Four Quick Hits on Klinsmann’s May Roster

U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has called in 27 players for a training camp in Orlando, Florida, ahead of the team’s three friendlies and two World Cup qualifiers in the next three weeks.

While there was arguably only one surprise selection—that of Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi—there were a few surprising omissions and one player who unexpectedly declined Klinsmann’s invite. (See entire roster at bottom.)

Here are four thoughts on the roster:

• It’s time to jettison Timmy Chandler. The 22-year-old Nuremberg defender said “Thanks, but no thanks” to Klinsmann’s offer, turning down the U.S. for the second time in two years. He did have a busy season, but clearly, he’s still holding out hope for a call-up from Germany. (Appearing in a WC qualifier would have tied him to the U.S. forever.) But just like Germany has other options at outside back, so does the U.S. The rock-solid veteran Steve Cherundolo is not done yet, and two guys who are on this roster, Danny Williams and Fabian Johnson, can fill the role as capably as Chandler—or better, in the case of Johnson. Also: Edgar Castillo had a tremendous season at Club Tijuana this year, and Eric Lichaj, who was (somewhat surprisingly) not called in for this camp, came on strong for Aston Villa at the end of the season. Other possibilities include Birmingham City’s Jonathan Spector, and up-and-coming Molde defender/winger Josh Gatt. Chandler showed fairly well in his friendly appearances for the U.S., but it’s time to move on.

• They need to play with two forwards—and those forwards’ names should be Dempsey and Altidore. Ever since Klinsmann took over, there’s been much talk about instituting a 4-3-3, with many observers claiming to have spotted that formation in action for the U.S. We are not in that group. We’ve only ever seen a 4-5-1 (or a 4-2-3-1) or a 4-4-2 in the Klinsmann era. Frankly, the team has looked best in a 4-4-2, which is essentially their native formation. It’s more sound defensively, as it allows for two defensive-minded midfielders, it creates more possession, and perhaps most important, it doesn’t leave a lone forward stranded up top, struggling to hold possession and combine with teammates. Dempsey (23 goals for Fulham) and Altidore (19 for AZ Alkmaar) are both coming off career years. It’s time to see what they can do up top together.

• Which uninvited player was dealt the biggest snub? The quick answer here is Sacha Kljestan, the midfielder fresh from a championship season at Anderlecht. But Kljestan is competing against a deep and talented midfield and he doesn’t bring anything new to the table, while lacking some of the attributes of his competition (speed, for starters). So we say it’s a tie between Brek Shea and Eric Lichaj. Shea was a part of every single previous Klinsmann setup, and Lichaj plays a position (outside back) that needs to be re-stocked for the future. (There’s depth there, as we said, and it’s time to start tapping it.)

• Goal poachers Gomez and Wondolowski need to make the most of deserved call-ups. Gomez has been lighting it up in Mexico the past two seasons, and won a championship with Santos Laguna this year. Wondolowski leads MLS in scoring with 11 goals in 12 games. They’ve been properly rewarded by Klinsmann, but can they do it at the international level? Gomez had some success in the U.S. shirt in the run-up to South Africa 2010, but Wondo has yet to score in seven appearances for the Yanks. It’s Gomez’s first chance under Klinsmann, but it could be the last for both.

The team will be whittled to 23 players on Friday, May 25, and that group will take on Scotland in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday May 26 (8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN), before traveling to Landover, MD, to meet Brazil on Wednesday May 30 (8:00, ESPN2).

On June 3, they’ll meet Canada at Toronto’s BMO Field (7:00, NBCSN), and then they’ll open the 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament with a match against Antigua & Barbuda on June 8 in Tampa (7:00, ESPN). Following that one comes the first true test of the Klinsmann era, a World Cup qualifier in the unwelcoming climes of Guatemala City (10:00 p.m., only on pay-per-view).

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (7): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

U.S. – Guatemala U-20 Qualifier: the Highlights

For U.S. fans, they are the sad, sad highlights. For Guatemala, they’re a historic landmark—the victory marked the first time that nation has qualified for a World Cup at any level, in 92 years of playing the sport:

From the opening whistle, this one had the atmosphere of an upset-in-the-making. The crowd of 30,000-plus was rocking, the Guatemalan team was playing loose and feeling no pressure, while the U.S. was the opposite—increasingly so as the game went on and they failed to establish any kind of rhythm or control.

We thought that would change when Conor Doyle scored the equalizer with that well-taken chip, but no: The hosts came right back with the eventual game-winner just three minutes later.

Sure, the U.S. was missing striker Bobby Wood due to injury, and the dangerous Joe Gyau (remember that name) was not at 100% capacity, but still, this was a game the young Yanks should have won.

Most of the American players have bright professional careers ahead—careers which they can now resume earlier than expected—and this was arguably the most talented U.S. U-20 group ever assembled. But they will go down as the first American side in eight U-20 qualifying cycles (dating back to 1995) to fail to reach the World Cup.

U.S. U-17s Win Batty Quarterfinal, Advance to World Cup

The U.S. Under-17s withstood two late red cards and a penalty kick to hold off El Salvador yesterday in the CONCACAF quarterfinals and clinch a berth in this summer’s U-17 World Cup in Mexico (June 18 to July 10).

Alejandro Guido opened the scoring for the Yanks just four minutes in, but El Salvador quickly equalized, getting a goal from Jose Pena in the ninth minute.

Things got dicey for the U.S. from that point forward, even though they produced a 17-4 advantage in shots.

El Salvador provoked a couple of excellent saves from U.S. keeper Fernando Pina in this do-or-die qualifier. (The Americans’ record streak of 13 consecutive berths in the U-17 World Cup was on the line; they are the only nation to have played in every edition of the tournament.) The U.S. created chances as well, but neither team could find the net again in regulation.

In overtime, though, Marc Pelosi and Guido took over for the Yanks. Pelosi made a nice run down the left in the 95th minute before unselfishly putting it on a platter for substitute Mario Rodriguez (who started the play) to bury and make it 2-1, U.S.:

Twelve minutes later, after some brilliant work by Guido at the edge of the box, Pelosi tucked home to make it 3-1 U.S.:

Game over, right?

Hardly. Soon after Pelosi’s goal, U.S. left back Kellyn Acosta (who’s only 15, btw) was sent off for picking up his second yellow card, and then American netminder Pina was booted for fouling El Salvador’s captain, Diego Galdamez, in the box. This gave El Salvador a penalty and reduced the U.S. to nine men.

El Salvador’s goal-scorer Pena was also sent off for retaliating against the U.S. keeper, making it 10-on-nine in favor of the Salvadorans.

Geraldo Iraheta put the penalty away to cut the U.S. lead to 3-2 in the 120th minute, but El Salvador never threatened in three minutes of stoppage time.