Jamaica Vs. USA Part 2: Revenge and Rememberance
By Doug Smith
The United States Men’s Soccer team sits in at a pivotal point in World Cup qualifying. They must win tomorrow night as they look up at the Reggae Boyz after losing on Friday in Kingston. They have been in Columbus preparing to turn the tides against Jamaica and kicked off all media after warm ups today. Carlos Bocanegra will return as captain, but the rest of the lineup is a mystery. They had no possession and were dominated through the middle on Friday so tactics and personnel must change. The USA sits tied for second in Group A with the top two advancing to the next stage of World Cup qualifying.
During today’s press conference coach Jurgen Klinsmann guaranteed a win with a smile.
"No, we won’t (lose). Don’t worry."
Clint Dempsey added a little to that thought.
"We are approaching this as a must-win game. We can’t wait to get back on the field."
Simple enough, but there is much concern surrounding this team with the focus on the midfield. Once again there were a plethora of defensive minded midfielders on the pitch in Kingston. The options have been limited with Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan out and Dempsey not able to fill the role of a pure play maker.
Another new starter should be Brek Shea who has the speed to create and has provided a spark off the bench. This seems to be a sentiment shared by many observers of the national team. There is a groundswell for Jose Torres to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup as well. We have seen many shaky moments from Torres, but he can be one of the better passers on the pitch. A wildcard would be Graham Zusi, who showed his crossing talents at public practice on Sunday. Regardless of who starts they will need to generate multiple goals, something that has only happened three times under Klinsmann.
Tim Howard was nursing an injury over the last few days but is expected to be ready. On an interview with ESPN he said it might not be a must win but the team really wants those three points. Howard is sure to provide the fire for the team along with Bocanegra. Veteran Steve Cherundolo should be ready to go as well. They will need to keep the team composed and show why they have so many caps with the National Team.
The pitch at Crew Stadium seems to be in great shape and the National Team has fared well in Columbus. With close to 4,000 showing up to public practice and a sell out expected tomorrow night, it is obvious that central Ohio was a good choice for the match. The team is 4-0-2 in Columbus during World Cup qualifying.
The caveat is that this game will be played on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2011. Clint Dempsey was still at Furman University where he watched the events of that day in the dining hall.
"As a country, we always remember that and it’s impacted everyone’s life. Everybody remembers where they were on that day. I just really couldn’t believe what I was seeing and as the days followed you found out more about the situation. Obviously it’s sad for the people, I mean everybody was affected but anytime you lose family members, I know what that’s like, and it’s a tough thing for people and all you can do is try to look at the positives, try to think everything happens for a reason, other than that, you’ll go crazy. Like I said, us as a nation, we just strength upon each other and that’s what we need to do in the game on Tuesday: we need to come together as a team and get the right result."
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