U.S. National Team Breakdown

It was almost a certainty that the US Men’s National team would be one of the names in this years Gold Cup Final. The running joke is that with the Gold Cup all the teams play and then the US an Mexico meet in the Final. In fact since it’s inception in 1991 only Canada in 2000 won the competition and joined the other two as winners. Not since 2005 will the Final pit the United States against a team other than Mexico, which incidentally was the last time Mexico missed out on the Final.

On the Sunday 28th July, at Soldier Field, Chicago,  Jurgen Klinsmanns team will take on twice Mexican defeaters, Panama. I expect a win from the home side and I expect the USA to add a fifth Gold Cup title to their trophy cabinet, and most likely Landycakes Donovan will finish top scorer of the competition. It is expected, and this is why it will be mentally a tougher game and a real test of the boys progression.

Courtesy: Sports Illustrated/CNN

When they kick off it will be almost exactly two years since Klinsmann took charge in on July 29th 2011. We must look back at the trajectory he has put the Nation on in order to see just how excited we can be heading into the World Cup next summer. His first game in charge was a tied game against Mexico 1-1 in a friendly. Compare that to the defeat to the same team 4-2 barely a month before and the tenure started on a positive note. Consider that the USA were 2-0 up after 23 minutes in the earlier game and not just let it slip with two reply goals in 7 minutes but then were destroyed in the second half at the Rose Bowl.

The next six games to close out 2011 involved four defeats including Stateside games against Costa Rica and Ecuador. However the other two defeats were very narrow affairs against European opposition on European soil. Belgium were the first ones to barely defeat Team USA before ex Euro and World Cup winners France felt the Yanks new found steel. By far the best result though was the defeat 3-2 of Slovenia which came only four days after the French defeat and showed me everyone that the National team were going in a different, positive direction.

2012 started as the previous year had ended with a win. In fact a string of four wins was only halted by Brazil who downed Donovan and co 4-1. The mood was still positive despite this though after a heavy win against Scotland 5-1 four days before and a win against the Azzuri on Italian soil in the February. The Brazil defeat would be only one of two defeats they would have all year, and the only defeat on US soil. A draw against Russia in Krasnodar and win against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium were two other positive points as the Klinsmann regime started to bare fruit.

This year it certainly has kicked up yet another gear with dominance in the Gold Cup most recently but also a 4-3 win against Germany in DC in June and another good result against Mexico, although this time it was just a 0-0. So yes the game against Panama on Sunday will be a nice game and of course wins breed confidence which in turns leads to more wins but my eye has already drifted to the difficult game in August, against Bosnia in Sarajevo as the European experiment continues.

With just over a third of World Cup teams being Europeans I think this is a smart was to get the team used to the way the various European nations play. I wouldn’t be surprised if more European games or even visits from some African nations are planned for 2014 as the countdown starts to get closer. Now I do not think that Klinsmann will win the Tournament but matching or bettering the Quarter Final in 2002 wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility.