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US vs Belgium (friendly); 29 May 2013 at Cleveland OH; 8pm
Topic Started: Mar 15 2013, 02:53 PM (603 Views)
vince stravino
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Supporters tickets went on sale today. Tune up for the June WCQs. Wednesday night match.
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vince stravino
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If the Belgians bring their A-squad, it could be a real showcase of talent. Kompany (Man City), Vertonghen/Dembele (Tottenham), Fellaini/Mirallas (Everton), Benteke (Aston Villa) and Hazard (Chelsea) could be on the pitch. It will be a real test for the Yanks. These are just some of the players I recognize.

Wonder how the tickets are selling in Cleveland?
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raconteur
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I do not know about ticket sales but Belgium are bringing their "A" squad, look at this roster:

Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Hoffenheim), Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid), Jean-Francois Gillet (Torino), Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Ajax), Laurent Ciman (Standard Liege), Guillaume Gillet (Anderlecht), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit St Petersburg), Sébastien Pocognoli (Hannover), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern München), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Nacer Chadli (Twente), Steven Defour (Porto), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham), Marouane Fellaini (Everton), Thorgan Hazard (Zulte-Waregem), Timmy Simons (FC Nürnberg), Axel Witsel (Zenit St Petersburg)

Forwards: Christian Benteke (Aston Villa), Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen), Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Maxime Lestienne, (Club Brugge), Romelu Lukaku (West Brom), Dries Mertens (PSV Eindhoven), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Jelle Vossen (Genk).


That is a damn good roster. Probably Belgium's best team, at least on paper, since the early to mid 80s.

Look at the roster Germany are bringing per Winslow's post in that thread, not anywhere as good as this Belgian one. If you were to pick one of these two friendlies to attend, I'd say it should be this Belgium match.
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Yogi
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Definitely a good roster and that should be a very good test for the US before World Cup qualifying. Just what the team needs.

After 6 of 10 games Belgium are in first place in Group A of UEFA World Cup qualifying, ahead of Croatia on goal difference. With Serbia, Wales, Macedonia and Scotland all far behind. It is a 2 team race, between two pretty good teams, Belgium and Croatia for the automatic qualifying spot.
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Yogi
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I recently read over 20K tickets sold so far for this Wednesday's friendly in Cleveland.

In the roster selection thread I related how Edu, Shea and late addition Corey Ashe all had to withdraw due to injury, Bradley, Fabian Johnson and Williams all will miss this game as they played this past weekend and/or today for their clubs in Europe. So this per US Soccer is the roster for the Belgium game:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire),

DEFENDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)


US Soccer article on injured players withdrawing

Kind of weak in midfield isn't it? This though should eb a chance for Kljestan to translate his club play for Anderlecht into more minutes with the national team. And Brad Davis also has an opportunity to make a mark.
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vince stravino
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Beasley can play in the midfield out wide. Boy, I may be naive, but I sense they could use Donovan in there.
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Velvet Hammer
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vince stravino,May 27 2013
04:49 PM
Beasley can play in the midfield out wide. Boy, I may be naive, but I sense they could use Donovan in there.

I am as naïve as you Vince because I think the same. Looks like a lack of quality in midfield and defense on this team selected to face Belgium.

Donovan's speed, passing, energy and experience is something the US is currently lacking in midfield.
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Martin
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I was at the Galaxy game this weekend and Donovan was Ok but honestly did not stand out in the game. I trust klinsmann's decision to look at other alternatives now. If Donovan was standing out with the Galaxy it would be another question, but right now he isn't. If I am klinsmann this is the team I would start tomorrow versus Belgium:

Howard;Cameron,Gonzalez, Besler, Beasley;Jones, Kljestan;Zusi, Dempsey, Gomez;Altidore

Tomorrow will be Kljestan's big opportunity to press for more playing time.
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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Johnbuildr
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Martin,May 28 2013
08:39 PM
I was at the Galaxy game this weekend and Donovan was Ok but honestly did not stand out in the game.  I trust klinsmann's decision to look at other alternatives now.  If Donovan was standing out with the Galaxy it would be another question, but right now he isn't.  If I am klinsmann this is the team I would start tomorrow versus Belgium:

Howard;Cameron,Gonzalez, Besler, Beasley;Jones, Kljestan;Zusi, Dempsey, Gomez;Altidore

Tomorrow will be Kljestan's big opportunity to press for more playing time.

I trust your judgement on LD Martin, but I do not see any of those on your starting roster other than Dempsey and Altidore "standing out" any more than Donovan lately.

