United States Looking for Strong Showing in Upcoming Friendlies
The United States Men’s National Team will be taking on Cuba and New Zealand in friendlies leading up to the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.
For the first time since September 6th, the United States Men’s National Team will be back in action with two friendlies up ahead. The first match will be hosted in Cuba, the first time a noncompetitive match has been hosted there since 1947, a game the Cubans won 5-2. The second will be against New Zealand Tuesday evening here in the United States.
The goal of these games is to help Klinsamann and Co. prepare for their first game in the Hex against Mexico on November 11th. But the main question is what should we consider a success?
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United States has never not won against Cuba since their 1950 World Cup 1-1 draw. Since then, the Stars and the Stripes and won 9 straight games against the Cubans by a cumulative margin of 31-5. In other words, we can expect a blow out on Friday. New Zealand, on the other hand, might be a slightly tighter contest. The 88th-ranked team might cause the United States a threat but in the end we should expect 2 wins from the States.
The biggest thing we need to look for are which players are going to make their case for a call up in November. Though the back line is going to be pretty solid, the midfield could see some shifting around. Everyone watching one or both of these games should keep a close eye on Sacha Kljestan. Kljestan is have a tremendous season for the Red Bulls and also had a strong outing in his last call up, scoring 2 goals and picking up 2 assists against St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. He could really solidify himself in the US’s plans if he keeps up his play during this round of friendlies.
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Another player who has a lot to prove in a US jersey is Bayern Munich’s Julian Green. After scoring a goal against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup Round of 16, Green has been in and out of the US soccer map. In order to get back in the national team set up and get more first team minutes with Bayern Munich, Green will have to really excel against Cuba and New Zealand in the upcoming days. Because of Dempsey and Zardes’ injuries, Green could definitely get solid minutes this time around and must take full advantage of them.
These two friendlies, no matter how easy the teams my seem, will be extremely important to gauge where the United States Men’s National Team is and which players can and should make the November call ups.