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U.S. Men's National Soccer (Official Thread)

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VBSJ;2241688; said:
Nice to see that the U.S. is both hosting and participating in the 2016 Copa America tournament, announced Wednesday and marking the 100th year.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/10/24/copa-america-2016.ap/index.html?sct=sc_t2_a3

Will be interesting to see which cities and stadiums get picked, with Mexico also in the tournament. Straight away, I'll say New York and Los Angeles are two of them :biggrin:
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Was just coming to post this. Not a bad consolation prize for missing out on hosting the 2022 WC. Might have to make my way to one of the sites, depending on where they end up.
 
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jlb1705;2241712; said:
I think the closest site we can hope for is Soldier Field.
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Remember when the World Cup was in the Silverdome. That was a nice drive, outside of the fact:

1) You had to be in TSUN.
2) The Silverdome staff didn't unplug multiple urinals and Swedish and/or Brazilian fans kept using them (i.e. overflow).

The average attendance at the last COPA America was like mid-30's, so the USSF doesn't really have to go overboard and fill the Rose Bowl or Cowboy Stadium. But if they want to bank ($$$), all Mexico games will be in Texas, NY or Cali.

But it won't be Crew Stadium or anywhere in Ohio, Indiana, TSUN or Pennsylvania. So, you're right and Soldier Field probably will be the closest.

Hopefully, this sets up a winning bid for the 2026 World Cup, but that's a long time from now (damn it).
 
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Considering the next Copa America will be in Chile the year before (2015), I think the bigger South American nations (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, etc.) will probably end up fielding less than full strength squads in 2016. I could be wrong & hopefully I am (for entertainment purposes), but I could see a lot of the bigger names that ply their club trade in Europe skipping out on this one at risk to burning out or risking injury. Three consecutive summers of international play is a bit much to ask from the likes of Messi, Falcao, Neymar, etc, which of course depends on whether or not their nations make the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Even if it's only two consecutive summers (For those who don't make it to the 2014 FIFA World Cup), I still thank that's asking a bit much when you consider how long the European club season is & the pressure their respective clubs put on them to not play in back-to-back summers. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I could definitely see this becoming the case down the road.

Even if that is the case, I still think it gives the U.S. a great opportunity to play against better competition in a tournament type environment.
 
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Wells4Heisman;2252229; said:
Wish we could get a game in the Georgia Dome
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The problem with the Georgia Dome is, the field is turf. So Arthur Blank or someone has to truck in natural grass to replace the turf for just one game (qualifier).

They would've changed it for the World Cup, if the U.S. had won the bid in 2022 (because Atlanta was one of the sites).
 
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US Roster for the friendly at Russia.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Michael Bradley (Roma), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Joshua Gatt (Molde), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)
FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna)

3 things that stand out to me about this roster.

1.) Chandler is back and I also saw an article on ussoccer.com where he states he's now 1000% committed to the US national team. Would be great if true, he just needs to prove it by playing in a qualifier.

2.) Jozy is back on the squad after being left out for the previous 2 qualification games.

3.) I love seeing the young midfielders on the squad (Diskerud/Gatt/Gyau).

I'm looking forward to the pairing of Fabian/Chandler at LB/RB, plus the athleticism of Gatt and Gyau would be good to see for the future of the squad. Although, I'm not sure if they will get a chance to see the field, it'll be great experience for them to go through a national team camp.
 
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Really excited about all three of Chandler, Gatt, and Gyau. I can understand the skepticism around Chandler's commitment, but if he's seriously joining the US team for good it's awesome news, because think we'll be set at RB for the future. For the first time in a while, I feel good about the back line long-term with Chandler at RB, Johnson at LB, and Cameron at CB.

I think Gatt and Gyau will be a big part of the midfield long-term (thinking even beyond WC 2014 when Donovan and Dempsey will both be getting older). And I don't know anything about him, but there are people excited about Diskerud as well.
 
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