With the groups selected and the games scheduled since December, the majority of speculation has understandably focused on each World Cup nation's roster and the starting lineups they'll trot out in Brazil.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann's decisions haven been wholly unpredictable since he arrived on the scene: The German-born coach hasn't bent to media criticisms and has dropped and recalled players at will no matter their history with the national team — none more controversial than Landon Donovan's exclusion from the final 23-man squad in May.
Therefore it had been hoped the U.S.'s final World Cup primer against Nigeria would hint at Klinsmann's starting eleven and his intentions for group play. The roster selections for the 2-1 win did just that on Saturday and also saw the U.S. click into prime form — the U.S. finished undefeated in its three Send-Off Series matches — as they worked over a fellow World Cup-bound colleague.
The last time Jurgen Klinsmann lead a country to a World Cup it was with his birth nation Germany in 2006. Then, Klinsmann carried over 10 starters from Germany's final warm-up game. He appears to have revealed his hand once again.
The U.S. lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Jozy Altidore playing through the middle and supported on the wings by Alejandro Bedoya and U.S. captain Clint Dempsey, who originally was suspected to play as a second forward behind Altidore. We’ll see if this position sticks, as Dempsey usually likes to settle in the middle of the field as he goes forward. However, Dempsey, as he did on Saturday against the African nation, will be allowed to drift across the park from his wide position and pop up wherever he sees fit.
Behind the forwards, Klinsmann selected a midfield trio of Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley. Jones and Beckerman will set a defensive platform for Bradley to go forward and create offensively. Former USMNT member and ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas says he feels Bradley is needed in defense and that it would be a mistake for Klinsmann to move him up field. On the contrary, Bradley has looked a revelation pulling the strings and spraying passes to the U.S. forwards against Nigeria and Turkey. Germany, Ghana and Portugal scouts will certainly be scheming up ways to disrupt him, as he appears to be the U.S.’s key to success this summer.
The back four, a major question mark before the warm-up matches, has been carved out. Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler will center the defense while the electric Fabian Johnson and experienced Demarcus Beasley maraud from the full back positions. It also appears the first subs off the bench for Klinsmann will be Mix Diskerud and Graham Zusi, who lost his place thanks to Bedoya’s steller performances as of late.
Bedoya played lively from the left wing against Nigeria and attempted a shot few other Americans would have with a distant curling effort from distance in the first half. Bedoya, who plays his club football with Nantes in France, looks to have stamped himself into Klinsmann's starting eleven for at least the World Cup opener.
Bedoya also played a role in the most crucial passage of play for the U.S. in the opening stanza, a Jozy Altidore tap-in for the games first goal. Bedoya had switched wings, a display of his tactical noos, and played in a streaking Fabian Johnson who did the majority of the work and beat the entirety of the Nigeria defense including goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama with a square ball through the six-yard box. Altidore couldn't miss.
It was an ideal goal for a struggling striker, and Altidore certainly qualifies as such. Before Saturday, he hadn't scored for club or country since December 4. Yes, you read that correctly, it was his first goal of 2014.
Shortly after the stroke of halftime, numerous U.S. Players went out of their way to embrace and congratulate Altidore, showing how much they want him to succeed. The first among them was his primary competition at forward in Aron Johannsson.
As NFL quarterbacks are measured by wins in big games, strikers are measured by the goals they score. Though they won’t admit it, Altidore’s drought must have been weighing on the minds of everyone in the U.S. camp. So when Altidore scored his second of he match and ultimately the game-winner, you could feel the jubilation of an entire country.
It was Bradley who played in the 24-year-old forward with a chipped through ball that was chested down to perfection. Altidore used his massive frame to secure position before depositing a sweet near-post strike past Enyeama, who will be among the premier shot-stoppers in South America.
We’ll found out in nine days time if the floodgates have truly opened for the U.S.'s first-choice striker. As for the starting eleven on June 16 against Ghana, Klinsmann has likely told us all we need to know.
| Nicolas Hallett is a staff writer for 105 The Ticket. He recently graduated from the University of Minnesota and has written for the Murphy News Service, the Minnesota Daily and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Follow him on Twitter @NicolasHallett |