Game is starting in under an hour. Line-ups will be out around 6 pm. For the US, Diskerud, Feilhaber, Yelldell, and Lichaj will not be dressed. I'm very much surprised about Lichaj not dressing. I would have pegged him for a start at right back. However, its been reported that Timothy Chandler has been very impressive in camp and he may get the start at right back. I'm hoping this doesn't happen, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see Jonathan Spector at right back as a sacrifice to Lionel Messi, who will gladly have his way with the West Ham player. Here's the US roster.
Here's the USA line-up: -------------------Altidore--------------- Donovan--------Edu-------Dempsey ------------Jones---Bradley-------- Bocanegra--Onyewu--DeMerit---Spector -----------------------Howard--------------- No surprises. Defense is slow, so Jones and Bradley will have their hands full dealing with that. Edu will probably get pinned back in the process. Hoping for another 0-0 draw could be our best bet.
And for Argentina: --DiMaria----Messi-----Lavezzi--- -------------Cambiasso------------- -------Banega---Mascherano---- Rojo-------Burdisso--Militto--Zanetti -----------------Andujar-------------
Feilhaber apparently came to camp with a hamstring injury. Seems like the US kept that on the downlow for a while.
For what its worth, the US will be debuting their red "Indivisible" jerseys. They're the same as the blue and white jerseys, but they're red and have a lame slogan on them. Nike had a twitter based slogan contest and somehow, they picked indivisible, despite many better options in my opinion. Hopefully there's a new Clint Dempsey rap song to follow.
Mexican officials...ruh-roh... I would anticipate a show from Angel Di Maria. Bocanegra just cannot keep up with him.
The key for the US will be whether or not they can keep the ball in the middle. Edu, Jones, and Bradley will have to find ways to differentiate themselves from each other, which did not happen last time they were the central trio against Colombia. Edu will be the most forward, Bradley will have free reign to roam box to box and Jones will do the defending in the back. If Argentina are allowed to keep the ball too long, those roles will all be defensive and Tim Howard will need a repeat performance of the 2008, 8 save shut out.
1' - Dempsey with a terrible first touch and he's moving from the right flank to the left. The pitch is grass laid over the usual turf. There was also an inch and a half of snow earlier in the week. Harkes mentions that the grass is pretty much dead, so not a good surface tonight. That's good for the US.
4 - first chance for the US. Dempsey wins a 50/50 with Messi and shrugs him off. No one ran up to the goal to give Dempsey an option and he had to take a week shot before being dispossessed. Easy save for the keeper. 5 - DiMaria with the first shot of the night for Argentina. Well over the goal though.
7 - Evidence of the dead surface. Donovan flicks the ball looking for Altidore. Pass probably went about 25 feet at least and was pretty high up. Bounced about shin pad level. 8 - Di Maria with another shot, set up after a run by Messi. Pass was cleared by Onyewu, but right into Di Maria who fired one in low on Howard. 9 - Onyewu under pressure from Lavezzi who steals it, but is cut out by Bocanegra and Bradley. Onyewu seems to have caught his foot on the ground and is limping around a bit. Not good for an already slow defense.
11 - Another chance for Argentina. DeMerit with a clearance after Spector guided Lavezzi into to trouble. Good team defending. US will need that in a big way as there is no possession to speak of thus far. 12 - Messi with a little run, drawing four US defenders into the middle to set up Di Maria on the right wing. Shot bends wide of goal.
16 - About four minutes of straight possession for Argentina finally cut out when four defenders converge on Messi as he runs to the top of the 18. US counter is cut out when Mascherano fouls Altidore.
18 - Argentina wins a corner after Lavezzi dribbles in from the right and ends up in the box. Dempsey clears the corner.
23 - Ever Banega with a swift little one-touch chip to send Messi in on goal. Howard gets to it before Messi can get a touch on it though. 24 - Altidore gets the ball and takes a bit of a run at three defenders, two just close the space and create a wall on him, while the third gets the ball. 25 - Messi went for a 50/50 ball with Onyewu, which is not the smartest thing to do if you're a midget. Onyewu jumped straight up and won the header, Messi jumped into him, but Onyewu did not move a bit. Messi also caught an elbow as they were landing together.
28 - Lavezzi and Messi with some combination work to get through four defenders. Messi whips a cross that goes through before Lavezzi could get on it. Donovan was back defending in the box which pretty much summarizes the US problems.
30 - First chance for the US with a set piece. US gets numbers in the box, but Donovan's free kick is poor and easily cleared by Mascherano. 32 - Dempsey and Donovan are back in their usual spots on the right and left respectively. Still both are doing a lot of defending. 33 - Another chance for Argentina. Another miss. Lots of opportunities for Argentina, but not a lot of work for Tim Howard to do. Hard to tell if they're trying to send a cross or a shot in.
34 - Di Maria gets in on Howard again after a poor attempted clearance by DeMerit. Di Maria tries a chip from an impossible angle, but Howard was on top of it and made the save. 35 - Yellow card for Bradley after hacking down Lavezzi. Replays show that Edu made the tackle, but Bradley gets the card. Go figure.
37 - Jermaine Jones shows up for the game finally and wins a highly combative battle for possession with Cambiasso before springing Donovan on a counter. Donovan cuts across from the left flank into the middle before hitting Dempsey as he was coming forward. First shot blocked by defense, second shot forces a diving save from Andujar. 39 - First consecutive minute of possession from the US. 40 - Rapid counter from Argentina. Messi ends up taking it up the middle past Bradley. Howard makes a big save off a quick shot from Messi.
42 - CAMBIASSO GOAL - 1-0 ARGENTINA Messi with a give and go with Di Maria. Di Maria gives the ball back to Messi in the 18, with calls for off-side from the US. Messi dribbles to the end line before hitting Di Maria, forcing a brilliant save by Howard from about two yards away. Rebound sits for Cambiasso who powers it home.
