USA vs England Preview
On Wednesday, May 28th, the United States national team will face off against the England national team at Wembley Stadium in London.
I have to say, this is a game that I can not wait to see! The US, under coach Bob Bradley, has managed to string together a few victories on European soil (something that had been very elusive before). Wins at Poland and at Switzerland has helped instill a sense of belief in the American players that they can get a quality result on European soil. Poland and Switzerland obviously don’t compare to the traditional powerhouse of England, but they certainly aren’t small fry either.
England, on the other hand, may be having their worst run in quite some time. The English fan base and certainly the English media are still quite peeved about not qualifying for the upcoming Euro 2008 Championships. England also find themselves being perennial underachievers. With such big named star power on their roster success has been expected, yet elusive to the England squad.
The last time England and the US faced each other was in May 2005 where England came out on top 2-1. Of course, back then England brought a team that was hardly their “A” team, more like their “C-” team. The Americans didn’t have their “A” team either, more of a “B+” in my opinion. However, Wednesday’s match has “A” team rosters for both countries, and it will be a great test for the Americans to see how our level of play stacks up against one of the world’s soccer powerhouses.
I think the US can get a successful result in England. I’m going to predict at 2-2 tie, but I do think we are capable of getting the win. The central back tandem of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry will certainly be a handful for our strikers, Ashley Cole is an absolute terror of a marking back. I am really excited to see the hot headed Wayne Rooney go up against the equally hot headed brute of a center back Oguchi “Gooch” Oneywu. That will be fun to watch. I think this match will really come down to how the central midfield players match up. Obviously on paper, England has the edge, Steven Gerard, Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves, and even Frank Lampard if he sees some playing time. Ricardo Clark and Maurice Edu are young, and they will have the ultimate test against some of the best in world. Bob Bradley might go for the stalwart Pablo Mastroeni, his experience could be enough to handle the pressure. Most intriguing to me is 20 year old Michael Bradley, I definitely think this game could be a coming out party for the youngster. He spent last season tearing in up for Heerenveen, one of the top teams in the Dutch league, the Eredivisie. If Bradley can have as good of a game as he is capable of having, I can easily see some startled and worried English faces. There will be plenty of eyes on Bradley as well, EPL teams such as Everton have expressed interest, and they will be just as eager to see how he fares at Wembley as I am.
So here’s my starting line up for the US.
——–Dempsey——Donovan———
-Beasley——Bradley—-Clark——Wolff-
Pearce—Onyewu—Bocanegra—Cherundolo
——————–Howard——————
I also expect to see Freddy Adu come on as a super sub for the US at some point in the second half.
Watch the game LIVE! on ESPN Classic at 11:50AM EST on Wednesday, May 28th!!!!
So what do you think? Predictions? Starting line ups?
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