The USMNT gear up to face Belgium in a friendly today in Brussels. The Americans are coming off of a disappointing 1-0 loss to Costa Rica over the weekend. The match can be seen today at 2:30PM ET on ESPN. Here are the rosters for both teams.
USA:
Goalkeepers (2): Bill Hamid (D.C.United), Tim Howard (Everton)
Defenders (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club America), Timmy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City)
Midfielders (6): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Jose Torres (Pachuca)
Forwards (4): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)
Belgium:
Goalkeepers (3): Jean-François Gillet (Bologna), Simon Mignolet* (Sunderland), Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid).
Defenders (7): Toby Alderweireld* (Ajax), Denis Odoi (Anderlecht), Vincent Kompany* (Manchester City), Nicolas Lombaerts* (Zenit-St. Petersburg), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Jan Vertonghen* (Ajax).
Midfielders (8): Eden Hazard* (Lille), Dries Mertens* (PSV), Vadis Odjidja Ofoe (FC Bruges), Timmy Simons* (Nuremberg), Jelle Van Damme (Standard), Marouane Fellaini* (Everton), David Hubert (Genk), Axel Witsel* (Benfica). Forwards (6): Moussa Dembele (Fulham), Romelu Lukaku* (Chelsea), Marvin Ogunjimi (Genk), Bjorn Vleminckx (FC Bruges), Igor De Camargo (Moenchengladbach), Jelle Vossen (Genk)
*starters vs. Azerbaijan
This game should be a very good test for the Americans. Belgium have a very talented squad and hopefully will field their most of their young superstars such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini. Unfortunately for the Belgians they will be without defenders Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen due to injury. The Belgians are coming off of a disappointing 1-1 draw to Azerbaijan in the Euro '12 qualifier match. With this being a frieindly, I would not be surprised if Belgium decided to field a more experimental squad instead of using some of the previously mentioned big guns.
The US will have all of their starters from the Costa Rica game present with the notable exception of Landon Donovan who stayed back to rejoin his LA Galaxy team in MLS. In the Costa Rica match they played a more possession style that was actually nice to watch for a change. Jose Torres was instrumental in the center of the park and looks to be revitalized under Klinsmann. The problem was that the Americans lacked a cutting edge in the final third and really did not have enough clear cut chances. The US does add Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo to the roster which should help stabilize the team. It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Klinsmann fields today. I personally hope to see more of Brek Shea and Timmy Chandler in the starting lineup and I expect to see Sacha Klejstan start since he plays his club football in Belgium with Anderlecht. Hopefully the USA put on a good performance and are able to notch the first win in the new Jurgen Klinsmann era.
