USMNT: Prediting World Cup qualification XI
When football returns, the USMNT embark on a crucial World Cup qualification cycle. Here is our prediction for Gregg Berhalter’s best starting XI.
Eventually, football will return. And when it does, the U.S. Men’s National Team will embark one of the most exciting and important periods of their recent history: attempting to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is exciting because the talent pool is full of young players who are crashing through the ceiling that previous American have banged their heads against. And yet, for all of the exhilaration and enthusiasm, there is a tentative nervousness because everyone understands just how humiliating it was to not qualify for the 2018 World Cup. That failure cannot be repeated.
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But how might head coach Gregg Berhalter set his team up when the games roll around? Here is a predicted starting XI.
Goalkeeper
One of the easiest positions on the pitch, Zack Steffen has been Berhalter’s go-to number one goalkeeper throughout his tenure as the USMNT head coach. Steffen played under Berhalter in Columbus, impressed as a young and improving goalkeeper then, and has since nailed down a starting role in Europe and on the international stage. Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson will compete for the depth positions.