American fans that woke up early Friday morning to watch the United States men’s national team play a friendly vs. Japan were greeted to a pathetic, lackluster 2-0 U.S. defeat. Gregg Berhalter’s men were second-best just about everywhere on the field.
In the final international break before the World Cup, the USMNT faces an interesting set of matches against some infrequent opponents as Gregg Berhalter looks to formulate his final roster.
The international period begins on Sep. 22 with a friendly match against Japan at 8:25 a.m. ET in Düsseldorf, Germany. This is followed by a friendly against Saudi Arabia on Sep. 27 in Murcia, Spain.
Gregg Berhalter’s United States men’s national team plays its first of two friendlies on Friday vs. Japan. The game is being played on neutral ground in Düsseldorf, Germany. Here are some USMNT vs Japan predictions and scenarios.
Up first will be the overall scenarios, and then it'll be broken down by the three sections (attack, midfield and defense).
The USMNT begins its two-game September window Friday morning with a friendly against fellow World Cup participant Japan at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany.
It'll be a fascinating matchup with the Samurai Blue fielding the likes of Schalke's Maya Yoshida, Monaco's Takumi Minamino, Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu and Real Sociedad's Takefusa Kubo, while the U.S. is looking for some reassurances from its banner carriers (the goalkeeper position, Christian Pulisic).
Gerardo Martino habló. En la previa de los amistosos de la selección mexicana ante Perú y Colombia, el entrenador del Tri dio sus impresiones sobre los rivales que tendrá el combinado nacional durante la próxima fecha FIFA, pero mucho de la conversación en realidad se centró en los jugadores que llevará a la Copa del Mundo y en especial los centrodelanteros que piensa tener a disposición en Catar.
De todo lo que dijo hay dos conclusiones claras:
Carlos Acevedo y Marcelo Flores son los grandes ausentes de la convocatoria de México para los próximos duelos amistosos ante Perú (24 de septiembre) y Colombia (27 de septiembre).
La omisión de ambos no es menor considerando que la nómina corresponde a la última fecha FIFA antes de la Copa del Mundo. Frente a esto, no son pocos los que ven la ausencia como una señal de que tanto el arquero de Santos Laguna como el extremo del Real Oviedo – dos favoritos de la afición – no estarán en la lista final de Gerardo Martino rumbo a Catar.
“Who is Brandon Vazquez?” is a question that United States men’s national team fans could be asking themselves. If you’re a fan of the USMNT who doesn’t pay too much attention to Major League Soccer, then you might not know about the 23-year-old FC Cincinnati forward.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Russia in a friendly match in November, the Bosnia Football Association said on Friday.
The match will take place in St Petersburg on Nov. 19, one day before the World Cup in Qatar is scheduled to start.
Megan Rapinoe is no longer a starter for the USWNT. Mallory Pugh has made the left flank her own, and it was the 24-year-old Chicago Red Stars forward who forced the opener on Tuesday night against Nigeria at Audi Field with a low cross that resulted in an own goal from the Super Falcons.
However, after Nigeria had surprisingly found an equalizer in the 50th minute through Tigres forward Uchenna Kanu, it was Rapinoe's introduction in the 65th that brought the crowd back to life before her quality in the final third restored the USWNT's advantage just one minute later.
The United States women’s national team took care of business with a 4-0 victory vs. Nigeria on Saturday during an international friendly in Kansas City.
This was the first game for the USWNT since the team won the Concacaf Women’s Championship in Mexico in July. The U.S. defeated Canada 1-0 in the final.