Preamble
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s World Cup qualifier and the first “meaningful match” for the United States men’s national team in the New York area in their 104-year history. A not-wholly partisan crowd - a sell-out no less - is expected at Red Bull Arena which is mainly why the United States Soccer Federation has avoided the cosmopolitan region for World Cup qualifiers and the like. “We think we’ll have a very pro-US crowd. Will it be 100%? The answer is no,” Sunil Gulati, the US Soccer president, told Sports Illustrated early this week. Bruce Arena, the US head coach, even bristled of the venue: “It was done without my input. It was already established.”
As well as the chance for the US to take another important step on the road to Russia 2018 - following a poor start to their Hex campaign under the little-lamented Jürgen Klinsmann - this match gives Clint Dempsey the chance to become his country’s all-time leading scorer. ‘Deuce’ is currently tied with Landon Donovan on 57 goals. Dempsey, notably, tied Donovan’s mark in a 2-0 win over tonight’s opponents Costa Rica in the Gold Cup semi-finals earlier this summer.
So what’s at stake for Arena’s men? Put simply, victory against Costa Rica and against Honduras next week will put the US on the cusp of a place at Russia 2018. On the flip side, a draw or - dare we say it - defeat tonight would severely dampen the positive mood around the squad before they go on their travels for the second match of their double-header on Tuesday. With Panama lurking, the US will happily take four points from these two games but they’ll want to take any pressure off with a handsome win against Los Ticos.
SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS posted by CAMPUS94
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment