Expert Blogs

What's the point?

The question is, what's the point? As Jack Bell writes in the New York Times: "U.S. Players Who Aren't Injured or Otherwise Occupied Get the Call-Up". In other words anyone with a U.S. passport who has ever kicked a football (oops, soccer ball) and owns a pair of football boots (oops, soccer cleats) should head on down to the Home Depot Center and try their luck.

Bell has a point. Generally speaking, the 23 players Bradley will take to South Africa ARE either injured or otherwise occupied, and not the MLS-based posse he has announced for this get-together. A few may have legitimate claims to make the final squad but the vast majority will be watching the tournament on TV.

Brian Ching and Conor Casey are probably competing for the same spot on the plane to Johannesburg while Chivas USA teammates Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan are not out of the running. Other than that, the remainder, including four uncapped youngsters, have about as much chance as I do of performing at the World Cup.   

So why is the United States Soccer Federation investing time and funds to accommodate what rugby aficionados would describe as "dirt-trackers" for a fortnight culminating in a meaningless match against a nation which failed in its own bid to qualify for the World Cup?

Money, for a start, is always a motivating factor. The last time the U.S. team staged an international at the home of the NFL's Buccaneers, more than 30 thousand turned up for a similarly irrelevant exhibition against Ecuador in 2007. On that occasion, Landon Donovan obliged the patrons with a hat trick.

The forthcoming duel with El Salvador should not be a hard sell. It will no doubt be billed as America's last chance to see the boys in action on home soil before they head off, carrying the hopes of a nation, to the World Cup via Amsterdam where they meet the Netherlands on March 3.

Plan B

As far as Bradley and his coaching staff is concerned, there always has to be a Plan B. While he's hoping his injured stars will be fit in time for the World Cup, their anticipated recovery cannot be taken for granted. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility Bradley may have to make several late adjustments.

Then there's Plan C, a.k.a. Long Term Development. Even though Bradley is rightly focused on South Africa 2010 there must always be time set aside for the next generation. Who knows how suitable Omar Gonzalez or Chris Pontius, for example, might be as U.S. national team players if they are denied the opportunity to showcase their talents?

And what of the man with the Golden Boot? Jeff Cunningham couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo during his unhappy spell with Toronto FC, but has bagged 22 goals in just 39 appearances since moving south to Dallas. As a result he's back in Bradley's plans and would love nothing more than to force his way onto the World Cup roster.

A hat trick in Tampa wouldn't go amiss.