U.S. Men's National Team

A bunch of U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) games coming up.

USA vs. China - June 2nd, 8pm (All times EST)
USA vs. Guatemala - June 7th, 9pm
USA vs Trinidad & Tobago - June 9th, 5pm
USA vs El Salvador - June 12, 7pm

The China game is a friendly, serving as a warmup for the other three games which are part of the Gold Cup, the biannual championship of North America (including Latin America and the Caribbean). This year, the Gold Cup is being held in the US. For some reason, the friendly game is the only one that will be on ESPN2, with the other games on Telefutua and FoxSoccerChannel.

In my eyes the United States is the favorite to win. Our main competition is Mexico, although Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica have decent teams as well. Since 2000, the US has played Mexico on American soil 7 times, winning 6 and drawing one, all of which have been shutouts.

Assuming the US wins its group (you can assume nothing in this sport), the US'll play its first quarterfinal on June 16th. Both semifinals are on June 21st, and the final is June 24th.

A lot of the MLS players will be missing for the China friendly, as there are MLS fixtures scheduled on that date. However, with a full camp, here is how I would line them up against Guatemala on Thursday:

-------Twellman---Donovan-------
Beasley-------------------Dempsey
-------Feilhaber-----Bradley-------
Simek-Onyewu-Parkhurst-Spector
------------Howard---------------

As a New England Revolution fan, I am very curious to see how Parkhurst, a quick player who reads the game well and has great positioning, will pair up with Onyewu, a very physical player. In theory they should complement each other well.
Donovan would drop deep, grab the ball, and if he's on his game, make some runs with the ball and unbalance the defense. If he's not on his game he can just get it wide to Beasley and Dempsey so Twellman can knock in some crosses (he's good at that).
I'd be sure to get Eddie Johnson and Justin Mapp on the field at some point as well.

Point of interest - midfielder Michael Bradley is coach Bob Bradley's son.

Link to the Gold Cup roster for the USMNT.

Link to the USMNT schedule.