USA Olympic Qualifying

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Well, so far its been a somewhat disappointing few games for the US. They haven’t lost yet, but their games haven’t been much fun to watch, with a 1-1 draw with Cuba, a 1-0 win over Panama, and a 1-0 win in stoppage time against Honduras telling the story of a team that just right now lacks a killer instinct. I’ll leave you with a few thoughts from what I’ve seen so far.

1. Paging Jozy Altidore, paging Jozy Altidore: For the 18 year old Altidore, is this to be expected, at least for the time being? You could say so, given the fact that he is only 18, playing on the u-23 team. He has also been deployed as the lone striker for the 2 games he played in, so that’s probably a cause for his lack of production He was much better in the Panama game than he was against Cuba, but this cannot be the case against Canada. Altidore needs to put his stamp on the game early, and show what he is capable of. I can’t stress how important going to the Olympics is for the United States. Failure to do so would be a terrible loss for US Soccer, and could potentially see the end of Peter Nowak as the u-23 team coach.

2. No Michael Bradley: In watching these games, doesn’t it just seem like the US is missing something from its midfield. That would be 20 year old Michael Bradley. Bradley, who has been phenomenal at SC Heerenveen this season, would provide a bite to the midfield that seems to be lacking, and also the potential to score goals, as he has done with Heerenveen this season.

3.Who would the US bring to Beijing that is over 23? This is me thinking ahead, but who would you take the Beijing if you could have your pick of the senior team that was over 23? Of course, Landon Donovan would make the list for me. But then who else? Would you bring an Eddie Johnson, someone who could potentially play next to Altidore? How about Tim Howard? Clint Dempsey would also have to be in the mix as well.

The next qualifying game is Thursday at 9 pm against Canada. It will be shown on both ESPN Deportes and Fox Soccer Channel. Let’s go get em USA!

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March 18, 2008 | Filed Under USA | Written by Brian Lomax 

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