I'd be lying if I claimed to be anything less than pants-wettingly excited about the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) taking the field. Sure, it's Denmark and they'll be sending a "C-Team" in all likelihood, but, at this point, I'd watch the USMNT squaare off against my old Saturday league team with deepest interest.
Anyway, it's word of the opening of the training camp that's lighting the fire. While the list of names in training has already been covered, I'm going to take this one step further and pick a "Top Five" in camp in terms of my interest in seeing them.
In no particular order...(mmm...actually, it's by position, starting from the back):
1) Matt Pickens. I think we need to keep looking for depth in this position and, much as I like him, don't think Matt Reis is the answer. After Tim Howard and Marcus Hahnemann, Joe Cannon is an answer, but I'd still like to see one more.
2) Michael Parkhurst. I'm dying to see how "wee man" holds up on the international stage; I think he's got the chops, but one never knows till one observes.
3) Sacha Kljestan/Kyle Beckerman. Yeah, I'm cheating, but I'm looking at one of these two as Pablo Mastroeni's heir apparent; the latter is one tough SOB, but he can't go on forever. I think Beckerman's closer on the "tough" bit - though I can't say I've seen Kljestan enough to state that with confidence - but suspect Kljestan will be the better overall player.
4) Justin Mapp. Dying to see home blossom (please, please, please, please). His 2006 was very encouraging.
5) Kenny Cooper. Speaking of heir apparents, with Brian McBride retired we need a new player to stick his face where it doesn't belong. He might also turn out better in the end.
Krusty is coming.
(##########)
No comments:
Post a Comment