We'll see how it goes without him, because he certainly isn't going to be there any time soon..... :(
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



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Yogi
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I am very interested to see what Kljestan can do tonight. I agree this is his big chance, carpe diem and all that!

Gomez and Eddie Johnson are I think the two players vying to fill Donovan's shoes as a left sided attacker. Their battle for playing time is another thing to watch for in the next month.
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garbaggio
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Belgium has an important WCQ against Serbia in 10 days while the Germans don't face another qualifier til September. So that should make this version of the Belgian team play with more urgency and seriousness against the USMNT than their German counterparts this weekend.

Unless of course something different plays out. Either way I look forward to seeing some US soccer tonight after being subjected mostly to DC United in recent months!
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Roosevelt
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Count me also in being most interested to see Kljestan being put, to my eyes, anyway, in a better position to succeed than has previously been allowed. But how well does he complement Jones, who seems close to an automatic starter under Klinsmann? Bradley and Jones (individually good though they may be) don't always appear to be on the same page.

He's not really a left back solution, but it's been good to see all the love, not just from here, for DMB. He has never quite gotten his full due, IMHO. By the time he hangs 'em up, he'll have a better CV than all but a handful of US players.

My feelings that I have a lot more faith in Donovan than Klinsmann to deliver for the US remains unshaken, but one thing I don't want is for JK to have any subs left. It may be prepatory, but it's still a friendly, take advantage of it.
Another day in June, we'll pick eleven for football
We're playing for our lives, the referee gives us f**k-all

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raconteur
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The US lineup tonight:

Howard; Cameron, González, Goodson, Beasley; Zusi, Jones, Kljestan, Davis; Dempsey, Altidore

and Belgium's:
Mignolet; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Fellaini, Defour, Dembele, Mirallas, De Bruyne, Lukaku

Kljestan and Davis each with their chances tonight. Goodson gets the call to partner Gonzalez in central defense while Beasley (on the left) and Cameron (on the right) play on the defensive flanks.
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Yogi
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4-2 to Belgium as an impressive Belgian team made the US pay for some defensive slip ups. Christian Benteke comes off the bench and scored twice as he and Romalu Lukaku were a real handful for the US. But they were not alone as DeBruyne, Fellaini, Defour and Miralles did their share of damage too.

For the US, I guess a good exercise to see what are your weaknesses and there were plenty of those exposed by the Belgians. None of the back four stood out in my mind with Goodson-Gonzalez showing zero understanding together. Gonzalez-Besler who teamed up later showed more of being on the same wave length but by then Belgium were cruising and looking to avoid injuries before they face Serbia on June 7 in World Cup qualifying.

Raconteur wrote about Kljestan and Davis getting their chances to make a name for themselves and frankly neither stood out. Altidore was inexplicably taken off at halftime when I would liked to have seen more but Eddie Johnson who came on for him was the US' most lively attacking player.

Although they scored twice the US created very little in this game, the first goal was off a corner which Dempsey headed back across goal and Cameron headed it in at the opposite post. The 2nd goal, a gift penalty (the ref must have felt sorry for the US) which Dempsey converted. I gotta say that despite being involved in both goals, Dempsey was otherwise anonymous in this game.

The US will need to play much better on Sunday against Germany but Bradley and Fabian Johnson should each be back.
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raconteur
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Belgium pretty much gave the US a footballing lesson tonight. Some nice passing and good combination work something which was missing from the US attack all game long. But it was defensive mistakes, including one by backup goalie Guzan who came on in the 2nd half, which spelled doom for the US. Inexperience perhaps from the US backline but they were run ragged by Belgium's quick, skillful and mobile attackers.

I'd say Klinsmann has some work to do to get ready for Germany and more importantly the qualifiers in June. Defensively the US needs some work. Getting Bradley and F.Johnson back next week will help but I am with Yogi the Gonzalez-Goodson partnership shows zero chemistry together. Play one or the other, I'd go with Gonzalez and pair him with Besler or Cameron (who simply is not a right back.)

Yes Kljestan and Davis had their chances today and neither took them. They will likely each fall down the pecking order and will at best see spot duty the rest of this series of games.

Altidore did not do much when in but I would have liked to have seen he and Johnson paired together. Like Yogi I too did not understand his substitution.

It was a pleasure watching Belgium, even without Eden Hazard, they showed themselves to be a skillful and slick passing team. And Lukaku and Benteke are each a handful to defend. They might need some work defensively but right now they look to me like good candidates to make the World Cup.
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