As usual team USA have had a fairly easy ride into the World Cup finals in terms of opposition, however, it is fair to say they have had one of the toughest rides with regards to complexity of qualifying and sheer number of games played. CONCACAF has become renowned for dreaming up the most imaginative and, arguably, unnecessarily drawn out qualifying stages. Eventually, though, the USA topped their group to make it into their fifth consecutive World Cup.
Qualifying Group Details
World Cup qualifying saw the USA having to play no less than a staggering 27 games in total. During this time, the team underwent some major changes including 7 captains and various different members of personnel. The final two games saw the USA field reserve teams having already ensured automatic qualification. 13 players shared a combined total of 33 goals with Donovan and Johnson leading the pack. On paper the USA look to have a strong defense having conceded the fewest goals. This is in no small part due to having three excellent goalkeepers on their books.
Key Players Of Note
The qualifying stages saw Donovan and Johnson shining but there are other faces to look out for within the USA national side. Brian McBride is an experienced professional who will undoubtedly serve his country well and whoever plays in goals from Kasey Keller, Tim Howard or Marcus Hahnemann will provide a strong figure at the back. Claudio Reyna is also another strong point of the American side.
Missing Players
Two players will be missing from action in Germany. Cory Gibbs (right knee) will be replaced by Energie Cottbu. Frankie Hejduk (torn knee ligaments) will be replaced by Chris Albright.
Tournament Expectations
Despite being considered a lowly footballing nation, the aptly named USA coach Bruce Arena has rocketed his side to 5th in the FIFA world rankings. They do, however, face a relatively tough challenge to make it beyond the group stages. As well as the USA, group E consists of Ghana, the Czech Republic and Italy. However it wouldn’t come as too much of a shock to see them progressing to the next round. It is unlikely they will live up to their world ranking though.
News Of Interest
Claudio Reyna is currently attempting to shrug off an injury picked up in the friendly against Morocco. It looks likely he will start the finals as captain and, in doing so, he will join an elite group of players to have played in four world cups. Unfortunately, the easy passage that the USA face to reach the finals may again be their undoing. They have very little serious match time against world-class opponents. Their group stage game against controversy shocked Italy could be an education they won’t forget in a hurry.
Official Squad
1 Tim Howard GK Manchester United, England 2 Chris Albright DEF Los Angeles Galaxy, USA 3 Carlos Bocanegra DEF Fulham, England 4 Pablo Mastroeni DEF Colorado Rapids, USA 5 John O'Brien MID Chivas USA, USA 6 Steve Cherundolo DEF Hannover 96, Germany 7 Eddie Lewis MID Leeds United, England 8 Clint Dempsey MID New England Revolution, USA 9 Eddie Johnson STR Kansas City Wizards, USA 10 Claudio Reyna MID Manchester City, England 11 Brian Ching STR Houston Dynamo, USA 12 Cory Gibbs DEF ADO Den Haag, Holland 13 Jimmy Conrad DEF Kansas City Wizards, USA 14 Ben Olsen MID DC United, USA 15 Bobby Convey MID Reading, England 16 Josh Wolff STR Kansas City Wizards, USA 17 DaMarcus Beasley MID PSV Eindhoven, Holland 18 Kasey Keller GK Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany 19 Marcus Hahnemann GK Reading, England 20 Brian McBride STR Fulham, England 21 Landon Donovan MID Los Angeles Galaxy, USA 22 Oguchi Onyewu DEF Standard Liege, Belgium 23 Eddie Pope DEF Real Salt Lake, USA
World Cup Group Fixtures
Monday June 12th
USA v Czech Republic
Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Saturday June 17th
Italy v USA
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Thursday June 22nd
Ghana v USA
Nuremberg, Germany
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