They looked very lackluster and poor in possession with numerous turnovers and mental errors that ultimately led to a 3-1 Costa Rica victory. After so many awesome performances in the 12 game win streak, this was a shocking way for it to end. In the game, Matt Besler got an absolute phantom of a yellow card, Jozy Altidore picked up a very stupid yellow in the 92nd minute, and Geoff Cameron also was booked. All three of them will now miss tonight's game due to yellow card accumulation. I could write 1000 words on the Besler yellow, CONCACAF's suspension rules and lack of review ability, but I'll just leaves is. The USMNT has to put that aside and perform with the players it has available and not make any excuses.
The game tonight will be played at Crew Stadium in Columbus, which has a lot of USMNT history, and some pretty awesome history at that. All time they are 6-0-3 here and have outscored opponents 13-1 in those 9 games. That includes three 2-0 victories in Qualifying against the Mexicans (which explains the "Dos a cero" nickname for tonights game). It will be the largest supporter's section of all time in a US game, as 9,000 "American Outlaws" are set to be there tonight. The atmosphere is going to be amazing and loud, the stakes are sky high, and the blood between the teams will be bad. As a USMNT fan, it can't get better than what we have in store at 8 pm eastern (well, Bradley, Jozy, and Besler could be playing, but you get the point).
LINEUP TIME:
In all my time following the USMNT, this was the hardest Starting XI to come up with, by far. With so many players out, and so many turning in awful performances four days ago, there were so many variables with formations, style, and players to figure out that it took forever. Now I don't think this is the lineup we will see because I don't see Jurgen leaving out Jones, but this is the one I like the most: (For a cleaner view click the link... http://americansoccernow.com/matches/48/starting_xis/7696?is_new=true)
Dempsey-Donovan
Corona-Diskerud-Bedoya
Beckerman
F. Johnson-Gonzalez-Orozco Fiscal-Parkhurst
Howard
For me tonight's game starts and ends with Kyle Beckerman who has to start (can't believe I just wrote that sentence). With Bradley out, we do not have any two players who can play off each other in a true holding/box-to-box partnership. That's why I want to see a very traditional holding midfielder with more offensive minded players in front of him. Beckerman is the best at this position that we have. It will be enormously important that Beckerman provides extra coverage and supports the back four with the skill that Mexico possesses and the missing defenders that we have. He also cannot turn the ball over on the breakout like Jermaine Jones did against Costa Rica.
Defensively I have Johnson at LB, which is the position I think he has to be in for this team moving forward. Even though he is great in the role of LW, all saw Beasley's shortcomings on Friday night and we just cannot have that if we want to succeed. There are many options at LW for us, but only Beasley and Johnson at LB. On the right side, we are missing all four of the players competing for the position in Brazil. With Cameron, Cherundolo, Evans, and Chandler all hurt, suspended, or not in camp, Parkhurst is all that is left (so is Eric Lichaj, but that's another post entirely). In the center, I think without Besler, Cameron, or Brooks, Gonzalez and Orozco Fiscal is the best option, but I could definitely see Goodson in there. I like Orozco over Goodson though because he has the better ball skills and distribution.
In the midfield, I'm trusting some younger guys who really do not have much big game experience for us. While all three played large roles in the Gold Cup, this is a whole different animal. Without Bradley, however, the US very badly needs a creative and possession-based midfielder that is best filled by Mix and his hair. I'm going with Bedoya over Zusi even though I am a big fan of Zusi. I think that we just don't have the height up front to take advantage of Zusi's stellar crosses and I think that Bedoya provides a bigger threat taking people on. He is a wide player who can cut to the middle and create. We all saw him and Landon start to develop some chemistry in the Gold Cup so I'm hoping that can continue tonight. On the left, I have Joey Beers. Corona is a very talented player who, like Bedoya, can play wide and cut to the middle. He is more comfortable in the middle, which is a little worrisome, but hopefully Fabian Johnson can get forward well from LB and won't make this much of an issue. These three are a little bit light on defense to be honest, which makes Beckerman's role all the more important.
In the front, I have Landon and Deuce up top. I could definitely see one of them dropping back and Aron Johannsson starting, but I like him in a supersub role much more than a starting one. I think that Donovan will need to stretch the defense while Dempsey plays in more of a hold up role, which should give the three midfielders time, space, and opportunity. It will be VERY important that neither of them try to do too much and just play their games. This is something that Dempsey has been very guilty of since his switch to the MLS. If we see the Dempsey from May and the Donovan of July, we have a very very good chance tonight.
Prediction: As much as I want to say 2-0 with the history of USA Mexico in Columbus, I just don't see any way of us keeping a clean sheet tonight. So I'll go with a 2-1 win instead, Donovan and Dempsey both getting a goal. I just think that Mexico is in too much disarray right now for them to take advantage of our depleted squad.
No matter what though, it's USA Mexico in what might be the best atmosphere we have ever played in on US soil. It'll be entertaining and tons of fun, so everyone tune in and lets go USA.
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