If the competition for the Gold Cup was not hard enough for the American squad, a rapidly thinning roster is becoming the next challenge facing the US team. The US will face Panama in their next match this weekend without many of their offensive weapons. Charlie Davies, Benny Feilhaber, Steve Cherundolo, and Michael Parkhurst are just some of the players that have left the US roster to prepare for preseason play for their respective European clubs. ESPN also had an article about Freddy Adu also leaving for his European club; however, he was listed in the line up against Haiti on the same day as the article was released. This is disastrous for the US.
The Confederation Cup seemed to be a golden opportunity for the United States, and many thought that the Gold Cup was in the bag before the first kick off. However, the roster from cup to cup changed dramatically. This current roster is composed mostly of new and young talent with a few internationally experienced veterans. With much of the US’s offensive arsenal depleted, the match against Panama could be closer than initially expected. The US will have to find a way to win and will be relying on players like Ching, Holden, and Rogers to apply pressure on the opposite side of the field. Ching will probably be paired with either Davy Arnaud or Kenny Cooper for the attack, but neither of these forwards seems to be effective. I think Beckerman is out for the Panama game because of yellow cards, but I could be mistaken.
Defensively, the US still looks strong, but the big question will be if and when the US can score.
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