U.S. Men’s National Team: 2015 January-Camp Friendlies Preview

The national team is hardly at the top of most U.S. sports fans’ minds these days, given that the next World Cup is three years off and MLS is in its offseason (not to mention the fact that the Super Bowl is this Sunday). But January is traditionally an important month for national teams, a time when coaches call up uncapped players to see how they perform with and against veterans. And the U.S. happens to have two intriguing games coming up against quality opponents, Chile on Wednesday and Panama on February 8.

To put those games in context, now is a good time to look back at how the U.S. has played since Landon Donovan’s U.S. send-off game against Ecuador, and to take a look at the current U.S. roster.

Recap of Last Three USMNT Games

The U.S. is 0-2-1 in the post-Donovan era, and that record actually flatters the Yanks. To begin at the beginning: The U.S. played Honduras to a 1-1 draw in Boca Raton, Florida on October 14, four days after the Ecuador game. Despite the score line, Honduras largely outplayed and outhustled the U.S., and certainly were the better side in the second half. The only thing that kept Los Catrachos from winning was their poor finishing.

The game was notable from a U.S. perspective for at least one reason. World Cup standout midfielder Jermaine Jones played center back for the first time in a U.S. jersey. Jones will be 36 when the 2018 World Cup comes around, and coach Jurgen Klinsmann already envisions moving one of his favorite U.S. players to the back line. Klinsmann recently said, “if I have all the options in midfield, then I'm probably going to see [Jones] more as a center back.” The results from Jones against Honduras were at best mixed. He had a number of giveaways and other clumsy moments, including getting faked to the ground in the 56^th minute and getting a needless yellow card four minutes later. He was also partly to blame for Honduras’s set-piece equalizer in the 86^th minute.

Exactly one month after that game, the Yanks traveled to London to play Colombia at Craven Cottage, Fulham F.C.’s home ground. Colombia fans made the Cottage look and sound like a stadium in Bogota. And while it would be exaggerating to say that the U.S. played the part of the Washington Generals to Colombia’s Globetrotters, they were clearly outclassed and lost 2-1. As in the Honduras game, the U.S. looked particularly overmatched in the second half, and Colombia’s winner in the 87^th minute (a good one, by the way) was surprising only in that it came so late.

There were a couple of bright spots for the U.S. Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya had an outstanding game, which no doubt pleased his father, who played professionally in Colombia. Bedoya had a forgettable 2014 World Cup, but he was solid in 2014 qualifying and is now one of the few U.S. national team regulars still playing his club soccer in Europe. He’s not only a technically gifted player with good vision, he’s extremely hard-working and effective on defense.

Speaking of which: All of those attributes apply to the great Lee Nguyen, who now that Donovan has stepped down from the national team is my own personal favorite U.S. player. After a seven-year hiatus, Nguyen has worked his way back into the national team picture, and he played about a dozen minutes against Colombia. Even though the U.S. was on their heels late, Nguyen did not disappoint during his brief opportunity. Against Colombia, he played with the confidence and flair that made him one of the most exciting and effective players in MLS last season. Almost immediately after coming on, he executed a nifty back-heel pass to create a chance for the U.S. Thank heaven he’s on the January roster, and here’s to hoping he sees many more minutes against both Chile and Panama than he did against Colombia.

Four days after that U.S. loss, the team traveled to Dublin to play what the ESPN announcers billed as a B- or even C-team for Ireland. Apparently no one told Ireland’s players about their supposed mediocrity. They ran the Yanks off the field and won 4-1. The U.S. played with five new starters, including Alfredo Morales, who plays in the second tier of German soccer and got his first U.S. start. (Morales is not on the roster for the Chile and Panama games.) In truth, the U.S. played a good first half, but—continuing a disturbing trend set in the Honduras and Colombia games—they broke down in the second half. Bedoya again had a good game, but his fellow midfield mates looked a mess, including especially the normally reliable Kyle Beckerman, who committed a number of turnovers.

It’s also worth mentioning in closing that Fabian Johnson—who looked so strong in run-up to the 2014 World Cup—started against Colombia and against Ireland and did not play well in either game. Looking over my notes, I see that Johnson had a bad giveaway at midfield in the 33^rd minute against Colombia, which led to quick counter attack and shot off the post by Carlos Bacca. Up to that point, I had literally forgotten Johnson was in the game. He fared little better against Ireland, despite hitting the post himself in the 22^nd minute. His 55^th-minute giveaway in the U.S. right defensive corner, after he needlessly dwelled on the ball, led to Ireland’s go-ahead goal.

Roster for Chile and Panama Friendlies

Klinsmann recently indicated that he called up an unusually high percentage of young, uncapped players to prepare them for the task of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. (Fans may recall that qualification is no easy task; the U.S. U-23s failed to make the 2012 Olympics.) And as usual, Klinsmann expressed a desire to play well against the U.S.’s next opponents, saying earlier this month: “We definitely want to have a competitive group together that plays two friendly games against Chile and then in L.A. against Panama.”

It’s debatable that he has assembled a “competitive group” to take on Chile and Panama. The 23-man roster is available on the U.S. Soccer website, and many of the newcomers Klinsmann alluded to are not exactly household names. How many USMNT fans have heard of, for example, Jon Kempin, Steve Birnbaum, and Dillon Serna? Curiously, the current roster also includes little-known Miguel Ibarra, who plays for the NASL’s Minnesota United, and who came on in the 90^th minute against Honduras to earn his first cap. Ibarra appears to be a pet project of Klinsmann’s, who can’t justify Ibarra’s inclusion on Olympic-qualification grounds, as Ibarra is 24 years old and therefore ineligible to play in those U-23 games.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the current roster is Klinsmann’s choice of defenders. There are seven listed but (unless I’m missing something) only one fullback—DeAndre Yedlin. The rest either play center back or, in the cases of Jermaine Jones and Perry Kitchen, are natural holding midfielders. Who will play left back? My hunch is that Klinsmann will play Brek Shea (listed naturally enough as a midfielder) at left fullback, similar to how he moved DaMarcus Beasley to that position.

That will be something to watch for, as will the performances of promising young MLS players like Gyasi Zardes, Wil Trapp, and Luis Gil. And more casual fans (along with the rest of us) can look forward to watching Jones and fellow USMNT veterans Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and Mix Diskerud. No Bedoya, though.

The Chile game is Wednesday, January 28, 6 p.m. ET, on Fox Sports 1, Unimas, and UDN. The Panama game is Sunday, February 8, 4 p.m. ET, on ESPN, Unimas, and UDN.