USA - World Cup 2006 Team Profile

World Cup Match Tickets

Sean O'Conor reports...

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Road to Germany

The USA came top of the CONCACAF qualifying competition for the first time to reach their fifth consecutive finals.

The 3 1⁄2 places on offer from the final group of six lend weight to suspicions FIFA has been trying to engineer qualification for the huge market potential of America.

Analysis

The States surpassed expectations in reaching the last eight in 2002 but deserved to be there having beaten Portugal and Mexico. The latest FIFA World Ranking has placed them 4th in the world, which is absurd but equally proof of how America has joined the club of football nations at long last.

But they will be lucky to reach the last eight again after a gremlin in the World Cup draw handed them Ghana, Italy and the Czech Republic in the first round.

Against such opposition elimination in the first round would be no shame but would be perceived as a backward step after four years ago. The ironic fact is the team as a whole is better than in 2002.

While the US took the field against Portugal with six players from MLS, only three from the domestic league are likely to start in Germany. The team will be better for the European experience in it but it could mean the players will be slightly less fit than in 2002, where the US were one of the noticeable 'running' teams.

Like South Korea, America had no players in the Champions League and with the MLS season beginning in the spring, its cohort of players was fresh in comparison to say France's.

The defence looks stronger than before, thanks to the arrival of Hannover's underrated right back Steve Cherundolo and behemoth centre-half Oguchi Onyewu, currently at Standard Liege but likely to be England-bound after the finals.

The centre of midfield will feature the same personnel as in 2002 but the flanks look a little more lively with the introduction of the roving Clint Dempsey and Reading's Bobby Convey, who loves taking players on. Watch out for full back Eddie Lewis overlapping into his natural left wing position and sending in one of his top-drawer crosses, such as the one that Landon Donovan met in 2002 to defeat Mexico.

Where the US is short is up front where Fulham's Brian McBride, at almost 34, remains the only striker of real quality.
Taylor Twellman might be MLS' consistent top marksman and Eddie Johnson might have been banging them in against the minor CONCACAF nations but neither seems to be of true international quality yet.

American players are traditionally accused of being 'overcoached' and lacking in big game savvy, but the heavy European contingent with bags of top-level experience should allay those fears.
However, the US record against top European nations is a poor one, and there are two Euro-heavyweights to get past in their group.

Key player

Claudio Reyna has had an invisible season but the playmaker-captain is still the only real 'brain' in the midfield. Whilst Landon Donovan remains the most talented player produced in recent years, his failure to make it at Bayer Leverkusen, twice, has exposed doubts about his true worth.

DaMarcus Beasley has been the most impressive player since the last World Cup but has worryingly gone off the boil recently and was substituted in the recent friendly with Poland for a more effective Bobby Convey. Both can be the US' player of the tournament but perhaps the key remains Brian McBride converting what chances come his way.

One to watch: Clint Dempsey

Clint Dempsey, the wild cat amongst the domestic tabbies, who drifts from the right side to loiter in the attacking third and then pops up unexpectedly to score, as against England in 2005 or Poland earlier this year. A unique US player and potentially brilliant, 'Deuce' fails to fit the stereotype of the middle-class American soccer player off the field as well: He grew up in a trailer in Texas, has released a half-decent rap record and recently floored his team captain in training with a right hook.

Coach

Bruce Arena, coach since 1998, cannot be accused of being forthcoming or enlightening when he speaks, but his record is the best of any US coach and since there really is no other American on the horizon, he will probably continue after the finals, unless a Premiership club comes calling, a challenge he has publicly said he would enjoy but thinks unlikely to occur.

Previous tournaments

2002 Quarter Final
1998 1st Round
1994 2nd Round
1990 1st Round
1950 1st Round
1934 1st Round
1930 Semi Final

The US no longer sends a first-team squad to the twice-yearly regional tournament, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, so their record in that does not merit consideration here.

Soccerphile says …

The presence in their group of two European powerhouses is scary and even were the US to advance via second place, they would most likely face Brazil in the next round. The draw has not been kind to them, and chances are they will not make it beyond the first stage. But no one expected the USA to beat Portugal in 2002, and 2006 therefore should be seen in the same light as an uphill, but not impossible task.

World Cup Squad

Bet on the World Cup

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller Borussia Moenchengladbach
Marcus Hahnemann Reading
Tim Howard Manchester United

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra Fulham
Steve Cherundolo Hannover 96
Jimmy Conrad Kansas City Wizards
Cory Gibbs ADO Den Haag
Frankie Hejduk Columbus Crew
Oguchi Onyewu Standard Liege
Eddie Pope Real Salt Lake

Midfielders
DaMarcus Beasley PSV
Bobby Convey Reading
Clint Dempsey New England Revolution)
Landon Donovan LA Galaxy
Eddie Lewis Leeds United
Pablo Mastroeni Colorado Rapids
John O'Brien Chivas USA
Ben Olsen DC United
Claudio Reyna Manchester City

Forwards
Brian McBride Fulham
Eddie Johnson Kansas City Wizards
Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards
Brian Ching Houston Dynamo

Probable Team

Keller
Cherundolo Onyewu Gibbs Lewis

Mastroeni
Reyna
Dempsey Beasley
Donovan

McBride

Flights To Germany
Opodo

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