Phoenix, AZ – Saturday, January 21, 2012: USA Men’s national team defeats Venezuela 1-0, at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
USMNT vs Panama Match Preview
The USMNT will hit the road to take on Panama in Panama City on Tuesday night. The US thrashed Honduras 6-0 last Friday, which takes some of the pressure off of this match. However, Bruce Arena and the team would still like to at least get an away point, as that would certainly put some minds at ease after a rough start to the qualifying cycle. I would normally say after a performance like the Honduras match that I would expect a similar lineup, but it should be noted that John Brooks, Michael Orozco, Sebastian Lleget, and Jordan Morris have all returned to their clubs due to injury. Club Tijuana winger Paul Arriola has been added to the roster to give the team another option after the departures. Here’s what I’m expecting for a Starting XI on Tuesday night:
ST: Clint Dempsey
ST: Jozy Altidore
CAM: Christian Pulisic
CM: Jermaine Jones
CM: Darlington Nagbe
CDM: Michael Bradley
LB: Jorge Villafana
CB: Geoff Cameron
CB: Omar Gonzalez
RB: Graham Zusi
GK: Tim Howard
As you can see, only about half of this lineup is the same as what the US ran against Panama, which was necessary after all of the departures. I expect Jozy Altidore to start next to Friday’s hat trick hero Clint Dempsey up top, with Borussia Dortmund wunderkind Christian Pulisic pulling the strings in the #10 role. Behind them, I still expect Darlington Nagbe to start, but to have a new midfielder beside him, veteran Jermaine Jones. Even if Lleget did not leave with an injury, I think Jermaine Jones probably would have started in his place here anyway, it’s just that he couldn’t on Friday, as he was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Behind them, Michael Bradley in the #6 role again, as he did really well there on Friday night. Now for the for the backline, Jorge Villafana remains at Left back, but I have Geoff Cameron moving from Right back to Center back to fill in for John Brooks, with Omar Gonzalez starting beside him. Without Orozco and Brooks, Right back is now forced to be an experiment in Graham Zusi. Arena played Zusi at Right back during January Camp, where he was OK but not great. However, Zusi seems to be the best option at Right back, unless someone like Walker Zimmerman were to step in for Cameron at CB, allowing him to move back to Right, but I think Arena will favor the experience. And than finally, I expect the ageless wonder Tim Howard to once again start in goal for US, as he did well on Friday night.
