May 27, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; The United States mens national team warms up as fans wave American flags before the game against Azerbaijan at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The United States Men’s National Team is coming off their second straight defeat to end the 2014 year. The USMNT looked completely outclassed and outmatched in their last match against Ireland. I’m not here to talk about the match against Ireland or the one against Colombia this past Friday.
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I want to look a couple of months ahead and see what direction Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann may go with his team. The core group of players for the 2014 World Cup—Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley and DaMarcus Beasley are getting old. Dempsey is 31, Jones 33, Beckerman 32, Bradley 27 and Beasley 32. I’m sure you can all do math and by the next World Cup in Russia in 2018, all of these players with the exception of Bradley will be in their mid to late 30s.
It’s not really that old but in the world of soccer aka football aka futball, it is and most players are past their prime at that state of their career and just can’t seem to do the same. I’m not saying the players listed above will see their skill set diminish but it is a possibility,
So let’s forget about the last four matches that the USMNT played and let’s look forward to January Camp and take a look at some possible call-ups by Klinsmann and his coaches. I’m not going to list a full 30-man roster but I will list a few players that I think might receive the call.