Group Play Continues for US with Canada Tonight (Video)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqVZdMGeTY8?rel=0]
After a convincing win against Cuba and a breakout performance by the squad, the US look to stay atop of group play against a stronger Canadian side tonight at LP Field in Nashville, TN.The game is set to kick-off at 6:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on Universal Sports Network/Telemundo and streamed live on CONCACAF.com.
The U.S. can take the next step in its quest to earn a berth to the 2012 London Olympics with a victory against Canada on Saturday night. A win would guarantee advancement to the semifinals, which will be played on March 31 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
With a win, the U.S. would have six points from two games and would finish no worse than second place in the group. The top two teams from Group A and B advance to the semifinals in Kansas City, with the semifinal winners advancing to the 16-team Olympic tournament.
Canada and El Salvador played to a scoreless draw to open group play on Thursday at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. Both teams had their offensive chances, but El Salvador had the bulk of the stronger scoring attempts, out-shooting Canada 13–6.
Canada goalkeeper Michal Misiewicz made a game-high three saves as each team earned a point but quickly fell behind the USA’s group-leading six-goal differential.
Seven players among the Canada U-23 roster are playing for MLS teams: Babayele Sodade of Seattle Sounders FC, Doneil Henry and Matt Stinson of Toronto FC, Bryce Alderson and Russell Teibert of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Carl Haworth and Evan James of the Montreal Impact.
Canada’s Kyle Bekker completed his third season at Boston College in 2011, leading the team with seven assists and tied for the team lead with eight goals. Boston College advanced to the ACC Championship and participated in the NCAA Tournament, falling to Rutgers in the first round. Midfielder Samuel Piette and forward Randy Edwini-Bonsu have played with Canada’s senior team.
The line-up for the US will most likely stay the same. You will see very little change with the squad, however, I feel because of the type of match ups Canada provide, we may see a couple of scenarios.
First, in order to provide a stable presence look for Freddy Adu to move to a more central role and Joe Gyau slotting in at the wide position to provide offense on the flank. These changes may be instituted from the start but more than likely a tactic to provide offense if the US fall behind or don’t get off the mark early. I suspect that the squad will line up exactly as they did to start the match against Cuba.
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Look for Brek Shea to continue his fine run of form and the chemistry to continue building with Agudelo up top. I expect the same performance from the midfield, anything less would be a let down. That isn’t to say that I expect a six goal rout but rather the quality of play and their adherence to the system to remain in tact.
How do you expect the US to play against Canada? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
US ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), 18-Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), 3-Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), 4-Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), 5-Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), 13-Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), 19-Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union; Boston, Mass.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): 6-Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), 7-Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), 8-Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), 10-Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), 16-Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), 20-Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (6): 9-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), 11-Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas), 12-Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), 14-Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), 15-Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), 17-Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia; Jacksonville, Fla.)
CANADA ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Adam Janssen (Minnesota Stars), 18-Michal Misiewicz (FC Edmonton)
DEFENDERS (3): 2-Andrés Fresenga (Racing Club de Montevideo), 4-Nana Attakora-Gyan (unattached), 5-Doneil Henry (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (9): 3-Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), 6-Kyle Bekker (Boston College), 7-Bryce Alderson (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), 8-Samuel Piette (FC Metz), 9-Shaun Saiko (FC Edmonton), 11-Matt Stinson (Toronto FC), 14-Philippe Davies (unattached), 15-Sherif El-Masri (Courts Young Lions), 16-Drew Beckie (unattached)
FORWARDS (6): 10-Marcus Haber (St. Johnstone FC), 12-Babayele Sodade (Seattle Sounders FC), 13-Lucas Cavallini (Nacional), 17-Carl Haworth (Montreal Impact), 19-Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Eintracht Braunsweig), 20-Evan James (Montreal Impact)
